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David Threw the Stone,
but God Killed the Giant
Victoria Boyson
www.boyson.org
One of my favorite movies is, "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance." It is an old western with John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart. Wayne plays a tough gun fighter
with a good heart. Stewart plays a lawyer who recently moved out west from the east coast. He is not yet familiar with the rough ways of the west. Wayne continually tries to help Stewart learn about the west, and he often
defends him against the unscrupulous outlaw Liberty Valance.
Stewart eventually faces off with Valance in a shootout and Valance is killed. He and everyone else believes that it is he who killed Valance. However, during
the notorious shootout, Wayne hid in the shadows and secretly shot Valance to save his friend's life.
Jimmy Stewart was terribly out-gunned when he went out to fight Valance, but he was sick and tired of Valance getting
away with terrorizing everyone. He knew there was a very good chance he would be killed by Valance, but he also knew he had to stand up to him. Just as Wayne was there to cover Stewart, we can trust our God to assist to shelter
us as we stand up to the enemy.
Take a Stand
So often we are afraid to stand up to our enemy. Satan terrorizes us and we let him get away with it. The children of Israel were of afraid of Goliath until the Lord
raised up David who simply trusted in God. David knew that, "The Lord who delivered [him] from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear [would] deliver [him] from the hand of [the] Philistine" (1 Sam. 17:37).
David saw that something had to be done with this arrogant Philistine saying, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?" (v. 26b)
He trusted that if he went up
against Goliath he would beat him, not because of who he was, but because God was on his side backing him up. He knew he had only to step out and fight against his enemy, and God would give him the victory.
"As the
Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle-line to meet him" (v. 48). He ran quickly toward the battle because his faith in God was strong. The victory had nothing to do with David, but it had everything to do with his God. David threw the stone, but God killed the giant. After Goliath was killed the Philistines ran away, not because they feared David, but because they feared David's God.
We, too, can go boldly into battle, because we have a great God who loves us and who will defend us. We can, like David, face the things we fear, and God will be standing by our side ready to defeat our enemies, if only we will step out in faith and stand up to them.
Fear No Evil
"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me" (Ps. 23:4).
If you entered
into a war in the natural realm with vastly greater weapons than your enemy, you would have no fear. If you had a missile and they had only a pistol, you would not fear your enemy. You would be assured of an overwhelming victory before you even engaged them in battle.
So it is with us as the children of God. When we stand in battle, we can be assured of victory, because we have a powerful weapon...God. When God is on our side, however great the odds against us are in the natural, we
need not fear our enemy. God is our defender, and no matter how our enemy may boast, we can have peace. We will not fear, because HE is with us, and we can find comfort in His rod and safety in His staff.
God is on our
side, therefore, we have no reason to fear evil. All we must do is stand strong in faith against our adversary, and God will give us the victory. If we simply "throw the stone," God will take care of the giant!
It is not about us, the enemy or the battle, but it is all about God who loves us. He wants to see His children stand strong, not because they are confident in themselves, but because they are confident in Him.
Our Great Big God
If in every situation you entered you were confident that God was there with you, you would not fear anything. Again, in Psalm 23:4 it says, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; your rod and Your staff, they comfort me." Our bravery is based on His power and strength. We are strengthened by the Creator of the universe standing by our side and nothing shall by any means harm us.
No one is more powerful than God and He is always with us ready to defend. We have nothing to fear because, even in the face of death, our Almighty Father will devour our enemies. There is NO power greater than our God;
He is our strength and shield. Our enemies tremble in fear before us as they see the power of God radiating from inside us.
Knowing God
When David went up against Goliath, he was offended by the insults Goliath
hurled at Israel. He asked, "Who is the uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?" (1 Sam. 17:26). He could not understand why they were fearing Goliath. It wasn't presumption that
made David speak out, but he knew the power of his God. He knew God was with him and with Israel and he was confident in that fact.
He knew if God were with him, no matter how tall Goliath stood, he stood taller.
Why did he have such confidence and others did not? Because he knew God! While David was out defending his sheep, the Lord proved His power to him as he fought against lions and bears. He had developed a relationship with God in the wilderness and had experienced His faithfulness.
God brought him out into the fields where they could be alone together. During the time He spent with David, God was able to convince him that he was a giant killer! He convinced David that he was special to Him, and because of their relationship, he would be blessed.
Beloved, you don't need to fear anything with God on your side. Stand guard over your heart to keep fear from entering in and destroying your faith in Him, for fear is the enemy of faith.
Pray this with me:
Dear Father,
Please forgive me for fearing anything but You. I pray that You would manifest Your power through me so that others might trust in You!
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