With God, We WIN; With-OUT God, We Don't Stand A Chance
There is a
crucial factor we must point out and realize about David in his pursuit to face Goliath. David did not suddenly decide to go against the giant. David was most certainly accused by his older brother of being presumptuous or prideful by
declaring that he would defeat the Philistine. But, truly, he was not being presumptuous or prideful at all. God had fully
prepared David for this encounter, and David knew it! This is why he could be
so confident in going forth against Goliath. It is also why he was able to
overcome the grave doubts of Saul, the king. "And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Thou
art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but
a youth, and he a man of war from his youth (1 Samuel 17:32-33)."
In this
passage, David indicates his willingness to fight the Philistine, and Saul
responds with a very rational sounding answer. For truly, in the natural,
David's offer was preposterous! He was but a youth, a shepherd boy, while
Goliath had been trained to be "a man of war from his youth." Yet,
David knew that God had prepared him for such a time and explained how this had
occurred.
"And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept
his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of
the flock: And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his
mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him,
and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this
uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the
armies of the living God. David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out
of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out
of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and The LORD be
with thee (1 Samuel 17:34-37)."
David knew
how to fight! He had faced the lion and the bear, but not alone! The LORD had
delivered David from both. Consequently, he could confidently and reasonably
expect that God would deliver him from the Philistine. And that is what he told
the king. After hearing David's words, the king accepted David's offer, and
then did a curious thing.
"And Saul armed David with his armour, and he
put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail.
And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed (tried it) to go; for he had not proved it. And David
said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David
put them off him (1 Samuel 17:38-39)."
Saul tried
to get David to wear Saul's own armor into the battle, but David refused,
saying that he had no experience with them. Furthermore, David knew that God
had given him skill with the sling, and he had had many hours of solitude as a
shepherd to hone that skill. Finally, David had already seen Goliath arrayed in
his armor and knew that he could be brought down with the sling, David's weapon
of choice.
It would
have been presumptuous of David to go forth wearing Saul's armor. In fact, it
would have been a fatal mistake! For then the battle would have been fought on
Goliath's terms in the flesh, and the giant would have won that fight.
To
demonstrate the error of presumption through a counterexample to David's
triumph, consider the occurrence from the time of Moses after God had
miraculously delivered the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt and from
starvation in the wilderness. At this point in their journey the children of
Israel were preparing to invade the Promised Land, and so Moses sent twelve
spies into the land of Canaan to bring back information that would help in the
invasion.
Ten of the
spies brought back an evil report of giants in the land. "And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land,
through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the
inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great
stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the
giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their
sight (Numbers 13:32-33)."
After
hearing this report, the children of Israel refused to believe that God would
be with them in the battle against the giants of Canaan. And consequently the
people rejected the following words of the two faithful spies, Joshua and Caleb.
"Only rebel not ye against The LORD,
neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their
defense is departed from them, and The LORD is with us: fear them not. But all
the congregation bade [threatened to]
stone them with stones (Numbers 14:9-10)."
Having fear
of the giants and lacking faith in God, the Israelites wished that they had
died in the wilderness, and they even began preparing to return to the bondage
of Egypt (see Numbers 14:2-4). As a result, God promised them that they would
die in the wilderness even as they had wished! "Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith The LORD, as ye have spoken in
Mine ears, so will I do to you: Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness;
(Numbers 14:28-29)."
After the
Israelites heard that, however, they had second thoughts! The scripture records
that "the people mourned greatly
(Numbers 14:39)." Moreover, they began preparing to invade the land, but
they were warned to not go forth into battle presumptuously. "Ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are
turned away from The LORD, therefore The LORD will not be with you (Numbers
14:43)."
Despite the
warning of the fact that "those men
that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before The
LORD (Numbers 14:37)", the Israelites went presumptuously into battle
with the Canaanites. The LORD was not with them, and they were badly beaten.
Subsequently,
after forty years of wandering in the wilderness, the nation was again at the
brink of invading the Promised Land. It was at this juncture that Moses made a
point to relate the account of this incident from the failed first invasion to
the children of the people whose carcasses had fallen in the wilderness
according to the Word of The LORD. In his conclusion of the account, Moses said
these words, "Then ye answered and
said unto me, We have sinned against The LORD, we will go up and fight,
according to all that The LORD our God commanded us. And when ye had girded on
every man his weapons of war, ye were ready to go up into the hill. And The
LORD said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among
you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies. So I spake unto you; and ye would
not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of The LORD, and went
presumptuously up into the hill. And the Amorites, which dwelt in that
mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you
in Seir, even unto Hormah (Deuteronomy 1:41-44)."
Thus, we
see that instead of overcoming their fear, they were really guilty of rebellion
and presumption. Their "boldness" was counterfeit, because God was
not in it. So, even as David could not have overcome Goliath on his own and the
Israelites could not overcome the Canaanites on their own, neither can we overcome
intimidation by our own efforts, pride, or false hopes. We need the genuine
boldness of righteousness that can only come from The LORD.
We pray
that this brief exhortation fans into flames your passion for loving, trusting,
believing, and following God wholeheartedly.
If you allow those flames to burn and increase in your life in Jesus
Christ, your life will be better than our human minds are capable of
perceiving... guaranteed!
So, "How do I begin the process of 'running INto' the giants I face... with The LORD?"
"
The LORD gave the word: great was the company of those that published it (Psalm 68:11)."
Your friends and servants in Christ Jesus,
To Show GOD BIG in
a World that Sees Him small…
sums up the reason Keith stepped out in faith to focus on reaching the lost and strengthening believers everywhere, through Toward The Mark, Inc. Keith and Brenda's prayer is that you will be encouraged and edified by the Secrets from God's Word that Keith recounts in our written and recorded products.
We couldn't do
this without the help of our friends!
This blog channel, along with the
complete collection of original podcasts, music, blogs, books, CDs, and other Bible-based
resources of Toward The Mark, Inc. is made possible by the faithful prayer and
financial support of the TTM Sponsorship Family. We'd like to invite you to
come on-board, to become a part of the TTM Family as well, by becoming a monthly
financial partner. Your support will go toward fulfilling our God-given calling
to help provide effective, contemporary outreach tools that are available to
everyone, the churched and un-churched alike, who desire to know more of the
love, truth, and salvation of Jesus Christ. We invite you to partner with us, as
we, "press Toward The Mark for the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:14)
Keep PRESSIN' IN!
We INVITE YOU...
see and hear, follow and share, more from Toward The Mark, Inc.:
~
Keith and Brenda "Between The Lines" Podcast on TTM's Libsyn Channel
~ The Shealys and Toward The Mark Videos on Vimeo
~ "Keith Shealy & Toward The Mark" on Facebook
CLICK to give a tax-deductible gift securely by:
Every gift is tax-deductible and helps! And we thank you for it!
Mail tax-deductible contributions by check or money order made out to:
Toward The Mark, Inc., P.O. Box 1152, Yorktown, VA 23692-1152.
We pray God bless you with a 100-fold return for your generosity!
To help you further your fight to victory through the battles that confront every one of us in these turbulent times we live in, get your copy of our book, " LETTERS FROM THE FRONT." In this collection of 12 letters written from the front lines of battle fought in the spiritual, natural, and theater of the mind, Keith's Scripture messages will build your faith and help you reach God's full potential for your life.
"LETTERS FROM THE FRONT"
available now... Send e-mail request.
We pray God uses this message, and all of our resources, to fan the flame in your heart for Christ Jesus, His wonder-full Ways, and His Plan and Purpose for you in this life. We are eternally grateful for our loving Toward The Mark Family of sponsors who make this blog, and all of our resources, possible by their faithful prayer and monthly financial support! If you have any questions about our work, or if you would like to make a special tax-deductible donation, place a special order for any of our books, magazines, or CDs, or to share a testimony or prayer request with us, please e-mail us. Also feel free to write a letter and mail it to TOWARD THE MARK, P.O. Box 1152, Yorktown, VA 23692-1152.
