David, Goliath and Jesus
One day the armies of the Philistines gathered themselves against the armies of Israel. Both armies had weapons like swords and knives… but it was before guns were invented… so none of that… still it looked like there would be a big bloody battle ahead.
But then the Philistines sent one man over to talk to the armies of Israel… He was one of their champion fighters… As he approached Israel the soldiers noticed this man was big… even humongous... His name was Goliath and yes... he was a giant… He stood around 9 feet 9 inches tall.
Goliath shouted to the ranks of Israel:
"Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants… ...I defy the ranks of Israel this day”.
When Israel heard his words they were very afraid!
They needed one strong courageous man who would stand up against Goliath and defeat him…
Not long afterwards, a boy walked into Israel's camp. His father had sent him to bring food to his brothers who were soldiers in Israels army. The boy's name was David.
He wondered why none of the soldiers would trust God and fight the giant.
Young David was only a shepherd but he had killed both lions and bears.
He said he would fight the giant… David received an audience with the king and he finally agreed to let the shepherd boy face the giant Goliath head on.
David wore no armor… The king let him try on his own armor but it didn’t feel right… He had no sword or spear… Only his sling shot… And as he went out he picked up three smooth stones that would fit in his sling and put them in his pouch. Then… David and Goliath met face to face.
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43 ...“Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?”... 44 ...“Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.”
45 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. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.”
This young lad David stood up to the giant… He trusted God… But did you notice who he stood up for and why?… He stood up for the one true God… He wanted the soldiers to see that their power does not come from their own strength or swords or spears and Goliath power did not come from himself or his weapons but all power comes from God…
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God made a promise to David that one of his descendants would set on the throne of the true Israel… which would consist of people of every nation in the world. This would be the Son of God… Jesus, the promised Messiah who would be the only hope for mans sin… He would die for our sins and then defeat death… Through this he would give forgiveness to all who believe in him and one day raise us up like him never to die and be with him forever.
Something else God gives us through Jesus is that while on earth he sends his Holy Spirit to come and live inside all who believe in him. They will have the same power living in them that raised Jesus from the dead. This same power can give them victory over temptations of evil in their own life and also help them as they stand up against the giants of evil in the world like the young shepherd boy David stood up against evil in his day trusting not in himself but in the strength of the one true God.
