“For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, “The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek Him; but His power and His wrath is against all them that forsake Him.” (Ezra 8:22)
The Word describes how the Lord showed Himself strong in using the unbeliever for the good of His people. King Cyrus who was king in Persia, now Iran, decreed that the Jews be allowed to rebuild the temple. The building continued through the reigns of King Cyrus to the 6th year of the reign of King Darius. Later, Ezra found favor with the following king, King Artaxerxes who had succeeded Xeres I, supposedly the king who made Esther queen. God used this heathen king to allow Ezra to take a remnant of the people to Jerusalem, to teach the people the Law and return the people’s hearts to God. This brings us to this Scripture. The journey was long and dangerous, but in Ezra’s words he was ashamed to ask for soldiers because he had proclaimed God’s power to the king. Asking for soldiers would mean that his great God couldn’t protect them. In other words, he obligated God to fulfill His Word.
But the Bible shows us how God shows Himself strong when He is obligated. There’s Elijah who confronted the prophets of Baal. “And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.” (1Kings 18:24) So the prophets of Baal build their altar. They call on their god and even cut themselves so that Baal would manifest with fire on the altar. Butt by evening, Baal had not manifested any fire. Then Elijah built an altar in the name of the Lord with twelve stones representing the twelve tribes of Israel. He made a trench around the altar, poured four barrels of water on the sacrifice three different times and the water ran into the trench around the altar. (1 Kings 18:25-36) Then Elijah prayed, “Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that Thou art the LORD God, and that Thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, He is the God; the LORD, He is the God.” (1Kings 18:37-39)
Elijah was not afraid to call on the Lord God Who keeps covenant and is faithful to His Word. And we should not. When prayer is needed, we need to call on the Lord with the confidence of Elijah on the covenant and promises of God. Many may feel this is presumptuous or even demanding, but we don’t call on God demanding. And if it seems presumptuous, it’s the confidence in our Lord Who if faithful to His Word. It’s calling on our Lord Whose Word is yea and amen! “For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” (2Corinthians 1:20) Even Balaam in all his unrighteousness understood that God’s Word is sure and spoke to Balak who wanted to destroy God’s people, “God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the Son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good? (Numbers 23:19) And Isaiah prophesied, “So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11) God’s Word is established in heaven. God spoke it and it is. “...For ever, O LORD, Thy word is settled in heaven.” (Psalms 119:89)
God’s Word will not fail. We fail in our doubt and fear. It comes down to faith. Do we or don’t we believe God’s Word? We cannot act on our experiences. So, we weren’t healed. That does not make God’s Word false. When we take a stand with God against the enemy’s lies, God shows Himself strong. “Thy God hath commanded thy strength: strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us.” (Psalms 68:28) The Lord tells us that He has appointed to us and charged us with boldness, might and power. David prays in this psalm for the Lord to prevail and show Himself strong in the ordained work for us. We can pray with the boldness that David prayed and act with the confidence that Elijah acted. God loves boldness. And God loves faith. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6)
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