Many of us have read of David:

David, the son,

David, the servant,

David the king.

Today I want to look at David, the runner.

 

I Samuel 17

1 Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim.

² And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines.

³ And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.

⁴ And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

⁵ And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was fivethousand shekels of brass.

⁶ And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brassbetween his shoulders.

⁷ And the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.

Let’s stop a second for some commentary.  Do you remember reading Number 13:22 when the spies were sent out to the land of Canaan and thy reported of giants in the land? Joshua and his army destroyed the giants, so they were only left  in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod. Gath is where Goliath was from.

This detail reminds me of how life works.

Our parents, who chose to, went before us and tore down ancestral

fears and curses in their life that effected us.

There may be fears and curses still remaining in our bloodline

so now we get to take those down.

Joshua took down the giants but there were still some giants remain that future generations would need to tackle.

⁸ And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.

⁹ If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us.

¹⁰ And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.

¹¹ When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.

¹² Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehemjudah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the manwent among men for an old man in the days of Saul.

¹³ And the three eldest sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle:

¹⁴ And David was the youngest: and the three eldest followed Saul.

¹⁵ But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.

¹⁶ And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.

¹⁷ And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethrenan ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren;

¹⁸ And carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge.

¹⁹ Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.

²⁰ And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle.

Let’s look at David’s habits for a moment.  David wasn’t in the habit of not handling his business.  His father had a request for him and he gladly did it but, before he did he did not complain, “Well whose gonna watch my sheep?” He just handled it his business and left them with a care taker before he left.

Faithful in the little things makes faithful in the big things so much easier.

²¹ For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army.

²² And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren.

Two characteristics of David are seen in this simple verse.  He handled his business and he ran to his next business.

²³ And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them.

²⁴ And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid.

²⁵ And the men of Israel 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 greatriches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father’s house free in Israel.

²⁶ And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?

²⁷ And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him.

²⁸ And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab’s 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.

Okay there are several lessons we can learn from Eliab.  First lesson, “don’t take it personal”.  At times it may be people who are closest to us that speak harmful words when we are trying to rise or grow or stand in a category.  Second, “jealousy causes others to forget love”. You just got to keep walking your walk at times and not let someones jealousy talk you out of your blessings!  Third lesson, “projection’. Eliab is projecting blame on David. David wa the furthest thing from a man of “pride”, that was Eliab’s weakness that he is projecting onto David.  To now David is to know he handles his business and is reliable, not nosey.  The fourth lesson is found in David’s response.

²⁹ And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?

David did not need his brothers validation or approval.  David didn’t even bother to address the accusations from his brother, he knew he was standing for God.  He knew what needed to be done was a matter of fighting for God’s kids.  Allowing Goliath to defy God’s armies was not an option for David.

³⁰ And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner.

What words were spoken? “Is there not cause?”  David is saying, there is something wrong here.  This is not okay.  We should not just sit back and let this happen.  We should not shrink in fear because of this, there is a cause and it needs to be addressed.

I want to have this heart in All of my life. I have Holy Spirit in me.  I expect it to be God at work within me both to will and to do of His good pleasure and with that working, there are times I catch a “feeling” that just doesn’t sit right with me.  The heart David says, “wait, what? Hang on a sec, did you hear that?  Don’t allow those thoughts to keep going.  Something about them defied who you are in Christ.  Is there not cause to stop and look at the “giant” speaking something other than life?”

 Fear….ALL fear is wrong! Never allow fear to determine your direction, never!

This is the heart of David!

³¹ And when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul: and he sent for him.

³² And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.

³³ And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.

³⁴ And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: 

³⁵ And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.

³⁶ Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.

Let me tell you what I hear when David spoke these words……David said, “I am in a habit of running at my Goilath’s in life.  It is my habit to run at anything that tries to steal my pease, steal my protection, steal my joy.  This is who I am.  I am Davis, the runner!

³⁷ David said moreover, 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 said unto David, Go, and The LORD be with thee.

David continues, “I know how big my God is and I know He is Always with me!”

³⁸ And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail.

³⁹ And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.

Everything you need to run at your Goliath’s in life is already in you.  The All Knowing, Everywhere Present, and All Powerful fills every cell of your body. Don’t let the outside world tell you what you need, you have what you need so Fear nothing.

⁴⁰ And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smoothstones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.

⁴¹ And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him.

⁴² And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.

⁴³ And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

⁴⁴ And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will givethy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.

So, David heard these words and trembled in fear, right? NO!  He knew who he was and who was for him.

⁴⁵ Then said David to the Philistine, 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 hast defied.

⁴⁶ This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases 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.

Was the battle won yet?  If you said yes, you are correct. The battle was won in the mind and confessions of David and that is where all of life’s victories and defeat first take place.  Your thoughts are so powerful.  What you believe is what your reality is.  If you are seeing things in your reality that you do not want then change how you think and speak about them.  Say with great boldness, “I AM more than a conqueror and I have already been given this victory so I TAKE it in this category!”

⁴⁷ And all this 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.

⁴⁸ And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.

David the runner!

⁴⁹ 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.

⁵⁰ So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.

⁵¹ Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.

⁵² And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron.

⁵³ And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents.

David had the courage to see “there is cause” and run after what was defying the living God.  In all of life we can apply this too.  Do not allow anything to defy who you are in Christ.  You have the power and the authority to run at anything that tries to talk you out of who you are, what belongs to you, and where you are going! Just as David knew the battle was the Lord’s when he faced this giant, you too know that God has already given you the victory, all you have to do is run after anything trying to keep you from it!

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Watch the video here!

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1RzTRA6H9U[/embedyt]

 

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