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Reliance Upon the Lord Alone
“Better is the little of the righteous than the abundance of many wicked.” (Psalms 37:16)
Certainly it could be perceived by the natural faculties that evil is going forth relentlessly, unable to be stopped. But let us not forget that the believer is to walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Cor. 5:7) Accordingly, in Psalms 37:16, David boldly asserts a reality that must be received by faith. Believers must accept the Word of God as true and stand firm in the knowledge of this truth. And the truth that David declares to us is simply this: that though there be few righteous in comparison to the many wicked, and though they may not possess much in the eyes of the world, the little that these precious righteous souls do possess is indeed better. Let us praise God for that which we do possess is far more potent and more powerful than the abundance of the many wicked!
As David declares this truth, he does not merely deliver an idea or a thought conceived from his mind and useful only in theory. His knowledge of this truth is not something solely conceptualized in his mind with no real participation in this reality. When we look at David’s life we know the opposite must be true. David declares this truth out of his experience! He knows of the greatness that the little possess because he has been before many wicked and come forth victorious in the name of the Lord! Consistently we find that David was an underdog. As a shepherd he fought against lions and bears. As a young man he was hunted by Saul, the King of Israel. And as a king himself, he fought against the best armies of many great and powerful nations.
Above all these, however, it is probably the story of David and Goliath recorded in 1 Samuel 17 that best typifies David’s experience with the truth of Psalms 37:16. For as the Philistine army gathered for battle in the land of Judah, their colossal giant came forth and issued a challenge to the army of Israel. He cried out, “Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will become your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall become our servants and serve us.” (1 Sam 17:8&9)
What a bold affront to the people of God! Certainly this challenge should have been followed by cries of courage and valor from the army of God, each one wanting to slay this enemy of God. Yet shamefully, Saul, the king of Israel, along with the rest of the nation became dismayed and greatly afraid! (verse 11) They did not want to rise up in battle to defend the Lord God and His people for fear and dread had gripped them rendering them hopelessly dismayed. Sadly, they did not arise with Godly courage and accept the challenge of the giant, but rather they cowardly fled in fear, shamefully fleeing from their combatant duties.
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Yet let us not despair and lose courage, but let us learn the lesson of the small shepherd boy David who knew to stand firm in his faith in God. After 40 days of Goliath issuing this unmet challenge, David, who had journeyed that day simply to bring food from his father to his older brothers, stepped forth to answer the challenge of the giant Goliath. David did not cower in fear despite his inexperience as a warrior. He did not shrink back despite is young age and small stature. Rather, out of his shepherd’s heart for the Lord’s people, he rose up to defend the honor of his God and went forth to fight with the little he had.
That day the Word of God stood true. Indeed, better is the little of the righteous than the abundance of many wicked. Without armor, spear or sword, David struck down Goliath and the Philistine army fled. That day, the sling and the stone of the righteous boy proved to be far superior than the armor, sword and shield of the Philistine warrior.
In order for the church to rise up victoriously to overcome the powers of evil in this day, there must be a coming to know the full reality of Psalms 37:16. As one studies this verse in a desire to know the truth of God, a question begins to form within. What is it that the righteous people of God posses that is better than the abundance of many wicked? Some may be uncertain exactly what David is talking about. Truly it is a counter-intuitive statement that seems utterly ridiculous to all our human understanding! We learn from the world that bigger is better and that abundance leads to security, strength and power. But let us not be worldly-minded as we walk in the kingdom of God. Rather, let our hearts and our minds come into agreement with Isaiah 55:8-11:
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Neither are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.”
If there is going to be any understanding in the ways of God in this matter, let there be an abandonment of our carnal knowledge and let us seek the infinite wisdom of our God that we may go forth like David as effective warriors in the kingdom of God.
To learn the truth of Psalms 37:16, let us look closely at the story of David and Goliath. David certainly came in the face of great odds that day. Conventional wisdom would tell us that David did not stand a chance. It was conventional wisdom with which Saul said, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth.” (1 Sam. 17:33) But David did not submit to the thoughts or ways of conventional wisdom. He rejected the advice of Saul for the unconventional wisdom of the Lord, with which he derived his uncanny confidence to stand firm for the Lord.
Let us be sure to note that David’s confidence was not in his ability or in his choice of weaponry. Nor did he go forth with confidence in a wise military plan of attack. Rather, his confidence was solely in the Lord! As the giant mocked and insulted the shepherd boy, David boldly tells him in 1 Samuel 17:45-47:
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David’s confidence and faith rested solely in the Lord! Though many would find it foolishness to enter battle without the sword of spear, David knew the power of God to win the victory for him! He was not in need of any great weapon of man for he knew that though he had little, what he did have was the Lord!
In this lies the secret of Psalms 37:16. David entered into battle with very little, but the little he had was the Lord God Almighty Himself and in this lay all his confidence. With the Lord comes salvation and with salvation comes the Lord. This is all that is given to those who are now justified and made righteous through faith in Christ. And although this may not seem like much, certainly it is better than the abundance of many wicked. To the world, it seems like foolishness. It appears as entering into battle without the sword or the spear. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:18, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.” Yes, we enter into battle with only one thing in our arsenal, the cross of Christ. Yet that one thing is so profound and powerful for it is the very power of the Almighty God.
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Is Christ enough? This is the question that we must ask to ourselves and to the Church today. We certainly do live in a similar day as David when the enemy is advancing forward and seeking to slay the people of God. As the giant comes forth, we must ask, “Is my confidence solely in the power of God which is the cross of Christ?”
It seems for many in the church today that Christ is not enough. There are many who are abandoning the rudiments of the cross of Christ and seeking after something else. They want to rely on the sword and spear of man. They are seeking after a distorted gospel, an atrocity similar to that which Paul saw happening to the church at Galatia. He asserts in Galatians 1:4 that Christ “gave Himself for our sins, that HE might deliver us out of the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father (emphasis mine). He tells them it is God’s desire to deliver them from evil through the cross of Christ! Yet in verses 6-7 Paul declares his amazement that many were abandoning the truth for a different, distorted gospel that was being preached among them.
What was it that was being preached? What was this distorted gospel? Paul writes in Galatians 3:3, “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” This gospel that was creeping in was a gospel that did not rely on the grace of God but on the works of man. Confidence was being placed on man’s own abilities, something we see happening similar today in the church.
Much of the mainstream church in America today is being corrupted by the works of man. The arsenal is no longer simply the cross of Christ, but rather has become the ideology and methodology of man. They rely on their own strength to win the battle. No longer is the confidence simply placed in the cross of Christ, but rather upon men and their ways. As a result, the church has turned from the wisdom of Almighty God and has turned to marketing, entertainment and any other means that will appeal to the flesh.
What has been the outcome? The church in America must open her eyes from her slumber. An overwhelming defeat of the people of God in this day is evident. Clearly the enemy advances each day with greater and greater confidence as the people of God stand by helplessly watching like Saul and his army. How incredibly grievous it is to consider the further outcome that awaits if the people of God continue in the works of man and in adopting the ways of the world’s systems.
Paul’s fear for the church at Corinth is similar to the fear I have today for the church in America. He writes, “But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached or you receive a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.” (2 Corinthians 11:3&4)
Oh how the church must return to the simplicity found in Christ! For too long the message has been “Christ and (fill in the blank)”. Christ and wealth. Christ and health. Christ and my denomination. Christ and dogma. Christ and my talents. The list could go on and on as the heart of man continues to desire more than just Christ! Truly there must be a dropping of all these things until there is only Christ!
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Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 2:1-2, “And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Paul recognized that his ministry was not to come from his abilities or to be derived from the wisdom of the world. Yet many preachers today seek just the opposite. They have placed their confidence upon their cleverly crafted words, upon an entertaining presentation and upon their intellectual theological studies. Yet can they say as Paul did in verse 4 that their message and their preaching was “not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power…?”
Paul was a learned man. He had studied and knew the Scriptures. Yet he considered this but “rubbish” hoping only to “gain Christ.” (Philippians 3:8) Paul considered these things rubbish because he knew in comparison to Christ that they had no value. He did not want to put confidence in his flesh. He did not want the confidence of himself or his hearers to rest upon any man. Only that he would gain Christ. This is all that Paul packed in his arsenal. It was the simple message of Christ and him crucified. And Paul went forth in the power of the Spirit.
Oh that we would know this reality today- that all things would be considered rubbish; that no value would be placed upon man and his seemingly limitless ideas. Brothers and sisters in Christ, if our God really needs our ideas and methods, we truly are in trouble! It is only in the spirit of pride, arrogance and idolatry that we think we can add to the simple and pure message of the cross. Truly we must be saved first from ourselves before we will find deliverance from our enemies.
Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ (literally co-crucified); and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.” If we are to truly enter the battle armed only with the cross of Christ, we must recognize that the first death it will accomplish is our own. We must be co-crucified with Christ. This is how the Lord brings victory. He brings us low. He destroys the works of our flesh. And with the cross doing its work, there is no longer a reliance upon the self-nature. Our pride, our arrogance and our idolatry are defeated. Along with that our ideology and methodology are destroyed. All works of the flesh are sent to the grave. We are left with nothing except the resurrected Christ.
Later in Galatians, in chapter 6 verse 14, Paul says, “But may it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” Brethren, this is how the Lord wins the battle. Through the cross He destroys both the world and I. And with the world and I both crucified, all that is left is the glorified Christ.
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“Better is the little of the righteous than the abundance of many wicked.” We have in the Lord a great and mighty warrior. Death could not conquer Him, for though He died on the cross for our deliverance, He rose again after three days. The grave could not hold Him. Certainly the power of God is greater than that of the enemy. And this power works in us, through the cross by faith. Yet there is not room in the arsenal for anything except Christ alone. May we submit to the power of the cross until it has first worked fully in us, so that the battle may be won by the Lord.
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