Trust and Obey

Judges 1:19 The LORD was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots.

I was struck at the apparent duplicity of this verse. The Lord was with them….yet they were unable to conquer.

I was thinking about what the difference between this verse and countless other accounts of insurmountable odds…in previous books. Crossing the Red Sea, Crossing the Jordan, Countless Cities with thousands of fighting men….and the Lord crossed them on dry land and delivered them into the hands of the Israelites.

The commentaries talk about God withdrawing his help. The “not trusting” which results in fear and laziness leads to our own rationalization of well….”they had chariots…you know. Nothing we could do about it.”

At what point does one go from trusting….to not trusting, especially in light of the fact that God had never failed them. I believe we start to see that unfold in the first few verses.
Judges 1:1-3 After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the LORD, "Who will be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?"
The LORD answered, "Judah is to go; I have given the land into their hands."
Then the men of Judah said to the Simeonites their brothers, "Come up with us into the territory allotted to us, to fight against the Canaanites. We in turn will go with you into yours." So the Simeonites went with them.

God didn’t tell Judah to ask the Simeonites to go fight with them. As a matter of fact, God said that Judah is to go…..and that He (God) had already delivered the land into their hands. Judah placed its trust in bringing more fire-power than the word of the Lord.

Proverbs says…Trust in the Lord with all our heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.

And like the old Hymn says:
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet,
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way;
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.