DAVID VERSUS GOLIATH

PROCLAMATION

“And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.”  1 Samuel 17:49 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

These words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by the prophet Samuel.  When the Philistines gathered their forces for war against the Israelites, Saul assembled his men and camped in the valley of Elah.  The Philistines were on one side of a mountain and the Israelites were on the other side of a mountain, with the valley of Elah between them.  The Philistine champion Goliath, a giant of a man from Gath, stood and shouted challenges and insults to the Israelites.  He did this every morning and evening for forty days. (1 Samuel 17:4-16)  David came to the Israelite camp to bring his brothers some bread and he heard Goliath defying Israel.  Seeing that the Israelites were afraid and fled whenever Goliath appeared, David said that he would kill him. (1 Samuel 17:23-32)  Saul told David that he was a boy and was not prepared to fight Goliath.  David told Saul that he had fought and killed a lion and a bear while tending to his father’s sheep. (1 Samuel 17:33-37)  Saul put his armor on David but he refused to wear it.  He took his staff and his sling and five smooth stones and went to face Goliath. (1 Samuel 17:38-40)  David said to Goliath, “… I come against you in the name of The Lord Almighty, The God of the armies of Israel whom you defied.  This day The Lord will deliver you into my hands …” (1 Samuel 17:45-46)  David defeated Goliath with a sling, then he took Goliath’s sword and cut off his head. (1 Samuel 17:48-51)

 

APPLICATION

With the help of The Lord God we can face and defeat whatever our Goliaths happen to be.  Before that can happen, we have to first believe in Him and have faith in Him.  If we have faith the size of a mustard seed we can move large trees (Luke 17:6) and mountains. (Matthew 17:20)  With God’s help, all things are possible if we only believe. (Mark 10:27)  Our God is bigger that any of our problems.

  

THE DAY THAT THE SUN STOOD STILL

PROCLAMATION

“Then spake Joshua to The Lord in the day when The Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, ‘Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.  And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies …”  Joshua 10:12-13 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

These are the words of God which were revealed to and written by Joshua under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  After Joshua had made a treaty with the Gibeonites, the king of Jerusalem joined forces with the four kings of the Amorites, the kings of Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon, and they attacked the Gibeonites. (Joshua 10:1-5)  They sent word to Joshua that they had been attacked and Joshua took his entire army, marched all night, and they took the enemy by surprise. (Joshua 10:6-9)  There was confusion within their ranks and a lot of the enemy fled from the Israelites.  But The Lord God caused large hailstones to rain down upon those that fled, and more men were killed by the hail than by the swords of the Israelite army. (Joshua 10:10-11)  On the day of that battle, Joshua asked The Lord to let the sun stand still until they had defeated their enemies.  That day the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down for almost a full day. (Joshua 10:12-14)  The Israelites defeated the five armies. (Joshua 10:16-21)  Then Joshua killed all five of the kings. (Joshua 10:22-27)  After that, one by one, he attacked, destroyed, and killed every person in each of their five fortified cities. (Joshua 10:28-43)

 

APPLICATION

There has never been another day, before or since, like that day when the sun stood still at the request of Joshua. (Joshua 10:14)  That is positive proof that The Lord God hears and answers prayers. (1 Peter 3:12)  It is also positive proof that the fervent prayers of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:16)  The Lord God can fight our battles for us, (2 Chronicles 32:8) even the battles against enemies that we cannot see. (Ephesians 6:12)  Nothing is impossible for our God, (Matthew 19:26, Mark 10:27, and Luke 1:37) and those of us who believe are His children. (John 1:12)

  

IF YOU HAVE FAITH

PROCLAMATION

“He replied, ‘Because you have so little faith.  Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.  Nothing will be impossible for you.’ ”  Matthew 17:20 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

These words are from the gospel, the good news regarding Jesus, The Christ, according to the Apostle Matthew.  After six days in the region of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus took Peter, James, and John with Him and led them up a high mountain. (Matthew 17:1)  There He transfigured Himself right in front of them, and Moses and Elijah appeared before them. (Matthew 17:2-3)  Then a cloud covered them and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him.” (Matthew 17:4-5)  After they came down from the mountain they came to the place where the multitude was, and a man approached Jesus and knelt before Him.  The man said that his son was demon-possessed and suffered from seizures and His disciples could not heal him. (Matthew 17:14-16)  Jesus, The Christ, told them to bring the boy to Him.  He rebuked the demon and the boy was healed instantly.  Later on, in private, His disciples asked Him why they could not cast the demon out of the boy.  Jesus replied to them, ‘Because of your unbelief …”  If they had faith as small as a grain of mustard seed, then they could move a mountain.  Nothing would be impossible for them.  But some things require prayer and fasting before they could do them. (Matthew 17:20-21)

APPLICATION

The problem that we as believers have today is that we have so little faith in God.  We believe but we have doubts and therefore our faith is weak.  Jesus, The Christ, said that if we had the faith as small as a mustard seed, then nothing would be impossible for us. (Matthew 17:20)  We need to exercise our faith in order to strengthen it.  In addition to believing and having stronger faith, some things require that we fast and pray in order to accomplish them. (Matthew 17:21)  But remember, when we pray for an increase in our faith, we may be put in situations where we can exercise our faith to make it stronger.

FOCUS ON CHRIST AND NOT ON OUR SITUATION

PROCLAMATION

“ ‘Lord, if it’s You,’ Peter replied, tell me to come to You on the water.’  ‘Come,’ He said.  Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.  But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’  Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and caught him.  ‘You of little faith,’ He said, ‘why did you doubt?’ ”  Matthew 14:28-31 (NIV)  

EXPLANATION

These words are from the gospel, the good news regarding Jesus, The Christ, according to the Apostle Matthew.  While Jesus, The Christ, was in His hometown, He heard that John the baptizer had been beheaded by King Herod. (Matthew 14:1-12)  He then withdrew by boat to a solitary place.  Crowds followed Him on foot around the lake.  When he reached the shore, He saw a large crowd.  He had compassion on them and healed the sick among them. (Matthew 14:13-14)  As evening approached, His disciples told Him to send the people away so that they could buy food for themselves.  Jesus told His disciples to feed them and they replied that they only had two small fish and five barley loaves of bread. (Matthew 14:15-17)  Jesus told them to tell the people to sit down and bring Him the fish and bread.  He blessed them, broke them, and fed five thousand men plus their women and children.  They all ate until they were satisfied and there were twelve baskets full of left-over pieces. (Matthew 14:18-21)  Then Jesus told His disciples to get into the boat and go back to the other side of the lake.  He dismissed the crowd and went up to a mountainside to pray.  Later that night, shortly before dawn, He walked on water out to the boat. (Matthew 14:22-25)  When His disciples saw Him walking on the lake, they were afraid.  Jesus said to them, “Be of good cheer, it is I; be not afraid.” (Matthew 14:26-27)  That was when Peter said, “Lord, if it be You, bid me come unto You on the water.”  Peter walked on water as long as he focused on Christ.  However, when he took his eyes off of Christ and focused on the wind and waves around him, he began to sink.

APPLICATION

Christ is omnipotent and He can use His power to help us to do that which seems impossible.  Through Him we can do all things. (Philippians 4:13)  Our God is bigger than our problems.  He is more powerful than the storms of life that we face.  In fact, He controls the storms.  He can calm the storms or give us the strength to go through them.  Either way, He will be with us.  We will survive the storms as long as we believe and focus on Him and not on the storm.

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

Proclamation:

"Jesus said unto him, ‘If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.  And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief."  Mark 9:23-24

Explanation:

These are the words of Jesus, The Christ, which He said to the man with his son who had a dumb spirit that the disciples of Jesus could not cast out.  The man had questioned the power of Jesus by saying “… if you can …” (Mark 9:22)  Jesus replied to the man by questioning his faith.  The man stated that he believed and then asked Jesus to help him by strengthening his faith.  After Jesus cast out the foul spirit from the boy, His disciples asked Him privately why they could not cast out that demon.  He said unto them, “This kind can come forth by nothing but prayer and fasting." (Mark 9:29)

Application:
It is possible to have faith but also to have an imperfect faith mixed with a little doubt.  This father's prayer was to confess his spiritual weakness and ask for Jesus to help him to have a greater faith.  The take home lesson here is that believers may need to have a greater faith.  The disciples needed to know that some demons are more powerful than others.  This is also a lesson that we all could learn.  Some things we want require that we pray and fast.  All things are possible if we truly believe.  If we had the faith of a grain of mustard seed we could move mountains. (Matthew 17:20)  Jesus said to His disciples during a storm, “O ye of little faith.” (Matthew 8:26)  He was also speaking directly to us today.  We are fearful of things when we shouldn’t be.  We worry about things when it is not necessary.  We are doubtful of things that we should be certain of.  We have faith in God but only a little faith mixed with a lot of doubt.  We should probably also pray, as that father did, and say, Lord, help my unbelief.

THE BLESSINGS OF GOD

Proclamation:

“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, The Lord appeared to him … Then God said, ‘Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac.  I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.’” Genesis 17:1-19 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by Moses.  He documents that The Lord God can bless believers in ways far beyond their wildest dreams.  Abram was faithful and obedient, and God blessed him and his family.  He was blessed with a long life and he was fruitful even in his old age.  God changed Abram’s name to Abraham and his wife Sarai’s name to Sarah. (Genesis 17:5 and 17:15)  Abraham’s wife Sarah was blessed to bear him a son when she was ninety years old.  Nothing is impossible for God. (Jeremiah 32:27)

Application:

The Lord can change our name, our direction, and our life. (2 Corinthians 5:17)  He can bless us in more ways than we can imagine.  No matter what situation we find ourselves in, if we are faithful and obedient to God's word, He can bless us and use us in ways that are beyond that which we thought was not humanly possible.  God is in control of everything and with Him all blessings are possible. (Matthew 19:26 and Mark 10:27)

With God All Things Work For Good

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."  Romans 8:28 (NIV)

Under the divine inspiration of The Holy Spirit of God, the Apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Rome to, among other things, encourage them in the face of difficult times.  He told them that The Lord God is in control of all things, and that He can work things out for the good of those who love Him, and for those who have been called according to His purpose.

We would not consider every thing that happens to us to be a good thing.  However bad things may appear to us when they happen, The Lord God is able to use whatever it is to the advantage of those who love Him and are called to His purpose.  Remember, Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, and he ended up being in a position to help his brothers survive a famine. (Genesis 37:1-36 and Genesis 41:1-57)  God can use bad situations to prepare believers for, or to put us in position for, the good things that we cannot imagine which He has planned for our future. (1 Corinthians 2:9)

The Lord Will Make A Way

"See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland."  Isaiah 43:19 (NIV)

This message to the people of God was delivered by the prophet Isaiah as The Lord God had given it to him.  He began by saying "Thus saith The LORD ..." (Isaiah 43:16)  The message to the believers was that The Lord made a way for the people in the past, and that He will make a way for them, even in the wilderness.

The Lord God made a way for His people out of Egypt (Exodus 3:10 to13:3), across the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21-22), and He provided food and water for them in the wilderness. (Exodus 16:4-18 and Exodus 17:2-6)  He made a way when there appeared to be no way out of a bad situation in the past, and He will make a way out of a bad situation when there appears to be no way out now and in the future.  Believers can trust Him and know that He will never leave or forsake His own. (Deuteronomy 31:6 and Hebrews 13:5)