16. We Win, Woo-Hoot! (recap of I Sam 17)
Posted by:
SeLahGirl on
October 25, 2007 at
2:29PM EST
We Win, Woo-Hoot!
(recap of I Sam 17)
I just wanted to do one last run through of this passage before moving
on to John 2, because the symbolism speaks so powerfully to the church
today. Not the church as in the machine as much as to the church -- you
and me.
37 The LORD who delivered me from the paw of
the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this
Philistine."
Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."
The lion represents the devourer. Satan is called a roaring lion that
seeks to devour us. So many times we picture that as meaning that some
little guy in a red suit is going to rise up out of the floor like
Beetlejuice and scream BOO! But the reality of it all is that Satan
needs people to work his destruction. He preys upon our weaknesses and
character flaws to use us as instruments to wound and cripple and
destroy one anther. We become puppets on his hand, weapons in his
control to maim and consume with everything contrary to the plan and
heart of God.
Do you think that it was the plan of that
friend that betrayed you to destroy your walk with Christ. No. They
just wanted to lash back at you for something you did. Or they were
just too caught up in their own selfish desires. It was the devourer
whispering in their ear, prodding them to go ahead, to not think of
anyone but themselves, to sin against God and you, to get that rush of
satisfaction for one fleeting moment.
Never realizing that
as that brief moment passes, they will stand in the middle of a circle
of destruction that they were used to reek. Their life will cower in
shame, broken and twisted and crippled as will the many lives they
devoured to fill the greed of their belly. Satan is the devourer, but
he needs us to sin to accomplish the destruction he craves. He wants to
make us look like him rather than Christ.
The same with
the bear. It is a symbol of violence. If there was ever such a stench
in the air of the world of violence, it is today. Bears are brutes,
they maul and taunt and rip you apart as though it is a game. They
enjoy the process of the kill, more than filling their belly. Although
they like that too.
God gave David victory over the lion
and the bear at a very young age, early in his walk, to train him for
his future. He will do the same for you. That crisis that the enemy has
wrought in your life, that you stumbled thru and somehow managed to
survive, was to prepare you to face the giant. Don't think for a moment
that when one crisis passes, that the battle is over. When Christ was
tempted, Scripture says that Satan left Him until a more opportune
time.
We will face many lions and bears along the way. But
as we look to God and praise Him and defend the things that are close
to his heart -- honesty, courage, truth, love, mercy, and JUSTICE -- we
will mature and gain strength/wisdom. We will reach a place where lions
and bears are easily taken down, and we will be sent by God to stand
against giants that threaten way more than just us. We will stand
appointed by God to save many. To reflect Christ, we must take on his
character, we must discipline ourselves to be like him, we must learn
from every test and trial to reflect his image... even to the point of
being that sacrificial lamb, that savior, that lion of Judah (willing
to attack evil and to devour the plan of Satan in the name of Christ).
So many things, so many parallels.
David was saved from the PAW of the lion and of the bear. They didn't
even get to lay a hand on him. Christ gave him the strength and skill
and wit to come out of each attack without a scratch -- not even
smelling like smoke (as the three Hebrew children experienced as well).
Sometimes we must endure wounds from the battle, but not always. And
when wounds are necessary, God is quick to bring healing. The scars
that remain are a testimony of what God saved us from, and of our
faithfulness to Him.
"Go and the Lord be with you."
Those words remain as true and powerful today, and will only continue
to gain strength as eternity moves us all forward. God with us. It is
the key to every battle. Every lion we face, every bear, every giant,
every lie, every heartbreak, every betrayal, every disappoint, every
lonely road... We will never be alone, the presence of God embraces us
and shields us and heals us and empowers us. Our Dad is AWESOME!
38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on
him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 David fastened on his sword
over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to
them.
"I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not
used to them." So he took them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his
hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch
of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the
Philistine.
Much of this we have already discussed, but
let me come back to the other three things that David carried into
battle. The wooden shepherd's staff was symbolic of the cross and the
authority given to us because of it. A staff represents a person's
authority, their heritage, the power handed to them thru their family
line and all that they have inherited along the way. Christ became a
man, and he passed his authority to David, to us. We enter into battle
with the authority of our God, because of the price Christ paid on the
cross.
I heard a quote from someone on the worship munchies
thread, "Is what you're living for, worth Christ dying for?" Much has
been given to us, entrusted to us. How can we be anything but faithful
to that heritage, to give all, if we truly love Christ as completely as
we claim? What kind of people are we? Are we the image of our Father or
not?
Five smooth stones: five is symbolic of Grace, meaning
it is a fistful, it is enough. "It is finished," remember those words,
remember that moment on the cross? Stones are symbolic of the law, of
order, of justice. We have been conditioned for so long to see the ten
commandments as harsh and cold. But Christ said from the beginning that
he did not come to do away with the law, he came to fulfill it. Without
the law, without obedience to the commands of God, chaos would run wild
and disorder would open the floodgates of pain and misery. Christ came
to offer mercy, to clean up the mess of the disorder that Adam/Eve
unleashed and that we continue to embrace.
What a picture
of the fulfillment. What a picture of where the law connects to the
mercy of God. It is the setting in order of all things so that there is
completeness, rest, peace, and joy. Five stones made smooth by the
presence of His Spirit that has come along side of us to polish us and
to make the law/obedience to God a beautiful thing -- a powerful thing,
a thing that can take down every giant that tries to stand in the way
of the people of God. Our Father not only rushes in to stand beside us,
he trains and equips us to stand beside Him. We are family. We are one,
united, grafted in... we are treasured and valued and loved.
Finally the sling. The piece of leather made from some animals hide.
Does that make you think of anything? Fig leaves were replaced by
animal skin, something died to cover our nakedness, our sin, our
failure. But like the shepherd's bag, Christ can transform our shame
into something that equips us in the battle. Not just to guard us and
keep us safe, but to make us deadly to the enemies of God. Something
died to undo our sin, now that we are free from that sin, we are able
to snuff the life out of our enemies -- arrogance, selfishness, hatred,
jealousy, envy, lies, everything contrary to the character and nature
of our God. Something must die alright... our sin.
We are
made warriors, armed, and set on victory. No turning back. No settling
for less. We will win this thing because God has made us able.
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!"
The enemy, the world, the ungodly, see us as small and insignificant.
They are amused or disgusted for whatever reason, but they despise us
all the same. We will always appear as foolish children or clowns to
them, but what does it matter? What does it matter what they think or
how much they despise us? We win.
We must never get caught
up in sizing up the enemy and comparing ourselves to them. If we do,
we'll become like Peter and we will begin to sink. No. Our eyes must
remain on Christ, our ears must hear His voice, our heart must trust in
Him, and our mouths must express our Praise of all that He has
promised. Whether we see it in this moment or the next, we must know
that the Truth of the matter, of every situation, is not always visible
in the physical world. We often have to see into the spiritual, grab a
hold of it, and pull it into the here and now with force. That is
Faith.
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."
What are the weapons of
our warfare? The Blood of the Lamb and the Word of our Testimony... a
shepherd's staff, five smooth stones, a shepherd's bag, and a sling.
Don't you just love that ^_^
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.
David didn't size up
this giant. He saw the size of His God and that's all he was concerned
with. If we could just see with such a heart, with such a faith, the
enemy would never be able to intimidate us with waves of a storm as we
walk on the water, or with lions and bears in the field, or with giants
that tower over us and spit in our face. God is not mocked. With him
standing beside us, we can do anything. We can make him proud, we can
be on his team, we can look just like our Dad. We can win.
We can rush out onto that battlefield, into the face of any giant,
without fear or intimidation, without arrogance or selfish ambition...
we can stare down any enemy when we see Christ and Christ only. He is
our strength and our guide, our commander and our defense. We win every
time. We win no matter the appearance of things. We win because of Him.
We win -- you and me and God
woo-hoot!
^_^
