GOD TURNS WALLS TO WAYS

“For by You I can run against a troop; BY MY GOD I CAN LEAP OVER A WALL” – Psalm 18:29

GOD TURNS WALLS INTO WAYS for His Beloved: “For by You I can run against a troop; BY MY GOD I CAN LEAP OVER A WALL” (Psa.18:29). In this meditation text, which is a companion passage to 2 Samuel 22, David celebrated the Lord’s goodness to him during his wilderness sojourn. He expressed praise for all the times and places in his life where God gave him victory and credited God with rewarding his obedience by making him a powerful and victorious military leader. David remembered dire situations where God rescued him. He vividly recalled how God provided divine defence. He affirmed that God would light his lamp and enlighten his darkness as precursors for overcoming a troops and leaping over a wall (vv.28-29). Indeed, God can make ways for His people and turn walls into ways because “As for God, His way is perfect” (v.30a).

David further testified concerning his Journey of Faith with God: “Your right hand has held me up. Your gentleness has made me great. You enlarged my path under me, so my feet did not slip” (vv.35b-36). Rather than being held bound or hedged in by walls, David consistently had the upper hand over his adversaries: “I have pursued my enemies and overtaken them; neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed. I have wounded them, so that they could not rise; they have fallen under my feet. For You have armed me with strength for the battle; You have subdued under me those who rose up against me. You have also given me the necks of my enemies, So that I destroyed those who hated me” (vv.37-40).

The Believer in Christ is assured of nothing less on the pathway of Faith. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself declared: “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Lk.10:19). Paul wrote: “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place” (2Cor.2:14). John affirmed: “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1Jh.5: 4-5). God turns walls into ways, stumbling blocks into stepping stones to triumph, and problems into pedestals for promotion!

Just like David depended upon the Lord for victory over the enemy and for strength to achieve amazing feats, we also can. This man of Faith trusted in the Lord to enable him to thwart the enemy and to scale walls – to turn walls into ways! In the ancient world, cities were protected by high towering, difficult-to-climb walls. Many of such walls were impenetrable and impracticable to knock down, as cannons were not yet in existence. A large part of military strategy was overcoming the defence provided by walls. David credited God with giving him military skill and Victory, major of which was the skill to scale walls. As it was for David in the physical, it can be for the Believer in all dimensions of life and destiny.

In our own strength we cannot be victorious over the Devil or adverse circumstances, but we can be by trusting the Lord. When the Lord commissioned Joshua to lead the Israelites into Canaan and rout its strong inhabitants, He told Joshua not to fear but to obey Him and His Word. He assured: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Jos. 1:9). Jesus declared, “Without Me you can do nothing" (Jh. 15:5b). However, if we abide in Christ and His words abide in us, we can ask whatever we wish, and the Lord will grant our request (Jh.15:7). Reliance on the Lord makes us victorious just as it made David victorious.