Theme: THE REWARD OF FAITH
Text: “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.” – 1 Samuel 17:46.
Comment: David was a prophet and King in Israel whose statement of faith before the Philistine giant showed his heavy reliance in God in the ensuing battle with Goliath. With the benefit of his military adventurism, this “nine feet, nine inches” tall man disdained David saying he would give his “flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field”. – 1 Samuel 17:44.
David’s gallant response to “the uncircumcised Philistine” showed his faith in God. Said he: “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…And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’S.” – 1 Samuel 17:45, 47.
In the battle, just one sling of the stone hit “the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.” The Bible truly states that, “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.” Goliath, the idolater relied on his crooked deities and munitions in sheer ignorance that “a mighty man is not delivered by much strength” “Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy” – Psalm 33:16-18; Proverbs 21:31; etc.