No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord. Isaiah 54:17
For many of us, this is a familiar passage but, perhaps, one that we have not dug into very deeply. There is a two-part promise that comes to us as servants of the Lord that we often need to stand on. First of all, God promises that no (none, not any) weapon (weapon, instrument, possession, plan) forged (formed, fashioned, planned, designed) against us will prevail (prosper, cut through, force entry, succeed) if we are servants of the Lord (full time, not part time).
Since Paul tells us that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but rather against spiritual forces of wickedness, we can say that no weapon the devil forms against us and uses through people will prevail or be victorious in the long run. He is not saying that we will not face some battles and even get some cuts and bruises. He is saying that in the long run, the plans of the enemy to destroy us will not succeed if we continue to stand with the Lord.
Secondly, he declares that God will eventually refute every accusation that comes against us. These are connected thoughts and the second may actually be a clarification of the first. Satan is called the accuser of the brethren (Rev.12:10) and not only accuses us day and night before God, but also before men. Many of the weapons formed against us come as accusations, slander, condemnation, and so forth. Sometimes we experience those assaults through the lips of people around us. At other times, we hear them in our own thoughts. They are hurtful, discouraging, and damaging. They are fiery darts from the enemy. Search the scriptures and you will see that all those who served the Lord were, eventually, accused of ungodly motives and actions by their enemies. They were accused of being blasphemers and heretics, subverting governments, and being in league with the devil just for a start.
The promise is that we will refute the accusations made against us. But how will we refute them? Do we argue, make our case, or slander back? No. We trust God to vindicate us in the eyes of those around us. Jesus did not answer his accusers and he is our model (1 Peter 2:23).
As you search the Psalms, you see David frequently asking God to vindicate him but he rarely attempted to vindicate himself. There is an old saying that you should not try to defend yourself against slander because your enemies won’t believe it and your friends don’t need it. There is a great deal of truth in that.
How, then, do we refute words spoken against us? By continuing to live a godly life regardless of how others accuse us. Jesus went as far as commanding us to love our enemies who typically reflect the devil’s character as they accuse us day and night. He commands us to love our enemies by praying for them, speaking well of them when they speak evil of us, and doing good to them (Lk.6). Those actions keep the devil from getting a foothold in our own hearts. The promise is that, eventually, the people we care about will see Christ in us and see the devil in our accusers. If we give in and join them in the mudslinging, then people will eventually see the devil in us and that will hide the devil in them because he is a much more accomplished mudslinger than we can ever be.
To me, the most important part of the Isaiah passage is that protection and vindication are our heritage in the Lord. If that promise is true for the servants of God, how much more must it be true for his children?
Jesus said that in this world we will have trouble (Jn.16:33). Weapons, plans, and strategies will be formed against us. We will experience much of that warfare in the form of accusations and condemnation. Our part is to continue to stand with God, always take the high road, and trust in the Lord for vindication. If we fall into the trap of the devil by taking up his tactics in the fight or by receiving the condemnation he is spewing, then his weapons will have prevailed in our lives. But if we trust the Lord and his promises and continue to reflect the character of God, then our faith will quench the fiery darts of the enemy.
Standing with God in the face of unfounded accusations is hard. It typically takes endurance. If there is truth in the accusation, then we need to hear it, acknowledge it, and repent. David understood this principle. After his son Absalom conspired to take David’s kingdom, David and those close to him were leaving Jerusalem. A man name Shimei accused David of treachery against Saul’s household and was pelting David with stones. Abishai, one of David’s commanders came to him and offered to separate Shemei’s head from his body. David commanded Abishai to leave the man alone. Davis thought that, perhaps, God had prompted the man to say those things for there might be some truth that David needed to hear. If there was no truth in the accusations, then David believed that God would bless him for the abuse he was receiving without retaliation (2 Sam.16). The same spirit is found in Paul’s directives in Romans 12. “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse…Do not repay anyone evil for evil…but overcome evil with good” (Rom.12:14-21).
Satan’s primary strategy is to alienate us from God and to draw us into his camp. If we come into agreement with Satan in our heart or in our actions and remain there long, we give him a place in our lives. When we stand with the Lord, believing that victory and vindication are part of our inheritance, then we will see the power of the enemy fade and the promises of the Father prevail. Then…no weapon formed against us shall prosper. Be blessed today by blessing those who curse you! By the way, you will probably have to ask Jesus for the grace to do so.
