Deuteronomy 1:28 “Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.”
It is easy to become “discouraged” when we measure our success by our natural strength and abilities. For, most often our adversaries are more powerful than we are, are more numerous than we are, are in higher positions of power and authority than we are, are more vicious than we are, and are better defended than we are. News reports of bad things “discourage” the hearts of the people; for, the reports leave out the Sovereign Power of our God and how He has delivered us in past tribulations. When the news reports “discouraged” the “heart” of the people; Moses exhorted them to “Dread not, neither be afraid of” their enemies (Deuteronomy 1:29); for, “The LORD your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you” just like He has done in all the past conflicts (Deuteronomy 1:30). Over and over again, the people “remembered not the LORD their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side” (Judges 8:34) and they fell into dark discouragement. Let us not waste our time wringing our hands, crying woe is me! Let us stand up and confidently declare, “I know that my redeemer liveth” (Job 19:25) and ask, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.” (Psalms 42:5). Paul explains it this way, “we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead” (II Corinthians 1:9)! So, now is the time for faithful Children of God to “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.” (I Corinthians 16:13) and boldly proclaim, we are going to make it; for, “our God shall fight for us” (Nehemiah 4:20).