Confession: I’m a sucker for inspirational, underdog-overcoming-life stories. The Bible is replete with them. Noah against the flood, Gideon and his band of 300 warriors against thousands of Midianites, Esther against Haman, Daniel in the lion’s den, Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego in the fiery furnace, and of course, David against Goliath. I can’t get enough of them.
This is My Fight Song
In 2016, Calysta Bevier, a 16-year-old girl from Grand Rapids, Ohio, received the coveted Golden Buzzer from Simon Cowell, propelling her to the live shows of America’s Got Talent. She got the nod from Cowell for her performance of Rachel Platten’s hit single, “Fight Song.”
Calysta has a good voice, but the real power of the performance came from her story. She is a survivor of stage-3 ovarian cancer. The song was personal and everyone in the crowd felt it [click the image to watch her performance].
The chorus of the song is especially moving —
This is my fight song
Take back my life song
Prove I’m alright song
My power’s turned on
Starting right now I’ll be strong
I’ll play my fight song
And I don’t really care if nobody else believes
‘Cause I’ve still got a lot of fight left in me
Platten said that when she wrote the song (with Dave Basset), she was at a low point in her life. “I needed to remind myself to not give up, that I still believed in myself and that I still had fight left.”
The Bible Fight Songs
It got me thinking — are there any fight songs in the Bible? As it turns out, there are. Here are four Scripture passages, any one of which could become your own personal fight song.
1. Psalm 29:10-11 (NET)
“The Lᴏʀᴅ sits enthroned over the engulfing waters, the Lᴏʀᴅ sits enthroned as the eternal king. The Lᴏʀᴅ gives his people strength; the Lᴏʀᴅ grants his people security.”
This is a “Psalm of David.” Picture David on the run — chased by the most powerful man in the country, hiding in caves, drinking from streams, resting in fits, never sleeping in the same place.
David will eventually overcome but until he does — This is his fight song.
2. Isaiah 45:3 (ESV)
“I will give you the treasures of darkness and riches from secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD. I am the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.”
Isaiah watched helplessly as Israel’s love and devotion to God faded. He knew that Israel’s defiance of God would spell her fate and there was nothing he could do about it. Yet, he kept speaking. He kept preaching. He kept sounding the alarm.
This is his fight song.
3. 2 Corinthians 1:9-10 (NET)
“Indeed we felt as if the sentence of death had been passed against us, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead. He delivered us from so great a risk of death, and he will deliver us. We have set our hope on him that he will deliver us yet again.”
The Apostle Paul had faced hardship and death. In this same letter he wrote:
“Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked” (2 Cor. 11:24-27, NIV).
Paul had overcome all these things and he knew he would overcome again no matter the size of the enemy.
This is his fight song.
4. Psalm 94:16-22 (NIV)
“Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will take a stand for me against evildoers? Unless the LORD had given me help, I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death. When I said, ‘My foot is slipping,’ your unfailing love, LORD, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy. Can a corrupt throne be allied with you— a throne that brings on misery by its decrees? The wicked band together against the righteous and condemn the innocent to death. But the LORD has become my fortress, and my God the rock in whom I take refuge.”
This is a psalm of lament. It is a song that holds joy and sorrow in tension. Surrounded by the enemy with no visible escape, the sorrow-filled poet began to sing an unexpectedly light refrain —
“The Lord is my refuge …” and this is my fight song.
5. Romans 8:35-39 (NIV)
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The Apostle Paul must have felt like a sheep being led to the slaughter. He had already died to himself. He had already been separated from all his loved ones. He was headed for disaster in Jerusalem and everyone knew it.
All he knew for certain was that no force in the universe could ever separate him from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
This is his fight song.
Fight songs. We all need them. What is yours?
