Living His Word

Judges 7:2 ERV: Then the LORD said to Gideon, “I am going to help your men defeat the Midianites, but you have too many men. I don’t want the Israelites to forget me and brag that they saved themselves.”

Gideon had been called by God to attack the Midianites who were preparing to raid and sack the land of Israel. The Midianites had 135,000 men, but Gideon had only 32,000 men. Gideon no doubt thought he had too few men, but God told him that he had too many. The Israelites had cried out to the Lord for deliverance from the Midianites (Judges 6:6-7) and the Lord determined to make it plain to them that it was He that was going to save them. Thus, He had Gideon reduce his force to a mere 300 men.

It is part and parcel of the sinful, fallen nature of humankind to take credit for any success it has in life. Instead of giving the praise and the glory to God, we give the praise and the glory to ourselves. Given this prideful feature of fallen humanity, the Lord must remind us on a regular basis just who we are. One example of this can be found in Isaiah 10:15, “Does the ax raise itself above the person who swings it, or the saw boast against the one who uses it? As if a rod were to wield the person who lifts it up, or a club brandish the one who is not wood!” (Isaiah 10:15). Since it is God who is actually in control of all things, it is the height of prideful foolishness to fail to realize this.

Although we may cry out to the Lord for deliverance like the Israelites did, our prideful foolishness may still cause us to take credit for any deliverance we may receive after it has been gained. The Lord’s oft implemented practice of making it plain to us that this is not the case, consequently, is an essential part of the mercy and grace He extends to us in our time of need. It is to our benefit to realize that it is the Lord alone who has delivered us. It is to our benefit to have our pride and foolishness taken down a notch.

When you cry out to the Lord for your deliverance, then, don’t be surprised if it comes in a way that makes it plain He got it for you.