Proverbs 21:21-22

Proverbs 21:21-22 He who follows righteousness and mercy Finds life, righteousness and honor. (22) A wise man scales the city of the mighty, And brings down the trusted stronghold.

Ecclesiastes 9:18a says, "Wisdom is better than weapons of war... ." Through God's wisdom, we have the upper hand, though we may not see it physically or understand how it is the case. Our upper hand is not the skillful use of creative abilities, it is the surrendered life to the powerful and mighty Jesus Christ. It is the trustworthiness and commitment by God to live up to His Words and not change or found a liar. Wisdom comes only from Jesus, and as believer in Christ, our life is hid in Him.

Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; 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 gave Himself for me.

Any good that comes, any wisdom that scales the wall, is from the Lord. Any strongholds brought down are laid waste by the wisdom of God as He has communicated it to us by His Word. The wisdom of God is knowledge used correctly, God's knowledge, not what we think is a good idea or power or ability (2 Cor 10:4). Wisdom however, as Solomon has taught us, comes through first having truly godly fear and respect of the Almighty creator. When we are broken before Him and see Him as truly great and ourselves as truly unable, then we can cry out to Him to be strong where we are weak (2 Cor 12:10). We can cry out to God and dig in His Word for His wisdom. Then truly, the mighty and strong have no chance before the living God.

Jesus said that through Him we can do all things (Phil 4:13), yet without Him we can do nothing (John 15:5). No matter how high the wall, Jesus can make it fall.

Look at the story of Joshua (Josh. 2). The Israelites were just moving into the promised land. They had just seen God stop the Jordan river and the priests passed through on dry land. Then they were told to march around a city 7 times, with a final 7 laps on the last day. They did as they were asked and God made the walls fall, not just crumble, not just erode over time, but fall down. There was some ruins of a city discovered in Israel, and some have thought it to be the ruins of Jericho. Why? Because the walls were laying outward flat on the front as if they had been pushed from inside, as if they had "fallen down" Whether that ruin was truly Jericho remains to be known, yet truly God delivered the Israelites without so much as lifting a sword.

Think about David and Goliath (1 Sam 17). David was a boy, a sheep herder, and the runt of the family. Yet the uncircumcised Philistine was defying the living God and David was not willing to let that insult pass. David _ran_ to meet his nine foot tall enemy that in the natural realm would have destroyed David. But this is not a "natural" realm, it is a spiritual one. David didn't kill Goliath, but instead God directed that stone and brought down the impossible foe.

Where are our Jericho walls? God can bring them down! Where is our Goliath, God can bring him down! Where are strongholds and cities of the enemy that God cannot bring down! Is He not mighty!? Is He not God!? If we submit ourselves into His mighty hand there is no obstacle, no barrier to where we can go in Christ! If we commit in fear and love to the One who can send us body and soul to hell (Matt. 10:28), will we not be upheld?

We must put on our armour (Eph 6) and stand and be counted as ones who will scale the city, by faith we stand on the character of God as David did, by faith we stand on the knowledge and wisdom and ability of God and Joshua did. And lest we forget, we have been given grace through faith, which itself is a gift from God (Eph 2:8-9). God has given us faith to trust Him, and He has given us grace to reach Him. How far will we go in Christ? Are we willing to take the next step in faith and trust, leaving fear behind? (1 John 4:18)