“Oh, it’s just you.”
~ Smith Wigglesworth, upon having a confrontation with the devil in his living room. (Smith turned around and went to bed.)
For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.” Moreover David said, “The LORD, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”
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. 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. 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.”
~from 1 Samuel 17
Yeah!!! You go David!
Or does he?
Let’s not waste words here. David did not presume to believe that he had any chance against Goliath. He was simply righteously indignant that some nasty old giant was making fun of the armies of the living G_d. He was ticked that the forces of evil would even presume to impinge on the glory of The LORD. And he – even more simply – just believed that G_d was going to fix this problem right then and there.
Is this pride? No. It is faith.
So, what did David do? He calmly presumed that G_d was in control, and then presented himself as an instrument for The LORD’s purposes in the situation.
This is really good advice beloved!
David understood the underpinning axiom of the universe: It is ALL about G_d. He both deserves and gets the glory for everything. And anything that deters from that glory is to be shunned – and in some cases – destroyed. Oh, evil may bellow its threats for a season. It may even do significant damage in the interim. But make no mistake: evil loses. G_d wins.
We do well to live like David lived here. Simply presume that G_d is in control. And then have our actions line up with the fact that this is true.
