Every Day is a Day of War

I’m not a huge fan of Christian fiction.  I rarely read it.  But I’ve stumbled across a series about David and his Mighty Men that has captured my attention.  It is the Lion of War series by Cliff Graham.  Well-written, it contains battle action, history and the story of Yahweh’s presence with David.  Reading it is leading me back to scripture to read the story of David, which a good Christian fiction book should do.

I’m nearing the end of the first volume in a three volume set (the second book arrived today 🙂 ).  David and his band of men are about to attack the Amalekites who raided their home of Ziklag, taking their families captive.  David and one of his close compatriots, Benaiah, are quietly talking before the raid.  Benaiah is asking David about God’s presence.  David has often told the men that they must ask Yahweh(God) to cover them in the Day of War.

Benaiah asks David in the quiet before battle, almost with a sense of anguish:

“But why the day of war?  Why do we only ask for it then?  Why not when a man is in his field plowing?  Why not when he is with his family, or when he has left them and wants them to be safe and protected?  Why not every day?”

David answers him simply:  “Every day is the day of war.”

Of course, this incident is not recorded in scripture.  But it rings with a certain truth about it and it captured my mind and soul.  Because you know what?  Every day is the day of war.

Every day is a battle.  It’s a battle every morning before I even get out of bed.  Am I going to trust God this day?  Or am I going to trust myself?  Am I going to listen for his direction, or am I going to direct my own life?  Am I going to face the day on my own, messed up, or am I going to spend the first part of the day before God, in worship and in prayer?

Like I said, the battle begins every morning before I even get out of bed.

Benaiah was right to ask David his questions.  Because they are important questions.  What good would a god be, if his presence was only available during time of war.  Or crises.  Or suffering?  Oh yes, we need God’s covering during those times.  Especially in times of deep suffering–we need to sense God’s presence and we need to seek God’s presence.  And when we don’t sense His presence, we need to learn somehow that elusive ability to trust that He is there.

However, I don’t know about you, but I need God every day.  I need him as I sit and work on spreadsheets and make teleconference calls all day.  I need Him as I parent my four children every day.  I need Him on the days when nothing is wrong, but everything is wrong.  I need Him.  I need Him in the Day of War.  In every Day of War.

We see that David understood this when we read the Psalms that he wrote.  We see that he understood his need for God’s protection, His strength, His guidance.  We can see this in Psalm 3, below: