This morning as I sat down to read the Bible I arrived at 1 Samuel 17. I saw the subtitle “David Kills Goliath” and thought, “Oh I already know this story. I should skip this today.”
Then another thought came to me. What if the Lord shows me something I haven’t seen before in the passage that seems familiar to me? So I pressed on and read looking for a fresh nugget of truth.
In this passage, the Philistine army assembled together on one hill and the Israelite army gathered together on another hill with a valley in between them.
The Philistines had a giant named Goliath, who was an intimidator. His appearance was daunting. His weapons were alarming. His words were terrorizing. He stood out from his army and taunted the Israeli troops with his words.
I imagine if it were in today’s language he would have said, “Didn’t you come out to fight? What are you a man or a mouse?” Then he would make the squawking sounds of a chicken and flap his arms like one at them. “What are you chicken?” He verbally assaulted and defied Israel.
But look at what happened next:
“When Saul and all the Israelites heard these words of the Philistine, they were upset and very afraid” (1 Samuel 17:11).
The Israeli’s were terrified of one giant. This face off did not last just a day or two. The Israelites stared at the enemy who immobilized them with fear every morning and evening for forty days.
If we keep our eyes on the enemy instead of God, the enemy will strike us with fear, immobilizing us.
Jesse’s three oldest sons were in the Israeli army facing off with the Philistines. Jesse wanted to be certain his sons had something to eat as he thought his son’s were fighting, so he sent his youngest son, David, with provisions to the front lines for them. David delivered the food as instructed by his father. When he arrived at the camp he learned about about Goliath. Yet David didn’t sit and stare at Goliath. He stirred up the troops by asking, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that defies the armies of the living God?” (1 Samuel 17:26)
Because David incited the troops with his questions, his brothers became angry with him. David asked other army men questions. A report of David’s actions made it back to Saul and Saul summoned David to him.
David told Saul, “Don’t let anyone be discouraged. Your servant will go and fight the Philistine!” (1 Samuel 17:32)
Now imagine a young teenager who had never been trained for war telling the general, “Don’t be afraid, I’ll take care of it.” Yeah right. Well that’s exactly what happened and Saul listed the reasons why David was not qualified for this job. Including the remark, “You’re just a boy!”
But David countered with all the reasons his training as a shepherd prepared him for this day. He fought a lion and bear. And if David could kill the lion and bear to protect the sheep, he can take down this giant. No problem, sir.
David activated his faith by declaring boldly:
“The Lord who delivered me from the lion and the bear will also deliver me from the hand of the Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:37)
Saul conceded and said, “Go! The Lord be with you.”
The Lord was with David. Saul had David try on his armor, but David rejected it. David took his staff and went out to the creek and picked up five smooth stones placing them in his bag.
Without pausing or stopping to think, David approached the Philistine.
And again, Goliath did what had been working for him and flung out his bullying words. But David did not pause to allow any time for fear to grip him. David spoke to him; he spoke in the name of the Lord.
“You are coming against me with sword and spear and javelin. But I am coming against you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel’s armies, whom you have defied! This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand! I will strike you down and cut off your head. This day I will give the corpses of the Philistine army to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the land. Then all the land will realize that Israel has a God and all this assembly will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves! For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will deliver you into our hand.” (1 Samuel 17:45-47)
Then David charged Goliath and the rest is history.
Friends, if we just sit on our hill and stare at the enemy, the enemy will use fear to immobilize us.
We must face our circumstances and speak the Word of God to the situations we face. Then as the Lord leads, take action. Be on the offensive.
Then we will be victorious over the fear and the challenges we face in our lives.
Let’s learn from David to not sit around and stare at the enemy who infuses the people of God with fear. But to take bold action in the name of the Lord.
By God’s wild grace, are you ready to take action against the giant in your life today?
© 2014 Shonda Savage
