Originally posted: 12/23/2019
“The Lord has broken through my enemies before me like the breakthrough of waters.” Therefore he named that place Baal-perazim [the Master of Breakthrough], (5:20).
Finally… a Breakthrough for David. The years of running and hiding, fearing for his life, living in caves, looking for the light at the end of the tunnel… and now suddenly, everything has changed
I was struck with this thought: Breakthroughs… God doesn’t need them, but His people do. He is Sovereign and what may seem to be a Breakthrough to us, has been moving along according to His plan, exactly as He has orchestrated.
But He knows we need them: Breakthroughs. But what we need more is Him, the Master of Breakthrough.
Consider Him, the Master of Breakthrough
- The Master of Breakthrough bestows strength.
- David became greater and greater, for the Lord God of hosts was with him, (5:10).
- The Master of Breakthrough works for the sake of His people.
- And David realized that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, and that He had exalted his kingdom for the sake of His people Israel, (5:12).
- The Master of Breakthrough defeats our enemy.
- So David came to Baal-perazim and defeated them there; and he said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me like the breakthrough of waters.” Therefore he named that place Baal-perazim. 21 They abandoned their idols there, so David and his men carried them away, (5:20-21).
- The Master of Breakthrough provides guidance.
- When David inquired of the Lord, He said, “You shall not go directly up; circle around behind them and come at them in front of the balsam trees. 24 It shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then you shall act promptly, for then the Lord will have gone out before you to strike the army of the Philistines,” (5:23-24).
- The Master of Breakthrough moves His people to obedience.
- Then David did so, just as the Lord had commanded him, and struck down the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer, (5:25).
How do we respond to Him, the Master of Breakthrough?
Sometimes waiting is so terribly difficult, even painful. But He is faithful and will bring His Breakthrough, in His perfect time and His perfect way. And as we wait on Him, the Master of Breakthrough, our faith is strengthened.
Through His Breakthrough, He leads us not only to His provision of strength, victory, and guidance, but He brings us to Himself. If only we could learn to live in the reality that because He is with us, we are always in the midst of His Breakthrough, whether we feel that way or not, “for we walk by faith, not by sight—” (2 Corinthians 5:7).
Many of us know and love to quote Romans 8:28: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
What if we read Romans 8:28 something like this?
And we know that God causes all things (including our waiting, our sufferings, and our trials) to work together for good (not just for our good, but for the good sake of His people) who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (according to His perfect Breakthrough that has been moving along according to His plan, exactly as He has orchestrated).
What if we learned to see the circumstances of our lives through the lens of God’s purpose? When we experience His Breakthrough on our behalf, may we realize He is always working, not just for us, but for the sake of all His people.
Perhaps we will learn to view the waiting and our hardships with joy in anticipation of being used by Him, the Master of Breakthrough, to be a blessing to others.
The day is coming when the waiting will cease as we join with all the saints to proclaim by sight, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me like the breakthrough of waters.”
After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; 2 because His judgments are true and righteous; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and He has avenged the blood of His bond-servants on her,” (Revelation 19:1-2).
Until that day, let us walk by faith and not sight, that others would be blessed, as we learn to trust and praise Him, the Master of Breakthrough.
I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay,
And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.
3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear
And will trust in the Lord, (Psalm 40:1-3).