Historians say David would have been about 5ft to 5ft 6 inches tall.
Goliath was 6 cubits and a span (6ft 9 inches). It’s a massive mismatch.
David has a slingshot and a few stones, Goliath has a spear with a head that weighed six hundred shekels (140lbs).
I love the confidence of David who has five stones one for Goliath and the other champions, Sippai, Lahaina we know about and there is an unnamed one found in 1 Chronicles 20:5-8.
David’s battle is between worldly confidence and trust in God’s ability.
Goliath is confident and moves forward vs 41
Goliath despises David’s weakness vs 42
Goliath arrogantly curses David by his gods vs 43
Goliath is over-confident of his victory vs 44
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. 1 Samuel 17:45
Incredible….
The name the LORD of hosts occurs some 261 times in the Old Testament. God is first called the LORD of hosts in 1 Samuel 1:3
The word hosts is a translation of the Hebrew word sabaoth, meaning “armies” a reference to the angelic armies of heaven. Thus, another way of saying “LORD of hosts” is “God of the armies of heaven.
Goliath does not stand a chance, but can you see who is also with you.
No; stop for a moment. Look with your spiritual eyes who is gathered around you. Does this not remind you of:
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? – Romans 8:31
Paul’s question, “who is against us?”, does not mean to suggest that we have no adversaries. Romans 8: 35-36 describes all sorts of adversaries and enemies and opposition. His point is that no adversary or enemy is of any account when God is for us. Since God is for us, to use the words of vs 28 all things work for our ultimate good, even those which our enemies intend for our ultimate harm. So comforting.
I would like to go back to one moment; when Samuel anoints David.
Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah. 1 Samuel 16:13
Surely one key to defeating our giants and moving forward is found in this simple statement “and the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward”
Do we need a meeting to be filled with the Spirit? No. Does the world need Christians full of the Spirit at this time? Definitely yes.
Sometimes an easy conversation between friends can have ramifications far beyond what either person expects. Such was the case in the summer of 1872 near Dublin, Ireland, when two prominent evangelists were discussing ministry. The two men were the British evangelist Henry Varley and the renowned American evangelist Dwight L. Moody. Their conversation contains one of the best-remembered quotes attributed to the life and times of Moody. The remark affected him for the rest of his life.
The morning after an all-night prayer meeting, as the two men strolled around the grounds of the mansion where the meeting had been held, Varley uttered a brief but thought-provoking statement to Moody. This is how Moody recorded it in one of his diaries:
“The world has yet to see what God can do with and for and through a man who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him.” . . . A man! Varley meant any man. Varley didn’t say he had to be educated, or brilliant, or anything else. Just a man. “Well, by the Holy Spirit in me I’ll be that man” replied Moody.
Will you be that person at this time of need? Could you spend time on your knees asking God to fill you with his Spirit for the sake of your world.
I would say that David knew who he was – he understood the authority that he had been given when Samuel publicly anointed him (1 Sam 16:13). Personally speaking, I definitely want more of the Holy Spirit’s anointing. I want to be effective, and my limited experience of fighting bears tells me that I usually lose unless God is with me! However, I’ve recently been thinking on who I already am, today, in Christ and I feel like I’m only just beginning to appreciate the spiritual authority that is mine.
For example, I have read and heard many times that ‘God … raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus’ (Eph 2:4-6). I find that a little abstract, but I’ve recently begun to appreciate the value of it by comparing it with ‘And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven”’ (Lk 10:18). Jesus has defeated Satan, so Satan has been cast out of heaven and no longer has access to the throne room. On the other hand, Jesus has raised all of us – His people – up into heaven such that, through Him, we are already seated on His throne. Clearly my body is not seated with Him but, in some way beyond my understanding, my spirit is.
Jesus has cast Satan down and raised us up. We have, you have (if you belong to Christ), spiritual authority over all demons – including Satan. Jesus said ‘Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you’ (Lk 10:19). If we quietly tell a demon to go, then it must. Provided that we are submitted to God, it has no choice: ‘Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you’ (Jas 4:7).
In the early hours of Saturday morning, I awoke – or was awoken – to find myself in the grip of a strong spiritual attack. I wasn’t worried: I have dealt with such attacks before and have come through by resisting and asking Jesus to help me. However, the battle has sometimes lasted a while and left me tired the following day. This time was different. I was more aware of my spiritual authority, and clearer on my role – to take the thoughts captive (2 Cor 10:5) and leave Jesus to do the defeating. It went something like this, ‘Jesus, I don’t like these thoughts and I want them to go away. I’ve taking them captive now and handing them over to you. Would you deal with them please? I really would like to go back to sleep.’ The next thing I remember is waking up in the morning. It didn’t immediately hit me what I had done and what Jesus had done for me, but it did later that morning. I cannot thank Him enough for helping me to see who I am in Him, and for letting me see that it’s true. The proof of a pudding is in the eating.
All of us who are in Christ, who are born again, have great spiritual authority under the authority of Christ. Let’s dwell on that, and let the truth sink in. We need not fear the giants of the land; quite the reverse in fact.
Mike C
Thank you so much for sharing.
It’s no secret what God can do for/through us, if we abide in Him and remain subject to the leading of His Spirit.