Monday, February 19, 2007

With A Stone Of Faith

I Samuel 17:50-51 (50) "So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David." (51) "Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled."

When we read the account of David slewing Goliath we tend to think it was a seemly impossible feat. I mean here we have this teenage boy going up against this huge giant. I Samuel 17:4 says "And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span." I am told that this makes Goliath about 9 feet tall. We don't know how tall David was but I'm sure compared to David the giant was huge in size.

David killed him with a stone from a sling-shot. We all know that it couldn't have been a very big stone. I don't think a huge rock or a boulder would have worked to shoot from a sling-shot. So this stone had to be pretty small...especially in comparison to the giant that David found himself up against. Yet this stone landed hitting the giant in just the right spot to kill him. That tells me that God had to be the force behind that stone guiding it where it needed to go.

Was it David's skill, or the size of the rock or the weapon of the sling-shot that proved most important? Or was it David's God and the faith that David had in his God that was important? I believe it was David's God and the faith he had in Him that proved crucial in this situation.

We all face giants in our lives that seem so big that we don't see any way of defeating them. Some of us face the giant of fear. It could be a fear of anything in your life. Others face the giant of their finances or problems with their children. And others face other giants that seem so big that they see no way of defeating them.

We need to be like David and face our giant....and with a stone of faith realize and believe that with the help of God we can defeat our giant. God has equipped us with a weapon. Our sling-shot is prayer and our stone is our faith in God and His Word.

How can we expect to defeat our giant (no matter what it might be) if we don't believe we can do it. We cannot do it alone any more than David could on his own. It takes letting God do it through us. God guided that stone from David's sling-shot and had it to go right where it needed to in order to kill Goliath.

Our strength to defeat our giant comes from prayer and the reading of God's Word and then we can put into practice that strength when we use those weapons God has given us...our sling-shot of prayer and our stone of faith in God and His Word.

Romans 14:23 "...for whatsoever is not of faith is sin." Face your giant and let God equip you with what you need and let God defeat that giant in your life. We are not alone. God is on our side. When God is on your side...you cannot be defeated...unless you let that giant defeat you.

I John 4:4 "Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world."

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mrs julie I enjoy all your posts, but this has got to be in my mind one of the best you have ever done. I know the Lord gave to you, but boy it was just what I needed I sometimes even as a preacher forget that we can slay our giants with faith. God is on our side and knows how to get us through as long as we do our part. Good Post it helped me alot.
Bro Tim

Sis. Julie said...

Bro. Tim....praise the Lord!!! It sure helped me alot as God was giving it to me. Thank you for letting me know how it helped you. Your comment helped me!!

Christopher Cline said...

Is Not Our GOD GREAT!!!

Lord Bless.

Kristi said...

This was really good. Several families in our church seem to be fighting the giants lately. This post reminds me of that song:

The battles not mine, said little David,
Lord, it's thine, I'm in your favor
I'm giving it all to you, Lord
You know what to do
I'm so glad you set me free
Cause you're really all that I need
for the battles not mine, I give it to you, Lord it's thine!

~Kristi

Unknown said...

I needed this post. I remember as a child hearing this story for the first time and how amazed I was! It is still one of my favorites! I remember the teacher really getting animated when talking abou thow the Philistines fled (ran away!)And I love the chorus that goes with that last verse you used:
Greater is He that is in me...

Anonymous said...

Amen Sis Julie great reminder!

Michelle said...

Amen..That was an Awsome post..I truely need that..

Anonymous said...

Thank you for reminding us that all things old can be made new again and you have done that with this wonderful story!
I invite you to check out my cartoon site at
http://chalktalk-talk.blogspot.com

Blessings,
Ted Wallace

Cherish the Home said...

A simply FABULOUS post! Just full of truth and encouragement--thank you! (o:

Blessings,
~Mrs.B

Susannah said...

Excellent thoughts, Julie.

Another thing that's amazing about David's victory over Goliath is that he "thought outside the box." Warring in that day was done with swords, but David didn't feel limited to that kind of weaponry. How often does the Lord give us a creative idea to solve a problem that is outside of our normal thought patterns... I'd say A LOT. PTL for HIS bright ideas. :~)

Rita Loca said...

Great post! A friend of mine just taught a lesson on faith here to our ladies.Your post was like a wonderful final word of encouragement to me!

CindyMae said...

Thank you for such a wonderful post!!!

Jerry Bouey said...

Sis. Julie, as stated by others here, this is absolutely one of your best devotionals! I am going to pass it on to others right now.

Last year, I preached another message on Lessons In The Valleys, and this passage was one of my favourites. The valley of Elah - which means "strength." Here is the contrast between man's strength and power (ie. Goliath) and God's (available through faith). Then last month I preached on Psalm 34. Notice the title:

A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed.

It refers back to 1 Samuel 21, at a time when David was really afraid, and temporarily trusted in his own strength. Notice what the passage says:

1 Samuel 21:8-15 And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste. And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me. And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands? And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath. And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me? Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?

After reading this passage and seeing the contrast between this period of David's life and that covered in 1 Samuel 17, it is good to meditate on Psalm 34 - we don't need to be afraid of men or the trials we face in life. The Lord is able to deliver us - when we fear Him, not man. It is interesting to note that Psalm 34 is an acrostic Psalm and has seven statements about God's deliverance/salvation - the last one being spiritual salvation (ie. redemption). A good ending to a blessed Psalm.

Sandy said...

Fears.... I have many. One got a stronghold on me yesterday at church. I am in the church choir, which just formed not too long ago. We sang twice in the sanctuary after a Wednesday night Bible study when the crowd was minimal..... And yesterday we were to sing during the morning service and a beautiful song I must say. Anyways, I was very uneasy about it. I get "stage fright" I guess you could say. My voice goes away and my stomach churchs big time! Yesterday, it was our time to sing. And I couldn't get out of the pew. I felt like I had let everyone down. But they understand, I think. And then this morning, I was reminded of Philippians 4:13. I was so embarassed and since I felt like I had let the others down, I didn't even attend choir practice last night! I felt really bad all night and still do now. I'm not sure how to stand up to this giant. People say just do it but it's easier said than done. Thanks for this post!

Sis. Julie said...

Sandy T....I can understand your fear. It is a very real fear. I remember the first time I sang a solo. I was scared to death. If we ever get comfortable with it then we have no need to lean on the Lord to help us. So really your being nervous and afraid is not only natural it is a good thing. When we are afraid is when we can trust our Lord to pull us through. I'm thankful this post helped you.

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