Our Help, Not Our Boast

Jephthah was cast out by his brothers, yet in the day of war he became the one Israel needed. The psalm answers such a story rightly: if the Lord had not been on our side, men would have swallowed us alive. Therefore no man may boast in his strength, his birth, or even his zeal. “My help is from the , who made heaven and earth.”

Yet Judges also warns us that victory and rashness may stand close together. Jephthah was not delivered by a bargain struck with God, as though the Maker of heaven could be enriched by a man’s gift. As it is written, “For He that made heaven and earth, and all that is therein, and gives to us all the things of which we stand in need, certainly requires none of those things which He Himself bestows on such as think of furnishing them to Him.” We are bound to keep our word; but it is better to be slow in speaking than to utter something proud and grievous before God.

So the church learns two things at once: flee self-confidence, and bridle the tongue. When danger rises like floodwaters, cry to the Lord for help. When your mouth is ready to run ahead of obedience, be silent and fear God. He delivers His servants from the snare, but He is not mocked by religious display. Let your vows be few, your prayers steadfast, your alms quiet, your repentance plain. Give thanks after deliverance, not by grand promises, but by a life made obedient: forgiving an enemy, feeding the poor, speaking truth, and enduring hardship without murmuring.