Life presents “giant” size situations, but when we hurl stones of faith at them, God’s will prevails. Holy Spirit woke me up early this morning (not for the first time), thinking of David and Goliath. God’s Word is so relevant and alive. I believe that David’s experience with Goliath is one that we, as God’s Called Remnant can relate to in different seasons of spiritual battle in our walk.
When you think about it, Ol’ Slewfoot is notorious for using the same tricks and methods over and over again, just disguising them in different ways, while it may not be a “human, physical giant” we may face, there may be gigantic situations that occur in our lives that bring about the need within us for the same measure of faith that David had to call upon as he faced Goliath. In other words:
WHAT DO YOU DO/HOW DO YOU REACT WHEN LIFE PRESENTS GIANTS?
I really think that God understands if your knees shake a little as you find yourself in the middle of a spiritual battle. Your adrenalin is racing as spiritual attacks usually come when we least expect them, emotions get in the way (because the devil has studied you, and he knows what to do to upset you),– but while we may be surprised, God is NOT, and God does not expect us to fight in and of our own strength – but remember that we are reliant upon Him. Zechariah 4:6:
“Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord.”
Look at how Goliath is described in 1 Samuel 17:4-11:
“A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span. He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him. Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.”
This was a terrifying situation, but instead of walking in faith and in the knowledge that God would deliver them, the Israelites (who were looking at this “rationally” and not walking in faith that God would deliver them) allowed themselves to consider this Philistine GREATER than God!
GOD IS GREATER THAN ANY SITUATION WE CAN FIND OURSELVES IN! OFTEN IT IS OUR PERCEPTION THAT NEEDS REVALUATION!
As we look at this story, we see that as David’s father sent him out to check on his brothers, who were on the battlefield following King Saul, and while David was being obedient to his father’s request to check on the well-being of his brothers, his obedience was met with insult and rudeness as he was sassed by his older brother! See below (1 Samuel 17:28-30):
“When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle. ”Now what have I done?” said David. “Can’t I even speak?” He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before.”
David’s righteous indignation is one that we should feel when we encounter disrespect with regard to God’s Word and about God, Himself as shown in 1 Samuel 17:26:
“Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
We are to take a stand for the Lord. We are Christ’s Ambassadors and as such, there may be times when we have to stand up for the Word of God, as David stood up for “the living God.” Though our knees may shake and we may tremble our strength when facing ANY spiritual giants should ALWAYS be in Christ. Jesus Himself told us in Luke 9:25-26:
“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”
David’s faith was never in himself, as he faced Goliath, he wielded a greater weapon than that of Goliath’s:
DAVID HAD FAITH IN GOD
Our faith should be as David’s – our victory is in Christ Jesus. In fact, the war has already been won! Jesus through His death and resurrection on the cross has defeated the devil! The victory IS already (through Jesus) ours!
WE NEED TO WALK IN THE VICTORY THAT JESUS’ HAS ALREADY PURCHASED FOR US!
I’m not saying it is easy, I’m not saying it is comfortable – we are soldiers for Christ in the middle of a spiritual war. Ephesians 6:12 attests to this:
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
King Saul tried to dress David up in his armor for protection, when we try to address spiritual battles with earthly methods it CAN feel uncomfortable and cumbersome and be ineffective. The armor of God that we are to dress in is indicated in Ephesians 6:10-18:
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”
David said to Saul in reference to Saul dressing him in his armor in 1 Samuel 17:39-40:
“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.”
And then, while facing Goliath, full of holy indignation at the dishonor the giant referred to David’s God. God had David rise above ANY fear that may have tried to represent itself and be filled with assurance that God WOULD prevail. And in 1 Samuel 17:45-47, He did:
“David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”
I bring up David’s example, because it is how we are supposed to walk – by faith and not by sight. It is easy to have what we see in the earthly realm sway us – but just like Peter, when Jesus bid him to come out of the boat and walk on water, Peter was fine when he stepped out of the boat in faith – it was when he began to realize what it was he was doing (walking on water) that doubt began to fill his mind and he took his eyes off of Jesus and began to sink.
Whatever the situations and battles you face (and as a Christian you WILL encounter them) as long as we stand upon God’s Word, remember that we can do NOTHING in and of ourselves, but in Christ we stand victorious, we will see the hand of God upon our situations as we continue to rely and depend upon Him. Our biggest weapons are the Word of God, prayer and faith in the One who IS faithful to keep us. Even if our knees are shaking – God IS in control.
Just as He was with David facing Goliath. Once we as God’s chosen vessel (such as was the case with David), throw that stone of faith, we can rest assured in Jesus that Holy Spirit will hit that mark – especially if we are standing on the Word of God. God’s will and Word ALWAYS prevail. ALWAYS. The victory IS His.
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