For a CLEAR Gospel Message click on THE GOOD NEWS link belowThe Battle is the Lord's
"...and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD'S and He will give you into our hands." --- 1 Sam. 17:47
The fight between David and Goliath is probably the most famous fight in the history of the world. "David vs. Goliath" is a buzz phrase that we hear quite often, always used to describe an obvious physical "mismatch" between two competitors. Though we are going to look back at the events leading up to the actual fight, the most important principle that we need to observe and engrave on our souls is that David understood and truly believed that because he was a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, the battle was the Lord's.
He understood that his relationship with Jehovah changed everything, and it was not David vs. Goliath, rather it was Jehovah vs. Goliath. It was the Sovereign Creator of the Universe vs. a pagan Philistine. I want to look at 3 principles we can learn from David's encounter with Goliath, because today, after you read this, you too will be faced with a number of battles. You won't be fighting a 9' giant, but if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ you have the abiblity to approach these battles the same way David did.
Let's set the scene very quickly (1 Sam. 17 for background). The Philistine Army has invaded the land of Judah. King Saul mobilizes the Army of Israel and goes out to meet them to stop their advance. The two armies meet in the Valley of Elah and the Israelites "drew up in battle array to encounter the Philistines (17:2).
They are about to go on the offensive and take it to the Philistines, until "a champion came out from the armies of the Philistines named Goliath, from Gath" (17:4). Goliath was a physical specimen the likes of which none of us have ever seen. He was 2' taller than Shaq and was a very experienced fighter. Goliath then issues a challenge which was not uncommon in ancient battles. If Israel has one man who is willing and "if he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will become your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall become our servants and serve us" (17:9).There was not one person who would accept this challenge, so the offensive is put on hold. Now David enters the scene because he brings food for 3 of his brothers who are already on the front lines. David accepts the challenge and triumphs over Goliath, and the Philistines are driven out of Judah. We all know this part of the story, but how was David able to be victorious? Let's look at it a little more closely.
1. David was the ONLY person involved who did not approach the situation from a physical, worldly, cosmos diabolicus, human, whatever you want to call it, viewpoint.
Simply put, David saw a spiritual battle which would be won or lost not based on physical ability, but on spiritual readiness. Everyone else involved had no clue about what David saw. Saul tells David in verse 33, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth." In other words, "David, this guy has been fighting and winning since he was your age, you are way out of your league." Why was David able to see the battle from divine viewpoint? The answer is in principle #2.
2. David was able to approach this battle from a divine viewpoint because he has seen, and recognized it as such, the faithfulness of the Lord firsthand.
How does David respond to Saul? He informs Saul that the Lord has been preparing him for this moment for years. You see, David remembers "the Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear" (17:37). Surely David was physically no match for such a ferocious killer as the lion or bear, but the Lord delivered him, and David remembers this. This is what I call "living experientially in the truth of God's promises." It's having the courage to face battles because we have absolute confidence in God based on previous battles He has allowed us to overcome. Do you recognize these in your own life? If you don't, you're in trouble. You can't grow to full potential of spiritual maturity if you do not have concrete examples in your own life of the faithfulness of the Word of God. Therefore, it's because of principles 1 & 2 that we have #3.
3. Because of his complete reliance on Jesus Christ, David understands the necessity to approach this spiritual battle with immediate, decisive action.
David was absolutely outraged that the Army of the Lord had let this go on for 40 days. The fact that God's Army had let this Philistine defy the Covenant God of Israel for 4o straight days was about as shameful as it gets to David, and David MUST take care of IMMEDIATELY. Not only was this causing physical problems, ie. the army was sitting on their haunches on the side of a mountain and the invading forces were still on the other side of the valley, but more importantly it was a direct attack on the sovereingty of the Lord Jesus Christ.
David understood this, "For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the Living God...Let no man's heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine" (17:26b & 17:32). David WILL NOT stand for this direct attack upon his Lord and Savior. "Who in the heck does Goliath think he is!!!!? I will take care of this right now!!!!" David then speaks to Goliath the last words Goliath will ever hear, "This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands...THAT ALL THE EARTH MAY KNOW THAT THERE IS A GOD IN ISRAEL." (17:46).
This is the same way you and I should approach battles in our lives. We are nobility, do you realize that? If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, then you are a child of the King! This is how we must act in every battle in our life. You see, this is the reason why we always write about "Spiritual Warfare" and "The Angelic Conflict" on this blog. Most Christians do not understand that every battle we face on a daily basis is a direct attack by the enemy on our King, the Lord Jesus Christ. How we handle the battle can either bring glory or shame to our Lord, but if we don't understand the context of the war (spiritual) and approach the battles from a divine viewpoint, we will NEVER win the battles consistently. GI Joe was onto something when he said, "knowing is half the battle." The problem is most Christians DO NOT know there is a spiritual war going on around them. We at CrossWord Bible Ministries want to make sure that our readers know about this spiritual conflict! It's vital to victory in the CWL!
The fight between David and Goliath is probably the most famous fight in the history of the world. "David vs. Goliath" is a buzz phrase that we hear quite often, always used to describe an obvious physical "mismatch" between two competitors. Though we are going to look back at the events leading up to the actual fight, the most important principle that we need to observe and engrave on our souls is that David understood and truly believed that because he was a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, the battle was the Lord's.
He understood that his relationship with Jehovah changed everything, and it was not David vs. Goliath, rather it was Jehovah vs. Goliath. It was the Sovereign Creator of the Universe vs. a pagan Philistine. I want to look at 3 principles we can learn from David's encounter with Goliath, because today, after you read this, you too will be faced with a number of battles. You won't be fighting a 9' giant, but if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ you have the abiblity to approach these battles the same way David did.
Let's set the scene very quickly (1 Sam. 17 for background). The Philistine Army has invaded the land of Judah. King Saul mobilizes the Army of Israel and goes out to meet them to stop their advance. The two armies meet in the Valley of Elah and the Israelites "drew up in battle array to encounter the Philistines (17:2).
They are about to go on the offensive and take it to the Philistines, until "a champion came out from the armies of the Philistines named Goliath, from Gath" (17:4). Goliath was a physical specimen the likes of which none of us have ever seen. He was 2' taller than Shaq and was a very experienced fighter. Goliath then issues a challenge which was not uncommon in ancient battles. If Israel has one man who is willing and "if he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will become your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall become our servants and serve us" (17:9).There was not one person who would accept this challenge, so the offensive is put on hold. Now David enters the scene because he brings food for 3 of his brothers who are already on the front lines. David accepts the challenge and triumphs over Goliath, and the Philistines are driven out of Judah. We all know this part of the story, but how was David able to be victorious? Let's look at it a little more closely.
1. David was the ONLY person involved who did not approach the situation from a physical, worldly, cosmos diabolicus, human, whatever you want to call it, viewpoint.
Simply put, David saw a spiritual battle which would be won or lost not based on physical ability, but on spiritual readiness. Everyone else involved had no clue about what David saw. Saul tells David in verse 33, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth." In other words, "David, this guy has been fighting and winning since he was your age, you are way out of your league." Why was David able to see the battle from divine viewpoint? The answer is in principle #2.
2. David was able to approach this battle from a divine viewpoint because he has seen, and recognized it as such, the faithfulness of the Lord firsthand.
How does David respond to Saul? He informs Saul that the Lord has been preparing him for this moment for years. You see, David remembers "the Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear" (17:37). Surely David was physically no match for such a ferocious killer as the lion or bear, but the Lord delivered him, and David remembers this. This is what I call "living experientially in the truth of God's promises." It's having the courage to face battles because we have absolute confidence in God based on previous battles He has allowed us to overcome. Do you recognize these in your own life? If you don't, you're in trouble. You can't grow to full potential of spiritual maturity if you do not have concrete examples in your own life of the faithfulness of the Word of God. Therefore, it's because of principles 1 & 2 that we have #3.
3. Because of his complete reliance on Jesus Christ, David understands the necessity to approach this spiritual battle with immediate, decisive action.
David was absolutely outraged that the Army of the Lord had let this go on for 40 days. The fact that God's Army had let this Philistine defy the Covenant God of Israel for 4o straight days was about as shameful as it gets to David, and David MUST take care of IMMEDIATELY. Not only was this causing physical problems, ie. the army was sitting on their haunches on the side of a mountain and the invading forces were still on the other side of the valley, but more importantly it was a direct attack on the sovereingty of the Lord Jesus Christ.
David understood this, "For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the Living God...Let no man's heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine" (17:26b & 17:32). David WILL NOT stand for this direct attack upon his Lord and Savior. "Who in the heck does Goliath think he is!!!!? I will take care of this right now!!!!" David then speaks to Goliath the last words Goliath will ever hear, "This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands...THAT ALL THE EARTH MAY KNOW THAT THERE IS A GOD IN ISRAEL." (17:46).
This is the same way you and I should approach battles in our lives. We are nobility, do you realize that? If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, then you are a child of the King! This is how we must act in every battle in our life. You see, this is the reason why we always write about "Spiritual Warfare" and "The Angelic Conflict" on this blog. Most Christians do not understand that every battle we face on a daily basis is a direct attack by the enemy on our King, the Lord Jesus Christ. How we handle the battle can either bring glory or shame to our Lord, but if we don't understand the context of the war (spiritual) and approach the battles from a divine viewpoint, we will NEVER win the battles consistently. GI Joe was onto something when he said, "knowing is half the battle." The problem is most Christians DO NOT know there is a spiritual war going on around them. We at CrossWord Bible Ministries want to make sure that our readers know about this spiritual conflict! It's vital to victory in the CWL!
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posted by Bart at 4:21 AM 
1 Comments:
You're right. Old story (taken for granted), but fresh new principles and applications.
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