The sole reason David was willing to face Goliath is that he looked at his past calamities and saw that God brought him through. It is significant that David seems to be giving Saul his resume’. He rehearsed to Saul why he could do this. He showed King Saul his score card.
God came through in the past. David saw no difference in Goliath than the other things he had overcome. Goliath, the champion of the Philistines, dared anyone to fight him. He was a formidable enemy for sure. King Saul, tallest man in Israel, wouldn’t fight him. He was letting his own country down. Israel was slowly losing heart. In comes David. He won’t even name the enemy. He calls him “this Philistine.”
I Samuel 17:32 “And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. 33 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. 34 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: 35 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. 36 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. 37 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.”
This story is astounding as much as it is an actual one. It’s almost as if fighting the giant was an afterthought. David saw his nation backing away. Israel was already beaten in their minds. The least among them wanted to help but was told to get lost. After all who did he think he was? David goes right to the king and tells him not to worry. He was going to fight. It may have been with a chuckle that King Saul answered him in verse 33. “Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth.”
David presented his score card to Saul. He told him of his past victories. He trusted in God not himself. He saw no difference in the Philistine than the lion’s beard and the bear’s paw. The same God who delivered them to David would deliver the giant. Let’s consider the size of our God not the size of our enemy. David told him with all confidence that God is the same today. Saul was about to be surprised. After hearing all that David had to say, what else could Saul say but “go, and the LORD be with thee.”
The same God of our past battles is here today. Look back at your score card. The times you won were when you turned it all over to the Lord. Here is victory. You had courage to face your adversary with the Lord’s help. The past shows us what can happen today.
David was a good shepherd. He knew the sheep. He kept a good inventory. He counted them daily. They were his responsibility. When one was missing he didn’t just say “am I missing a lamb?” There was no attitude that it didn’t matter. He didn’t let it go for now. In our daily life we have to take care of our Christianity. It’s easy to see the lambs missing from someone else’s life and not see our own missing ones. We can’t go without one of them. We need knowledge, wisdom, courage and blessings. Is your lamb of character missing? What about your lamb of composure? Where is the lamb of confidence in the Lord? The world needs to see these. The lions of the devil will try to steal them. He’ll get us discouraged and steal our daily living for the Lord. He’ll get us to let things slip. We’ll lose our composure and act like anything but a Christian. When the devil gets one of your lambs, take David’s example and go after it. He didn’t have big weapons, probably only a knife and a staff. He didn’t worry about that; he wanted his lamb back. David put his other lambs in a safe place and went after it.
Don’t “poor little me.” We have to fight. We can’t be wimps. With confidence like David we can win. David was thrown a combo with a bear and a lion. They should have been fighting each other but formed an unlikely alliance creating a deadly combination. The devil puts forth a lot of effort to work on us. He will send adversaries from every direction that combine to rob our faith. David was not fighting a squirrel. These were powerful animals. A lion can pounce on you and a bear can squeeze you to death. You can’t outrun them. You climb a tree, they’ll come after you.
Don’t give up. Don’t quit. God is still on his throne. Let the devil go hungry. Don’t give him one of your lambs. Don’t focus on the enemy. It may have something you lost in its mouth. Get it back! In verse 35 David said “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.” Are you tired of the devil pushing you around? David smote and killed his enemies. He told Saul the Lord who had delivered him from the lion and bear would deliver this Philistine. He saw no difference. Saul said the only thing he could say—go ahead.
No matter how lion-ish or bear-ish our enemies seem, we need to have the confidence and trust in God to go after what they have taken from us. We need courage. We can trust God and get it back. How brave are you? Are you ready to take back your stolen lamb? Be bold. Get up and go. Get your life in order. You can overcome.
David told Saul what the Lord could do. Guess who won the battle……………
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 