QUOTE FOUR
WHEN THE BATTLE LASTS AWHILE, THE GLORY COMES IN STYLE
“Now there was long war between, the house of Saul and the house of David: but David waxed stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker” II Sam. 3:1
David and Saul were like cats and dogs; they never saw eye to eye. Saul made the assassination of David one of his prime kingdom agenda. He would pursue David to any extent. He was ready to tear down any city in Israel that harboured David. He murdered the priests of God in Tob because they helped David. Saul went the extra mile in the war against David. He fought David with the entire might of Israel’s military. David became a fugitive in his country and ran from place to place trying to stay alive.
However, it is interesting to see what the bible says about the fight between Saul and David in the anchor scripture above. The long war, fighting, bickering, conflict, etc made David stronger and stronger while Saul grew weaker and weaker.
Take note that Saul had the advantage to himself – he was the incumbent king of Israel; he had the entire military on his side, he had allies in the cities of Israel etc. From man’s point of view, Saul had the upper hand. Yet unknown to everyone, while Saul pursued David he expended energy, resources and grew weaker by the day without knowing it. On the contrary, David who started off running alone, attracted a bunch of fugitives who joined up with him in adversity, to strengthen his position and become the core of his military might afterwards. And the question is how did such a long war make David stronger but weakened Saul?
Before we delve into that, it is very interesting to note how our anchor scripture is written by the Holy Spirit. The scripture starts off by mentioning the name and house of Saul first; but after the colon in the scripture, the scripture continues by mentioning David first. It seems like when the battle started Saul had the whole advantage and David was on the run, but after some events the table was turned in David’s favour and gave him the advantage he never had. There are times when you may find yourself at a disadvantaged position, it’s not the end of the road. With faith, God can still make the cards turn in your favour. The turn around for David was sudden, and God is still a specialist in making miracles come suddenly. David’s case was sudden and he was a fugitive who, suddenly, the whole of Israel turned to for kingship after the death of Saul; and yours can still be that way, if you keep faith with God. God could roll away that challenge, so that you wake up and see it no more.
If you looked closely, you would notice that the change in the order by which the names in our anchor scripture were mentioned came after the colon in that scripture. Normally, the words after a colon would explain the preceding words before the colon. That means that there were some explainable events that brought that sudden change. Before that scripture, Saul had died like 3 chapters back in 1 Sam 30. That was an explainable event that a man can explain to have put David in a position to lay claim to the throne of Isreal. Nevertheless, God was at the backstage directing all the explainable events. Sometimes, your miracle may not come like a wonder from the moon or sound like a furry fancy fairy tale, but your ability and discernment to see the finger of God behind your breakthroughs is what keeps you appreciative of the wonders of God. There are times that God decides that your miracle comes in explainable packages, it does not make it less a miracle.
Thirdly, the bible records “Now, there was long war between the house of Saul and the house of David…” Literally, you don’t get to see all the members of the houses of Saul and David sharing the same resentments that existed between the two. The pursuit of the death of David was a personal assignment Saul gave himself, yet Jonathan the Son of Saul did not share his Father’s resentment for David; rather he loved David. Nevertheless, the Spirit of God was here saying that the battle was between the house of Saul and the House of David. That goes to say that as long as God was concerned, whatever Saul or David did while the war lasted, they also did it on behalf of the generation that would come after them. They represented their various houses by the actions they took; and obviously that affected the outcome of the generation that followed them. Hear this, what you do today and at the critical moments of your life might be in representation for the generation that will follow you. David might have understood that his actions during the war may affect his later generation that he severally declined every opportunity to kill Saul. From scriptures the import of their actions are glaring: when God judged Saul, his 3 sons went down with him. Afterwards, his grandson and only surviving heir was beheaded by the people of Israel who tried to turn the kingdom over to David. On the other hand when God promoted David to the throne, he also promoted his sons to the throne and swore that David will never lack a son to sit on the throne.
That is very instructive. The actions we take today become the platform for our children to achieve greatness or they could become a clog in the wheels of their success. I pray that the actions you take today will be remembered by God to move your children higher beyond their abilities.
Also, worthy of note is this glorious piece where the bible says,
“but David waxed stronger and stronger and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker.”
Expectedly, a long war between two warring factions would, most times, weaken both factions. A war that stretches for long between two parties would sap the warring factions of man power, resources, ammunition, food, money etc. Losing any of those could be weakening. However, in this situation, what we see here is that the long war weakened only one party and increased the strength of the other. This could only happen when one party is recording slow but gradual victory. Victory is slow because the war has been stretched and gradual because the victory is progressive. In such a scenario, when one party is weakened the other could gain strength. In other words the strength of the weakened party is gradually transferred to the victor i.e. the strength of the enemy is transferred to the victor. That means that whatever was to the enemy’s advantage is transferred to the victor, thereby weakening the vanquished and strengthening the victor. For example, for any progress made in the war, the victor gains more resources recovered from the enemy, food, ammunition, land, equipment, maybe more soldiers forced to join the his army and many more. All these proceeds of war go to strengthen the position of the victor and serve as motivation for his followers.
So, in the light of the above explanation and the connection to the scripture in view; we can sufficiently say that there was a quiet and subtle transfer of strength from the house of Saul to the house of David. So, David grew stronger and stronger while Saul grew weaker and weaker. In other words, while the war lasted God was busy transferring the strengths of the house of Saul to the house of David, so that Saul grew weak while David grew strong. Saul’s example, is the portion of any man who stretches his hand to harm someone who has made God his refuge. And I pray for you that God will turn the tables against those opposing of your destiny, turn their advantage to your side, you will grow stronger while they grow weaker, in Jesus name.
Now, how did this long war bring glory to David and his house as we have seen in the scripture?
GOD HAD HIM COVERED:
The first thing you find that brought David victory is that he was fighting a battle that God had his back covered. God was on David’s side all through the battle. God had earlier rejected Saul as King and chosen David as Saul’s replacement. So as the battle for the throne of Israel was raging, God was on the side of David making him win the war. That is one sure way to win battles in life: “If God be for us, who can be against us?” Rom 8:31.
No battle can swallow you when you have God on your side. No challenge can keep you down when you have God for an ally; no man can hold you to a ransom when God is supporting you. With God on your side you can afford to lay aside your burdens, be who God wants you to be and avoid hissing in regrets through life.
LET GOD HAVE HIS WAY
The second thing that made David come out stronger from the long war was that he was in a fight that he allowed God to have his way. As the war lasted David persevered in allowing God sort out the war for him. Twice he had the opportunity to eliminate Saul, who was on a hunt for him, but he declined those opportunities to kill Saul. One reason he always gave for declining those opportunities to kill Saul was that Saul is the Lord’s anointed. He left the death of Saul in the hands of God. He once said that maybe God will take Saul into battle and have him die there, but he won’t lay his hands on the Lord’s anointed.
When you allow God have his way in your affairs, he will make things happen for you that you wouldn’t ordinarily make happen for yourself. When you allow God have his way, he makes your challenges increase your platform of strength. When you allow God have his way he makes you stronger than those who hate and oppose you. When you allow God have his way he makes a way for you where there apparently is no way; he makes the crooked paths of life straight for you.
Psalm 114:1-4 says,
“When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language; Judah was his sanctuary; and Israel was his dominion. The sea saw it and fled: Jordan was driven back.”
That is a vivid example of what happens when God is fully in charge; Israel was sanctuary (his dwelling place) and Judah was his dominion [where he exercises authority and power]. The aftermath of that reality was simply inevitable – the sea [natural things gave way for them].
To let God have his way is to believe God’s word steadfastly. Value God’s word above all else. Place God’s word as the scale to weigh every action. When you let God have his way, he will let good find its way to you; your family, business, career, and everything that concerns you.
FIGHT THE FIGHT OF FAITH
This also made David come out stronger from the long war. David was fighting a fight of faith. He was fighting because of his faith in the word of God spoken over his life by the Prophet Samuel.
The fight of faith is a fight or contention that you engage in because of God’s word that you believe in. So when you stand off opposition to defend and establish God’s will, you are fighting the fight of faith. When you resist satanic strongholds to affirm God’s word, you are fighting the fight of faith. When you resist satanic and human temptations for the sake of God and his word, you are fighting the fight of faith. When you fight the challenges that press you to disbelieve God, you are fighting the fight of faith.
David was engaged in a long war with the house of Saul because of a word that God spoke through the Prophet, Samuel. David fought for his life so that the will of God might stand. According to Apostle Paul, the fight of faith is a good fight.
1Tim. 6:12 “Fight the good fight of faith...”
That means, David was doing something God commanded and sees as good. David was insisting on the word of God despite the many odds against him. He held on to the word of God, tenaciously, despite his challenges.
Nobody who stands unshaken in the word of God will God allow to be put to shame. Stand strong on the word of God and God will surely reward you in ways you may never imagine.
FIGHT FROM VICTORY
Finally, another reason David came out stronger from the long war because he was fighting from victory. God had spoken to Samuel and concluded the matter about who was to be king over Israel – God had rejected Saul and chosen David as King, even before the long war started. That means, David had won the contest, even before the tussle for the throne of Israel began. Thus, David was already victorious before the battle began. David knew this.
Just as it was for David, when you understand that Jesus has already won every battle on your behalf, then you can be sure you are fighting from victory against the challenges of life. When your faith is fixed on the victory assured for you in Christ, then you can have that victory as evidence.
All that David needed to do was just to stay alive and keep believing God for the fulfilment of his word; and God came through for him. Be like David, refuse to quit, refuse to give up, refuse to die; keep believing that God will come through for you. I assure you, he will come through for you.
The bible says in Mark 9:23 “Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” These are the words of our Lord and Master; if you can keep believing, your miracle will show up right in your face.
FLASH BACK
When you allow God have his way, he makes your challenges increase your platform of strength.
No battle can swallow you when you have God on your side