1 Samuel 14:18-23: in context

Jonathan's bold attack, made with only his armor-bearer, throws the Philistine camp into panic, and the enemy begins striking one another in confusion. Seeing the tumult, Saul and his men join the battle. The Hebrews who had gone over to the Philistines turn back to Israel's side; the men who had hidden themselves in the hills come out and join the pursuit. And the account sums it up: so the LORD saved Israel that day. What began with one man's faith became a great deliverance, and the credit is given to God: the LORD saved Israel.

The conclusion is worth noticing: so the LORD saved Israel that day. The victory had a human beginning, Jonathan's bold act of faith, and human participants, Saul's army, the returning Hebrews, the men coming out of hiding. But the account does not credit the deliverance to Jonathan's boldness or Israel's army; it credits it to God: the LORD saved Israel. The victory was God's doing, accomplished through the faith and action of his people, but finally his work. He was the one who saved. This gives us a right way to see deliverances and victories, in our own lives and in the work of God. We can credit our successes and deliverances to human effort, to our own boldness or ability, to the people involved. And human faith and action have their place; Jonathan's bold faith began this deliverance. But the deliverance itself was God's doing; he was the one who saved. When we are delivered, when a victory is won, when God's work advances, the credit belongs finally to God, who accomplished it, often through the faith and action of his people, but by his own power. They did not win the land by their own sword, the psalm says, but by God's right hand; the victory was his. This also encourages us that God can save through the faith of even one. Jonathan, with only his armor-bearer, acted in bold faith, and God used it to begin a great deliverance. There is no restraint on the LORD, Jonathan had said, to save by many or by few. God is not limited by numbers or strength; he can save through the bold faith of one person, using it to accomplish a deliverance that is his own work. This encourages us to act in faith, trusting God to work through us, and to give him the credit when he does. This calls us to attribute our deliverances to God and to act in faith trusting him to save. The victory that began with Jonathan's faith was finally God's doing: the LORD saved Israel that day. And in our own lives, the deliverances and victories God gives, though they may come through our faith and action, are his work, for which the credit belongs to him. Let us act in faith, as Jonathan did, trusting that God can save by few as well as by many; and let us give him the credit when he saves, recognizing, as this account does, that it is the LORD who delivers, accomplishing his work through the faith of his people but by his own power.

When I am delivered or a victory is won, do I credit it to human effort, my own boldness or ability, or can this account, which credits the deliverance begun by Jonathan's bold faith not to him or to Israel's army but to God, saying, so the LORD saved Israel that day, move me both to act in faith as Jonathan did, trusting that God can save by few as well as by many, and to give God the credit when he saves, recognizing that the deliverance is his work accomplished through his people?