Psalm 18

I was reading through the psalm of the day today, which was a familiar passage. I love this psalm! I picked a few verses from that chapter and wrote them on my brightly colored card stock that I stare at every morning on the treadmill. I've read through them countless times the past few months as I whiz along, but the Lord revealed something new to me today as I was reading through the whole chapter. I'm sure this has happened to you before, too. Every so often a passage of Scripture that you've known for years suddenly hits you between the eyes and a "light bulb" goes off in your head.

It's a fairly long chapter, so I'll try and summarize it for you. (Then, go read it for yourself!) David begins the psalm by praising the Lord. He affirms his trust in the Lord by calling Him "my rock and my fortress; my deliverer...in whom will I trust". A few verses later, David writes that he called to the Lord and was answered; He cried and his cry reached God's throne. Then David uses vivid imagery to describe how the Lord answered and proved Himself strong on David's behalf. The Lord "rode upon the cherub", He "thundered in the heavens", and "the Highest gave his voice". David said that the Lord drew him out of many waters and delivered him from his strong enemy "for they were too strong for me".

In verse 19, David says that he was delivered because the Lord delighted in him, and the reason the Lord was delighted in him is because "I have kept the ways of the Lord" and "I was also upright before him, and kept myself from mine iniquity."

And what caught my eye today was the switch that occurs in verse 28. David changes from telling of all the Lord's acts of deliverance and begins to tell what the Lord has done in his life, how He was strengthening David. Because of the Lord, David had run through a troop and had leaped over a wall. David writes, "It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect. He maketh my feet like hinds feet, and setteth me upon my high places. He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. Thou hast given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great. I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed. I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet. " I could go on, but I'll stop now. :-)

Here's what I was thinking about this passage. I was struck by the fact that the Lord was teaching David to be a warrior. He was teaching David how to stand up and fight on his own! I think often in my life I find myself shoving my battles up to the Lord in prayer and asking Him to do all the work for me. Just deliver me, Lord! That's all I'm asking. Thunder in the heavens, shake the mountains! Let the hail fall and the fire roar. I'll just sit here and wait for you to finish fighting.
But, that's not what the Lord wants! Just like David, He is in the process of training me so that I can fight my own battles in His strength. I want to leap over walls! I want to have arms that can break steel! I want to pursue my enemies and have them fall under my feet! Don't you? I don't want to be a weak and defeated Christian. I don't want to be constantly asking the Lord for victory while I sit around doing nothing. I want to know how to outsmart my enemies! I want to learn His strategies for victory. I want to be a "warrior in training" in the Lord's army.

I find it fascinating that the Lord wants to teach us. He wants us to fight. He wants us to become mighty in His Spirit. He wants us to walk in the victory that He paid His life for!
Because He could just take care of everything for us. It's so much easier for parents to work alone without having their little children "helping", isn't it? But He finds joy in our feeble offerings for help, just as earthly parents do. And He knows that we won't learn anything without actually doing. There is a time for us to step out and take action! We don't grow without working. We can't learn how to fight by just watching. We must engage in a fight ourselves! We must work our physical muscles to achieve growth and it's the same spiritually. We must fight and war in the strength that He provides. Scripture is clear - we are in warfare against the principalities and powers of darkness. Don't you want to know how to swing your sword properly? How to shield yourself effectively? How to give the enemy a deadly blow? I sure do! Teach me to war, Lord.

While we're on the subject, I put up a good fight this week. I added at least 15 to 20 minutes to my exercise time every day. I did my work on the treadmill, then on cardio days I ran down to our basement and jumped on the Norditrack (or the Sweatinator - it's new nickname). Whew! I was proud of myself, though. It was hard, but good. I love the feeling I get after I've had a really hard workout. On the days where I do circuit training, I disciplied myself and stuck to the routine. No short cuts and less breaks. Again, it was hard. I don't really like the feel of burning muscles. :-)

But, it was worth it! I broke through this week and lost a pound. Yippee! My new number for this week is 167lbs, and I've got my eyes on reaching number 166 next week. I've never gotten below 167, so that would be an awesome Christmas present! I learned this week that my plateau problem can be broken by working longer, which is what I suspected. 30 minutes a day isn't enough anymore. I've got to work for more like 45 -50 minutes, and the majority of that time needs to be in my "medium to medium hard" heart rate zone. That's where the heart is pumping steadily and the sweat is flowing freely!

Now, Christmas is on Thursday. (What's with holidays being on the day before my weigh in? I had this problem on Thanksgiving, too.) So I've again decided to weigh in a day early. I'm going to give it all I've got and see if I can't end this year at my lowest weight yet!

Fighting on ~ Bekah