Sermon by Kshitij Pandey
David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17) – Lesser known things
God is able, He is with us and He will never fail us. No matter what is in front of us, God is able to fight it out. Let us discover who we are in Christ, our identity in Christ
17-8 Goliath addresses the Israelites as servants of Saul but David knew that they are the Armies of the Living God. This itself brings a paradigm shift in our perspective of who we are. (17:26). David was able to see more than being servants of Saul. David called Goliath as uncircumcised because Philistines don’t belong to God. David was very clear about his identity in God.
17:12 David enters the famous story as a food delivery boy sent by his father for his elder brothers.
What is our identity in Christ?
- We are created in God’s image to have dominion. (Gen 1:26)
- God: The Creator of this Universe is our father and He knows exactly what we need. (Matthew 6:31)
- God has given us His Helper – His Holy Spirit (John 14:26)
- God is our helper so we don’t have to fear anything. (Hebrews 13:6)
- God has placed us in the body of Christ i.e. His church. (1 Corinthians 12:18)
- We have the confidence that God who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)
- One day the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back to take us all to heaven with him. (1 Thessalonians 4:13)
- One day we will see God face to face and there will be no more tears. (Revelation 22:3-5)
God has a plan for each one of us from the day of our creation to living in this earth to resurrection and going back to God.
What is the Power of our identity in Christ?
1 Samuel 17:34-35
But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him.
Can you imagine running after a lion? Leave a wild lion, we don’t even have the courage to run after a caged lion, but David did run after the wild lion. That was the power of his identity in God.
Can you imagine taking meat out of the mouth of a lion? Leave the meat from the lion’s mouth we are scared to even take a bone out of the mouth of our own pet dog, but David could do it coz that’s the confidence he had in the power of his identity in God.
Can you imagine holding Lion by beard? Its not easy but David was able to do it because he knew the power of his identity in God.
The average weight of a Lion is 450 pounds which was equally comparable to Goliath’s weight which means that God had already prepared David to kill Goliath. Just as God was training David to kill the Goliath while killing the lions and the bears in the wilderness, God has already prepared us for whatever giants or battles that are going to come in our lives. (Ephesians 2:10) It was not an accident that David was chosen to deliver food for his brother but God’s plan for his life.
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17) God has given each one of us some gift to serve God in every possible way. (1 Peter 4:10). According to Romans 12:3-8, even faith is a gift. We did not ask for our skills, it was all given to us by God for His glory. God allowed David to wrestle with the lions and the bears before he could face and kill Goliath from a far distance. Similarly, the trials and sufferings of our lives will always be easier than different tests of life because through it all God would have already prepared us to face the giants of life.
How do we guard our identity?
We must learn to turn away from anything that doubts our identity in Christ. (17:30)
We must have the confidence that God will never allow us to face defeat. (17:32)
Exclude “you cannot” from your heart because our God is able even if people around you might discourage you. (17:33)
How to prepare to kill your Goliath?
The Philistine presented himself forty days. (17:16)
If we read through the entire Bible there is some significance to the number 40 : 40 years of Israel’s voyage, Moses on Mount for 40 days. Spies were sent for 40 days. Jonah warned city for 40 days. Bible written by 40 people. Acts 1:14 Jesus appeared 40 days. Jesus fasted for 40 days.
What is the assurance of your victory?
Goliath despised David for being just a small boy. (17:42), but David was rest assured in the fact that God is going to give him the victory over the giant who was standing strong in front of Him. (17:46). His confidence was not on any weapons, he wasn’t looking at the size of the giant, but he was looking at His God who was far greater than all these things. Similarly, our confidence needs to be wrapped in clarity of who we are in Christ.
When Goliath moved towards David, he didn’t walk towards him but ran towards him to fight the giant. (17:48). That was the extent of David’s complete trust and confidence on God.
David was able to kill the giant from a distance. Just one sling of stone hit Goliath on his forehead because of which he fell face down. (17:49)
God is able to do immeasurably more than we can even think or imagine. God gave David a greater victory than was expected from him. God enabled David to conquer the land of Gath from where Goliath belonged. The enemy’s land also will become your land. (1 Chr 18:1 ) Goliath’s sword became David’s sword. God is able to make our enemy’s sword as our sword. (1 Sam 21:9)
Your victory can be assured in God if you trust Him with your whole heart and establish your identity in Him.