It was the Lord's Victory over the Giant (1 Samuel 17:40-47)

6/10/2010 8:08:45 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  It was the Lord’s victory

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1 Samuel 17:40-47

            Message of the verses:  “40 ¶  He took his stick in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the shepherd’s bag which he had, even in his pouch, and his sling was in his hand; and he approached the Philistine. 41  Then the Philistine came on and approached David, with the shield-bearer in front of him. 42  When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, with a handsome appearance. 43  The Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44  The Philistine also said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field." 45  Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. 46  "This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47  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.’”

              At the beginning of this chapter it was noted that the theme of this chapter was that God was with David, as His Spirit had left Saul and was now with David.  In today’s SD I come to the fifth point of showing that God was with David and Warren Wiersbe points out this by titling this section “God enabled David,” and the first sub-point is what this SD is about.

            I truly like what Dr. Wiersbe writes in his commentary on this section:  “While there are many applications of a Bible passage, there is only one basic interpretation, and the interpretation here is that David did what he did for the glory of the Lord.”  How true these words are for David as a man after the heart of God wanted to bring glory to God and this giant wanted to bring down and scorn the name of the Lord.  He was a giant, but David knew the One True God and he also knew that Israel was His people and that God wanted to bring honor and glory to Himself through the nation of Israel, for that is one of the reasons that God chose Israel. 

            Humanly speaking this must have looked like there was going to be a lot of trouble for David, a youth who was small and probably had red hair and looked very different from this giant that he was facing.  David showed a tremendous amount of confidence in the Lord and did not worry about the size of his opponent for He had assurance that the Lord was on his side and because of that David knew the victory would be his. 

            It should be noted that David did not see this as a contest between he and the giant Philistine but between the God of Israel and the false gods of the Philistines. 

            This giant had a large spear and a coat of armor on, but had a weak spot in all of that protection he wore.  David had a staff and a sling but knew that his real power came from the Lord and so really this would be no contest at all.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I don’t suppose that I will ever have to fight a giant Philistine, but there are other battles for the Lord that I must fight and when they come about I must do it in the power of the Lord and for the glory of the Lord.  I have read that after a victory for the Lord that a person is more at risk than before the victory and I have experienced this a time or two, so it is important to be as on guard after the victory as before, and maybe even a little bit more on guard after the victory than before.

            I have be praying on many occasions that Andrew Lech would return the money that has been taken from the many investors including ourselves, but I have also been praying that this victory would not put me in a spiritual downfall as it well could if I was not looking for it and praying about it.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       Trust the Lord to bring about victories in my life through His power and for His glory.

6/10/2010 8:47:24 AM