“Blessed be the LORD my Rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle–“ Psalm 144:1
So I’m getting ready for bed last night, but weeping; crying out to the Lord because of the burning pain I have in my feet (my arches are what get very painful when I am on my feet too much). The above verse is what came to mind. On top of this, I also had a migraine. This verse still was reciting itself when I awoke, so I looked it up and found a commentary on it I’d like to share. Let’s look at the first three verses of this psalm…
“Blessed be the LORD my Rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle– My lovingkindness and my fortress, My high tower and my deliverer, My shield and the One in whom I take refuge, Who subdues my people under me. LORD, what is man, that You take knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that You are mindful of him?” Psalm 144: 1-3
Make a mental note of this… it seems that David had written this while He was still in trouble. Saul was hunting him down like a dog. This psalm was penned by David before his ascension to the throne. He acknowledges his dependence upon God. David thanks God for making him such a tough fighter – Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle. Some people just don’t believe God uses our circumstances (usually really tough-bad ones) to prepare and get us ready for something. Everything that comes into our lives has already been passed through God – everything. To deny this is to deny God’s sovereignty! And that’s not saying we just have to lie down and not be proactive about things. There is a definite time to fight, and a definite time to Be still and know I am God. Some of the crazy, adverse things happening to us may be Satanic attacks. Some of our troubles may be consequences of sin. God plainly tells us that He chastens those He loves.
Whenever I start to question things, I always find myself going back to the book of Job. We can find so many nuggets of truth in this book. It’s all about your perspective. Are you fully persuaded about God’s sovereignty? Let me pass on these words coming out of Job’s mouth for you to meditate on…
“You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’ It is I–and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me.” Job 42: 3