Stand On Your Ground
2 Samuel 23:11 says, “And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentiles: and the people fled from the Philistines.”
Shammah was one of David’s “mighty men” (v. 8), who defended “a piece of ground full of lentils” from a troop of Philistines. Everyone else had fled, but Shammah stayed to defend the ground “and the Lord wrought a great victory” (v. 12)! This is a very encouraging picture for anyone who might be facing some spiritual battles in life (Jms 1:12). Often, the easiest course of action is to turn back and run away. As God’s children, we need to remember what the Lord has done to bring us “out of the miry clay, and set our feet upon a rock” (Ps 40:2).
Therefore, no matter what the enemy is trying to do in order to derail our lives (1 Pet 5:8), we must never give up our ground! Although it has taken some time, we have made some great gains and progress in our spiritual growth (2 Pet 3:18). But the world, the flesh, and the devil will always bother us (1 Jn 2:16), when we start living for the Lord. They will gather together “into a troop” to get us back in our old sinful ways (Isa 43:18). We may find ourselves facing some kind of temptation and also stressed out or upset due to some financial struggles.
At the same time, we are weary and discouraged (Job 10:1). That is a big troop of enemies gathered together! It seems impossible to take on all those problems at the same time. But by God’s grace and His power (Eph 3:7), He “shall fight for us” (Neh 4:20)! Like Shammah, we must stand our ground and fight. We must neither quit nor surrender. That ground that we have gained against sin is absolutely worth fighting for (1 Cor 15:58). We can grow stronger and bear much fruit on that ground. Most of all, the Lord promised to give us the victory! God bless you!
- Pastor Melito Barrera
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