Courage From the Lord (2 Samuel 10:12)
Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to him.”
—2 Samuel 10:12
What a great word of encouragement in 2 Samuel 10:12—specifically for God’s people at a point when they were tempted to be afraid—that they would “be of good courage.” Let us be courageous for our people and for the cities of our God. I love this last phrase: “May the Lord do what seems good to him.” May we be courageous with faith and with trust in God and his leadership over our lives, ultimately knowing that whatever happens is in his hand and that we can be courageous.
I want to pray this specifically today over all of us as we struggle with tendencies to be timid in our faith, timid in following Jesus, timid in sharing the gospel, or timid in putting God’s word into practice in our lives. We can be timid about what others may say about us or timid about what others may think concerning us. But we should remember 2 Timothy 1:7: God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. We see this all throughout God’s Word—here in 2 Samuel 10:12 and in Joshua 1: “Be strong and courageous, for the Lord is with you.” Meditate on his Word, be careful to walk in it, and as you do, be courageous.
2 Samuel 10:12 shows the strength that comes from trusting the Lord.
God, I pray for courage in my life and in the lives of those who are listening right now. We pray together that you would give us wise courage. God, help us not to be courageous and foolish, living according to our own ways. Help us not to walk in disobedience to your Word. The last thing we want is to be courageous in our disobedience. But God, just as you say in Joshua 1, help us to meditate on your Word day and night. Help us to be careful to do according to what is written in it, and as we do, to be courageous—not timid or afraid. Help us to live and lead with good courage, trusting you.
God, help us to be bold and courageous in sharing the gospel today. In the opportunities we have to speak about your love for people through Jesus’s death on the cross for them, we pray that you would help us to speak the gospel courageously.
We pray that you would help us to obey courageously. Help us to do hard things—things that may cost us as we walk in obedience to your Word with good courage: with good courage for the sake of the people around us, with good courage for the sake of your Church, with good courage for the sake of those who are without Christ, and ultimately with good courage for the sake of your glory.
A Prayer for Missionaries
God, we think about missionaries who are serving around the world right now—brothers and sisters who are serving in very hard places to share the gospel. God, would you give courage to them? Would you grant courage to our brothers and sisters in Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and North Korea? Give them courage, O God. We pray that they would be of good courage in all of this.
So God, help us to trust completely in you with whatever happens in our lives as we obey your Word with courage. May that be true in each of our lives. We pray in Jesus’s name. Amen.
