#DailyDevotion You Can Only Slay Goliaths If You Trust In God’s Promises
Aug. 1st
Read 1 Sam 17:1–19
1Sa 17:10-11 And the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” (11) When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
Why were these Israelites afraid? Did they not have the Word of the Lord? Did they not have the promises of God? What Word and Promises of God might that be that should take away their fear?
Lev 26:3 “If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them,…6-8 I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. And I will remove harmful beasts from the land, and the sword shall not go through your land. (7) You shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. (8) Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand, and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.
And: Deu 28:7 “The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.
What did they have to fear unless they were not walking in the statutes and observing the commandments of the Lord? Maybe they feared they were not. But the cure for that is to repent and trust in the Word of the Lord. These men of Israel should have been scattering their enemies seven ways to the wind. Instead they were cowering.
We shall see that David will come as one who believes these words of the Lord and lives by them. We have another David against a greater Goliath. The Goliath we face is sin, death and the devil. Jesus is our David. He has defeated our enemies by his innocent suffering and death. By his burial and resurrection he has won the victory for us. These have no power over us in Christ Jesus.
We should live as such with faith in Christ. We should not live lives of fear and cowering. We should be chasing our enemies with the almighty and powerful Word and Promises of Jesus. Our fears should not run our lives but the love of God in Christ Jesus should be the Word in which we trust and face the world, our flesh, our enemies in the spiritual realms. They would have us cower in fear over the circumstances of our lives and have control over them. But the One who is in us is greater than the one who is in the World. So do not fear today. God in Christ Jesus is on your side. He will fight your battles. He will strengthen your heart and your legs to act as people of the New Covenant with confidence and boldness.
Lord Jesus Christ, ever give us your Holy Spirit that we may face life without fear but with faith and love in your Words. Amen.