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If you have a Bible nearby, open with me to one of the greatest chapters in God's Word, 1st Samuel 17. The record of David and Goliath from God's perspective was David standing all alone for God!
Haven't we all sometimes wished we could have had a bird's eye view of the titanic confrontation of David and Goliath? That scene in biblical history stands as one of the greatest moments of God's Word.
Let's go back to the crisp, cool air of a Middle Eastern morning three thousand years ago to see David. Two callused feet slipped quietly out from under the warmth of a wool fleece and deftly into the sandals left carefully beside the low wooden cot. In the twilight of early morning's pre-dawn darkness the possibly red headed, teenaged-boy crept carefully out of the stone house on the outskirts of Bethlehem.
With the confidence of integrity and the joy of purity--young David was on his way to a moment never to fade from the pages of history.
Walking excitedly the rocky paths up and down the hills of Judah, the young shepherd boy was headed to the Valley of Elah a mere 8 miles off. Arriving before breakfast young David eagerly surveyed the eastern rim of the valley. Campfires and tents dotted the hillside as he looked at the army of God's people Israel. With a heart filled with gratitude and wonder David strode up to the first tent and asked if anyone knew where his brothers from Bethlehem were camping. The special provisions his dad had sent them needed to be delivered, but they were only a part of David's purpose in coming.
Suddenly David's search for his brothers abruptly ended as a loud voice brimming with evil rumbled up the hillsides of that valley. In the distance a pillar of armor encasing God's enemy Goliath sprayed the venom of the ancient serpent from Eden across the faithless and frightened people of God.
Standing just above the height of a basketball rim, he was a full three feet taller than Michael Jordan. Goliath easily weighed over 400 pounds and was dressed in layers of shining armor of bronze that weighed in at another 150 plus pounds. Then at the end of an eight foot long pole was a metal spear point that weighed about 20 pounds. Goliath was equipped with the very latest military weaponry and was a fearsome sight.
Shocked, grieved, and angered--David heard for the first time this irreverent pagan reviling the God of Heaven. Instantly he wanted to stand for the honor of God at all costs. As we know so well, he did. Unafraid and with no concern for self he embodies what God can do with all who think only of the Lord and not of themselves.
Most people observing David and Goliath only saw two people out there facing one another. But David saw one more person-the Lord. He felt that there were three of them out there and that made all the difference! Just as he had found on the lonely hillsides as a shepherd boy-David "fear(ed) no evil for Thou [God] art with me"! What David had thought, believed, and sang to the Lord-was true in his life.
God was as real to confident David as the fearsome giant Goliath was to all the quaking Israelite army. David knew that the battle was the Lord's.
To stand alone, the first choice we see in David is God consciousness. David acted just like Joseph had 800 years earlier, facing Potiphar's wife blurting out "how can I do this evil in God's sight"! A servant of God who stands alone resists finding pleasure in sin. 400 years earlier than David, a similar servant named Moses would turn away from the glittering pleasures of Egypt because he could see the God who is invisible to those without faith. (Hebrews 11:25-27).
So David, Moses, and Joseph all had God consciousness. They saw God was watching them. That changed everything. It meant that battles are not their's alone-but God's. Do you fight all your own battles-all alone? Or have you come to the place that you realize that the battle is the Lord's? David did and that is why God wants us to remember him! He stood all alone for God.
To continue reading about how you can stand alone for God today, click here.
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