God’s Secret Weapon

Yael Eckstein  |  March 19, 2023

Through the praise of children and infants
    you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
    to silence the foe and the avenger. — Psalm 8:2

We start out every week with an inspirational lesson from the beloved Psalms. For centuries, these ancient poems of King David and others have been the foundation for Jewish and Christian worship. Enjoy!

Do you remember what it was like to have faith as a child? As a mother of four, one of the most amazing experiences I had was experiencing God through the eyes of my children. My kids are all a bit older now, but I’ll never forget those first prayers recited before bedtime, the simple and pure faith of my children, their love of God uncomplicated by the doubts and distractions that come with age.

Some people might look at the faith of children as shallow. After all, how accurate can a child’s conception of God really be anyway? Isn’t it a good thing that we become more sophisticated in our concept of God as we get older?

I think the answer is yes and no. On one hand, our awareness of God must mature with us. On the other hand, faith is not meant to be complicated.

God’s Secret Weapon

We find this stressed in the Psalms, where we read, “Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.” Apparently, God’s secret weapon against His enemies is the faith and praise of young children. Why?

Imagine if faith in God were really something complicated. Imagine if the only legitimate faith in God required that we understand complex theological teachings that take years to master.

What would that mean for faith by all people? How would it be possible to ever build the kingdom of God on this earth? If faith were only achievable by highly sophisticated minds, where would that leave most of us?

While it’s true that every person must try to understand God at their own level, to the best of their ability, this does not mean that one person’s faith is more true than anyone else’s. After all, as the prophet Isaiah said, “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD” (55:8). In other words, nobody can fully understand God.

The real strength of faith is that it is achievable by all. And often, the smallest children have the purest faith. That is God’s secret weapon.

Your Turn:

Keep your faith simple. Stop trying to figure God out. Spend a moment in prayer simply thanking Him for who He is.