Three Davids

Spiritual Lessons

The David that Went in his Strength


Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and King Saul and the men of Israel were set in array against the Philistines.

And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines named Goliath, of Gath.  And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel -- "I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we might fight together."

When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.
Now David, the son of Jesse, ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren.  And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name.  And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were sore afraid.

And they said -- "Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it  shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel."

And Eliab, David's eldest brother heard him speaking to the men, and his anger was kindled against David and he said, "Why camest thou down hither?  and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness?  I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. "

And from that moment David desired to prove himself to Eliab, and to the men of Israel and to be enriched with great riches and went straightway to the King.

And David said to Saul -- O King I will fight Israel's enemy, Goliath.
And the King said to David -- "Thou art not able to fight against this Philistine.  You are but a youth."
And David once more addressed the King -- "I have saved my father's flock from both a lion and a bear, and this Philistine shall be like unto them, for I am David, the son of Jesse."

And Saul armed David with his own armor, and girded David with his sword.  And David went before the men of Israel to show the honor of the King towards him.

And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David, and when he saw David he cursed him.
And then said David to the Philistine -- "Thou comest to me with a sword, but I come to revenge Israel and to prove the strength of David, son of Jesse, and I will defy you, and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all of the earth may know the strength of an Israelite, and the valor of David!"

And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and drew near that David hasted and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine, in full confidence of both himself and Saul's sword.
And the Philistine drew his sword and prevailed against David, for David had trusted in his own strength and forgotten the Lord his God.

The David that Waited on the Lord.


Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and King Saul and the men of Israel were set in array against the Philistines.

And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines named Goliath, of Gath.  And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel -- "I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we might fight together."

When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.
Now David, the son of Jesse, ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren.  And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name.  And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were sore afraid.

And they said -- "Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it  shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel."

And Eliab, David's eldest brother heard him speaking to the men, and his anger was kindled against David and he said, "Why camest thou down hither?  and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness?  I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. "

And from that moment David feared the pride of his heart and continually questioned the motive of his heart.  Nonetheless he sought audience with the King.

And David said to Saul -- O King I will fight Israel's enemy, Goliath.
And the King said to David -- "Thou art not able to fight against this Philistine.  You are but a youth."
And David once more addressed the King -- "You have spoken truly oh king, I am a worm and unworthy, but the Lord will deliver Israel from this Philistine."

And Saul armed David with his own armor, and girded David with his sword.  But David said unto Saul -- "I cannot go with these; I will go with no weapon so I may prove the Lord God.  I will wait on Him to defeat the enemy of Israel, for the Lord our God is stronger than man and He will fight for us.  Have no fear, but wait on the Lord God."

And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David, and when he saw David he cursed him and his God.

And then David sat peacefully before the Philistine and said -- "Thou comest to me with a sword, but I come in the rest of the Lord.  You defy me and curse God but I will wait on the Lord."

And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and drew near that David sat and prayed and the Philistine drew his sword and smote the Israelites, and the Israelites were brought under bondage to the Philistines, and Goliath of Gath gloried in his victory over God's people.

The Real David


Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and King Saul and the men of Israel were set in array against the Philistines.

And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines named Goliath, of Gath.  And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel -- "I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we might fight together."

When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.
Now David, the son of Jesse, ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren.  And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name.  And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were sore afraid.

And they said -- "Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it  shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel."

And Eliab, David's eldest brother heard him speaking to the men, and his anger was kindled against David and he said, "Why camest thou down hither?  and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness?  I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. "

And David knew the pride of his own heart, but also knew not to expect everyone to understand the true motives of his heart and said, "What have I now done?  Is there not a cause?"  And David left the apathetic and fearful brethren and sought the king.

And David said to Saul -- "Let no man's heart fail because of Goliath, thy servant will fight him."
And the King said to David -- "Thou art not able to fight against this Philistine.  You are but a youth."
And David once more addressed the King -- " Thy servant slew both a lion and a bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.  The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine."

And Saul armed David with his own armor, and girded David with his sword.  But David said unto Saul -- "I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them."  And David took his own familiar staff and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook and put them in his shepherds bag and took his sling which he had defeated the lion and bear with; for David knew the Lord God would use him and the things God had equipped him with.

And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David, and when he saw David he cursed him and his God.

And David said -- "Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou has defied.  This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee; and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.  And all the assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hands."

And it came to pass when the Philistine arose and drew night to meet David that David hasted and ran toward the army, in full confidence that the Lord would fight through him.

And David put his hand in his bag and took thence a stone and slang it, and the small stone sunk into his forehead and he fell upon his face to the earth.  So David prevailed in the strength of the Lord over the Philistine with a mere sling and a stone.  And the Philistines fled when they saw their champion was dead.  And the men of Israel and of Judah arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines and were victorious.  And the assembly was convinced of God's faithfulness and strength and He was given glory.  All because one young man trusted in God and acted on it.



Related Post

A Witness

Surrender. Obedience. Attack.

Surrender. Obedience. Attack. 

I've decided that you can learn a lot if you're willing to pay attention to detail. Especially in the Bible. Recently, I read through Psalm 40. It's an amazing Psalm, but I noticed something this time that I'd never noticed before. There's an order in how it is written. Specifically throughout verses 6-13, as we see David's heart poured out before God. 

"Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt-offering and sin-offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart." (Psalms 40:6-8) 




Surrender:  It is almost impossible for God to do anything with someone who isn't surrendered to do His will. David knew this. God didn't want Sacrifice and burn-offerings. He didn't even want sin-offerings. He wanted complete surrender. God is not a tyrant. He won't force Himself upon you. Does He allow things in our lives to get our attention? Absolutely. He lovingly draws all men. But forced love is not love at all. Forced obedience is not service, but slavery. The surrender of our wills to His lordship is not something He demands...but something He asks. It is given. And when we get real with God, when we humble ourselves, when we repent before Him, when we realize just who we are and who He is, we can say like David, "Lo, I come...and..."I delight to thy will". 

 After the first nuclear bombing on Japan, near the end of World War II, Japan sought for "conditional surrender". However, these terms were not accepted and the United States of America insisted upon "unconditional surrender" or further destruction. This was proven by the 2nd nuclear bomb that hit Japan, for which afterward, Japan unconditionally surrendered. I think sometimes this is like us with God. The Bible says that we cannot serve two masters. But we try to. We come to God with "conditional surrender". (Lord, I surrender, but _________.)  But conditions with surrender are not acceptable terms to God. He desires "unconditional surrender". 


Obedience: To say that we are surrendered to God, and yet, we do nothing that He says... means, in fact, we truly aren't surrendered to God. We are most certainly lying. We may not know that we are lying...but in truth, we are. The book of James makes this very clear. We may very well be self-deceived. This is why it is important to ask God to search our hearts continually.

And after David came in surrender to Christ, after he told the Lord that he delighted to his will... God took him up on it. And what do we see?

"I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest. I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation." (Psalm 40:9-10)

I am amazed by the things David declares in these verses. He preached righteousness. (As woman, we aren't given the liberty to "preach" exactly, but proclaiming righteousness isn't necessarily just seen through what we might consider "traditional preaching", but also through our actions and daily lives.) David refrained not his lips. He spoke out. He witnessed. He was bold in proclaiming truth. He declared the faithfulness of God. He declared the salvation of God. He concealed not the Lord's lovingkindness. In other words, he loved people. David also said that he had not "hid the Lord's righteousness within [his] heart." He extended it to others. This really stood out to me. A lot of Christians today are content to keep God for themselves. They "hide Him", if you would, within their own comfort-ability and houses. But not David. And this is all said of the person God said before, was a "man after his own heart". This is all said, right after David surrendered to do the Lord's will. 


Attack: 

"Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me. For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me. Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me." (Psalm 40:11-13)

When you submit yourself to God. When you set out to do His will. When you are serious about righteousness. When you set out to actively obey Him. Be sure of it. You WILL be attacked. Sometimes, it takes us by surprise...but it shouldn't. Satan is a deceitful and ruthless enemy. He sets out to destroy. He isn't interested in playing games. He isn't okay with you being a light in darkness. He isn't happy about sincere and real Christianity. But, this shouldn't stop us. We shouldn't allow it to discourage us! God is so much greater! 

I've never experienced more spiritual attack in my whole life than I have this past year. It is a very REAL thing and it can take many different forms. David describes some of them here in these verses. Innumerable evils. Iniquities (sins), to the point that he isn't even able to look up to God. This one is the most subtle and shocking when it comes. Also known as, condemnation. I've seen over and over again, when you step out in obedience to serve God, your past sin creeps in to haunt you, to condemn you, to discourage you. Sometimes, it is just seeing your flesh for what it truly is (wretched) ...and allowing it to make you feel worthless and hopeless and unable to be of any use to God. This isn't the spirit of Christ. God already KNEW who you were before you suddenly became aware of it yourself. Your sin isn't shocking to Him. He knew. He knows. But sometimes it is shocking to us. Maybe because we are self-deceived into thinking that we really weren't as bad as the Bible made us out to be. But your sin isn't the biggest problem to God. He already paid for it on the cross of Calvary. He has already forgiven you, if you accept that forgiveness. But Satan loves to back us into a corner that cripples us to any action. He wants you to give up. He wants you to feel worthless. He wants to, as he subtly did to Eve, get us to doubt that God really loves us and has the best in store for us. Satan, in any way he can, wants to distract you from looking towards God. If he can simply get you to take your eyes off Christ and place them on yourself...he's won a victory. Because it's when we look at ourselves, we either become proud or discouraged and are therefore hindered in our work for God. David knew what it was to have your heart fail you. And it came after he set out in obedience to God. Don't be surprised when the enemy sneaks in to attack you in any way he can. Instead, be ready. Seek God. Through submission and resistance, he will flee. David said, "make haste to help me". If we are on God's side...than it stands true that He is on our side too. 

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;" (Psalm 46:1 and 2)

I'm learning to be encouraged, instead of discouraged, when attack comes beating down. Because, it means God is doing something. That Satan has a reason to be afraid. And God certainly won't leave you alone. He wants you to submit to His good will. He wants to use you for His kingdom, more than you know.