Strong Legs

Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; For it is pleasant and praise is becoming. 2 The Lord builds up Jerusalem; He gathers the outcasts of Israel. 3 He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds. 4 He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them. 5 Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite. 6 The Lord supports the afflicted; He brings down the wicked to the ground. -Psalm 147

Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; Sing praises to our God on the lyre, 8 Who covers the heavens with clouds, Who provides rain for the earth, Who makes grass to grow on the mountains. 9 He gives to the beast its food, And to the young ravens which cry. -Psalm 147

In light of all that the psalmist says about God, I want to primarily talk today about the next portion of this passage …what delights the Lord! “10 He does not delight in the strength of the horse ; He does not take pleasure in the legs of a man. 11 The Lord favors those who fear Him, Those who wait for His lovingkindness.”

The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men; From His dwelling place He looks out On all the inhabitants of the earth, He who fashions the hearts of them all, He who understands all their works. 16 The king is not saved by a mighty army; A warrior is not delivered by great strength. 17 A horse is a false hope for victory; Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength. 18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope for His lovingkindness,19 To deliver their soul from death And to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. For our heart rejoices in Him, Because we trust in His holy name. Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us, According as we have hoped in You. Psalm 33:13-22

If we are not careful in life, we will fall into the trap of leaning on or “delighting in” the strength of our own legs over the power of God on our behalf. Various things like pride, insecurity, or even miss-understanding God’s heart can drive us to this place. It doesn’t matter how we get there…we have to learn to get out! We’ve got to embrace our desperate need for Someone stronger and find faith to walk in His plans for our lives!

We need to know the ways of God. We need to seek the heart of God.

1 Samuel 16:6 When they entered, he looked at Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” God makes warriors of those who will give him their heart.

8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” 9 Next Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” 10 Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these. God makes warriors of those who will give him their heart.

” 11 And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all the children?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is tending the sheep.” Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.” 12 So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is he.” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah. We need the Spirit of the Lord more than we need strong legs!

God saw that David would seek His heart and learn to walk in faith. That faith in the strength of God’s legs enable David to be an instrument to lead Israel against the unimaginable.

It was going to be a challenging road to be the one chosen to take the throne from Saul. God new that he would need someone who would seek and His heart in the journey. God taught David to trust. David gave the Lord his heart…his delight. We need strength to obey.

David’s prayer after the Lord’s deliverance: 1 Sam. 22/ Psalm 18

Yes, I cried to my God; And from His temple He heard my voice, And my cry for help came into His ears.8 “Then the earth shook and quaked, The foundations of heaven were trembling And were shaken, because He was angry.9 “Smoke went up out of His nostrils, Fire from His mouth devoured; Coals were kindled by it.10 “He bowed the heavens also, and came down With thick darkness under His feet.11 “And He rode on a cherub and flew; And He appeared on the wings of the wind.12 “And He made darkness canopies around Him, A mass of waters, thick clouds of the sky.13 “From the brightness before Him;

Coals of fire were kindled.14 “The Lord thundered from heaven, And the Most High uttered His voice.15 “And He sent out arrows, and scattered them, Lightning, and routed them.16 “Then the channels of the sea appeared, The foundations of the world were laid bare By the rebuke of the Lord, At the blast of the breath of His nostrils.17 “He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters 18 “He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.19 “They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the Lord was my support.20 “He also brought me forth into a broad place

He rescued me, because He delighted in me.21 “The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.22 “For I have kept the ways of the Lord, And have not acted wickedly against my God.23 “For all His ordinances were before me, And as for His statutes, I did not depart from them.24 “I was also blameless toward Him, And I kept myself from my iniquity.25 “Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to my cleanness before His eyes.26 “With the kind You show Yourself kind, With the blameless You show Yourself blameless;27 With the pure You show Yourself pure, And with the perverted You show Yourself astute.28 “And You save an afflicted people; But Your eyes are on the haughty whom You abase.

29 “For You are my lamp, O Lord; And the Lord illumines my darkness.30 “For by You I can run upon a troop; By my God I can leap over a wall.31 “As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the Lord is tested; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.32 “For who is God, besides the Lord? And who is a rock, besides our God?33 “God is my strong fortress; And He sets the blameless in His way.34 “He makes my feet like hinds’ feet, And sets me on my high places.35 ”He trains my hands for battle, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.36 “You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, And Your help makes me great. 37 “You enlarge my steps under me, And my feet have not slipped.

God’s heart to use weakness and BE the strength is ALL OVER the scriptures… Noah Abraham Moses Joseph Caleb Elijah Jonah Israel’s Battles The Apostles The Church

1 Cor. 1: Paul, discussing the “foolishness” of the gospel,…. “25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.26 For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; 27 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, 28 and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, 29 so that no man may boast before God. 30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, 31 so that, just as it is written, ‘Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.’”

Jeremiah 9: 23 Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; 24 but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.

We need to learn and live out of what the Lord delights in…