The Man Who is Really Strong

„Jehovah looked upon [Gideon], and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of Midian. Have not I sent thee?“ (Judges 6:14)

His heart has been touched, and prepared of the Lord for the work to which he is called. He has a deep sense of Israel’s condition upon his soul, though he is without the power to help them; and has been comparing that condition with Jehovah’s title and power. This is the way of faith.

The man who is really strong and mighty is he who has got into the secret of Israel’s impoverishment. Jehovah has looked upon him, has identified Himself with him, and shown His heart to be towards him. There is no limit to Gideon’s might. But does he feel himself to be strong? No! never before had he so known his own weakness and insignificance; never had he so felt the poverty of his father’s house as now. Thus it is always with soldiers of faith. They have never so felt their weakness as when called to be God’s mighty men of valor. Thus it is always with soldiers of faith. They have never so felt their weakness as when called to be God’s mighty men of valor. “Jehovah looked upon [Gideon], and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of Midian. Have not I sent thee?“ People often say, “I want to feel that I am strong.” What we need is to feel that we are weak; this brings in Omnipotence. What saint but knows from the experience of the deceitfulness of his own heart, that, had we power in ourselves instead of in Christ, we should be something. This is what God does not intend.

The answer of the Lord to Israel’s cry discloses the secret of our condition. We have sinned. We have not obeyed His voice. And, if awakened to the sense of what we have lost, ofttimes, there has not been the acknowledgment of our sin in departing from God, and it has, therefore, only led to fretfulness and impatience or to wrong pretensions. Gideon sees the Lord’s hand to be upon His people, and that because of sin. But he identifies himself with the people, and he at once loses sight of himself in his interest in, and thoughts about, the people of God as God’s people.

J.N.D.