Facing Giants #1 - Remember God's Faithfulness
| BACKGROUND: David is a young man delivering provisions to his brothers. He hears one of Goliath's daily taunts and is incensed. Disparagingly he asks "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?" ------------------------------------ What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him. 32 David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him." 33 Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth." 34 But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 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. 36 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. 37 The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." (1Samuel17:31-37) |
But Saul has made the same mistake everyone else has.
He has forgotten that whoever fights Goliath doesn't fight alone!
David is crystal clear. Goliath may be an experienced fighting giant, and David may be a boy, but God, who has been with David to fight the lion and the bear, will be with him.
Very often giants come along and intimidate us. They try to dominate our field of vision so that we think only of them and it paralyses us. David uses the powerful tool of memory to remember how God has delivered him.
Lions and Bears are powerful and frightening enemies. Especially if you are a young shepherd boy surrounded by sheep. David would have had to trust God more than he feared these very primal enemies and when God delivered him, he must have been very aware of the help he received.
David's memories are clear and solid.
(Maybe he's told this story many times...)
He trusted God in the past and it turned out well.
He would do the same again!
What enemies have you faced in the past?
How has God delivered you?
What "songs of deliverance" can you sing?
Don't let a giant fill your vision!
Use your rear-view mirror to recognise that the God who has brought you thus far will carry you further still!
