OOOPS forgot to hit publish yesterday 🙃
I woke up this morning with the song, “The Battle Belongs to the Lord” rattling around in my head. I am not sure if that is God’s way of telling me to be prepared for something coming or just my dealing with recovering from surgery for the next 6 weeks (it’s going to be a struggle to be idle). In either case, it was a good reminder that for even a retired old soldier such as myself, the battle is God’s.
In searching for an appropriate verse this morning I came across a very comprehensive list, under the title; The Battle Belongs To The Lord. The one that stood out was Proverbs 21:31:
The horse is prepared for the day of battle,
AMP
But deliverance and victory belong to the Lord
This is a very interesting verse, especially for ex-miliary like me. At the time it was written the “Horse” was the main battle tank of any army. They ran supplies, carried calvary and hooked to chariots were literally the tanks of their day.
From a strictly military standpoint, taking good care of and preparing one’s horse for battle was tantamount to any thought of success in battle. Yet our verse for today makes it clear, that no matter how much you and your equipment/horse are prepared for battle, any hope of success in battle rests solely with God. In other words, we are totally dependent upon God for our victories as these commentaries attest:
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary 30, 31. Men’s best devices and reliances are vain compared with God’s, or without His aid (Pr 19:21; Ps 20:7; 33:17).
Matthew Poole’s Commentary The horse; under which particular all warlike provisions are comprehended.
Safety is of the Lord; the success of the battle depends not upon any human strength or art, but merely upon God’s providence, who gives the victory when and to whom he pleaseth, and ofttimes to those that have least reason to expect it. Compare Ecclesiastes 9:11.
Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible The horse is prepared against the day of battle,…. The horse is a warlike creature, and was much used formerly, as now, in war; these are prepared against the day of battle, to mount the cavalry with; and men are apt to put too great confidence in them: this is mentioned instead of all other military preparations and instruments of war;
but safety is of the Lord; a horse is a vain thing for safety, Psalm 33:17; victory is only of the Lord; salvation depends upon him; it is he that covers men’s heads in the day of battle, and gives them victory over their enemies: or “salvation is of the Lord” (o); this is true of spiritual and eternal salvation, as well as of temporal salvation; it is of the Lord, Father, Son, and Spirit; and so is the safety of the saints; and their final perseverance to eternal glory, which is owing to the love of God, covenant interest, security in Christ, the grace of the Spirit, and the power of God; see Hosea 14:3.
(o) “a Domino autem (datur) salus”. Tigurine version; “Domino est salvatio”, Cocceius; “Jehovae est salus”, Schultens; so Junius & Tremellius, Mercerus, Gejerus.
As for our quote of the day, I can not, of course, speak for the author, except to say he is making clear the Biblical principle that the true warfare of the world is Spiritual. We do not rage war against Satan and his minions. Equally true is the fact that Satan is not attacking us on a personal level (he does not have a grudge against me), Satan is waging war against God and we are just a soldier in God’s Army. That is why God provides us with defensive armor, to ward off evil attacks.
The correlation is simple for anyone who has served in the military or even as a first responder. Soldiers do not and are not sent out to wage battles on their own, they go as part of a B I G G E R ARMY. In this case, the battle/war is spiritual, one God has been “fighting” since before time began. We that is true believers are all part of His Army and therefore subject to spiritual attacks.
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