Please take a moment and share your prayer requests with us today:  CLICK HERE

1 Samuel 17:8
He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.”

They had forgotten who they were or better yet, “Whose” they were to the point that their enemies, like Goliath here, could taunt them with lies and defy them by driving home the idea that they were merely another army. He pointed out that they were just servants of Saul and they bought it, forgetting that they were the chosen children of God! They were on their own in their minds and in the mind of the enemy.

Have you forgotten who you are?

Israel had chosen to have a King instead of God as their leader. They were so deep into the situation that they seemed to have forgotten that God was not dead just because they were following a man instead of Him. Their power to win any battle wasn’t going to come from their king and his armies, it would still come from The Living God they were supposed to still be serving. It seems as though they must have just been going through the motions serving, well let’s face it, they had a King who took the things of God lightly enough that he even tried to do things on his own because waiting on Samuel was more than he could handle. They wanted to just coast along through life without truly serving God the way He had told them to. Joshua 1:8, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”

Are you relying on someone or something else, other than God to lead you and be your focus?

In verse 11 of 1 Samuel 17 it says, “When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.” They bought it! They were accepting what Goliath had to say and now they were feeling totally defeated with no hope in sight! They couldn’t fight that giant! Now, if they had just done as God had told them to, if they had just spent the time every day remembering all that He had done for them and all He commanded and all that He said He would do then they would know that they were not alone and that the victory was in His hands!

What is the biggest thing in front of you today that just scares you silly to have to face?

Verse 26 says, And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” Hmmmmm, I guess all that time out in the fields alone with God and the sheep had served David well. He was young and yet He had spent enough time with God to know that the battle was the Lord’s and this Philistine was defying God and His army. David faced Goliath with all the confidence in the world. Goliath even had someone to carry his shield and he had a javelin and a spear and David was armed with a sling and 5 stones but most importantly God! He couldn’t wear Saul’s armor but He was completely covered in the armor of God mentioned in Ephesians 6:10-13 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Therefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the day of evil and having done all, to stand.” He knew he was not alone and He knew that because God was on His side, the victory was already his! He could face anything knowing that God would go before him and deliver him! David wasn’t perfect, he wasn’t old and wise, he wasn’t trained for battle, you would think in the natural he was a bit testy in the head to be running out there like that, but His confidence was in the Lord!

Have you spent enough time with God to know that the victory is already yours? It isn’t all on you, you are not alone in this! If He has told you He will deliver you then He will come through. He isn’t asking that you be perfect, He is asking you to follow Him and trust Him completely! The best is yet to come!

Quote:
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” Ralph Waldo Emerson