Welcome to the Daily Blade . The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit , the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil . Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson , and they stand ready to equip men for the fight . Let's sharpen up .
Speaker 2Good to have you back today . This week we're looking at different passages of Scripture that reveal to us , and remind us , christian men , that we were born
for battle . Today we're going to look at just one verse from the 144th Psalm . It is entitled my Rock and my Fortress . So let's read verse one Blessed be the Lord , my rock , who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle . So I actually want to read it in the King James Version 2 , because I think it just sounds cool . Blessed be the Lord , my strength , which teacheth my hand to war and my fingers to fight .
Speaker 2So this is one of the 73 Psalms that are traditionally attributed to David . As with many of the Psalms of David , it reflects his experience as a warrior king , and I mean he faced a ton of very difficult adversaries during his time as king . So we have the Philistines , the Amalekites . You know he had internal rebels , and then you know himself , obviously . And the 144th Psalm echoes themes from an earlier Psalm of David , which is Psalm 18 . And this shows us that while writing Psalm 144 , david seems to be reflecting on the goodness and deliverance of God from his past up through that point in his life . So Psalm 144 is a psalm of personal praise , but it progresses to eventually ask for prosperity and , you know , an end to hostilities
and war . And so let me read Psalm 144 , 1 again , and then we'll break it down .
Speaker 2Blessed be the Lord , my rock . Who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle , trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle . So blessed be the Lord . So blessed is a declaration of praise . And to whom is the praise directed ? The Lord . So the foundation , the grounding of the psalm is in praise and gratitude towards the Lord . Then he says my rock . So a rock is a symbol of stability and refuge . Also , it's not lost on me that David , when he was but a young shepherd , used a single rock to kill the great giant Philistine Goliath . So essentially David is giving praise to the source of his steadiness and protection .
Speaker 2And then back to the scripture who trains my hands for war ? So David is a warrior and a man of tremendous skill in battle . But who trained his hands for war ? In the context of the psalm , god did . David's violent martial abilities are a gift from God . Also , the Hebrew word for trains here reflects deliberate and repeated instruction and preparation . And what are his hands trained for For war .
Speaker 2Now , war is typically not a single battle endeavor . So what about individual battles ? Let's continue going back to the scripture . And my fingers for battle . So David is prepared for the war the macro and for each individual battle , the micro .
Speaker 2So what we see just in this one verse is an acknowledgement of the sovereignty of God and also the necessity of human involvement and responsibility . So it's kind of a you know , god can move mountains , but we have to at least bring a shovel , kind of a thing . David did not self-derive his skills and abilities for war , and he is aware of that . Hence the praise , foundation of the psalm . So here are a few things for you to keep
in mind today , as it pertains to Psalm 144 , verse 1 .
Speaker 2You know a verse that I think you should memorize , by the way . Number one the foundation of our prayers should be praise . Now , that doesn't mean that praise is all we do during prayer , but without God there is nothing right . There's no us , there's no you , and that is praiseworthy , to be sure . Number two all of our skills and abilities were given to us by God . So to him be the glory .
Speaker 2Now , if that statement kind of bristles up against you a bit . It's likely because you've got an ego problem that you need to get in check . And , bro , just hear me , you didn't do the things that you did on your own right . You didn't do them on your own . Your very existence is tied to the God that lives outside of time , space and matter , so don't get a big head about anything . And number three , god did not train our hands for peace and our fingers for relaxation . We were born for battle .
Speaker 2Now , if that statement bristles up against you a bit , I bet it's because you've created a life for yourself where you worship at the altar of convenience and softness . Right , you got some soft hands going on . Well , let me tell you , the world has enough soft , passive , pansy dudes . It's full of men that are willing to abdicate their responsibilities to the women in their lives or to claim victim status when things don't go their way . What we need are warriors ready for battle . God doesn't need you , but he wants you to get in the fight . So what's stopping you ?
Thank you for listening to today's episode Before you go . If you want to help equip other men for the fight , share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review . Stay sharp .