1 Samuel 17:34-37
To everybody, this really seemed like a mismatch – David against Goliath! It really seemed like no contest at all. I think everyone already knew who the winner was and who the loser was going to be if you were judging by size and rhetoric. It seemed all stacked against David –The Underdog vs. the Superstar Giant. It was a no-brainer! In everybody’s mind it was already decided, not even those on David’s side believed that he stood a chance, but David stood knowing and visualizing in his mind a different outcome, based on his knowledge of God and his history of God’s supernatural dealings and demonstrations of power in his own life.
In 1 Samuel 17, David teaches us a most invaluable lesson about how to deal with the most formidable foe and win. Instead of being psyched out by the enemy and being intimidated, David psyched the enemy out and intimidated the enemy by tuning him out and allowing his own experiences of his past encounters with God, to inform him.
He hears Goliath, but he also remembers to calm himself enough to recount his own blessings and listen to his own voice within. May God help us to tell our own story of his past blessings of victory and deliverances in our own lives, as we face the next loud, menacing trial sent to unseat and intimidate us. May we, like David, feel inspired to encourage ourselves and others by recounting and rehearsing what He did for us yesterday, so that the trials of today would know that we remain fearless and undeterred as the battle intensifies. We tell our own stories, refusing to back down or give way to the enemy. Instead of being terrified by the circumstances of life, David testified. What a beautiful thought – Do Not be Terrified – Testify! He looked back to move forward.
It is said, so often when facing our giants, we forget what we ought to remember, and we remember what we ought to forget. We remember our defeats and forget the victories. Charles Swindoll said, “Most of us can recite the failures of our lives in vivid detail, but we are hard pressed to name specific, remarkable victories God has pulled off in our past” (David A Man of passion and Destiny – page 44).
David said, “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” (v36). He looked back, saw what God had done, recounted it, rehearsed it, and then visualized what God was about to do with this monstrosity of evil that now presented itself before him and the people of God. He further 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 . . .” (v37). What a message for us today! The same God that delivered, shall deliver.
It remains undeniable that no demon could stop David from believing that Goliath was already defeated, and his fate was sealed when he dared to defy God and the armies of the God of Israel. He knew that that same God who delivered him out of the paw of the lion and the bear would rise in his defense again. Would He not do it again for us?
As a result of remembering, retelling, and reliving his own story, David stood before this massive creature – Unintimidated! As he looked back to move forward, so too must we in Jesus’ Name! Do not be Terrified – Testify and move forward!
Leroy V. Greenaway
Presiding Bishop – Northeast Region
