Skip to main content

Hearing the Right Voice


             We all know how the story of David and Goliath ended, but do we remember how it started?

           1 Samuel 17 says that God’s people drew up battle lines against the Philistines in the Valley of Elah (verse 2).  However, instead of fighting one another, the Philistines sent out a giant of a man – a man that was more than 9 feet tall – a man named Goliath and he challenged the people of God with these words: “Choose a man and have him come down to me.  If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us”.  Not surprisingly, no one wanted to fight him.

           For 40 days, every morning and every evening Goliath went out on the battlefield and every morning and every evening the people of God became more and more “dismayed and terrified” (verse 11).   That is until a young man name David showed up.

           When he arrived in the camp, he heard the challenge that Goliath issued and then waited for someone to go out and fight him.  When no one went, David said, “Let no one lose heart… I will go and fight him” (verse 32).

           Now, why would David fight Goliath when no one else would?  Why would a young man go when the trained soldiers were too scared to try? 

           Well, David was listening to a different voice.

           The soldiers were listening to Goliath and they were scared.  David was listening to God and was 
brave.

           We always have a choice: we can listen to “faith” or we can listen to “fear”.  One will give us courage to face anything and the other will make us weak and scared.

           Which voice are you listening to?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Article: Grace Changes Everything

               A young man broke into a business and did $5000 damage. As part of his Restorative Justice sentence, he was required to meet with my friend Garth.   Garth believes in making apologies and restitution.   It took several months, but Garth finally convinced the young man that these were necessary steps, so he tried to arrange a meeting with the business owner.                The business owner wanted nothing to do with this situation.   He was angry and wanted a more severe form of justice.   Eventually, however, he agreed to meet the young man to hear what he had to say.                  The young man looked the business owner in the eye an...
Post a Comment
Read more

New Article: Surprised by God

                 We would be shocked if we could hear the Bible for the first time again.   On every page, something unexpected happens.   The only reason we are not surprised is that the stories are so familiar to us.   Think about some of the unexpected interactions that God has had with his people.                For example, every culture has stories about a creator, but none imagined that God would become part of the creation.   That the creator would lower himself and become human is surprising, to say the least.                Not only did he become one of us, but he also came as a baby.   A tiny, helpless, baby!   If I wer...
Post a Comment
Read more

New Article: A Path Worth Following

  Jehoram was a terrible king.  He reigned in Judah around the year 850 B.C. and he did not care about God or his people.  His first act as king was to assassinate his six brothers so that no one could challenge his authority.  He was brutal and selfish.   Therefore, when the Bible sums up his life, it says, “Jehoram… passed away, to no one’s regret, and was buried in the City of David” (2 Chronicles 21:20).  Did you catch that?  “To no one’s regret!”  What a terrible phrase for your tombstone. On the other hand, consider a lady named Tabitha.  She lived in the city of Joppa in the first century A.D. and we are told, “… she was always doing good and helping the poor” (Acts 9:36).  She became sick and died.  This caused the community so much grief that they called Peter, who was in the nearby town of Lydda, to come and help them.  When Peter arrived, a crowd gathered, bringing all the robes and other clothing that ...
Post a Comment
Read more