Alignment with God’s will! Alignment in our desires and prayers with the will of God! In today’s reading, David’s men are about to go into battle. The enemy is strong, at least in appearance. David’s general says to his brother…
Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to him.” (2 Samuel 10:12, ESV)
Then, in Psalm 20, part of our reading, notice this verse.
May he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans! (Psalm 20:4, ESV)
So what is going on? David’s friend, King Nahash of the Ammonites, has died, and his son Hanun has become king. Nahash was loyal to David during his lifetime, so David sent some of his servants to express sympathy to Hanun. Hanun’s advisors read the gesture wrong. They accused David’s servants of coming to spy on the city so he could conquer it. Eventually, David ends up in a defensive battle posture, as Hanun gathers a coalition to fight David.
This coalition is quite large, intimidating, and serious. As David’s men strategize their war plans and go out to fight the enemy, Joab tells the men, “Be courageous! Let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. May the Lord’s will be done.” In other words, regardless of what happens, regardless of the outcome, the desire is, may the Lord’s will be done.
When we compare this with Psalm 20:4, where the prayer is that the Lord will grant the desires of the heart, how assuredly God will answer this prayer when it aligns, without hesitation, with God’s will! Again, alignment in our lives, desires, and prayers with the will of God, not the other way around, is very powerful—one the enemy cannot withstand.
Praying the will of God is not easy on the flesh. To say, come what may, the Lord’s will be done, is not easy! It takes trust! Trust is an Old Testament word for faith. But it is precisely faith that pleases God, and He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). Are we willing to pray, come what may, the Lord’s will be done?
Now, there is also a caution here. Have we done our due diligence in conjunction with desiring the Lord’s will as the ultimate outcome? It was not wrong for Joab and his military to expect victory. It was right for them to strategize on how to obtain victory. However, it would have been mistaken for them to think that victory was born on their shoulders alone or throw their hands up in fatalism. In other words, we should not be reckless when praying the Lord’s will be done. Alignment is more of a partnership with God, with a preference that yields to God’s will. Praying the Lord’s will to be done is not to be a cover for fatalism or laziness.
Believers, alignment with God is where courage, bravery, victory, and ultimate joy are. It is not God aligning with us; it is us aligning with God. Let’s trust God that His will is good, that He is good all the time! In the face of our enemies, we must also be strategic. Yet for all the strategy, we bank on God—may the Lord’s will be done!
Thank you for joining me as I read and journal chronologically through the Bible! This devotional reflection comes from 2 Samuel 10; 1 Chronicles 19; Psalms 20.