Under God’s Sovereignty, He Arranges Situations and People to Expose and Terminate the Flesh

We can only worship God for His sovereignty, for under God’s sovereignty He arranges the people and situations around us to test us and be a cross to us to terminate our flesh; may we know God’s authority and fear Him, not daring to overthrow the divine order arranged by God.

We see this in the life of David in 1 and 2 Samuel; he was but a boy when the Lord anointed him through Samuel to be the king over Israel, but he had to go through a lot of things, including persecution and fleeing the king, before he became king.

Not long after David was anointed, there was a battle between the Philistines and the Israelites, and Goliath (a giant man tested in war and very scary) dared the people of Israel to send someone to fight him.

None of the soldiers in Israel dared even to think they can go and fight Goliath; they looked at themselves, their stature, and their strength, and they realized they are not qualified.

So here was Goliath, defying the children of Israel and also the God of Israel, day by day, insulting them and provoking them to fight. In such a situation David comes, a young teenager, being sent by his father to bring some food to his older brothers who are on the front.

When David heard Goliath, he trusted in God and volunteered to go and fight him.

He didn’t look at the outward situation but rather, he knew that the battle is Jehovah’s, and this defying one had to be terminated, for he spoke against God and against His people.

In this situation David reminds us of Joshua and Caleb, the two spies who brought a positive report after spying out the good land; to them, the giants in the land were but their food, for God had given them the land.

Those who know their God show strength and take action, for they trust in God, and they know that God is with them.

In our battle with the enemy we need to realize that it is not by sword or spear that God saves, for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will deliver our enemies into our hands when we trust in Him.

Our enemies are not people; they are the evil forces and authorities in the heavenlies, and in spiritual warfare, we trust in God and rely on His victory, not on our ability to fight or our zeal for God.

David’s victory over Goliath was a strong confirmation that God chose him and anointed him; as we read this account, we need to realize that we today who pursue Christ have a similar situation, for God arranges every aspect of our environment to apply the cross to our flesh and equip and prepare us to be useful in His hand.

Our days and moments are in God’s hand; when we see His sovereign hand at work, we should not rebel against it but rather, we should simply acknowledge it and know God’s authority, fear Him, not dare to overthrow the divine order arranged by God.

If we do this, we will be blessed and His hand will be with us.

Under God’s Sovereignty, He Arranges for Situations and People to be around us to Terminate our Flesh by the Cross

We need to learn the spiritual lesson of David being put together with Saul; seemingly, these were opposite one to the other, but God put them together.

Under God’s sovereignty, David was selected to become an attendant of Saul; an evil spirit tormented Saul, so his servants suggested that someone would be brought in to play some music to calm him.

So David was brought in and, when he played the harp, all the evil spirits went away.

David’s being an attendant to Saul the king was under God’s sovereignty.

By these two being put together, Saul was exposed as being a person who was opposed to God’s will, while David was manifested to be a man according to God’s heart (1 Sam. 18:6-11).

The closer these two became, since Saul had more and more visits from the evil spirits and so David was requested to be with him and sing, the more Saul hated David.

David was there to help him, but Saul hated him.

Saul and David became a test to each other, and though one was the king and the other was a shepherd, David was manifested to be a man according to God’s heart while Saul was exposed to be someone opposite to God’s will. This was all under God’s sovereignty.

The result was that David was tested in his relationship with Saul, so he was continually put on the cross.

This is not only something that happened in David’s situation many years ago; this is applicable to us today.

God is sovereign in arranging situations, things, matters, and people around us and with us to expose us and test us, and many persons around us become a cross to us, a test to us.

For example, our spouse is arranged by God for us to be a cross to us; this is not so that we “bear the cross” and tell others that our spouse is our cross, but so that we may be exposed and tested, and so that our flesh may be terminated.

Similarly, the saints in the church life, especially those the Lord put us with, and even the elders are there as a test to us; they expose us and are a test to us.

This doesn’t mean that we should look at our spouse, at the saints, and at the elders thinking that they are our cross, so we should bear whatever they do to us because that’s what God wants us to do.

No, this is something that the enemy would say to accuse the saints – he is the accuser of the brethren.

We need to realize that, under God’s sovereignty, He arranges all things and persons in our environment and in our life so that we may go to the cross and remain there, allowing the cross to terminate our flesh and our peculiarities.

There is no divorce or separation before God, so we should not seek to get out of our marriage or from the church life; we should simply turn to the Lord, enjoy Him, and allow the cross to operate in us.

We need to trust in God’s sovereignty and seek to contact Him again and again so that we may be strengthened into our inner man; then, when our inner man is strong, we will allow the cross to operate in us to terminate our flesh.

May the Lord’s testing us manifest us to be men according to God’s heart and not only expose us to be persons opposite to God’s will!

May we be before the Lord concerning this and ask Him,

Lord Jesus, we love You! We turn to You. We may not understand why this or that happens, and we may not like the way this or that one treats us, but we keep opening our being to You. Strengthen us into our inner man so that we may allow Christ to make His home in our heart through faith. Amen, Lord, keep us under God’s sovereignty, receiving what He has arranged for us. May the cross operate in us to terminate our flesh and our peculiarities. May all things work out together for good for us as we give ourselves to just love You. Amen, Lord Jesus, save us from trying to escape our situation or Your arrangement. Keep us one with You, living in the organic union with You, to be men according to God’s heart!

Learning to Fear God and not Change the Order Arranged by God but Reject anything of the Flesh

In 1 Sam. 18:5 we see that, because God was with David, he was successful in every mission that Saul sent him on; the secret of his success was his wisdom.

So Saul set him over the men of battle, and it was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.

It seems that, whatever Saul did to David, it became a good opportunity for David to gain favor with the people, for he was a man according to God’s heart and God was with him.

Once when David returned from striking the Philistines, the women came out of all the towns of Israel, and they sang to one another, “Saul has struck down his thousands; / But David, his ten thousands” (1 Sam. 8:5-7).

This caused Saul to be displeased; he said, “They ascribe ten thousands to David, but to me they ascribe only thousands. And what more can he have except the kingdom? So Saul eyed David from that day on” (vv. 8-9).

Saul was angry with David and he was envious of him; he even plotted to kill him, but in such a way that he would not damage his own name (1 Sam. 8:10-20:42).

The praise of the women did not affect David but it did affect Saul.

Prov. 27:21 says that a man is tried by the praise given to him; when others persecute us for doing good, we may not be too bothered, but when others praise us or praise others more than us, this tests us.

When we serve the Lord, we need to be more fearful of the praise given us than the criticism we receive.

Saul was shown to be a person fully in the flesh and absolutely for himself, while David had favour with all the people, and the Lord was with him.

Saul plotted how to kill David and persecuted him, even chasing him around the country; David, however, did not raise his hand against Saul but rather, fled.

As believers in Christ, we need to learn the lesson of not trying to change the order arranged by God, though we may not agree with those ordained by Him to be in a position of authority; may we be under God’s sovereignty and deal with the flesh, rejecting anything of the flesh.

If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit; let us not become vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another (Gal. 5:25-26).

If we are vainglorious, if we provoke one another, or if we envy one another, we are in the flesh and not in the Spirit.

May we learn not to bring anything of the flesh into the church life; there should be no anger, no devices, no conspiracies, and no plots.

In the church life as the kingdom of God (Rom. 14:17), there is God’s authority and His arrangement, and none of us should try to change things in the way of rebelling or rising up against God’s arranged order.

Under God’s sovereignty, He put certain persons in authority so that our flesh may be exposed and put to death.

It would be a shame to say that we are in the Lord’s recovery, however, yet we do not know that there’s a God-ordained order.

May we choose to live Christ in spirit so that we may live a church life according to the divine, ordained order.

The flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh (Gal. 5:17); however, we who are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and its lusts (v. 24).

We need to realize that those who partake of the things of the flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God (v. 21); if we are partakers with the flesh, we are through with God’s kingdom and have no share in it.

David was a pattern to us in this matter: when Saul the king attempted to kill him, he fled and did not fight back, neither did he try to avenge himself (1 Sam. 18:11).

Avenging and fighting back are matters of the flesh, and those who practice the things of the flesh have no share in the kingdom of God (Rom. 12:19; Eph. 4:26; Gal. 5:21, 24).

David was one who knew God’s authority from his heart; in 1 Samuel we see Saul chasing David in the wilderness in order to kill him; David had the opportunity to kill Saul, but he feared God and did not dare to overthrow the divine order arranged by God (1 Sam. 18:6 — 26:25).

May we learn to fear God, be under God’s sovereignty, and not try to change the divine order arranged by God; rather, may we allow God to expose our flesh and may we be one with the Lord to put the flesh to death so that we may live in the kingdom of God.

Things such as jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, and divisions are of the flesh; they should not be in the church life as the kingdom of God.

Though others seem to treat us unfairly, though others may be praised and we may not be appreciated, and though we may be persecuted by someone without a cause, may we learn to fear God, not dare to overthrow the divine order arranged by Him, and just enjoy Christ to be inwardly strengthened and put the flesh to death.

May we allow the Lord to expose the many aspects of the flesh, and may simply put the flesh to death so that we may live in spirit and by the Spirit.

Lord Jesus, make us those who know God’s authority from our heart. Save us from daring to overthrow the divine order arranged by God. May we be those who fear God and live under God’s sovereignty, allowing the Lord to expose the flesh and putting the flesh to death. Amen, Lord Jesus, we are of You and we do not stand with the flesh; we simply want to live in the Spirit and walk according to the Spirit, putting to death the flesh with its passions and its lusts. May we reject anything of rebellion and fighting back; may we be delivered from any desire to avenge ourselves in the church life. Oh Lord Jesus, we just want to live Christ in the spirit so that we may live a church life according to the divine order!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ed Marks, and portions from, Life-study of 1&2 Samuel (msgs. 14-17), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization Study of 1 and 2 Samuel (2021 winter training), week 6, entitled, Spiritual Principles, Life Lessons, and Holy Warning seen in the History of David.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – In the flesh I need no effort to express / Marks of Adam’s nature and its sinfulness; / In the spirit I need not to strive or strain, / I can live as He is and in spirit reign. / Thru my death with Christ, from Adam I am free, / Thru my life with Christ, new life is given me! / Minding not the flesh, old Adam cannot move, / Minding just the spirit, life divine I prove. (Hymns #593)
  – But by the outward, natural man / The Spirit is confined within; / Instead of giving Him a home, / A prison we’ve become to Him. / He’s like a treasure of great worth / Contained in vessels earthen-made; / The vessel must be broken through / And thus the treasure be displayed. (Hymns #749)
  – God will sovereignly / Use persons, things and events to empty us / Of everything that has filled us / And to take away every preoccupation / So that we may have / An increased capacity / To be filled with God. (Song on, God Will Sovereignly Use)