Revelation 12:11 – “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. NKJV

1 Samuel 17:45-47 – “Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, 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. 46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47 Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD’s, and He will give you into our hands.” NKJV

I have learned through studying the Bible and Life that Words have Power.  If the tongue is like the rudder of a ship able to turn it and steer it in a particular direction it would immediately lend itself to the view that words are important in our lives and we should evaluate how we talk.  I do not find it surprising that the writer of Proverbs would declare “Death and life are in the power of the tongue…” (18:21). I believe that this account of David and Goliath demonstrates this truth most powerfully and prolifically.

CONSIDER THE STORY:

On one mountain we have the Philistine Army on the other the Army of Israel.  Between the two armies, there is a great valley.  Every morning for forty days the Philistine Champion Goliath would come out and taunt Israel saying, “Send out a man so we can fight.  If he wins, we will be your servants.  If I win you will be our servants.”  In [v.11] – we find that when Saul and his soldiers heard those words they trembled in fear.  That is not a good place if you are in the Army of Israel.

Fear was on the throne in the Camp of Israel.  Faith had been dethroned completely.  Their focus had shifted from God’s Promises and Power to the imposing figure taunting them.  Gloom filled the air instead of Joy and Hope. The Great Army of Israel believed it was defeated and they were paralyzed.  Surrender could not be far away!  They were in a mindset of ‘surrender’ even without a fight.  Their Faith was now in what they could see in the natural rather than what God promised.  That is a place of defeat!

Picture the scene – Some reports place Goliath at 9’ 6”, dressed for battle with an incredibly large brass helmet, coat of arms that weighed as much as 150 pounds, brass leggings, a spear that is estimated as weighing about 20 pounds.  Frightening in the natural no doubt!  Sadly, that is how the church often views the devil.  Sometimes God’s people become the ten spies not the two in the story of Joshua.  Their Focus determined their Faith or the absence of it. 

Every day the same challenge came and each time Israel cowered more in fear.  Then, Jesse’s youngest son, a shepherd not a trained soldier, arrives and hears the taunts.  It infuriates him that this man would so blaspheme God and so humiliate Israel.  Saul had placed a bounty on Goliath but David’s question infuriates his brothers and others.  He was asking, “Why aren’t you guys doing something?”  That is not a welcome question from an upstart but David didn’t drop the issue.  He said to his brother, “What have I done now?  Is there not a cause.”   God had stirred a heart and that stirred heart would be a tool in the hands of the Living God!  

I will stop there and pick this up tomorrow but know that if God is stirring your heart He will also equip you to achieve that which He desires and it may not be through conventional means.

As you go through your day reflect on what ‘stirs your heart’ and ask what God would have you do!   Blessings as you go through your day!