FIVE STONES AGAINST GOLIATH
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Why Did David Take 5 Stones Against Goliath?
by JACK WELLMAN
Why did David take five smooth stones to take on Goliath? Was he afraid he’d miss?
The Battle is the
Lords
David, as a young teenager and a shepherd
who had been tending sheep probably since he was a very young child, knew a lot
about tending sheep and how dangerous it was to protect them from predators.
At the time in which David lived, there
were a lot more predators than there are today.
David saw that Goliath was blaspheming the good
name of God and His chosen people, Israel.
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,
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. Your
servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine
shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God” (1 Samuel 17:34-36).
David’s point was not that he was able to
take down these lions and bears by himself.
But, as David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of
the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said
to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you”
(1 Samuel
17:37).
In other words, the battle was the Lord’s
and not David’s or Saul’s or Israel’s.
We must give glory to God and acknowledge
that it is the Lord Who does battle for us because we alone could never take
down any Goliath or any gigantic problem face today. Just leave it to the Lord.
The battle is His!
“For
the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand”
Goliath Insults God
and Israel
After King Saul agreed to let David go
against Goliath, he tried putting on Saul’s armor and helmet.
But as you can imagine, they were way too
big and would actually make him more vulnerable, so David says “I cannot go with these, for I have not
tested them.”
So David put them off. Then he took his
staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in
his shepherd’s pouch.
His sling in his hand, David approached the
Philistine (1
Samuel 17:39b-40).
I liked what David did. He thought that he
did not really need the armor and helmet, not so much that they were not
tested, but David depended on God.
And he “said to the Philistine, ‘You come to me
with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name
of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied’” (1 Samuel 17:45).
He came in the
Lord’s name, thereby giving God the glory and saying “This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I
will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of
the host of the Philistines this day to the birds 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).
And by slaying
Goliath, “all this assembly may know that
the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he
will give you into our hand” (1 Samuel 17:47).
Does it bother you when someone blasphemes
God’s name by using it as a curse word? It does me.
I am not suggesting that we go up against
them, but when I hear it, I say, “Excuse
me” and especially if there are children around, I remind them, “There are children present.”
Sometimes it is not a good reaction but at
other times, the person apologized and did not even realize that they did it.
That is how casual we are with God’s name.
But God will not hold them guiltless who
take His name in
Why the Five Stones
and Staff?
Since there was
only one Goliath, why did David go with “his
staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in
his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the
Philistine?” (1
Samuel 17:40)
Perhaps the staff was a backup in case he
missed Goliath with the stones? I am not sure because the Bible does not tell
us why David also took his staff with him.
He had used that, to defend the sheep
against predators, but Goliath was much more than that.
As for the five
smooth stones, why would David not only need one against Goliath since he was
confident that the Lord would “give you
into our hand?” (1 Samuel 17:47)
Goliath was not the only one of his kind.
Goliath had brothers. (1
Chronicles 20:5-8)
Plus, there were other descendants of
gigantic men from Gath, the same place that Goliath had come from (1 Samuel 17:4).
Apparently David was ready in the event any
of Goliath’s brothers came with him or any of the other so-called giants that
came from Gath.
David did what we are to do. He made
provisions for the future and was ready for any trouble in advance, but he
still relied on and trusted in God to fight the battle for him. God is
sovereign.
First Chronicles
20:5-8 may explain why David brought five stones instead of one as it says
later on, “there was again war with the
Philistines, and Elhanan the son of Jair struck down Lahmi the brother of
Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. And
there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had
six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number, and
he also was descended from the giants. And when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the
son of Shimea, David’s brother, struck him down. These were descended from the
giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and
by the hand of his servants”
(1 Chronicles
20:5-8).
Conclusion
What you and I
should do when faced with impossible circumstances is to put our trust in God
and say what David said: “For the battle
is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand” (1 Samuel 17:47b).
The battle is not
ours, and for that I am thankful because we would not have a chance. But since “God is for us, who can be against us” (Romans 8:31)?
Not even Goliath would stand a chance.
In
this spiritual war, there are no fence-sitters – you are either with the Lords’
victorious army or with the wicked “Powers” of Satan.
Be
sure you are listed with the victorious army of the Lord. Settle that sin issue right now by saying
this prayer:
.
“Father
God, I confess I am a sinner and my sins have separated me from You.
I am truly
sorry. I now want to turn away from my past sinful life and live a new life
pleasing to You.
Please
forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again.
I believe
that Your Son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is
alive, and hears my prayer.
I invite
Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this
day forward.
Please send
Your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my
life. Thank you, Lord, that according to Your Word, I am born again. I promise
to obey You and study your Word – the Bible.
Use me for
Your glory.
In Jesus'
Name I pray. Amen.”
Jack Wellman is a father and grandfather and a Christian author, freelance writer, and pastor at the Mulvane (KS) Brethren church in Mulvane, Kansas. Graduate work at Moody Bible Institute. His books are inexpensive paperbacks that are theological in nature: “Teaching Children The Gospel/How to Raise Godly Children,“ “Do Babies Go To Heaven?/Why Does God Allow Suffering?,“ "The Great Omission; Reaching the Lost for Christ," and “Blind Chance or Intelligent Design?, Empirical Methodologies & the Bible."
http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/why-did-david-take-5-stones-against-goliath/
RELATED POSTS:
Jack Wellman is a father and grandfather and a Christian author, freelance writer, and pastor at the Mulvane (KS) Brethren church in Mulvane, Kansas. Graduate work at Moody Bible Institute. His books are inexpensive paperbacks that are theological in nature: “Teaching Children The Gospel/How to Raise Godly Children,“ “Do Babies Go To Heaven?/Why Does God Allow Suffering?,“ "The Great Omission; Reaching the Lost for Christ," and “Blind Chance or Intelligent Design?, Empirical Methodologies & the Bible."
http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/why-did-david-take-5-stones-against-goliath/
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Battle Over Your Prayers
“The Battle Belongs to the
Lord”
Jamie Owens-Collins
lyrics
In heavenly armor we'll enter the land
The battle belongs to the Lord
No weapon that's fashioned against us shall stand
The battle belongs to the Lord
The battle belongs to the Lord
No weapon that's fashioned against us shall stand
The battle belongs to the Lord
We sing glory and honor
Power and strength to the Lord
(repeat)
Power and strength to the Lord
(repeat)
The power of darkness comes in like a flood
The battle belongs to the Lord
He's raised up a standard, the power of His blood
The battle belongs to the Lord
The battle belongs to the Lord
He's raised up a standard, the power of His blood
The battle belongs to the Lord
we sing glory and honor
power in strength to the lord
(repeat)
When your enemy presses in hard do not fear
The battle belongs to the Lord
Take courage my friend, your redemption is near
The battle belongs to the Lord
power in strength to the lord
(repeat)
When your enemy presses in hard do not fear
The battle belongs to the Lord
Take courage my friend, your redemption is near
The battle belongs to the Lord
the battle belongs to the lord
battle belongs to the lord......
battle belongs to the lord......
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