2 Samuel 10:12
Be strong, and let us show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God; and may the LORD do what is good in His sight."
In the mid-1700s, both France and England had colonies in America. The strife between them led to the French and Indian War, which preceded the American Revolution by just over a decade. The French colonies, having a smaller population, allied themselves with various Native American tribes to fight the English.
The British administrator of Virginia, Robert Dinwiddie, selected a twenty-one-year-old soldier named George Washington to travel from Williamsburg to northwest Pennsylvania on a diplomatic mission to avoid war. The negotiations failed, but the attempt was well publicized and made young Washington a household name.
Later, during the ill-fated Battle of the Monongahela (near present-day Pittsburgh), Washington, who was recovering from illness, exhibited remarkable courage and leadership when British forces marched into an ambush and suffered a disastrous defeat. Washington's survival was miraculous.
After the battle, he wrote his mother, saying, "I luckily escaped without a wound, though I had four bullets through my coat and two horses shot under me....I was not half recovered from a violent illness that had confined me to my bed and a wagon for above ten days."
Washington believed God had providentially protected him, and it infused him with confidence in God's guarding, guiding hand. Writing to his brother, John, he said, "By the all-powerful dispensation of Providence I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation; for I had four bullets through my coat and two horses shot under me yet escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every side."
The Native Americans were equally perplexed at Washington's survival. One of the chiefs had repeatedly fired at him and ordered his young warriors to do the same, all of them being true marksmen. But their bullets were "turned aside by some invisible and inscrutable interposition." Chief Red Hawk claimed to have personally shot at Washington eleven times. Another chief, perplexed at Washington's survival, is said to have predicted, "He will become the chief of nations, and a people yet unborn will hail him as the father of a mighty empire."
Washington's incredible survival created a sensation in the Colonies, and many felt God's hand was on him for a special purpose. That opinion was expressed in a famous sermon preached in Hanover County, Virginia, on August 17, 1755, by Samuel Davies.
Davies, a Presbyterian evangelist whose wife had died from a miscarriage shortly before their first anniversary, was battling tuberculosis. He wanted to use every moment for the Lord. He wrote hymns, advanced the Great Awakening, served as president of Princeton University, and preached sermons that left a lasting impression on the Colonies.
In his August 17 sermon, "Religion and Patriotism," Davies preached to Captain Overton's Independent Company of Volunteers and encouraged the troops to bravery as he quoted his text, 2 Samuel 10:12: "Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God" He spoke of the defeat at Monongahela but reminded the soldiers that "God governs the world."
"As a remarkable instance of this," he said, "I may point out to the public that heroic youth, Colonel Washington, whom I cannot but hope Providence has hitherto preserved in so signal a manner for some important service to his country."
Davies didn't live long enough to see how prophetic his words were. He died in 1761, at age thirty-seven. His text, however, lives on. It's remarkable how often the Bible commands us to be strong and to stay encouraged. The eye of providence that preserved young Washington hasn't lost its keenness. The hand that steers the stars and turns the pages of history is the same that arranges our days and bestows the grace needed for each one.
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