What David Knew
Psalms 60:11-12 NKJV
Give us help from trouble,
For the help of man is useless.
Through God we will do valiantly,
For it is He who shall tread down our enemies.
David knew something. He was in the know about a powerful truth. David knew that he needed God’s help. And he knew that the help of man was useless. If we read this through religious Sunday eyes, we think, of course, everyone knows that. But do we?
It is easy to look at David’s life and marvel at who he was and what he accomplished. David was anointed of God to be a King, and not only a king, a prophet. He was a warrior and a poet. He killed giants and enemy soldiers and sang and played so beautifully that he was considered the top artist in the country and was the number one palace singer. This guy was multifaceted and multi-talented. It’s easy to look at David and think he was an ancient superhero. But David knew something.
David knew the source of his strength. We first see David in 1 Samuel 16. Verse 13 says, “So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. And the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon David from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Ramah.” NLT We do not see David killing anything or facing giants until after the Holy Spirit came upon him powerfully. David had to have known what he was without God’s Spirit and help, and the difference after the Holy Spirit came upon him.
All throughout David’s life, we find him going to God before going to battle. Over and over, David had direction from God before he launched an attack. David sought God when trouble would raise its head, and then David would follow the direction that the Lord gave him. So when David prays, “Lord give us help from trouble, for the help of man is useless.” He was not speaking in religious tones. He knew if God was helping him, that winning was guaranteed. And his exclamation in verse twelve sums it up. “Through God we will do valiantly, for it is He who shall tread down our enemies.”
Application
I know that I will never be the multi-talented multifaceted leader that King David was. But I also know that the same Holy Spirit who helped David helps me. You and I may not ever have to face an enemy in hand-to-hand combat. But we still can have the same help that David had. There are going to be times in life where man’s help is useless, but we are not looking to man first. We are looking to the same Lord who helped David win and will help us in the battles we face.
What will help us is to acknowledge in our hearts and minds that we have God’s help, and with Him, all things become possible. Too often, we look to people to do what only God can do. Let’s retrain ourselves to look to God first. He may use other people to help, but it’s through God that we can do valiantly.
Prayer
Lord, You are my help and my strength. I am not so awesome without You, but I am grateful that I am not without You, and You are helping me. I know what David knew.