The church needs valiant men. The prayer of the church is that God will give her such men.

The term valiant is very old, and while rarely used today, it has great significance and relevance for the church in every age. Broadly in the world, God works valiance in men to advance his cause and kingdom as men rise to power and fall and as kingdoms and nations are shaped and destroyed. Valiance serves the eternal decree of God in election and reprobation. In the church valiance is a characteristic of the believer, a fruit of faith, a gift, worked by the Holy Spirit for God’s cause, which cause is his own glory as he brings to pass the fulfillment of his covenant promise in Christ.

It is correct and good to say that the church needs valiant men, for to say that the church needs valiant men is to say that she must have men of faith, men who love the Lord. It is to understand that valiance is a demonstration of faith and evidence of God’s power and work in the church. It is to acknowledge that the church has enemies and that the believer will be engaged in battle. The church must be marked by valiant men, women, and children, and if she does not have such members, that is the evidence of God’s work of hardening them against his word and a lack of faith.

We do not trust in valiant men, but we trust in the God of the valiant.

Definition

A simple online search for the meaning of valiant reveals some variation in wording but a common theme. Valiant is an adjective that describes a person “possessing or acting with bravery or boldness,” or valiant describes the acts themselves as those “marked by, exhibiting, or carried out with courage or determination,” especially in the face of impossible, difficult, and treacherous circumstances. Synonyms of valiant help to round out our understanding of the meaning and sense of the word, a few of those being brave, courageous, daring, heroic, determined, dauntless, manful, fearless, lionhearted, and intrepid. Valiant’s etymology is that the word is “borrowed from Anglo-French vaillant ‘worthy, strong, courageous,’ from present participle of valer ‘to be of worth,’ going back to Latin valēre ‘to have strength, be well.’”¹

Valiant is a biblical term, and a second online search reveals that

“Valiant” in the Old Testament is for the most part the translation of chayil, “power,” or “might,” and is applied to the courageous and to men of war (“mighty men of valor”), as in 1 Samuel 14:52; 31:12; 2 Samuel 11:16, etc.; in some passages ben chayil, “a son of might” (Judges 21:10; 1 Samuel 18:17; 2 Samuel 2:7, etc.). A few other Hebrew words (gibbor, etc.) are thus rendered. In the New Testament the word occurs once in the King James Version (Hebrews 11:34, “valiant in fight”; the Revised Version (British and American) “mighty in war”). “Valiantly” is the translation of the same Hebrew word (Numbers 24:18; Psalms 60:12, etc.); in one case in the King James Version of chazaq (1 Chronicles 19:13, the American Standard Revised Version “play the man,” the English Revised Version “men”). In some instances the Revised Version (British and American) has variations, as “man of valor” for “valiant man” (1 Samuel 16:18), “valiant” for “strong” (1 Chronicles 26:7,9; Jeremiah 48:14, etc.).²

A Demonstration of Faith

In service of the flesh, it is entirely natural to be valiant. This valiance manifests differently from person to person, but universally men are valiant for their own causes. God has worked out his decree throughout history by working various and sundry acts of valiance in the smallest of arenas to the largest of global stages. But in service of God, it is entirely unnatural to be valiant. The flesh fights hard against the work of the Holy Spirit to make God’s people valiant for his cause and kingdom. Miraculously and astonishingly, as surely as God works faith in the elect, he also works valiance in the church.

It must be established at the outset that the valiance of the believer is a fruit of faith. Valiance is a gift of God that serves the Lord’s cause and glory, and valiance is not unto any other blessing of salvation. God grants to his people the great privilege of partaking in his battles and his cause. This is established by the elect being made part of Christ, their head, in whom they have all the blessings of salvation. Valiance is wholly of God’s power: “My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9).

God did not need the Israelites to be valiant in order to give them victories over the nations. The battles did not rest on Israel’s valiance. God did not give to the Israelites the land of Canaan by their participation in the battles of the Lord against his enemies. The Israelites did not experience the spiritual reality of peace with God and rest in the land because of or in the way of their fighting in God’s battles.

God declared to his church this truth in 2 Chronicles 20:15–17. Jahaziel said,

15. Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.

16. To morrow, go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.

17. Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you.

Valiance is a gift and a gracious miracle that is evidence of God’s saving power in the lives of his people. God loved his people from eternity in Christ; God ingrafted them into Christ by faith; and by that faith God produces a love for himself in their hearts. Since they are made of God’s party, God continues to work in his people, and they are God-lovers.

That continual act of God produces many different and beautiful fruits, including an unworldly valiance. When spiritual valiance is manifested in the people of God, there also is displayed the Holy Spirit’s work of faith, and Christ himself is there. The good news is that their unbelief, weakness, and wickedness are forgiven in Christ, and they rest on his perfect valiance and trust Christ’s perfect service in the battles of his Father.

There is no self-willed, self-generated valiance that is made to be a possibility by an enabling act of God in man, for valiance is wholly, from beginning to end, the work and act of the Holy Spirit.

2. By whom [Jesus Christ] also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

3. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

4. And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

5. And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. (Rom. 5:2–5)

God’s Plan and Purpose

God communicated to the church his plan and purpose when he made the covenantal, mother promise of Genesis 3:15: “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Woven within that promise is the way that God will carry out his promise—in that great antithetical battle between God himself and the devil. In that promise God instructs the church as to who is her enemy—the devil and his seed. God also teaches what is the fulfillment of that promise—Christ’s victory over the devil and the elect church’s victory in Christ. All of God’s working of valiance in the believer is also in service of his eternally decreed plan and purpose.

Valiant David

While the entire scriptures are full of examples, valiance is displayed beautifully for the church in the life and walk of David and his mighty men. The spiritual state of the nation of Israel prior to David’s rule was shocking in its carnality and lack of faith. The people had chosen carnal Saul to be their king, and they had rejected and forgotten God’s stated purpose and promise for the nation:

24. I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the Lord your God, which have separated you from other people.

26. And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine. (Lev. 20:24, 26)

This promise had been repeated throughout the generations and was again delivered to Joshua before the Israelites entered Canaan:

9. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

10. Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people saying,

13. Remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, The Lord your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this land…

14. Ye shall pass before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valour, and help them;

15. Until the Lord have given your brethren rest, as he hath given you, and they also have possessed the land which the Lord your God giveth them: then ye shall return unto the land of your possession, and enjoy it. (Josh. 1:9–10, 13–15)

The promise of God for the land clearly included God’s word that he would drive out the nations that were in the land, which nations and peoples were God’s enemies. This is the reality of God’s decree for his people throughout every age, that by being made God’s friends, they are at war with God’s enemies. The Israelites were not to mix themselves with the nations around them or become entangled with those nations’ gods.

By the time of King Saul’s rule, the nation that had begun well under Joshua was carnal; the people were more interested in earthly peace and prosperity than in any battle of the Lord’s. They supported and strengthened the hand of Saul as he hunted David, whose cause was the Lord’s. They wanted nothing to do with the valiant and warring David. They fought against him, undermined his cause, called him names, supported Saul’s obsession with killing David, and at best played at neutrality. They were carnal and wanted nothing to do with God’s battles. They were not valiant for anything but their own causes.

Valiant Men

God in his mercy called many of the faithful out of Israel to go to David and gathered unto David many

mighty men, helpers of the war. They were armed with bows, and could use both the right hand and the left in hurling stones and shooting arrows out of a bow…men of might, and men of war fit for the battle, that could handle shield and buckler, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as the roes upon the mountains…men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment…such as went forth to battle, expert in war, with all instruments of war, fifty thousand, which could keep rank: they were not of double heart. (1 Chron. 12:1–2, 8, 32–33)

Those men, led by David, agreed with God in God’s cause. They believed that God would fulfill his promise to give them the land of Canaan, that he would defeat his enemies. Knowing that God’s salvation lay in the kingdom established with David, out of thankfulness to God for his salvation, they were valiant for God’s cause. Those men understood that they could not make alliances and establish ties with the enemies of God, knowing that diplomacy and smooth words were not included in God’s prescription. God’s instruction in the principles of spiritual warfare and the declaration of his promise lived in their hearts; by his Spirit they made judgments in all these matters; and they knew what they ought to do. They loved God and so lived in that love that when God told them to go to war, they received that word and trusted that word. That was the act of God himself to work faith in the hearts of those men, granting them bravery to face battles against impossible odds and against powerful enemies.

Valiant!

The Victory

There was no debate on whether David and his mighty men would have the victory. David and his mighty men knew that God’s cause and promise was to give them the land of Canaan, and they believed God’s victory declaration: “The Lord your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you” (Deut. 20:4). In the earthly tableau David and his mighty men saw the spiritual reality of promised victory in Christ. All around them were examples of worldly wisdom and political expediency. Alliances, diplomatic maneuverings, marriages, and threats of violence were all the carnal tools the nations employed in their own pursuits of power. However, David’s mighty men loved the Lord; and walking by faith, believing in the promise, they were aligned to David and fought with David. They fought valiantly against God’s enemies, trusted that God’s victory was sure, rejected carnal weaponry, and obeyed God’s command. Those were unnatural acts of faith that found their source and power in God himself.

Some men refused to fight, would not be aligned with David, and turned back from the battle. That too was according to God’s eternal decree of election and reprobation. God did not work valiance in all men, not even all who were part of the nation of Israel. That lack of valiance was a lack of faith; it was unbelief.

That some receive the gift of faith from God, and others do not receive it proceeds from God’s eternal decree, For known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world (Acts 15:18). Who worketh all things after the counsel of his will (Eph. 1:11). According to which decree He graciously softens the hearts of the elect, however obstinate, and inclines them to believe, while He leaves the non-elect in His just judgment to their own wickedness and obduracy. And herein is especially displayed the profound, the merciful, and at the same time the righteous discrimination between men equally involved in ruin; or that decree of election and reprobation, revealed in the Word of God, which, though men of perverse, impure and unstable minds wrest to their own destruction, yet to holy and pious souls affords unspeakable consolation. (Canons of Dordt 1.6, in Confessions and Church Order, 156)

Scripture testifies that God indeed carried out his decree and established his kingdom with David by destroying the nations that were in Canaan. God glorified himself as he declared his victory over the wicked and as he gave the land of Canaan to the nation of Israel.

Carnal Valiance

There is a test that must be applied to judge valiance. Believers are called to judge whether what they observe is carnal or spiritual. There must be a spiritual judgment made because the children of God can be valiant for their own causes, and they must judge themselves. The church and individual believers must also make judgments within the body, since wicked men are always present both inside and outside the church, and they cleverly cover their carnality with pious mantles in order to deceive. Valiant men are leaders of the people; they can be brave, bold, and decisive. They can appear as angels of light, and their very real and natural valiance is alluring to the church because she often seeks to put her trust in men. Valiance itself is not the test of a man. “They bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the Lord” (Jer. 9:3).

Valiance as a fruit of faith and a gift of God always serves God’s truth; valiance is aligned with God’s word and the creeds and can be tested by those standards. “Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth” (Ps. 60:4). “We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners” (20:5). “As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever” (Isa. 59:21). This is the valiance that is spiritual; it has no source in man at all and does not give glory to men.

In contrast, the valiance that seeks her own glory will always elevate man and his carnal purposes and will be at variance with the glory and kingdom of God. Somewhere and at some point, the words and acts of carnal valiance are revealed and are to be judged.

Relevance for Today

God’s word is still true; the sameness of God’s purpose is immutable. His purpose to realize the kingdom of heaven in Christ will never change, and he carries out that cause as he conducts the fierce, already victorious battle against the devil. God also carries out his decree of election and reprobation today in the same way that he did in the time of David. God draws his people to himself and aligns them with his will and work and makes valiant his church. His people know the Lord; they know his cause; they know his way; and they know his enemies. God’s people confess, “Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies” (Ps. 108:13). God’s people love God’s goodness and justice and mercy, and they rejoice in the battle!

How unnatural!

How glorious!

Take heart and remember that after Hezekiah had “set captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the street of the gate of the city,” he spoke “comfortably to them,” saying, 

7. Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him:

8. With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
(2 Chron. 32:6–8)

And also remember Jeremiah 17:5–8:

5. Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.

6. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.

7. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.

8. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.