David brought a big victory for
Israel when he defeated Goliath. He trusted in God inexplicitly and
through His grace David killed Goliath. The Philistines couldn't
believe it when they saw their hero fall. They ran off the moment
they saw it. They didn't honor their agreement. Do you remember
their agreement? Goliath proclaimed that if someone were to kill
him, they would be the servants of Israel, but if he killed the one
coming against him, Israel would be their servants. Now of course
they never in their wildest dreams thought that someone will
actually kill Goliath and therefore they made this silly agreement.
But the moment the unthinkable happened they ditched the agreement
and fled.
Hasn't this happened many times to
us as well? Either we make silly promises because we think it will
never happen, or people we enter into agreement with make a U-turn
the moment things don't go their way. I think the lesson here is
that we should think carefully before we enter into an agreement
with anyone. We should be prepared to honor that agreement even if
things do not go our way.
But on the other hand, if we acted
honorably, and really kept to our side of the bargain and the other
party decides not to honor it, we can be certain that God will be
with us and help us. He certainly was with the Israelites. The
moment Goliath was defeated the Philistines ran with the Israelites
in hot pursuit:
"Now the men of Israel and
Judah arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines as far as the
entrance of the valley and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded
of the Philistines fell along the road to Shaaraim, even as far as
Gath and Ekron. Then the children of Israel returned from chasing
the Philistines, and they plundered their tents." 1 Samuel 17:52,
53
God helped the Israelites in a
mighty way. Just a few verses back they were trembling, scared to
death, but this one heroic act of David spurred them on and they
solidly defeated their enemy. God didn't take kindly to the fact
that the Philistines didn't honor their part of the agreement and
He helped the Israelites to not only defeat them, but to be
enriched as well by taking all the Philistines had. God is faithful
and will help His people. And the same is true today. If you are
honest in your business and personal dealings, God will fight for
you and help you to be even better off than you would have been if
the other party had honored their part of the bargain.
One man's absolute trust in God
spurred on a whole nation and saved them from certain bloodshed. It
is wonderful to see what one man's faith can do. Today also we
should never think that we cannot make a difference on our own. We
truly can. Our faith and trust in God can influence more than we
think and can lead to supernatural events happening. One act of
absolute faith can snowball and change a whole nation. Think about
that the next time you are led by His Spirit to do something. You
have the ability to influence a nation. God has given it to you.
You only need to stand up and be counted.
Father thank you that we can know
that You will always fight for us. We look up to You and we praise
You! Give us the courage to take a stand for You and to proclaim
our faith for all to see. We want people to see You in us. All
glory on High! Amen