The New Year started with a bang; not in a good way, but with one calamity after another. After two years of a virus that hypnotized people, leaving many fumbling in the darkness, spinning seemingly indefinitely…
We had all hoped, the New Year would be brighter.
Like bullets blasting towards the fleeing; people are trembling in fear, paralized by their own insecurities, and fighting to stand upright, on what seems like a cultural Titanic.
So, where do we run when waters race in? How do we survive when hand granades are thrown, often unexpected in every direction? How do we anticipate when and where and who we can run towards, when the sky is dark and the message is convoluted? When the hope we once clung to, slips through our fingers?
I woke reading Scripture, anorexic for God’s truth, desperate for nourishment.
In 1 Samuel 17, I find this call to battle. The charge God calls the people of Israel to.
And as I squint through Scripture, I am reminded of the story of David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17). David, a scrawny adolescence meets His brothers at the battle and sees a giant taunting God’s people.
And I find it funny, the tall and the strong, the oldest and most well worn in battle, are the ones that tremble at Goliath’s chants.
Scripture says, “They were dismayed and greatly afriad”. (1 Samuel 17:11) Dismayed in Scripture means “feeling distressed and anxious, typically at something unexpected”. It also means, “to look around in terror”.
As we consider these past two years, don’t we see God’s people feeling these same way? Questioning? Hesitating? Asking? Doubting?
As if the giants and systems are stronger than the God who spoke all of Creation into motion at the ease of His Words.
And, as I look at David and the other Israelites fighting, only one approaches the giant, while the others flee the fight, terrified. (1 Samuel 17:24)
Worse yet, when David came to bring his older brothers food, he wasn’t welcomed. He was put down. “Why did you come here? With whom have you left those FEW sheep in the wilderness?”
His brother then called David “presumptious”, stating David’s heart was “evil”, (1 Samuel 17:29), because David would not accept Goliath’s mochery & defiance of the armies of the God of Israel. (1 Samuel 17:26)
Who, when you step out in faith, like David, mocks and tries to intimidate you? Who, when you are bold and withstand the surrounding evil, not only shuns, but belittles and questions you?
It didn’t stop there for David. His own King didn’t believe in him. He doubted and questioned. When David offered to fight Goliath, the King refutted David. “You are not able to go out to fight againt a Philistine”.
The King goes on, “You are only an adolescent.”
“You are only…” Has anyone ever said that to you?
Have people…or even the voices inside your own head…said you couldn’t do something because you were too this or too that? Too old or too young? Too unexperienced? Too uneducated? Too Weak? Too powerless? Etc. Etc.
In this story, no one believed in David. No earthly person stood by this boy. Yet, David had something we all need in this day, faith.
David carried not only the tenacious belief that the God of His people had the right to be defended; He also had the inner strength to step out into battle, carrying only 5 smooth stones & a sling shot, to take down Goliath.
I find it funny, because often thosewhot don’t agree or believe in us, retreat from threats or cower in the day of battle. They not only shrink from their purpose, but fail to take down their own Goliaths. Then, intimidate others, so they will be defeated as well.
People often mock, scorn and find anything they can wrong with those who stand, while everyone else is hiding.
David was a servant, caring and nurturing and tending to his father’s “few sheep” as His older brother would say. However, in that place of intimacy and connection…
In that space of selflessly protecting his Father’s sheep against the enemy; God was training this boy for battle.
It was there, in the quiet, where no one else was watching, David killed a lion and a bear. He didn’t just “defend the sheep”, but David “WENT AFTER IT” & “SMOTE IT”, delivering the lamb out of its (the enemies) mouth…
“When it arose against me, I caught it by its beard and smote it and killed it.” (1 Samuel 17:35)
However, David’s Warrior Spirit wasn’t birthed in hate, like Goliath who had been trained since a child, to go into battle.
David’s warrior spirit, originating from protecting what God had given Him. It stemmed out of love; love for His sheep, for his people, but most of all, love for God.
We too in this hour, must stand and fight out of love.
We must not shrink back, hide in the rocks, tremble in fear and cower when the roaring of evil threatens us, our families, or the God we
serve.
Some say David fought Goliath to win the King’s daughter. But whoever defeated Goliath would also bring FREEDOM to his father’s house from all taxes and service from that day forward. (1 Samuel 17:25)
And it is my belief that David fought for freedom; freedom for His brothers, for His father, and out of love and tenacity to see the name of His God lifted high in the region again.
Can we rise and stand and fight out of love, not hate?
David didn’t fit into the armor King Saul had given him. Instead, he went into battle unprotected by man’s provision.
David went into battle raw and authentic, using the weapons God had already given him, instead of trying to be somebody he was not.
And how often when the enemy charges with its ugly head, do we panick and grab what we can around us? Do we clothe ourselves with self-righteousness, inauthenticity, metal armor that doesn’t do anything to benefit us…
Instead of walking into that battle, just like we are. Trusting the God of Israel is bigger than it all.
David not only ran towards Goliath with intention and purpose, but He used His simplicity as a weapon to intimidate the nearly 10 foot tall giant who lavished in his skill and equipment.
Simplicity always outweighs extravagance.
God’s favor always reigns triumph over man’s exercises to puff up and exaggerate himself, hiding in man’s resources.
David’s voice echoed over the hills to where his brothers hid. It pierced right through the metal helmet, and rang inside the ears of the giant who had taunted David’s God for forty straight days….
But now, David would reign.
“You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name ofthe Lord of hosts, the God of ranks of Israel, who you have defied.”
David goes on, “This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands.” (1 Samuel 17:45-46)
David hit Goliath in the head with just one stone. Goliath fell to the ground. And David cut off his head with Goliath’s own sword.
And friends, please don’t doubt it…
Those who mock God will be eliminated. They will fall. They will publically be presented to the King of hosts….Their own weapons used against them.
Our enemies will be destroyed by the very sword they rose up to try and strike us with.
And I wonder today, if we don’t stand, because we let fear reign; we forget that we serve the God who is the Living Stone, the Great “I am”….
Hear me friends, we only have two choices; to cower or to fight.
Fighting requires a laying down of our own weapons, our own fleshly resources, and even the Kings or nations promises of what they think may help us.
The battle today is Gods. He will rise and defend Himself, as we live selfless, using the resources God has given us and developed in us over time.
See, David didn’t need a sword. He didn’t even need the five stones he picked up. He just needed one.
One stone. Smooth, soft, carefully chosen.
He is our living stone. And as we choose Him…
Let us rise up in love, come out of hiding, and realize He is with us.
Be strong and courageous. Let’s not be terrified.
We still have giants in the land. But God is on our side.
