Mensa Otabil - Trained Hands (09/29/2025)
This week we are focusing on the hands, and everything we teach has to do with the hand. Today we are discussing trained hands, and our text is from Psalm 144, verse 1: «Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle.» This is obviously a psalm of David. We know David as a warrior, a skillful warrior, and a skillful musician. In both ways, his hands were very important to what he did. Many of us are familiar with the story of David and Goliath when he goes out to fight Goliath, a great warrior and giant. At the time David fights Goliath, he is not old enough to be enlisted in the military of Israel, so he’s not a trained soldier. Yet he goes out into battle and wins the battle.
The impression you get when you read the story of David is that he was not trained, not ready, and not prepared, but God used him anyway. There is some truth in that; however, there is more to it than the fact that David was a teenager who was not trained. He himself, in today’s passage, tells us that he was trained. He admits he may not have been ready for military academy in Israel, but God trained him, saying that the Lord was his trainer. And, of course, if God is your trainer, you’ll come out very well.
So how did God train David? God started training David when he was a shepherd boy. He trained him to be a musician, but he also trained him to be a warrior, helping him learn how to protect his sheep. David learned how to defend his flock from a lion and a bear, and when these predators attacked his lambs, he rescued them. All of that process was God’s training. It’s very interesting how God trains us. God trains us while we are doing our normal chores. Something we think is not important may be what God uses to train us. For David, he was simply looking after sheep, but it was God’s training for him.
When a lion came against his animals, he could have said, «Oh, it’s just an enemy; let me go after it,» but it was God’s training. So it’s very possible for God to be training you without your knowledge. Just consider for a moment: is it possible that God is training you at this time? Is it possible that where you work is a training ground? The opportunity He gives you may be part of His training. Is it even possible that the person who annoys you the most is part of God’s training? Is it possible that God is training you without your awareness? This is not like a classroom training; rather, it is God using the events of life and the circumstances of life to train us for a bigger mission.
And so David said, «The Lord trained my hands for war,» not in a classroom, but through life. Therefore, when God is taking us through training, we must appreciate the lessons He wants us to learn. One of the most important things in God’s training school is faithfulness, and another is obedience. Be faithful in little, and He will train you to be faithful in much.
Just know that you are in God’s training school, so don’t run away from class. He will get you through and use you mightily for His kingdom and for His glory. Let’s pray. Say with me: «Heavenly Father, I submit to Your training. Help me to master all the lessons You are teaching me. In Jesus' name, Amen.»
There is no mistake in your life; it’s all part of the training. I am Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.