Submission and Surrender

When it comes to surrender, not all surrendering is the same.  There is a surrender that is forced upon others by brute force.  A proud fighter taps out because he is losing consciousness while in a choke hold, and a nation surrenders during war when it is clear surrender is necessary for their survival.  There remains animosity and the desire to fight on, but it simply isn't possible.  There is another version of surrender, when someone is so beaten down and detached they simply do not care what happens.  The duration of the fight and inability to overcome leads to surrender that gives up from utter hopelessness.

These kinds of surrender motivated by circumstances out of our control and hopelessness are of little value in the Christian life because it is not according to faith in God as revealed in Scripture.  When we sing, "I surrender all" it ought to be a surrender that is glad submission, a joyful resignation of ourselves and situation into the hands of God who is good.  There is no gritted teeth in this surrender, no fury or frustration, for faith in God brings an expectation of hope of God's goodness even in the midst of trouble.  David sang in Psalm 27:13-14, "I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. ¹⁴ Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!"

Whilst we can be guilty of singing lies in church when our lives do not match our songs of praise and worship, David was a man of integrity who lived a life of surrender before God.  When confronted with his sin, David repented and worshipped the LORD.  Even after his son Absalom betrayed him and made a rebellious play for the throne, by faith in God David vacated Jerusalem rather than shed blood.  Rather than fighting to defend his rights as God's anointed or carrying the Ark of the Covenant out of Jerusalem, David cast his life and future reign on the LORD in surrender to His will.  2 Samuel 15:25-26 reads, "Then the king said to Zadok, "Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, He will bring me back and show me both it and His dwelling place. ²⁶ But if He says thus: 'I have no delight in you,' here I am, let Him do to me as seems good to Him."  See how personal David's surrender was to entrust himself into the hands of the LORD, for despite Absalom's coup he knew God reigned on high.

The resignation of David to God's grace is different than that shown by the high priest Eli after being confronted by a man of God and the revelation God gave to Samuel as a child concerning Eli's sons he knew were wicked and for doing nothing to restrain them.  Eli affirmed the word of the LORD in 1 Samuel 3:18 by saying, “It is the LORD. Let Him do what seems good to Him.”  The problem was Eli's resignation to God's will was to remain in sin rather than repent and take action against his erring sons who led Israel to sin. Eli demanded to hear God's revelation with an oath, yet he was firmly and helplessly resolved to remain in sin and shirk his God-given duty.  A godly surrender is one that is in submission and agreement with God, falling upon His mercy while doing all we can to please Him.  This is the heart we see in David, and the kind of surrender God desires to be in all God's people.  Unless our surrender is joyful submission before the LORD, it is of little worth indeed.