Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle; (Psalm 144:1)
Scripture describes life as a war. In this psalm, David literally fought battles and wars with human enemies. By God’s grace, he survived attacks from his former boss, King Saul, and led God’s people to defeat surrounding enemies. So skilled and successful was David that songs were sung of his success (1 Samuel 18:7).
In many ways, David’s life points to the Son of David, Jesus Christ. David was king of Israel, but Jesus is the King of all creation. David’s defeated physical armies and opponents like Goliath. But Jesus defeated sin, death and the devil through His death (Hebrews 2:14, 1 John 3:8).
We live in the aftermath of Christ’s victory. Although sin is still present in our lives, we are no longer slaves to our sinful passions and desires. Although we face the reality of physical death, death is a door that brings us into the very presence of God. Although Satan still roams seeking to steal, kill and destroy, his time is limited and he fights as a defeated foe who cannot steal your life with God. Because the Son of David won the war, we engage in everyday battles against our flesh, the worldly system that is against God and Satan as victors in Christ. We look forwards to the day Jesus will return top off His victory when He does away with all sin and evil.