TEVET 23
My Strength
Many of us are familiar with the account of
David and Goliath, the shepherd boy who killed the nine foot plus giant
with only his slingshot, and his faith in his Elohim and Creator. David is a perfect illustration of a young
man – Bible scholars estimate he was around 17 years of age at the time of this
event – who intimately knew his God, his Elohim. David’s God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, had delivered him from the lion and the bear (1Sam 17:37), and David had
full confidence in all future deliverance.
David went on to reject the offer of Saul’s heavy armor, went out to
face the giant with five smooth stones, in the ‘strength’ he received from El
Gibbor, the mighty God (see Isa 9:6). David’s God confirmed what David knew –
that he served an Elohim that would never fail him.
“I come to you IN THE NAME of Yahweh Tzva’ot,
the Elohim of the armies of Yisra’el, whom you have taunted. THIS DAY will Yahweh deliver you into my
hand; and I will smite you, and take your head from off of you … That all this
assembly may KNOW that Yahweh saves not with sword and spear, for the battle is
Yahweh’s, and He WILL give you into our hand.”
(1Sam 17:45-47 HRVS, emphasis
mine)
What strength, whose strength, do you rely
upon? Physical strength is temporal, and
emotional and mental strength is at best unstable. Do you rely on the strengths of others? How many times have you been disappointed,
and hurt, with no one to turn to? It is
when you are at your weakest, at your lowest, that you are at your strongest,
for that is when there is no question of where your help is coming from: your Abba Father, your Creator, your Redeemer
and Deliverer, the ALL-mighty, the Everlasting, Eternal Elohim.
First, you must know Him, before you
can appropriate His Strength. When you
spend time in His presence, in His Word, you learn who He is, of His
love for you, His care for and about you.
Then you learn of His strength in and through you, and the confidence
you can have IN His strength …
“Yah
is my strength and song, and He has become my deliverance. He is my Ěl, and I
praise Him – Elohim of my father, and I exalt Him.”
(Ex 165:2)
“All
flesh is grass, all its goodness like flowers of the field: grass withers,
flowers fade when the breath of the Lord blows on them. Indeed man is but grass: grass withers, flowers fade – BUT THE WORD OF
OUR GOD IS ALWAYS FULFILLED!” (Isa 40:6-8 Jewish Study
Bible, Tanakh Translation, ©2004 Oxford University Press. Emphasis mine)
©2021
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