40 Days of Prayer – Day 16
David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.” “Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!” David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.” 1 Samuel 17:32-37, 41-49
The theme to be strong and courageous is very prevalent throughout the bible whether it is David facing Goliath, or Esther facing the king, or even Moses facing pharaoh. David is obviously very courageous; he stands up to the giant and faces him head on. In the Christian walk we will face many trials. Sure most of us will never be beaten or stoned or ever thrown in prison like the apostles but we will be put down for our faith by those who don’t believe or are against what we believe. We will have to stand firm against the opposition that comes in hard times. We have to count on the Lord to bring us strength to push through the hard times that we face whether that be losing a loved one, losing your job for a reason not explained to you, or a whole host of other possibilities. The trial David faced was actually big in stature and big figuratively too. Goliath can represent the groups that oppose the Christian way in that we are greatly outnumbered in this world. While we may be outnumbered we cannot lose hope though. We have to be strong and courageous together. Count on one another. Have faith that though we face a great opponent our God is bigger and stronger than anything we will ever go through. In the words of Chris Tomlin in his song “God is Greater” he says, “And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us? And if our God is with us, then what could stand against? Then what could stand against?” Trust in the Lord. Trust that because He is on our side nothing can stand against us. The battle is the Lord’s and he will deliver it in our hands.
Junior Daniel Shawback
Prayer Focus:
- Safety & Security of our SCS Community
- Praise God for being sovereign, all-powerful, just, and gentle – all at the same time! Thank him for dealing gently with you in your faults.
- Psalm 91:11: For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.