Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

September 12
Friday


THE SMALL
GIANT

READ:
1 Samuel 17:32-37
__________________________________________________________________________________
The LORD...will
deliver me.
__1 Samuel 17:37
_________________________________________________________________________________

The towering enemy strides into the Valley of Elah. He stands 9 feet tall, and his coat of armor, made of many small bronze plates, glimmers in the sunlight. The shaft of his spear is wrapped with cords so it can spin through the air and be thrown with greater distance and accuracy. Goliath looks invincible.

But David knows better. While Goliath may look like a giant and act like a giant, in contrast to the living God he is small. David has a right view of God and therefore a right view of the circumstances. He sees Goliath as one who is defying the armies of the living God (1 sam. 17:26). He confidently appears before Goliath in his shepherd's clothes, armed with only his staff, five stones, and a sling. His confidence is not in what he has but in who is with him (v.8).

What "Goliath" are you facing right now? It may be an impossible situation at work, a financial difficulty, or a broken relationship. With God all things are small in comparison. Nothing is too big for Him. The words of the hymnwriter Charles Wesley reminds us: "Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees, and looks to that alone; laughs at impossibilities, and cries it shall be done." God is able to deliver you if that's His desire, and He may do so in ways you don't expect.
__Poh Fang Chia

```````````````````````````Not to the strong is the battle,````````````````````````
```````````````````````````Not to the swift is the race;``````````````````````````
`````````````````````````Yet to the true and the faithful`````````````````````````
`````````````````````Victory is promised through grace. __Crosby`````````````````
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Don't tell God how big your giants are.
tell your giants how big your God is.

*************************************Today's Bible Reading __ 1 Samuel 17:32-37*********************************

32 Then David said to Saul,
"Let no man's heart fail
because of him; your
servant will go and fight
with this Philistine."

33 And Saul said to David,
"You are not able to go
against this Philistine to
fight with him; for you are
a youth, and he a man of
war from his youth."

34 But David said to Saul,
"Your servant used to keep
his father's sheep, and when
a lion or a bear came and
took a lamb out of the
flock, 35 I went out after it
and struck it, and delivered
the lamb from its mouth;
and when it arose against
me, I caught it by its mouth;
and when it arose against
me I caught it by its beard,
and struck and killed it.



36 Your servant has killed
both lion and bear; and this
uncircumcised Philistine
will be like one of them,
seeing he has defied the
armies of the living God."

37 Moreover David said,
"the LORD, who delivered
me from the paw of the lion
and from the paw of the
bear, He will deliver me
from the hand of this
Philistine."

And Saul said to David,
"Go, and the LORD be with
you!"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
David was young at the time he faced Goliath, so his courage in
confronting the giant is impressive. His confidence was in God
and was based on His actions in the past. David considered the
heroic actions of his shepherding days (17:34-35) as victories
of the Lord (v.37). His boldness was encouraged by the faithful
strength of God.