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1 Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle; and they were gathered at Socoh, 4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. 6 And he had greaves of bronze upon his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 7 And the shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and his shield-bearer went before him. 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. 9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us." 10 And the Philistine said, "I defy the ranks of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together." 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. 19 Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20 And David rose early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took the provisions, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the encampment as the host was going forth to the battle line, shouting the war cry. 21 And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. 23 As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him. 32 And David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine." 33 And Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth." 34 But David said to Saul, "Your servant used to keep sheep for his father; and when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and smote him and delivered it out of his mouth; and if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him and killed him. 36 Your servant has killed both lions and bears; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God." 37 And David said, "The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." And Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you!" 38 Then Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a helmet of bronze on his head, and clothed him with a coat of mail. 39 And David girded his sword over his armor, and he tried in vain to go, for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, "I cannot go with these; for I am not used to them." And David put them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in his shepherd's bag or wallet; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine. 41 And the Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42 And when the Philistine looked, and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, ruddy and comely in appearance. 43 And the Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field." 45 Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin; but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down, and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD'S and he will give you into our hand." 48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone, and slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead; the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.(1 Samuel 17, Selected Verses)
Welcome Wednesday to your life, ConCafe Family, and may you, deabe filled with joy and love to share freely with all people to bring God honor and glory is my prayer for you. May our petitions to the Lord bring healing and peace for those whom we lift up. May we pray for one another, and for each other.And walk with God and share with Him your cares and needs.
This is the story everybody, regardless of age, should know. It is an epic battle unmatched to anything out there. It is, like most battles in the Bible, a battle between what God can do, versus what the enemies of God want to do against Him. It is a tale of an underdog versus a sure-fire winner in a winner-take-all showdown. It has all the elements of intrigue, and quite a prize offered to the winner of the challenge. At the very core is the battle of good versus evil. The people of Philistines versus the people of Israel. With that, the gods of the Philistines, versus the one, true living God. It was, like almost all battles, a battle for territory and power. As I said, winner take all. The Philistines represented everything God has warned His people against; to lose to them would be a terrible loss and a national embarrassment. These battles seemed to happen every spring. If it wasn't the Philistines, it was another group; all wanting to challenge the winnings of the Israelite people. Most of the groups in the area had lost ancestral lands to the Jews, and it was an annual battle to try to regain them at any cost. This year finds the challengers bringing an unexpected oddity,a giant. The actual height of this tall man ranges from 6'9" to 10 feet. He just might have been the tallest man to ever live. And not only was he tall, he was big. He had been trained since a child to be a warrior. The entire program of the Philistine Army focused on his being the most imposing figure in any battle. Goliath was trained in how to defend himself and how to kill others with a sword. His sword was specially made for him. His helmet and body armor was also made to order for a giant of his stature. The thought of the king and the generals was that just the sight and sound of this giant would frighten any enemy army to the point of surrender. The sight of his large man sure had the Jewish Army scared. No one dared accept the challenge of the giant to go one on one with him. As predicted, the challenge was simple; find a man to defeat me, and we will become your slaves; but if I prevail, and kill him, then you will be our slaves, and serve us. And then he added other insults and mockeries, all of which served to make the man and the threat more scary.
We do not know exactly how long this daily shouting match took place, but on this particular day, the child king-to-be is sent by his father to check on his brothers, and to share with them a care package from home with them. The boy is just aware of the brothers being in battle and knew that he might just be able to watch some of the fighting, but more imporatntly share with them some good food from home and time to ask about the battle. It was as he arrives that he hears the booming voice of the giant.
Now, let us look at the underdog. If this battle were happening in a ring, the booming voice of the announcer would have said, after "Let's get ready to rumble!" something along the lines of, "In this corner, the green corner, we have the challenger, fresh from the pastures and fields of Judah, a shepherd by training, with an undefeated record against all previous foes; lions, bears, and wolves; anointed as future king of Israel; trained as a servant of faith, obedient until the end, with an unwavering faith in Yahweh, the One True God of the Universe, the Pride of Bethlehem: David bar Jesse!
Did I mention King Saul offered a major prize for anyone who won against the Giant? This is the part my grandsons love to hear! Saul said that anyone who could defeat the giant would get 1) His daughter, Michal, as his wife. Not bad! Son-in-law to the king becomes his rank! 2) A huge cash prize (The actual amount is not known, but it was a king's ransom!) 3) No income tax for life! I don't know which prize sounds better to you, but number three would have meant some extra cash for our household for many years!
The battle was not much of a battle. David is asked, by King Saul, to wear his armor. David tries to put it on, but given his age and size, chooses not to wear it. And when he does come out onto the battlefield, Goliath is offended. "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" And the giant adds some choice curse words, cursing David by his gods. And Goliath adds this promise, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field." David responds, "You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin; but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down, and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord's and He will give you into our hand." Those were the last words the giant heard on this earth. Within seconds, David, who armed himself with a sling and five stones; put his hand in his bag and with one stone placed in ihs sling,slung it, struck the giant on his forehead and the stone sank into his forehead and he fell dead on his face to the ground. BAM!
The battle belonged to God. David belonged to God, and that little boy's faith in God allowed him to defeat the biggest champ Israel had ever faced. True to his word, the boy rushed and using Goliath's own sword, cut off his head while the entire army of the Philistines fled for their lives.
This was a fight fought with faith. The one, the unexpected, the little one, won. His faith was bigger than the giant and his strength came from God. His size never mattered in his own mind, nor did his ability. His confidence came from the Lord and an obstacle as big as the giant he defeated did not faze him one bit. God had seen all of this in this boy since he made his appearance in his mother's womb. As he lived his early life as an apprentice shepherd, then master shepherd, then as the anointed future king of Israel; God knew his strenghts and abilities, and knew he could trust him in any situation and any battle.
What is the biggest storm that has come into your life? Is your faith strong enough to find a cushion on which to sleep even as the wind blows and the waves crash? Have you found yourself taking it day to day in life finding that not everyone is on your side, and that some even oppose you? Can you still find righteousness in you to control your actions for the good? And does facing giants make you uneasy even today? Do you have a helmet big enough in which to hide? Or a sword sharp enough with which to challenge back the giant's taunts? Well, the truth is, the fight is not yours. The fight belongs to God. As God sends us forth to do His will, He comes with us and fights the battles for us. It is never easy, but with faith it becomes easier for us to trust and obey. We need to ever be the example of righteousness and good in the world. Paul's life was and is, a very good example of how to walk ever forward in obedience for the greater good, that of sharing the gospel with the whole world, knowing that at least half the world may oppose our efforts, yet onward we march. Our involvement with the world mirrors our God, who is a God of involvement and care even in the midst of a world that each day seems to share and care less and less. Because we know that God owns the world and one day, in His time, all will be made right.
PRAYER: Loving God, until that day, make us faithful and true. Strengthen us during our tmes of weakness. Grant us faith when we are down. And during those times we find that peace is hard to find, shine the light of hope brightly on us, and may we not fear sharing it with others. May we fear nothing and may we await the final victory over evil; in Christ Jesus we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Live a life that blesses others with your faith.
Receive my blessings of hope and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
