Then the children of Israel arose and went up to the house of God to inquire of God. They said, “Which of us shall go up first to battle against the children of Benjamin?” The Lord said, “Judah first.” Judges 20:18
JUDAH means ‘praise’. After Israel’s exodus from Egypt, one of the many things that God had to teach His people was how to equip themselves for war. This is because for hundreds of years they had lived in a foreign land under oppressive rule and all that they knew was how to be slaves.
I found myself in a similar lesson in the year 2008. Like everyone else I could not foresee the year’s events. But right at the start, God who sees the end from the beginning gave me Psalm 34 and I meditated on it like I would any other.
That year my mother died suddenly although she was in good health up to then. Later that year, our home was broken into and this was bigger than any other burglary that we had had previously. Then a short time after that, I had become really sick.
The day of my mother’s funeral was not easy for me. I was overwhelmed by fear and my strength started to fail. While we braced ourselves as a family for this very difficult day, God by His Spirit reminded me of Psalm 34 to declare it.
Psalm 34: 1-3 reads, “I will bless the Lord at all times, and His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My life makes its boast in the Lord. Let the humble and afflicted hear and be glad. Magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together.”
God upheld me by the power of His Word that day and commanded His strength over me.
Anyone who has had their home or their goods plundered will tell you that it leaves you feeling violated, angry and fearful.
But before I had opened my mouth to express the fear and anger I felt inside, I heard Psalm 34 and was reminded to give God praise. “I will bless the Lord at all times.”
The day that I fell sick was really strange. I woke up feeling fine but towards the latter part of the day I began to feel ill.
Within a short space of time I had become violently sick, throwing up continuously which reduced my strength to a point where I could only crawl to the toilet and back to my bed.
To add to this strange sequence of events, my speech became slurred and I had some difficulty communicating.
But when the spirit of death visited me and prophesied my end I was reminded to bless the Lord at all times again and rebuked the spirit of death that had come over me.
By the end of that day all the symptoms that I had had ceased and the following day, my strength was completely restored that it seemed as though the day before had never happened.
Now when I look back and recount the events of that year, I am amazed at the love and graciousness of our God – to see how He prepared me and equipped me for the day of trouble.
While God does not bring calamity, disaster and destruction upon His people, He will however use these times of affliction and adversity as an opportunity to deposit His wisdom in us so that we can skillfully apply His wisdom to overcome our circumstances.
The name Judah means praise. Scripture teaches us that this is the divine strategy for warfare, “Judah will go up first”.
So when you find yourself facing a battle of any sort, remember to let your praise to God go up first and your victory is already determined.
Psalm 149 v 5 and 6: “Let the saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud on their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand.”
