Portion For Reading 1 Samuel 17-20Message 1 Sam 17
While Goliath was taunting Israel, David was tending his father's flocks in peace, far from the war, meditating upon the Word of God, playing his harp and singing to the Lord. However, David had three older brothers who were soldiers in the army of Israel. One day David's father came to him and said, "Go and visit your brothers on the battlefront and bring me word about how things are going." So David left his sheep with another shepherd, arose early in the morning and left for the battlefield.
While David was greeting his older brothers and speaking with them, Goliath, the champion of the Philistines, stepped out from his lines facing the soldiers of Israel and threatened them as he had been doing for the past forty days. When the Israeli soldiers saw him, they ran from him in fear. Then someone said to David, "Do you see that man? He keeps defying us. Whoever kills him, king Saul will give him great wealth and will also give him his daughter in marriage and his father's family will not have to pay taxes."
Then David said, "That uncircumcised Philistine, who is he that he should defy the armies of the living God?" When he said that, David's older brother became angry with him and said, "Why have you come here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know why you have come here. You only want to watch the battle!" However, one of the Israeli soldiers heard the courageous words which David spoke concerning the giant, and went and reported them to Saul, the king. Then Saul sent for David and questioned him.
1 Sam 17:45-47
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 hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, 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."
Thus, we see today how young David saved his nation from their enemies with a sling, a stone, and a solid faith in the living God. Truly, the story of David and Goliath is an amazing story with many important lessons.
We saw how Saul and the Israeli soldiers feared Goliath greatly. None of them dared to fight with him, but David was not afraid of the giant; he knocked him to the ground and killed him! Why were Saul and his soldiers afraid, but David was not afraid? What was the difference between David and the Israeli soldiers? We can summarize the difference between them in this way: David was not afraid of the giant, because he had confidence in the Lord God. Saul and his soldiers did not have confidence in God. Therefore, they were afraid of the giant.
Saul and his soldiers only saw the powerful giant. David saw the Almighty God! Saul and the Israeli soldiers had a form of religion, but that did not cause them to have a real relationship with God. Belonging to a religion does not cause you to belong to God. Saul and his soldiers knew very well that God exists, that God is one, and that He is great and powerful. But that knowledge could not save them from Goliath. However, David had a genuine relationship with the Living God, the Almighty! David knew God and walked with Him. David believed the promises of God. That is why David was not afraid of Goliath.
You who are listening today, who are you most like? David? Or Saul and his soldiers? Do you know God personally? Or have you just heard a few things about Him? Do you know the Word of God so well that it fills your heart with joy? Or are you only trying to fulfil your religious obligations? Do you have a solid and happy relationship with the living God? Or do you only have dry religion?
Listen to what the prophet David wrote in the Psalms, concerning the relationship he had with God. He said:
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me…Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever!" (Psa. 23:1,4,6)
How about you? Do you have a close relationship with the Lord God? Do you know Him as your Shepherd? Are you certain that you will dwell in His house in heaven forever? David had that confidence, because he knew the wonderful and precious promises of the Lord God. And he didn't just know them in his head; he believed them in his heart.
Source: Injel.org