“The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.”
– Proverbs 21:31
Proverbs 21:31 Highlights Our Dependence to the Lord
What a great verse, particularly in light of just reflections recently on Proverbs 19 and 20. “So the plans we make are many, for the Lord’s purpose stands.” Proverbs 19. Proverbs 20, “When we make plans, we should seek wise counsel and guidance.” Then you get to Proverbs 21, “The horse is made ready for the battle.” In other words, we do all that we’re supposed to do to get ready. By wise guidance we wage war. So we make plans, we pray in accordance with the purpose of God, with counsel from others who fear God and want to see his purposes accomplished. So we do what we do. The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.
Apart from Him we can do nothing. All of our hope is in the God to whom belongs the victory.
Proverbs 21:31 Reminds Us of Our Reliance on God
Like, only God. Only God gives the victory in the battles we face and the challenges we face, in the trials we endure, in the decisions we make. We have a responsible to do all kinds of things. In other words, to make the horse ready for the day of battle, but only God can give the victory. Oh, doesn’t this just cultivate humility in us? God, we cannot do anything without you. To you belongs the victory. From you comes everything that is good. There is nothing good we have apart from your hand. So God, we just confess our need for you in every way, in everything that we do and who we are. God, we need you. We need you for every breath we breathe, we need you for every trial we endure, we need you for every decision we make, and we need you for every task we accomplish.
This Verse Helps Us Grow Closer to God
We need you for every single thing. Apart from you, we can do nothing. All of our hope, it’s not in our horses, so to speak. It’s not in what we do. It’s ultimately what you do. All of our hope is in you God. So help us to live with that realization. Just a dependence on you and the confidence that comes in this, that knowing that the battle belongs to you and you are committed to providing for us. You are committed to leading and guiding us for our good as we trust in you. Oh, we praise you for this truth that the horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to you. Victory comes from you alone. So help us to pray, to plan, to work, to live with trust in your leadership at every single moment, with trust in your provision in every single thing we do. In Jesus name we pray, amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
