The Lord who fights for you

After the Greatest Generation took the promised land and settled into their new homes. Joshua challenged them to remain faithful to the Lord and to always remember why they were so successful in taking the promised land. He tells them specifically in Joshua 23:10 "One of your men puts to flight a thousand, for the LORD your God is He who fights for you, just as He promised you.” (NAS) One man could defeat a thousand because the Lord was on their side. That’s like having an army of Samsons! The last phrase in that verse is “just as He promised you.” That’s a promise we can claim today. We are his children today and He fights for us still. We don’t have to defend against a thousand soldiers, but we still need the Lord to fight for us. Jesus prayed this very thing in the Lord’s prayer “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” There are times in our lives when we need to pray for the Lord to fight for us, to deliver us from evil. The thing I like about this verse is that Joshua describes this quality of God in His name. He calls Him “The Lord …who fights for you.” In Hebrew that’s “Jehovah Elohim Laham.” Roughly translated that means Jehovah, the mighty one, who fights for you. What a wonderful promise! The next time you find yourself in a battle, physical or spiritual, pray Joshua 23:10. Pray to Jehovah Elohim Laham, the Mighty One, to deliver you and fight for you.