In the Name of the Lord

 DEVOTION

1^ST SAMUEL

IN THE NAME OF THE LORD

1 Sam 17:41-51

41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him. 43 He said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 "Come here," he said, "and I'll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!" 45 David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands." 48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. 50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him. 51 David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine's sword and drew it from the scabbard. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword.

NIV

Now we are at the great scene all these previous verses led up to, the non-battle between David and Goliath. We see that this was a non-battle because the Goliath never drew his sword or had any chance to strike at David, nor did he have an opportunity to throw his spear or javelin at David. All that Goliath was able to do was voice a threat of what he was going to do. However, David told Goliath that he did not stand a chance of success because David was coming against him in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel. The battle is the LORD’s. Here is the truth that stands out for us. Although David slung that sling and struck the Philistine straight in the forehead and killed him instantly, it was the LORD who saved, for anything that comes against us, the battle is the LORD’s. We know it is not by a spear or sword that we gain any victory. These two weapons stand for any kind of effect we make; all the attempts we strive to be a “Good Christian” will not save us. Any energy we put into overcoming difficulties, whatever strikes out at us, we cannot win the battle by our own abilities, skills, education, or wealth, or any other human effort, but when we face anything that tries to strike out against us, our Lord will win the victory for us. John tells us in one of his letters that the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith, and then he repeats the same idea, asking Who is it that overcomes the world? It is only those of us who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. That was the faith of David in the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel. Faith is our greatest weapon in the arsenal of the armor of God. Although we have the rest of the armor and it all serves to protect us from all attacks, we can take our stand behind our shield of faith, building a wall against anything or anyone that strikes out against us. If we do not have faith, unswerving, unwavering, doubtless, steadfast faith, we cannot overcome anything in this world. Faith is the victory that overcomes the world. It is this faith in the name of Jesus that gives us hope for eternal life, but also gives us the hope of being that overcomer, by the power of God at work in us. The Spirit of the LORD was upon David, and he overcame Goliath. We have the Spirit of the Lord dwelling within with power, giving us the victory. We do not win or overcome, but it is the Lord’s battle and He does all the work in us, for us, and through us, so we will overcome. It is by faith we are saved, faith in the name of the Lord.