Our God Is Alive and Well

44 “You delivered me from strife with my people;
    you kept me as the head of the nations;
    people whom I had not known served me.
45 Foreigners came cringing to me;
    as soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me.
46 Foreigners lost heart
    and came trembling out of their fortresses.

47 “The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,
    and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation,
48 the God who gave me vengeance
    and brought down peoples under me,
49 who brought me out from my enemies;
    you exalted me above those who rose against me;
    you delivered me from men of violence.

50 “For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations,
    and sing praises to your name.
51 Great salvation he brings to his king,
    and shows steadfast love to his anointed,
    to David and his offspring forever.” – 2 Samuel 22:44-51 ESV

David knew that his life was inextricably linked to God. Nothing he did was outside the influence and direct impact of God. His victories were due to God and his position and power were attributable to God. His physical strength was a gift from God. Even his sins were lovingly disciplined by God. No area of David’s life escaped the notice of God, because his God was living, active, and intimately involved in his life.

When David stated, “The Lord lives” he used the Hebrew word ḥay (pronounced khah'-ee). It can be translated as “alive” and refers to flowing water or a green plant. It was an expression used to convey the evidence of life. A stagnant pond would not have been “alive.” A brown plant would have displayed no evidence of life. For David, the proof of God’s “life” was in God’s constant activity and non-stop involvement in his own life. He could “see” God and didn’t have to wonder if God existed. He was convinced of God’s presence by the evidence of his power made visible through His actions and activities.

It is easy to overlook God’s actions or to attribute them to someone or something else. We often refer to luck or good fortune. When something fortuitous happens, we might say, “I was just in the right place at the right time.” If we encounter an unexpected and unpleasant outcome, we might respond, “I guess I had that coming.” We jokingly refer to karma and kismet. We talk about fate as if it exists and holds an irresistible mastery over our future. Even Christians can end up believing that the outcome of their lives is completely up to them or at the mercy of unseen forces.

But David would argue that God is the invisible, unstoppable agent of influence in the life of the believer. He is alive and active, and the evidence of His life is all around us. But seeing and believing it is a matter of perspective. When difficulties come into our lives, we tend to ask, “Where is God?” In other words, we assume that the presence of trouble signals the absence of God. But David would argue that God is there, even in those dark moments.

He is the God who pays back those who harm me;
    he brings down the nations under me
    and delivers me from my enemies. – 2 Samuel 22:48-49 NLT

David sensed God’s presence, even in the most difficult of situations. This awareness of God’s immanence allowed David to live with a sense of expectation and eager anticipation that God was going to act on his behalf. There’s little doubt that much of David’s firm assurance in God’s presence was the result of hindsight. He could look back on his life and recognize the evidence of God’s handiwork. That is why he was so willing to confidently attribute his current success to God’s past actions in his life.

You gave me victory… – vs 44

You preserved me… – vs 44

You hold me safe… – vs 49

You save me… – vs 49

You give great victories… – vs 51

You show unfailing love… – vs 51

David had learned that God reveals Himself through the grace, peace, and mercy that He pours out in times of difficulty. These displays of God’s love aren’t always recognizable and readily attributable to Him. Sometimes it comes disguised in the form of a friend who encourages and comforts us. He sends His children to act as His representatives, expressing His love and providing tangible evidence of His existence.

Seeing God requires that we look for Him. God told the Israelites, “If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me” (Jeremiah 29:13 NLT). But we have to make the effort to seek evidence of His presence. We have to assume He is there, even when the circumstances tell a starkly different story. When David sat in the damp, dark recesses of a cave in the Judean wilderness, attempting to hide from King Saul, it would have been easy to doubt the presence of God. He could have easily assumed that he had been abandoned by God.

When facing difficulty, our first impression is to assume that God has left the building; He has turned His back on us. But He is there. He is always there. And He is always active because He is the living God. He is not a lifeless idol sitting on a shelf. He is not a dead deity whose story is bound up in an old, out-of-touch book written thousands of years ago. He is the living God of the Bible, which itself is a living, active document that reveals His divine nature and tells the incredible story of His plan for redeeming and restoring humanity.

The author of Hebrews describes the Bible as “alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires” (Hebrews 4:12 NLT). Everything about God is alive, from His Word to His Spirit who lives within each and every believer. Unlike the false gods of this world, our God is a living, breathing, active, and all-powerful God. He has no equal. There are no other gods who can compete with or compare to Him. All other gods are man-made, powerless, and poor substitutes for the one true God. The prophet Jeremiah pulled no punches when describing the futility of worshiping false gods.

Their ways are futile and foolish.
    They cut down a tree, and a craftsman carves an idol.
They decorate it with gold and silver
    and then fasten it securely with hammer and nails
    so it won’t fall over.
Their gods are like
    helpless scarecrows in a cucumber field!
They cannot speak,
    and they need to be carried because they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of such gods,
    for they can neither harm you nor do you any good.” – Jeremiah 10:3-5 NLT

But Jeremiah goes on to differentiate the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David.

But the Lord is the true God;
    he is the living God and the everlasting King. – Jeremiah 10:10 ESV

He is the living God. In other words, there was no point in time when God was made or manufactured by someone else. It is not just that He has life or existence, but that He is the preexistent one. He was not made. God is not the result of man’s creative capabilities. In fact, God is the Creator of all things. He doesn’t have to be carried about and propped up on a shelf. He isn’t restricted to a specific location or limited in any way. God is not isolated and insulated from His creation. He is not stuck in heaven and dependent upon our efforts to call Him down. As followers of Christ, the living God lives within us; we are His temple. Paul reminded the Corinthians of this fact in his second letter to them.

For we are the temple of the living God. As God said: “I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” – 2 Corinthians 6:16 NLT

He lives within us and the proof of His presence should be evident all around us. Paul told the Galatians exactly how to spot the evidence of God’s life within us:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control… – Galatians 5:22 ESV

That is all the proof we need that our God is alive. He reveals Himself in us and through us. But He also shows up all around us, in the daily affairs of life. We can see Him in the many blessings we enjoy. We can sense Him even in the difficulties that show up in life, as He comforts, corrects, encourages, and perfects us. God is always there. We just have to learn to look for Him.

David had become adept at looking for and seeing God in the everyday affairs of life. He had trained himself to seek God and to expect to find Him. David wasn’t surprised when God showed up; it was his expectation. And his response to the presence of God was to praise Him.

For this, O Lord, I will praise you among the nations;
    I will sing praises to your name. – 2 Samuel 22:50 NLT

David’s awareness of God’s active involvement in his life flowed out in praise. He couldn’t help but brag about God. Rather than boast about his own accomplishments, he gave God the credit. He literally sang God’s praises. But David didn’t operate in a vacuum. His words of acclimation and adoration weren’t relegated to his personal quiet time or some secluded spot in his palace. While he directed his praise to God, he wasn’t afraid for others to hear what he had to say. He wanted his people to know and experience the power and presence of God as well. He wanted the nations to hear about the glory of Yahweh.

For this, O Lord, I will praise you among the nations;
    I will sing praises to your name. – 2 Samuel 22:50 NLT

David’s God was alive and powerful. His God was worthy of praise, glory, and honor. Unlike the false gods worshiped by the enemies of Israel, Yahweh wasn’t sitting on a shelf somewhere; He was actively involved in the lives of His people and working out His sovereign will among the nations. He was powerful, present, and providentially carrying out His perfect will according to His predetermined plan.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Exalted By God.

Esther 9-10, James 4

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. – James 4:7 ESV

The story of Esther ends on a high note. The whole intention of its author was to remind the people of God how He had provided for them during their time in exile in Babylon. While Ezra, Nehemiah, Zerrubabel and the remnant of the people of Judah had been busy rebuilding the temple and restoring the walls of Jerusalem, there had been a large contingent of Jews left in the land of Babylon. But God had not left them alone. He had been with them and had miraculously provided for them even while they had been living in exile in a foreign land. Through the lives of Esther and Mordecai, we are given a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes involvement of God as He orchestrated the salvation of His people from destruction. When the story opened, Mordecai was an obscure Jew raising his orphaned cousin, Esther. Through a miraculous chain of events, Esther because the next queen of Persia. This obviously God-ordained promotion set the stage for a series of events that would allow God to reveal His sovereignty and power, even in the midst of a godless and hostile environment. The story ends with Esther still serving as queen, Mordecai as one of the powerful and feared rulers in the land, and the Jews celebrating a stunning and unexpected victory over their enemies. When things had gotten tough, Mordecai and Esther turned their attention to the only one who could save them. They fasted, mourned and prayed. They sought God's help. They took their fears, anxieties, doubts and worries about the future to God. And He heard their cries. He answered their prayers. They humbled themselves before the God of the universe and He exalted them. .

What does this passage reveal about God?

In his letter, James writes, “Draw near to God, and he will draw hear to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you” (James 4:8-10 ESV). These words could have been the perfect opening to the book of Esther. We have to remember that the people of God living in the land of Babylon were far from faithful. The very fact that they were living in a foreign land was due to their unfaithfulness to God. Their entire history as a people had been marked by rebellion against God Almighty. They had refused to worship Him alone. They had rejected His prophets and ignored His warnings. Their exile was God's punishment for their sin. They had loved the world more than they had loved God. James echoes an Old Testament theme regarding the people of God. “You adulterous people. Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4 ESV). The Jews living in Babylon were still in love with the world – even in the days of Esther. The very fact that they were still there, after having been given the opportunity to return to Judah under the leadership of Zerrubabel and Nehemiah, spoke volumes. Many had likely become comfortable with their new life in Babylon. They had acclimated to their new environment and had begun to compromise their faith. So God orchestrated a series of events that would provide a wake up call and a much-needed reminder of who they were and just how powerful their God was.

What does this passage reveal about man?

It is amazing just how often we need a crisis to open our eyes and refocus our attention on our need for God. There is the old saying, “There are no atheists in fox holes.” It seems that tragedy and trouble improves the prayer lives of just about everyone. When difficulty strikes, our knees tend to bend far more easily and readily. Trials can be great reminders of our own weakness and drive us back to God in dependency and submission. Esther may have been the queen of Persia, but she knew that her position would provide no guarantee of safety when faced with a royal edict that commanded the destruction of every Jew living in the land. Her crown wouldn't protect her. Her marriage to the king wouldn't even give her access to the very man who could do something about the problem. Mordecai was a powerless Jew who had made an enemy of the second most powerful man in the land. His refusal to bow before Haman had stirred up a hornet's nest of trouble for every Jew living in the land. And little did Mordecai know that Haman had built a gallows with his name on it. The Jews, living comfortably and complacently in the land of Babylon, would wake up one day to find that their peaceful world was about to be rocked. A royal decree had ordained their complete annihilation. They found themselves in a hopeless, helpless position. But if they would submit to God and draw hear to Him, He would draw near to them. If they would humbly come before Him, expressing their need for Him and confessing their sins to Him, God would exalt them. He would do for them what they could not do for themselves.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

The words recorded in the opening verse of chapter nine of the book of Esther say it all. “Now in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's command and edict were about to be carried out, on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, the reverse occurred: the Jews gained mastery over those who hated them” (Esther 9:1 ESV). Just when things were supposed to have turned out poorly for the Jews, God stepped in and turned things upside down. Rather than defeat, the Jews experienced victory. God turned their annihilation into a scene of celebration. He turned their mourning into joy. He replaced their fear with renewed faith in the power and provision of their God. He used difficulty to reestablish their dependence upon Him. Sometimes we just be brought to our knees before we will turn to God in prayer. There are times when we must be reminded just how much this world really hates us. We can so easily be lured into believing that this world is our friend and has our best interest at heart. But Jesus Himself warned us that the world would hate us just as it hated Him. We do not belong here. This world is not our home. And as long as we are here, we must constantly remind ourselves that our hope and help must come from one place – from our heavenly Father. We must submit to Him. We must humbly turn to Him in total dependence and complete reliance. We must humble ourselves before Him, acknowledging our sin and expressing our need for His help. And He will exalt us. He will do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. He will reveal His power. He will remind us of His sovereignty. He will turn our sorrow into celebration and our helplessness into hope. The story of Esther is the story of God's exaltation and vindication of His people. It is a real-life illustration of John's timeless truth: “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4 ESV).

Father, may I never forget just how powerful and reliable You are. You have proven Yourself time and time again, in history and in my own life. You have turned tragedy into triumph, sorrow into celebration, and replaced my helplessness with hope and healing, more times than I can remember. I want to learn to trust You more. I want to live humbly before You. I want to fall less and less in love with this world and more and more in love with You. Amen