The Sword of the Lord

As I read through Song of Songs this morning, I came across a verse that sounded different from the beautiful love song that Solomon described between a man and woman in the covenant of marriage. The verse describes angelic hosts who are skilled in spiritual conflict, “They are all skilled swordsmen, experienced warriors. Each wears a sword on his thigh, ready to defend the king against an attack in the night” (Song of Songs 3:8).

That verse in Song of Songs is cross-referenced to Psalm 45:3-4, “Put on your sword, O mighty warrior! You are so glorious, so majestic! In your majesty, ride out to victory, defending truth, humility, and justice. Go forth to perform awe-inspiring deeds!”This verse describes Jesus who leads His heavenly army of angels into battle.

On earth, the Church carries the mission of Jesus and His angels in spiritual battle. Paul addressed this assignment in Ephesian 6 where Paul wrote about the spiritual armor we must carry into battle, “Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil” (vs. 11). “All the armor” means that nothing can be left out of our spiritual armament if we are to stand against the strategies of hell that will come against us.

Paul tells us we are fighting a war against dark spirits at work in the unseen realm. Their effort is to affect events on Earth. For us to “stand firm” in the spiritual battles we see playing out before us, all our weapons must be in place and active, including “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (vs. 17). To not engage God’s word in this struggle will relegate us to human strategies that will be of no consequence to the enemy. 

The Lord’s battles are centered around a battle against the spiritual forces that oppose “truth, humility, and justice.” When we face these issues, our battle is against the spiritual forces at work in high places that are motivating people to violate the Lord’s call for us to defend the truth, express humility, and seek justice for all. It is in these intense battles where only the sword of God’s word, not our opinions, will strike at the heart of hell’s battle plan. Wear that sword with confidence because it will perform the awe-inspiring deeds of God.

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This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Garris Elkins

Featured Image by IIkksya from Pixabay

About the Author

Garris Elkins is a Kingdom Winds Contributor. He and his wife, Jan, serve the global Church through writing, speaking, and mentoring. They live in southern Oregon, tucked away in the foothills of the Rogue Valley. Their shared desire is to have each person learn how to hear the heart of God and become a transforming voice in their culture.

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