1 Samuel 17:41-47 GOD’S WORD Translation
41 The Philistine, preceded by the man carrying his shield, was coming closer and closer to David. 42 When the Philistine got a good look at David, he despised him. After all, David was a young man with a healthy complexion and good looks.
43 The Philistine asked David, “Am I a dog that you come to ⌞attack⌟ me with sticks?” So the Philistine called on his gods to curse David. 44 “Come on,” the Philistine told David, “and I’ll give your body to the birds.”
45 David told the Philistine, “You come to me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Armies, the God of the army of Israel, whom you have insulted. 46 Today the Lord will hand you over to me. I will strike you down and cut off your head. And this day I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals. The whole world will know that Israel has a God. 47 Then everyone gathered here will know that the Lord can save without sword or spear, because the Lord determines every battle’s outcome. He will hand all of you over to us.”
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Before, during and after a game, talking trash, trying to psyche out your next opponent, trying to demoralize their efforts while trying to encourage your own team on to victory is a practice dating back to long before professional sports.
When the giant Goliath, for instance, was “insulted” by a mere boy being sent to fight him, he began to shout out smack—and he “cursed David by his gods.”
Goliath’s cursing is significant.
He was trying to demoralize and intimidate David, cause David to question the “wisdom” of his actions, cause David to think a thousand times over about if he could, would, or should actually be on that battlefield, fracturing his courage.
Goliath’s goal was to be that one guy, one larger than all life enemy whom no one could defeat, no matter what their raucous shouts of bravado displayed.
For all his bravado, King Saul, for the most part, stayed in his royal tent, on his royal throne – his royal ” do not dare disturb me” backside firmly planted there.
Saul’s entire Army was “steadfast and immovable” and in battle formation, with their spears and with their swords waiting for any command to move up, any one man who would exercise enormous initiative and to enter the fray.
Saul stayed in his royal tent.
The Army stayed in its formation and no one exercised any initiative to take the battle to this Philistine – perhaps encouraging a few others to join in the battle.
But, NO! Everyone on that field of combat was “super glued” to the ground in front of them, swallowing their courage with each and every breath they took.
Goliath’s days long taunting had completely immobilized an entire nation.
But, if we look carefully, listen even more carefully, we see his weaknesses, the giant unwittingly acknowledged that what was about to take place was far more significant than a conflict between two people or two armies or two nations.
By invoking his gods, he demonstrated that the battle was ultimately between their so-called gods of the Philistines and the living God, the God of Israel.
Taking the time sort things out, to cut into all of Goliath’s bravado, we hear the words of fear, we hear an enemy admitting to their ultimate human weakness.
David knew that upon a mere moment’s reflection it should have reminded all the Israelites that the “gods” of the Philistines were not any impressive group.
Like all false gods, they had to be carried around and couldn’t act on their own.
Recall previously, the Philistines had had to set up their god Dagon after he had toppled over—eventually, his head had even fallen clean off (1 Samuel 5:3-4)!
It makes sense, then, Goliath’s insults, mention of his gods, didn’t scare David.
The shepherd boy , wise beyond his youthful years recognized that while the giant was terrifyingly large and came at him with many great weapons, he knew the giant was right about one thing: it was a much bigger event than a one-to-one combat—and the difference was David knew that the living God who had repeatedly saved his life, and trained his shepherd’s hands for battle, whom he publicly proclaimed before friend and foe, and served could save him and Israel.
David understood Goliath’s defeat was not about making a name for himself; it would be so “all the earth may know there is a God in Israel” (1 Samuel 17:46).
David’s lone entry onto the field of combat, hand to hand combat, against his greatest enemy with a sling and a rock, the victory was to be a testimony to the assembled crowd on both sides of the valley God was alive and powerful to save.
Save without the need of the sharpest sword and without the need of any spear.
The Lord of Hosts, Jehovah, determines the final outcome of every single battle.
No matter what the appearance or display of our enemies strength to our eyes, The Lord of Hosts, Jehovah GOD, is always going to be in absolute command.
The Lord of Hosts, Jehovah GOD, commands all battle grounds, determines the outcome, determines victory or defeat-the outcome will always belong to Him.
47 Then everyone gathered here will know that the Lord can save without sword or spear, because the Lord determines every battle’s outcome. He will hand all of you over to us.” (1 Samuel 17:47)
In these new covenant times, the battle today is likewise ultimately between the living God and the principalities and the evil powers of our age (Ephesians 6:12).
Ephesians 6:10-13 GOD’S WORD Translation
Put On All the Armor That God Supplies
10 Finally, receive your power from the Lord and from his mighty strength. 11 Put on all the armor that God supplies. In this way you can take a stand against the devil’s strategies. 12 This is not a wrestling match against a human opponent. We are wrestling with rulers, authorities, the powers who govern this world of darkness, and spiritual forces that control evil in the heavenly world. 13 For this reason, take up all the armor that God supplies. Then you will be able to take a stand during these evil days.[a] Once you have overcome all obstacles, you will be able to stand your ground.
God tells us that the most lethal illness afflicting the entire human race is sin.
As Jehovah GOD, As our One great physician, He knows we need a cure, a Savior.
The only way we have to treat the malignancy of our sin is to receive His Son Jesus, God’s only Son, as Savior—he died in our place to pay the debt of our sin.
As we, like David, move forward to confront our greatest enemy, as we confess our sins and declare Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we receive new, eternal life.
Do we trust in God to save us through the victory, finished work of Jesus Christ?
Press your friends kindly, and ask how their gods—gods of ambition, politics, education, social media and so on—are working for them – do they have peace?
Do they have lasting confidence? Do they have contentment? Do they have joy?
DO THEY HAVE CONFIDENCE IN THEIR ULTIMATE VICTORY THROUGH GOD?
Thankfully, we have something that gives all these things and infinitely more.
We have the God who doesn’t topple, know defeat, who needs nothing from us.
We know the living God who has been faithful for a thousand generations and who tells us, “I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save” (Isaiah 46:4).
Let all the world, your enemies around you see, hear who it is you serve today.
1 Samuel 17:45–47 Reminds Us God Will Only Glorify Himself
1 Samuel 17:45-47 The Message
45-47 David answered, “You come at me with sword and spear and battle-ax. I come at you in the name of God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel’s troops, whom you curse and mock. This very day God is handing you over to me. I’m about to kill you, cut off your head, and serve up your body and the bodies of your Philistine buddies to the crows and coyotes. The whole earth will know that there’s an extraordinary God in Israel. And everyone gathered here will learn that God doesn’t save by means of sword or spear. The battle belongs to God—he’s handing you to us on a platter!”
And notice where this vocalized faith in his God leads David to act, with trust in God, to go out to this giant, Goliath, and to say, “This battle, for the glory of God, is not ultimately mine, it’s ultimately God’s. And he will glorify himself.”
This is Psalm 46:10, right? “Be still and know that I am God, and I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in all the earth.”
Oh, there’s so much here in 1 Samuel 17:45–47 and all over the Bible.
God will glorify himself among all the peoples of the earth.
There is always a battle going on every single day and multitudes, countless multitudes of countless ways for the glory of God to be known and exalted.
There’s an adversary prowling around, always at work in this world who is doing everything he can to keep God from being exalted in your life, in my life, among this people group, that people group, in this way, that way, every way.
We are all called to enter the fray with faith in God, to live day in, day out with zeal for the glory of God, trusting Him in the battles we face to glorify himself.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
God help us to live in this sense, as David lived, with zeal for your glory, zeal for your honor, zeal for the hallowing of your name. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. We pray for the exaltation of your name in our lives, for the exaltation of your name in our families, for the exaltation of your name in our churches. We pray for the hallowing, the exalting of your name in the cities where we live. God, we pray for the exalting, hallowing of your name among all the nations of the earth. We pray that you would spend our lives toward this end. Toward the hallowing of your name. That we might live in a way that glorifies your name in everything we say and think and do, in the way we love, way we care for others, in the way we reflect your character. May your name be hallowed in us. Help us to do good works, that people may see us, proclaim, glorify your name in heaven. Make us salt and light like that in this world.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 