Be Appalled at the Enemy's Taunts and Take Action

"Who is this uncircumcised Philistine who should taunt the armies of the living God?"  1 Samuel 17:26

When his oldest brother heard David’s words, his anger burned against David and said, "Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your insolence and the wickedness of your heart; for you have come down in order to see the battle.”

David was misunderstood and accused of evil motives. Do identify with that attack? Are you experiencing it currently? 

God Himself can provoke us to faith and action, and those who have, in fear, been standing by go on the attack 'to put us back in our place'.  Or we just experience the attack of our accuser in our head, 'Who do you think you are?'  

It didn't deter David.

David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine." 

But the 'discouragement' didn’t stop there.  Saul, the king, instructed David, 'You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth." 

True comparisons based on worldly reality!  And this is where we often agree and STOP even dreaming of possibilities, and we lay down the truth of what His word actually says about us and agree with people's worldly opinions.

But David draws on what training he has had, as he has been faithful right where God had placed him, and said, "The Lord God 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." 

David was still choosing to speak faith-filled truth in the midst of others' discouraging words.  Oh Lord, help us do the same! Renew our minds in Your truth!

-Who is telling you that you are not able? 

-Are you being reminded that you have NO training compared to the great 'warrior'......?  

-Are you believing 'them' (even those doubts in your head) or trusting in God who has given you everything you need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3)?  

-Are you trusting in Him who WILL enable you to do all that He calls you to do?!

-Ask Him what He says about who you are.  Ask the Holy Spirit to remind you of truth.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.  We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ….” 2 Cor. 10:3-5

-If your thoughts are not lining up with the knowledge of God (and if you are feeling helpless or hopeless, then they are not), use your weapons that are divinely powerful and destroy and take captive, to make them obedient to the truth of Christ.  

May the Armies of the Living God Rise Up In Faith

David comes in the Name of The Lord of Hosts against Goliath’s sword, spear, and javelin and says, 'This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head ....that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that The Lord does not deliver by sword or spear; for the battle is the Lord's and He will give you into our hands." 1 Samuel 17:45,46

 Oh what powerful, faith-filled words. May they be on our lips.  "This day the Lord WILL.......to the glory of His Name!"

Saul and all of Israel were dismayed and greatly afraid of Goliath's taunts (1 Samuel 17:11). But David, who was only sent to find out how his brothers were doing and to take them 'bread and cheese’, came upon the scene and was provoked in his spirit by Goliath's taunts and provoked to action. 

David's 'action' comes out of his utter dismay of "...who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the LIVING GOD?" (1 Samuel 17:26).  

We should be asking that same question today in the midst of warfare.  May we, like David, realize Whose we are (on the side of the Living God), take our stand, and ‘fight’. 

It is truth that "... The Lord is not restrained to save by many or by few” (1 Samuel 14:6).  David was the 'ONE' who rose up and took his place to overcome. 

And as a result, "David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck the Philistine and killed him; but there was no sword on David's hand." (1 Samuel 17:49,50)

The Philistine had come "forward morning and evening for forty days" taking his stand (verse 16), so here was a 'suddenly' after 40 days of taunting and fear.

We have, in a sense, closed our eyes and ears to 'the taunting Goliaths' and allowed them to dishearten and intimidate 'the troops'.  

Is God waiting for someONE, someone like you, to stand up today against the taunting evil and show (the earth and the ‘assembly’) that there IS a God and that He is living and active in us and works thru us? (Eph 3:20).

I feel like that question comes with inspiring music that invites us to stand up and be the ones, like the 'to be continued' cliffhanger closing movie credits, a 'wait and see’ who will. 

 Let us be appalled at the taunting against the people of a Living God and at the fear and compromise that surrounds us, and let us take action.

 It is time for some Godly 'suddenlies' to take place. It is time to be strong, to allow the Word of God to abide in us, and to overcome the evil one.  (From 1 John 2:14)

Let us rise up and be the ones.

"This day the Lord WILL...

                        .....so I will...." 2 Sam. 17:46  

Move forward.

-Ask Him to show you where, even in your own life, the enemy is 'taunting' you in ways that have left you 'dismayed and greatly afraid' and have hindered you from moving forward. 

-What does the enemy’s ‘taunt’ sound like for you currently? And what is God’s truth (answer) to that taunt?

-David in this instance is only called by flesh and bone to be a delivery boy, aside from his normal shepherding. How does this encourage you as you come upon situations and feel like 'this' or 'that' is not your 'position' to take care of, or that no one on earth has called you to it? According to flesh, David was not called, and no one believed in him.  They only discouraged him, and we tend to use that as an excuse and reason not to attempt great things.  It’s so important to take God’s perspective over man’s!  What perspectives of yours need to be adjusted?