Imagine you’ve been sent to the
Valley of Elah. You find yourself confronted
by the Philistine, Goliath. He stands
nearly seven feet tall. He has muscles
the likes you’ve only dreamed of. He
speaks and it seems that the ground shakes.
He is such an intimidating sight!
Your think to yourself, “There’s no way I could defeat him should he
strike at me!”
No, you couldn’t defeat
Goliath. Neither could the shepherd boy,
David. Surely not in his own strength.
David offered to go up against this
giant who had filled Saul and his fighting men full of fear. David told the King how he had protected his
flock from very dangerous and ferocious beasts, like lions and bears. The shepherd boy goes on to say, The Lord
who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will
deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.
(1 Sam. 17:37)
David was not afraid; he relied on a greater power, a
power that even the powerful Goliath could not stand against.
The showdown between the hulking
giant and the ruddy shepherd boy takes place.
Goliath makes threats. David
makes a promise: You (Goliath) 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 defiled.
This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand… (1 Sam. 17:45-46a).
And you know the rest of the story!
Do you have a Goliath in your life?
What trouble do you face that seems too big to solve or too great to overcome?
Out-of-control debt? Out-of-control teenagers? Out-of-control addiction? You’ve
tried everything – cut up the credit cards, taken away cell phones and tablets,
been to rehab more than once. Nothing
worked.
Maybe the problem is that you are trying to face your trouble
in your own power or strength. David
could not have stood up to Goliath on his own.
You can’t stand on your own as you face your personal Goliath.
Remember David's words: The Lord who delivered me… The word, “deliver,” in the Hebrew often means
to “rescue” or “save.” David was confident
that the God who had rescued him from the threats of lions and bears, would
also rescue him from the giant, Goliath.
If God was able to rescue David from Goliath, doesn’t it make
sense that he will rescue you from the Goliath you face?
God has delivered you from the greatest Goliath you’ve ever
faced – sin. If it were left unchecked,
sin would have its way until there was nothing left of you.
But you were delivered from sin through the rescuing effort
of Jesus. He came to your aid. He removed you from harm’s way. He took on the giant burden of your sin and
carried it all the way to the cross. It
seemed that sin had crushed Him to death, a death that should have been yours.
Now think about Jesus' resurrection from the dead, the grand and glorious result of
Jesus facing down your Goliath. Sin –
forgiven. Death – overcome. Devil – defeated. New life today. Eternal life in heaven. This is yours through the delivering power of
Jesus.
Don’t rely on your own power or strength or wisdom. Rely on the Lord – His power, His strength,
His wisdom. As David took down the threatening
Goliath, so Jesus will deliver you from the Goliaths you face in your
life. The battle is the Lord’s and He
will not fail!
