In the strength of the Lord

I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only. - Psalm 71v16

I saw a Winston Churchill quote on Facebook yesterday. Like many Churchill quotes it is short, succinct, and to the point.

'When you are going through hell, keep going.'

Churchill is also noted for his famous 'Never Give In' speech. '“Never give in, never give in, never; never; never; never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense”

All of that sounds great. It is all inspirational and motivational and all that. When you read it or hear it sitting in a pew it is easy to say 'Amen.'

But the time comes when this preaches a lot easier than it lives. The time comes when our strength runs out. The time comes when we are worn out. Despite the scriptural admonition we do get weary. There is a deep, settled, intense weariness that we all face at times.

Sure, when those times come it is wise to pull apart and get some rest and refreshment.

But at the end of the day we do have to pick ourselves up and go on. The problem is when we go back to doing that in our own strength. We think that we can either keep on going or get back in the battle based in our own ability.

Wrong.

The psalmist knew how to keep on going when the battle got tough – 'I will go in the strength of the Lord.'

That works. That works because nothing is impossible with God. It works because He is our All-Mighty God. It works because He, not us, laid the foundations of the earth. He, not we, controls Pleiades and Orion. It works because He, not we, beholds all things. It works because He, not we, inhabits eternity.

'If we in our own strength confide our striving would be losing. Were not the right man on our side,
The man of God's own choosing. Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He. Lord Sabboth, his name, From age to age the same, And He must win the battle.'

We must go on. We cannot quit. We cannot give up.

But we must go on the the strength of the Lord. Not our own.