Defeat Your Goliath 04.06.08

Hello My Friend/Guest,

It is Sunday April 6, 2008 and today we are continuing our study on the book of I Samuel. Please read chapters 17-18 in your Bible or Click Here to read.
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=I%20Samuel%2017%20--%2018&version=9

In today's study we will read and learn about David and Goliath, David killing Goliath and brining his head ti Saul; Saul appointing David captain of his guard; Jonathan's loyalty to David, Saul's jealousy, and David marrying Saul's daughter Michal. Today's message focuses on the power of God to help defeat our own Goliath's and our need to control jealousy before it gets out of hand.

Goliath, the giant warrior challenged the Israelite army to send a man to fight him and let the outcome of their fight decide who won the war. "And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span (Over 7 ft. tall)....And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us." (17:3-4,8-9). Apparently Saul was unwilling to accept his challenge.

However, when young David came into the camp and heard Goliath's taunts, he agreed to fight him. "Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hands." (17:45-47).

David's popularity with the people began immediately following his victory over Goliath. David was welcomed into the palace of King Saul, was made his trusted captain of the guard, loved and admired by everyone, and soon became his son-in-law by marrying the king's daughter Michal. David's advancement and King Saul's decline appear to simply be the outcome of human events, yet it is the hand of God working through the normal, everyday experiences of life. The basic differences between the two men are obvious. Saul allowed his own self-interest to destroy him, but David was concerned with glorifying the Lord. Jesus reminds us that this basic principle is still true today, "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." (John 15:5-7).

David's victories were too much for the jealous, pride-filled heart of Saul. The deadly demon of jealousy had a firm grip on Saul. He was consumed with a bitter spirit as he recognized that this young shepherd boy was gradually displacing him from a position of influence and honor which was once exclusively his. Jealousy so ruled him that he even determined to murder David, although he knew David was honored and approved by God.

King Saul could have been the first to challenge and defeat Goliath, instead he is an example of failure to surrender to the will of God. In contrast, young David considered the giant insignificant compared to the ability of the living God to protect His people. Faith is developed one day at a time as we continue to read all of His Word in order to obey the Lord and honor Him regardless of how it may affect our own interests or how powerful our opposing "giants" may appear.

In today's message Jesus Christ is revealed through Jonathan, who knew the will of God was to make David king and stripped himself of his royal robes and made a covenant promising all that he had to David (I Samuel 18:3-4). Jesus, knowing the will of God, loved us so much that He cast off His heavenly robes and made a new covenant with man which He sealed in His own blood. "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." (Phillipians 2:5-8).

Today's Psalm: 18:32
"It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect."

Today's Prayer:
Dear Lord,
We rest in what you have done for us in the past. We trust You for what You are doing presently in our lives and for what You are going to do in the future as we place our confidence in You. We have no confidence in the flesh because our weaknesses quickly overtake our good intentions. Our confidence is based solely upon the redemptive work of salvation imparted to us when we received Christ as our personal Savior. It is not by our intellect or will power that we remain steadfast, but it is through the reliance of Your Holy Spirit that we walk in confidence and bring pleasure to You. In Jesus' name.....Amen.

Have a great and wonderful day.
God bless,
Christina

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