Go In This Your Might
Then the Lord said to him, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.” So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it The-Lord-Is-Peace. Judges 6:23-24
Their oppressors came in numbers too great to count, destroying their land, leaving not a trace of sustenance, stealing their means of production, and driving the people into such fear that they resorted to caves in the mountains for escape. This was the world that Gideon lived in. And yet, finding a few armfuls of wheat, he brought them to a winepress to thresh and grind the grain. It was more an act of faith than of bravery, though he knew he’d face death if he were caught. He may have been able to hide it from his oppressors, but it did not go unnoticed by God. From beneath the terebinth tree, “the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” At first, the declaration seemed too much to believe. Then his doubts were answered with this assurance, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel …Have I not sent you?” And after many more infallible proofs, Gideon put his full trust in the Lord.
We don’t always believe the estimation and encouragement the Lord speaks to us. We may not recognize the messenger or his message. But when one simple proof leads to another, until our hearts and minds burst with wonder at the possibility that the words may be true, then we are overcome with peace at the realization that all will be well. Our experience reaches the same climax as it did for Gideon; “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.’ So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it Jehovah Shalom.”
The famous English poet, Frances Ridley Havergal (1836-1879) wrote many hymns still familiar in Church worship today. Her faith was genuine, and her service to Christ energetic. When Frances was vacationing in the south of Wales, she caught a severe cold, accompanied by inflammation of the lungs. Hearing how ill she was, and that she might die, she replied, “If I am really going, it is too good to be true.” Her friends were amazed at how peacefully she received this information. She did survive that illness, and later that year, she wrote the hymn “Like a River Glorious,” in which she pointed to the source of her perfect peace. These are the words she penned about Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our Peace;
Like a river, glorious, is God’s perfect peace,
Over all victorious, in its bright increase,
Perfect, yet it floweth fuller every day,
Perfect, yet it growth deeper all the way.
Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest;
Finding as He promised, perfect peace and rest.
Read: Judges 6:1-24
Listen: Like a River Glorious