David facing the Giant Part One

32 Then 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 a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.”34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, 35 I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 Moreover David said, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!” I Samuel 17:32-37
First of all I encourage you to go read this whole chapter of I Samuel 17. It is a great, detailed story of how Daniel faced the big bully Goliath. I love this story and it was so hard for me to just pick a small portion of this chapter to write about but I will do my best to fill in the story.

Okay there was this big bully named Goliath. Goliath was a Philistine and a giant. Yes, I said a giant! He was over nine feet tall. Well the Israelites warriors had set up camp on one side of the mountain and the Philistines were camped on the other side with the valley dividing them. Goliath, their champion warrior, would stand and taunt the Israelites and call them names and pretty much terrified the Israelites. He challenged them to send out their best warrior to fight him to the death and who ever won would reign over the other tribe.

Goliath just didn’t trash talk; he was dressed to the nines for battle. Goliath was very intimidating to say the least. Even Israel’s King Saul was afraid of Goliath and the Philistines.

While Israel’s warriors were getting ready to go to battle, some of the warriors’ family would send food and supplies to their loved ones. Jesse sent his youngest son, David, with food to his other three sons. David was teenager and he took care of the family sheep. David brought the food up to camp and then heard Goliath calling the Israelites names and taunting them. He started asking questions about this guy and the whole situation. He found out that the King offered this huge reward if someone would go fight Goliath and take his head. David asked another person and verified the information. At this time David’s older brother heard David asking questions and got mad. He basically reminded David that he shouldn’t be there he should be back at home tending sheep.

David didn’t let this discourage him. Someone told the King about David and King Saul sent for David. David went to the King and told him, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” Saul told David that he was young with no experience and Goliath had warrior credentials. David then listed his credentials! He told the King that while he tended the sheep the Lord had delivered him from a bear and a lion! God would save him from Goliath! King Saul then gave him the go ahead and “the Lord be with you!”

Let’s stop right here for today and review the story so far and tomorrow I will pick up where I left off!
David was someone’s little brother. He had the job of watching the sheep, not an impressive job. However, David did his sheep job well. When a lion came to steal his sheep he killed it! When a bear came to steal his sheep, he killed it and realized that it was the Lord that gave him the protection and ability to do it and David gave the glory to God. David spent time with the Lord and the Lord equipped David for a bigger job.
When he went to the frontlines of the war, he heard the bully mouthing off at God’s people and he accessed the situation. After he asked a few questions he verified the information he was given. He didn’t let his brother discourage him when his older brother reminded him that he was just a sheep tender! He let the insult and put down run off his shoulders! Then King Saul asked for David. David went before the King and volunteered to fight the Giant Warrior man! King Saul told David that he was young and inexperienced and that the enemy was a trained, skilled warrior.

David didn’t let other people’s views of him, discourage and defeat him. David took God’s view of himself. We need to not let other people’s opinions of us, determine our worth! We need to listen to what the Lord sees in us! We need to take stock in God’s word on our worth. When we spend time with Him, He equips us for His work.

David built up Saul’s faith when he shared what the Lord had done through David’s personal experience in the sheep fields! We need to share what God does for us in our lives! Other people will then see what God has done in our ordinary lives and start to believe. What did King Saul do? He then gave his approval for David to fight the Giant and then said, “The Lord be with you!”

Tomorrow we will pick up right here….I love this stuff!

Shanin

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