Selah: Worship in the Midst of Spiritual WarfareSample

Worship Invites Resilience in the Wilderness

If Hannah, Samuel, Jonathan, and David had anything in common, it was the presence of spiritual warfare and the demonstration of God’s power in the midst of it all.

This reinforces the fact that no one is exempt from wilderness seasons, not even David, the one whom the Lord established an Eternal Covenant with and through whose lineage Jesus would come.

If that doesn’t help us feel relieved about the spiritual warfare we endure, I don’t know what does. In fact, David had a difficult life that was never absent of warfare.

Some of that was David’s own doing, just as some of it is ours. Doubt, indifference, and sin yield consequences even once we have repented. Yet, when we worship, we remember who God is in the middle of those dry, desert seasons, too.

He is the same God whom David once wrote pursues us with lovingkindness, and yet, that lovingkindness often involves correction and redirection.

Worship does not always offer us reconciliation among old relationships. It does, however, restore us to a renewed relationship with the Lord and helps us recognize that His Strength is perfected in some of our weakest moments when we turn to Him.

Worship invites resilience in the middle of the wilderness when we press past our issues in the Father’s presence without fear of condemnation. Because get this: there is no amount of warfare that can prevent you from accessing God's promises when you worship-even in a dry and desert season.

When David failed to correct Amnon for the sexual abuse he subjected his half-sister Tamar to, his son Absalom took matters into his own hands. Once Absalom killed Amnon, he ran away to his grandfather’s kingdom for a time before returning.

Unfortunately, David grew increasingly distant from his son, Absalom, who longed for his affection, and his eldest living son eventually took over the kingdom of Israel.

This presented a catch-22 for David. Had David assumed position over his kingdom again, it would have meant that his eldest living son had died. Had he remained exiled, or worse, it would have meant he’d lost his kingdom and everything God had given him the responsibility of leading, including his son.

Oftentimes, wilderness seasons make us feel like there’s no way we could possibly win. Yet, David shows us that even there, we are never too far from the Lord.

Once Absalom gained favor with the army, David departed, going on the run to the wilderness as he had been when Saul was king. And yet, there in the middle of the road to the wilderness, David chose to worship.

Slowing down to make sacrifices to the Lord would have exposed David to greater vulnerability. Still, he waited while Abiathar did so until the last person who was leaving with them (which numbered well past 1000) finished passing. (Please note that the English Standard Version is the only translation that does not include the statement that Abiathar offered sacrifices.)

The desert can teach us a lot about worship. Although the beauty can be a lot more difficult to note, it is still present. David began to note those traveling with him and the kindness some of his citizens displayed toward him.

• Ittai the Gittite was just one of the many who chose to leave with him, even when David encouraged him to return.
• Zadok and Abiathar were hesitant to return the Ark of the Lord to Jerusalem without him, signifying their belief that God was yet with him.
• Hushai the Archite even returned to Jerusalem to counter the counsel Absalom received on David's behalf.

Pain can often distract and discourage us from seeing the unique beauty wilderness seasons have to display. Neither those distractions nor discouragement have the power to lead us to deny the good that God is yet with us.

David worshiped on the way to the wilderness, and it was not lost on God.

Worship leads us to accept God’s Will even when we’re on our way into the wilderness, and eventually, it will help us see our way out. Bless God that He’s willing to endure it all with us.

Reflection

1. How would you describe former wilderness seasons?
2. What lessons did God reveal to you during those times?