Scripture:
[16] The king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
[17] The war horse is a false hope for salvation,
and by its great might it cannot rescue.
Observation:
A king may be able to USE an army and a warrior may be able to USE great strength to help overcome obstacles but..
The army of a king and the strength of a warrior are only tools. Tools given to the king and the warrior by God.
The great strength of warriors, the armies of kings, and the symbolic war horse does not SAVE them. Only God can do that.
Application:
I feel like many people, Christians included, have a tendency to get in a mindset where they rely wholly on, and find their hope in, their own strength or the strength of the army around them, in whatever form that army takes. They feel like “self-made” men or women who forget that their physical strength, their mental strength, their intellectual capability, and all their other gifts, are gracious gifts from the Lord. These gifts do not save us. These gifts are not what we should find our hope in. These gifts are tools to be used in our walk with Jesus to honor Him and glorify His name. If we keep that in mind, our strength and our hope will always be in the Lord and we will joyfully use our God given gifts to serve Him and honor Him.
Prayer:
Lord, thank you for my salvation. Especially knowing what a wretch I was and that You saved me anyway. Thank You for giving me another day on this earth to glorify Your name. Let me never forget that my hope is in You and not in the tools and environment You have graciously given me. In Jesus might name I pray. Amen.