1 Sam 17:45 ’...but I come to you in the Name of the Lord of Hosts...’
17:11 - King Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.
17:16 - This go on for 40 days, every morning and night, Goliath took his stand.
For more than a month, they were living in fear and weakness...
They knew God, but they did not put their trust in Him nor did they pray.
David came onto the scene - heard what was happening, but was not afraid.
From these words of David we read - He had great faith in God. He knows God and trusted Him.
His eyes were on God, while Saul and the people were looking at themselves.
How do we know they are trusting man’s ability? Because when David approached King Saul - v.33 the King said: "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." (17:33)
Goliath is 2.8m tall (17:4). In terms of build and experience, David is out. Yet David eventually succeeded.
WHY? He finds strength in two ways:
(1) LOOK ONLY TO GOD
There is a song - "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus"
...look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.
Put your trust in God. We trust His promises. What we see is not the BIGNESS of the problem. We don’t look at our inadequacy.
Phil 4:13 - I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
It tells us David’s knowledge of God; his relationship with Him (look at the Psalms). He was a man after God’s own heart, the Lord described. His intimate relationship with God grants him great faith. He trusts Him because he knows Him.
Let us seek to know God more. How? Through His Word - His Word strengthens us. Rom 10:17 "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ."
(2) RECALL WHAT YOU’VE LEARN about God
How did David respond to King Saul - 17:34-37
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."
Why talk about the past? To show Saul what God has done for him in the past, God can do the same today.
David remembered the victory God had given him over the lion and the bear back in his shepherding days.
You must do that too. Recalling God’s work in the past helps us - (i) give thanks, (ii) have faith.
The prophets often called the people of Israel to look back at what God has done. Notably the EXODUS, and see what great things God has done for them, so that they would be able to trust God.
Jeremiah said (Lam 3:21-23)
"This I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness."
Fortify yourself with prayer and renew your mind with Bible reading. Know your God, and what He has said and done.
Above all, remember, your strength is not in yourself but in God. With Him on your side, you can’t lose.
1 John 4:4
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
