The Battle Belongs to the Lord
While doing a study on David and Goliath with some of our grandsons one drew this awesome sketch!
Delving into 1 Samuel chapters 16-17 got me fired up. God's Word tends to do just that. Walking with Him is so exciting. Bible teacher, Paige Brown, was teaching on the David's encounter with Goliath while including sideline stories on Samuel and Saul.
She starts out stating: "We live in a world where physical beauty outranks spiritual depth…Charisma is prized above character." She reflects on how often we look on the outside physical stature and good looks of an individual, as well as their crowd appeal and self confidence when looking for leaders. Even Samuel, who walked so closely and obediently to the Lord, went to the oldest and strongest physically when God sent him to inquire of Jesse's sons. Jesse himself had not even invited his youngest son, David, to the feast.
Brown points out that when churches are seeking individuals for leadership positions they should require spiritual qualities, not physical. "Ask... Does she repent? Is he a man of prayer? Does he love to be with his wife? Are they committed to do whatever it takes to raise their children to love the Lord? Do they weep over the needy?" Amazing character traits to consider.
Then she shares a COVID moment when she was spouting off some fears with a friend related to the virus, the elections. the supply change issues, the situation with Russia. She said to a friend, "I don't know what's going to happen." Then asks her friend if she sounds crazy. The friend said, "No, but you sound like an unbeliever."
David, as young as he is at the beginning of the story of his life in the Bible, is a big believer in who God is and what he can do.
David isn't even supposed to be on the front lines. He's just bringing an Uber Eats delivery and happens upon the taunting antics of Goliath towards the Israelite soldiers mocking their God. David is in disbelief that no one is standing for the Lord.
Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. David's heart communicates his passion for the Lord. He acts, He RUNS toward Goliath, not in his strength, but in confidence of who God is.
It is the Lord who saves us. David tells that blaspheming giant that he is going to cut off his head, then when he downs him with a stone's throw, he takes no credit for the victory.
Do we stand for the Lord? Do we recall we are commanded to boast in the Lord? Listen to the Words written long ago and use them to encourage someone today.
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. Isaiah 40:28
The Song "The Battle Belongs to the Lord" Phil Wickham
