1 Samuel 17:45-49 The Battle
READ Scripture- This
is the Word of God
Warfare
David is well-known as a man of war. He was a mighty warrior
who had an abundance of victories. That reputation first began here as a young
man who went up against the giant champion of the Philistines, Goliath. We were
told that King Saul was not only handsome, but he was head and shoulders taller
than all of the Israelites. David, on the other hand, was a ruggedly handsome
young man, but did not have near the stature of a Saul. Yet, he was brave
enough to go up against the over-nine-foot Goliath. He name seems perfect for a
giant, doesn’t it?
When the little shepherd boy, David, showed up and decided
to face the giant, he faced much harassment. His opponent, who had been mocking
all the armies of Israel
Goliath stood and
shouted to the ranks of Israel Israel
The Philistine. . .
looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with
health and handsome, and he despised him. He said to David, “Am I a dog, that
you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. “Come
here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!”
You would expect a mighty warrior to be able to taunt his
opponent, wouldn’t you? You would even expect him to do so. We would be right
to expect it because that is exactly what Goliath did. The enemy is always
harassing us. He is seeking to devour us at every moment. We do not fight with
flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of
darkness. Our battle is spiritual and constant. Satan and the fallen angels,
better known as demons, are our enemies. They stand on the other side of the
hill and shout obscenities at us. They taunt us and tempt us to unholy wrath.
They harass us with all they can muster up within themselves. But, we can
overcome. Darkness cannot overcome light. Light always shines forth. 1 John 3:8
tells us that Christ appeared in order to destroy the works of the Devil. James
tells us that if we resist the Devil, he will flee from us. We can put on the
whole armor of God and stand against the wiles of the Devil. He is no match for
the Christian because of the victory that Christ has secured for us over sin,
death, and the adversary.
You would expect the enemy to harass you. What you would not
expect is an ally to mistreat you. Yet, David’s own camp, his own brother spoke
harshly to him in order to discourage him.
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.”
Saul also said, “You
are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a
young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”
What do you do when someone who is supposed to be an ally
works against you? What does a Christian do when another Christian discourages
them from serving the Lord? This is not an easy issue to resolve. Let me give
you some suggestions on how to handle it. First, I think that the person who is
mistreating you should be confronted. The Lord is clear in Matt 18 about how to
deal with a sinning brother or sister. You first go to them and talk about it,
just the two of you. If they do not listen to you, but continue to harass you,
then take one or two other believers with you to confront the person. If they
will still not listen, then the matter must be taken to the whole church. If
they do not listen to the church, then they must be treated as an outsider. A
second suggestion I would give to you (in the meantime) is that you must pray.
The Lord hears our prayers and answers us when we call to him. He will give us
strength to endure. Third, arm yourself with the word of God. When confronted
with opposition, the Christian should not shrink back. That is the opportune
time to grow even stronger in your faith and in the Lord. Immerse yourself in
His perfect will, the instruction of the Lord. The last thing I will say is
rejoice. Now that is hard to do, but powerful.
The Lord said,
“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you
and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be
glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they
persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
David was in a physical battle that he made a spiritual
battle. He told his enemy, “You come against me with sword and spear and
javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty. . . .” We
must do the same for the battle is the Lord’s!
Boldness
David was brave, bold, and confident in the Lord. When
confronted with the threat, David said,
“Your servant has
been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a
sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its
mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your
servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine
will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The
Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will
rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”
When confronted by the battle, David said,
“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 Israel
David gave this battle over to the Lord. He knew that he
could not win the battle on his own, but he also knew that if the Lord fought
for him he would win. He could be brave, bold, and confident because he was not
putting his faith in himself, but in the Lord. We must be bold as believers,
but our boldness should be with discretion. We should not act ignorantly
thinking that God will protect us. What we should do is boldly act on what God
has promised in His word. How can we know what His will is if we do not look
into His revealed word on the pages of Scripture? He has told us what is good
and right, but do we look and learn? David knew that he was in the right
because of the situation, because of his background, and because the Holy
Spirit had come upon Him. Therefore, he could be brave, bold, and confident. I
think that many Christians shrink back when faced with opposition or pressure
because they do not know what the Lord has said and they are not in tune with
the Holy Spirit.
Faith is the Victory
The last point I would like to make is that this is truly of
an account of faith. We are told that, “As the Philistine moved closer to
attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into
his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the
forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.”
David gained a great victory that day, one that the people would sing about for
decades. He gained prestige that would last for ages. Even the secular world
today, some 3,000 years later, know well the story of David killing Goliath with
only a sling and a stone. The smaller, weaker man defeated the bigger, stronger
opponent. How did he do so? Well, we know that he gave the battle to the Lord.
I have no doubt in my mind that God guided that stone to its destination –
Goliath’s forehead.
Let’s also consider a couple more things. David used the
resources that God had given him to win this battle as well. He had training as
a shepherd boy fighting wild animals in order to defend his flock. David relied
on that experience and training. David also had with him a sling and a stone.
These would be his tools for battle. He did not seek out those things that he
had no business using like armor, shields, and swords. He had no training with
those weapons. But he knew how to sling a stone and that is exactly what he
did! Likewise, I think Christians should use what the Lord has given them.
Count their blessings and rely on the resources God has bestowed upon them.