Be Prepared for Battle

Psalm 144:1

Praise be to the Lord my Rock,
who trains my hands for war,
my fingers for battle.

I love this verse for thinking about spiritual warfare and avoiding sin while on the computer. Originally the context was speaking about actual war as King David relied on the Lord for help in winning battles for Israel. I think it is an appropriate application today to think about the spiritual war we are engaged in. As Paul says in Ephesians 6:12 – For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

And 1 Peter 2:11 – Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

I love the idea of God training my fingers for battle. I try to regularly ask God to build up my ability to have self-control. One of the areas I need it most is on the computer. It’s so easy to lose my head and go look at something stupid that I will regret later. It is so easy to click on some article about crossdressing that shows up on the news. And that can lead down a rabbit trail of sin and lust.

I need my hands and fingers trained. I need God to guide my finger clicks on my mouse, and keep my hands from typing in stupid Google searches. When I sit down at the computer, I am sitting down to a battle. I am sitting down and fighting for my soul. My sinful nature and the demonic world would love nothing better than to see me go back to crossdressing addiction, squandering away my life.

This would be a wonderful verse to print out and tape to your computer mouse, keyboard, or computer monitor. Men, let’s prepare for battle when we sit down, and not take the computer lightly! It is a wonderful invention, which can be used for many wonderful blessings. But we are also capable of committing great evil on these machines. When you sit down remember that there is a battle going on, and the battle is over your soul.

But God is our Rock, our foundation, our stability, our strength. We need not fear. He gives us the strength we need to overcome temptation.