Psalm 44:4-8 - May 17, 2009

Ps 44:4-8 "You are my King and my God, who decrees victories for Jacob. 5 Through you we push back our enemies; through your name we trample our foes. 6 I do not trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory; 7 but you give us victory over our enemies, you put our adversaries to shame. 8 In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise your name forever." NIV

Did I mention that we still have to fight? 2 Peter 1:3 promises us that “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” We are assured that everything has already been provided and yet there is a paradox at work here. On one hand all I need is already mine. On the other I am commissioned to fight the good fight of faith (I Ti. 6:12) and to take the kingdom of God violently by force! (Mt. 11:12). This is the paradox of God’s kingdom. We are seated with Christ in heavenly places (Eph. 2:6) and yet we are commissioned as the Lord’s intercessors to pray for His kingdom and will to be done here on earth as it already is in heaven! (Mt. 6:10)
The psalmist is reflecting on the nature of this struggle with a powerful insight. He states “You are my King and my God, who decrees victories for Jacob.” The point being that the victory that God enables us to walk in flows out of two primary principles: our position of submission to His lordship and dominion and the power of God speaking forth those victories. Every conflict is an expression of the conflict between the kingdom of light and the
kingdom of darkness.
We must remember that when we are wrestling with a circumstance or temptation,it is not simply a matter of a human being having a personal struggle, it is a matter of a spiritual being (you!) in the midst of a spiritual conflict between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. Paul stated clearly that we do not fight against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places. (II Co. 10:1-5) It is two kingdoms struggling for dominion in every heart and every home. When we are submitted to the Holy Spirit through the blood of Christ, we are now empowered warriors who are fighting against the kingdom of darkness with every life giving choice that we make, every godly stand that we take! To the degree that we allow Christ’s dominion to be expressed through how we live we are gaining the victory in Jesus name.
In partnership with this principle the victory that we win is completed as an expression of God’s kingdom and His will being done on the earth. It is such a profound reality that hundreds of years before the cross of Christ ushered in a whole new dimension of revelation that this psalmist understood the principle of God’s kingdom and purpose being released through what God speaks forth. The psalmist understood that if God has spoken, then the battle is already won! We must learn to agree with God and fight the battle in the faith that it is already finished. The real challenge is not the conflict itself but the struggle to discern what God has truly spoken. The right application of both the written scriptures and the rhema word of God that comes to us personally is the center point of walking in victory! The psalmist has captured this understanding and has learned to recognize that even as he fights, it is not his own efforts that bring him the victory. If God has decreed it then we receive it! As we spend more time to discover the victories that God has already decreed, we will spend less time fighting battles that have already been won!!!