"May the LORD's will be done..."

Be courageous! Let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. May the LORD’s will be done.” [2 Samuel 10.12]

Do you think for a moment that Joab was telling his brother Abishai that he just hoped God would help them?

"May the LORD's will be done..." has been used through the years as a phrase of submission to the unknown. I might add that I firmly believe modern religion has come to an erroneous understanding of the phrase as a 'resignation' of sorts to "the will of God" as if the will of God is some sort of unknown wildcard for anything that might happen. This is ludicrous.

First off, "May the LORD's will be done..." is not a phrase to be used by anyone who does not know God. Consequently, if that person knows God, he knows God's will!

So, "May the LORD's will be done..." is a demonstrative phrase of conquest and purpose. It is a clear indicator that the one saying, "May the LORD's will be done..."  actually knows the will of the LORD and is committed to the execution of it! This is clearly the case with Joab, who, as David's army commander would know God's promise to David and to all Israel and would NEVER engage in any battle on behalf of his king and country with any intent other than winning that battle!

Think about it. Would you want a commander of your army who said "whatever!" when going to battle for you and your kingdom? I don't think so! You and I would want a commander who knew the will of God for his king and country and would exert every effort to enforce it! 

You see, Joab's statement, "May the LORD's will be done..." indicated his intent to enforce the will of God which he already knew well!

No one should speak of God's will that does not know God's will!

Furthermore, let's just take this understanding right to the 'elephant in the room' subject of Jesus's "prayer of submission" before His crucifixion... First, for posterity, Jesus made human statements that would indicate that what was about to happen in His crucifixion was going to hurt. But we cannot forget that His request was not ignorant of God's will either. So was Jesus trying to get out of the crucifixion? I don't think so! Every time God asks a question in the Bible, the question is not for God's knowledge (He already knows everything) but it is for the purpose of acknowledgement of the one being asked the question. Jesus asked God if He might avoid the crucifixion as a way to confirm to God that He (Jesus) fully understood that crucifixion was indeed the only way! Jesus knew the answer was "no, these is no other way!" and for posterity it was recorded!

But, let's take this a step further. Jesus KNEW God's will was to save the world through His suffering and death on the cross! Jesus was not ignorant of the will of God (and His entire purpose for being on earth)! Jesus was making His demonstrative declaration, "May the LORD's will be done..." as the Warrior of all Warriors going to the Battle of all Battles to restore irrevocably that which was lost to sin by Adam. Think about it! Would God have sent Jesus to that task if He had any doubt whatsoever that Jesus might wimp out? No! No! No!

We are not ignorant of God's will! We have all the Bible revealing God's purpose and character! We know God is good and only does good (Psalm 119.68). We know we are to look and act like Jesus (John 14.12). And, we know we are commissioned to be ambassadors of God's will on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6.10) just as Jesus did and taught.

Curses are never God's will! God's will is to bless all who obey Him. The purpose of curses is to bring disobedient people to REPENTANCE so they might be restored to obedience and blessings! Never are curses the end goal! NEVER! It is not God's will that any should perish but that all should come to repentance! (2 Peter 3.9)

"May the LORD's will be done..." should be our battle cry as we do the works of Jesus on earth today - because we know what the works of Jesus were and so we know what our task is!

"May the LORD's will be done..." means that we fully intend to follow the steps of 2 Chronicles 7.14, REPENT on behalf of ourselves and our nation and see the glory of God on display for all the world as God miraculously hears our prayer, forgives our sin, and HEALS OUR LAND!

Father, may Your will be done!