MUSIC BLOG 05-15-2025
MUSIC BLOG
05-15-2025
FIGHTING THE GIANTS
38 So Saul clothed David with his [c]armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. 39 David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.” So David took them off.
40 Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. 41 So the Philistine came, and began drawing near to David, and the man who bore the shield went before him. 42 And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained[d] him; for he was only a youth, ruddy and good-looking. 43 So the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 And the Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”
45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, 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. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47 Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”
When did the Church of Jesus, and that includes you and me, decide that we had no battles to fight? When did we choose a life of comfort and ease where the gospel is concerned? What did David know that we seem unaware of? How about the apostle Paul, or any of the disciples? Did Jeremiah know something that we have missed? It appears the Gospel of Jesus Christ is ineffective in meeting today's needs and problems, or maybe it’s how we inject the gospel or choose not to inject the gospel that shows our ineffectiveness.
The great men and women of God have always been aware that the gospel goes forward like an army. Jesus spoke of such in Matthew 11:12. There is indeed a struggle when the Kingdom of God advances, whether it's from misunderstanding, deceit, or perversion there will be struggles when the Kingdom on God is moving forward.
Before I lose my train of thought, what can we learn from David? David saw the enemy. I believe that too many times in our daily life we simply aren’t aware of the enemy. We encounter a roadblock or a problem and we immediately attribute that problem to a personal weakness or to a test of our faith or endurance. Many times, I ascertain, it is in fact the enemy who is seeking to destroy us. Seeking to destroy our effectiveness and our witness. Seeking to harm or stop the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. David saw the enemy. He knew how big the enemy was and how destructive the enemy was.
David saw something the others missed. David realized that there were two battles going on. One battle was the physical battle that he prepared for by getting 5 smooth stones from the brook. The other battle was not visible, but one that David was assured of, it was the spiritual battle that God had declared victory over. David knew that God was the Lord Almighty. God was King, and God was all-powerful. He was also the commander of the Armies of Isreal. With such a leader, who could lose?
David also saw God as the avenger. The Philistine had cursed David by his gods. Let that sink in. I have been involved many times with a parent, maybe a mother, who came to me to battle for a child who, in her mind, I had wronged. That situation never goes well, let me assure you. David knew that he was a child of the living, Lord Almighty. Goliath spoke ill of David, and David looked at God and thought, “God, are you going to let this heathen talk about me like this?” That speech was going to be Goliath’s final rant because the Lord Almighty stepped up and showed off.
David was just a man like us. We can learn how to fight our battles by looking at his life. Are you learning? I know I am.
Blessings,
Marty