12/19/Su – Warfare through Worship

NT: “The sixth poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the east. Then I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming from the dragon’s mouth, from the beast’s mouth, and from the mouth of the false prophet. For they are demonic spirits performing signs, who travel to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for the battle on the great day of God, the Almighty. “Look, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who is alert and remains clothed so that he may not go around naked and people see his shame.” So they assembled the kings at the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon. Then the seventh poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, “It is done!” There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. And a severe earthquake occurred like no other since people have been on the earth, so great was the quake. The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the Great was remembered in God’s presence; he gave her the cup filled with the wine of his fierce anger. Every island fled, and the mountains disappeared. Enormous hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds, fell from the sky on people, and they blasphemed God for the plague of hail because that plague was extremely severe.” (‭‭Revelation‬ ‭16:12-21‬ ‭CSB)

When the sixth bowl of wrath was poured out, the Euphrates river completely dried up, removing a natural barrier for Israel and providing a way for an army to assemble and invade the land. Influenced and motivated by foul demonic spirits from the Satanic trinity, the remaining kings and people left alive on the earth gathered for battle against the Lord and His people. As the world-wide army gathered, a voice thundered from the throne of God, declaring, “It is done!” The Devil, in all his arrogance and pride, along with all those who, knowingly or not, lived their lives submitted to his evil ways would experience utter defeat and destruction – beginning with a world-wide cataclysmic earthquake that shook the entire planet to its core.

Psalms: “God, I will sing a new song to you; I will play on a ten-stringed harp for you  — the one who gives victory to kings, who frees his servant David from the deadly sword. Set me free and rescue me from foreigners whose mouths speak lies, whose right hands are deceptive. Then our sons will be like plants nurtured in their youth, our daughters, like corner pillars that are carved in the palace style. Our storehouses will be full, supplying all kinds of produce; our flocks will increase by thousands and tens of thousands in our open fields. Our cattle will be well fed. There will be no breach in the walls, no going into captivity, and no cry of lament in our public squares. Happy are the people with such blessings. Happy are the people whose God is the Lord.” (‭‭Psalms‬ ‭144:9-15‬ ‭CSB)

At the beginning of this psalm, David declared that it was the Lord God who trained his hands for battle and his fingers for warfare. Then David went on to say, “God, I will sing a new song to You…” One of the ways that David waged effective warfare against his enemies was through worship. Though the singing and playing of music is one of the ways we express worship to the Lord, worship itself goes far beyond just singing songs and playing instruments. Our songs and music, in order to be worship, must express the heart and posture of worship. Worship is an attitude and posture of humility, adoration, exultation, faith and trust. By saying that God is the one who gives victory to kings… that God is the one who frees His servants from death, David was expressing an attitude of humility, praise, faith and trust. It was through his worship of God that David found ultimate victory.

Yes, David did experience military victories over his physical enemies – but the greater victory that David experienced was against his spiritual enemies that desired to ensnare him in paralyzing fear and anxiety, compromise, disobedience and unfaithfulness. It was because David won the war against his spiritual enemies that he was able to confidently go to war and defeat his physical enemies. When we live our lives in worship to the Lord God, we no longer have to fear or worry – because the Lord Himself preserves us, provides for us, and blesses us with everything we need for a prosperous and satisfying life. Will our lives always be easy? No. But our lives will be supplied with sufficient grace, and through the Lord we will live abundantly and be at peace.

As we see in Revelation, the ultimate winners and losers are not determined by might or strength. The ultimate winners and losers are determined by who you worship. There are many battles that we face in life – some that we win and some that we lose. But the ultimate war is won through faithfully worshipping the Lord God and submitting yourself to His word, will and ways. By doing that, even if we lose battles, we will always be victorious in Christ.

Prayer: Lord, I thank You that You are the victorious King. The war has already been decided, and You are the overwhelming winner. You have conquered and You will ultimately conquer all Your enemies. I take courage knowing that as I remain in You faith expressed through and attitude and posture of worship, I too will stand victorious over my true enemies – in this life and the life to come. Help me to keep that truth and hope ever before my eyes as I follow You in faith. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.