READ: Eph. 6:10-18
Happy are you, O Israel! who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, The shield of your help And the sword of your majesty! Your enemies shall submit to you, And you shall tread down their high places. – Deut. 33:29
Moses proclaims that Israel is blessed and happy. who is like them? The reason for this does not lie within themselves, but in their God. He chose them from among the nations, not because they were better, but because God loved them. Moses adds, “You are a people who have been redeemed by the LORD.” They owe their redemption to Him alone. The Church also does not claim any special position for itself. It is the Lord God who redeemed and gathered us through His Son. He delivered us from the dominion of sin and death without any merit of our own. But it is precisely for this reason that we too are blessed and joyful.
As long as we acknowledge and follow our Lord Jesus as the only Head, we may know that God is our shield and help. He protects and preserves us through His Word and Spirit so that we remain in Him and have a view of eternal glory. Therefore, we may live from the gifted redemption. This requires faith, but also struggle. For the devil, our enemy, tries to turn us away from our faith with tricks and schemes. Israel still had to fight against enemy nations, but with God’s help they would overcome.
Moses says: God is a shield and help for you. He is your majestic sword. That is the guarantee of their victory. We too are given God’s armor, including the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. To fight in His strength means to overcome. Even now, God is our shield so we may be more than conquerors on the heights of our enemies.
Is there a connection between grace and the duty to fight?
Singing: Ps. 149:3,4