David and Goliath - Know Your Enemy... And Your Allies
1 Sam 17
41 And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42 And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. 43 And 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 said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” 45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with 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 defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to 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 saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand.”
48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.
41 And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42 And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. 43 And 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 said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” 45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with 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 defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to 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 saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand.”
48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.
David had no intention of fighting Goliath. He already knew what was going to happen. He was smarter than Goliath.
Don't play by your Goliaths rules. Goliath thought that he was going to face an opponent that would fight him sword to sword.
- When you face your Goliath don't try to be it's equal, go with what you know. If you can pray - pray. Quoting the Bible work for you? Get on with it!
Know who has your back when you go into battle. David may not have had the faith of Israel's army (can you imagine what those soldiers thought when David met Goliath?), But David said it, For the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand.” David knew that God was his ally.
- God has your back when you follow Him. Defeating Goliath ensured the security of the nation of Israel, God's chosen people. David knew that this bully wasn't bigger than His God.
Follow Through. Being a slingshot warrior took talent and a lot of practice. Think of these guys as snipers. Some claim they could hit a man killing him at a hundred yards.
- Do not try to negotiate some kind of peace with your Goliath. It will only come back later to haunt you. Goliath has to go.
PRAY: Dear Jesus, help me to defeat my Goliaths today, once and for all. AMEN
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