God’s Perfect Heart | 1 Samuel 17:8-11, 17-37, 17-49

Today is all about David, Goliath, and the giants in our lives that tell us lies to knock us down. With God on our side, those giants and their lies don’t stand a chance because God has won the victory for us. Join me as we settle into 1 Samuel 17 today.

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Transcription:

Guest Speaker: Joshua Parkerson

Hi, I’m Joshua Parkerson. Welcome to the Bible for Busy People. This week I’ll be filling in for my mom, Erica, and we’re doing a series called Victory in Christ. In this episode, we’re going to witness how David defeats Goliath by putting his confidence in God and not in himself. When was the last time you had to face a giant In life, we had to face challenges that are bigger than us playing football. In high school, I was one of the shortest guys on the team and faced players much bigger than I was like David. David was a shepherd, and he tended his father’s sheep in Bethlehem. He was also anointed as Israel’s future king by the prophet Samuel. However, there is a huge problem for Israel and the current king of Israel, Saul… It was Goliath, the champion and giant of the Philistines, Israel’s enemy.

Goliath terrified the Israelites. For it says, in 1 Samuel 17:8-11, “Goliath stood and shouted a taunt across to the Israelites. ‘Why are you all coming out to fight?’ He called, ‘I am the Philistine champion, but you are only the servants of Saul. Choose one man to come down here and fight me. If he kills me, then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves. I defy the armies of Israel today! Send me a man who will fight me!’ When Saul and the Israelites heard this, they were terrified and deeply shaken.” These Israelites were so scared they didn’t know where or who to turn to, but David knew the power of God and wanted to stand up to the giant. Saul, on the other hand, did not have confidence in David and told David that he was able to face Goliath.

Saul thought this because he saw David as a young man, and Goliath as a warrior who has trained since his youth. David, instead of thinking of the size of his opponent, like Saul, thought about the power of God. For one. Samuel 17:37 says,” The Lord who rescued me from the clause of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!” Saul finally consented. Alright, go ahead. He said, and may the Lord be with you. David wasn’t afraid of Goliath because he was confident in God’s perfect heart. When he was a shepherd, he had to fight off lions and bears to protect his sheep. David defeated all the predators, not by his own strength, but by God’s strength. Just like God delivered David from the lions and bears, he was fully confident that by trusting in God, he would deliver him from Goliath. So David went to go fight Goliath, but before he did, Saul put a helmet and armor on him.

David then decided not to use them because he was not used to them. Then he took five stones in a sling. Afterwards, he approached the Philistine. Goliath, hated David and said terrible things to him. David, despite this, told Goliath that he was coming against him in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the army of Israel. Goliath then proceeded to attack David, but David went to meet him at the battle line in one Samuel 17:49,” Reaching into his shepherd’s bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it with his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sink in and Goliath stumbled and fell face down on the ground.” David defeated Goliath and won victory for Israel. He won because he was a man after God’s own heart. Goliath was a giant, but his size could not compare to the size of God and his perfect heart. Are you

Facing a giant in your life right now? I remember when I was playing football in high school, facing players that were bigger than me was tough, but I played against those guys anyway in life. I know that there are many giants, but I know that when I put my confidence in God, I could face any player on the football field of life. You see, the Philistines put their confidence in Goliath. They thought because they had Goliath, no one could defeat them. But when David defeated Goliath through the power of God, the Philistines turned and ran. Sometimes we have to face giants that try to intimidate us to turn and run, but with God, he can help us defeat our giants and stand our ground. Just like David chased the Philistines away through Christ, God can chase our Philistines away. God saved David from Goliath because he trusted God’s perfect heart, like God helped David defeat Goliath.

He can help us win against any giant that gets in our way. For Romans 8:31 says,” What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?” Giants in our lives might tell us lies to knock us down, but with God on our side, the giants and their lies don’t stand a chance because God has won the victory for us. Next time of the Bible, for busy people, we’re going to investigate an empty tomb. The king of kings has risen and Jesus is alive. That’s right. We’re going to find that there is no one in the tomb on the third day and experience the greatest victory in the history of the world, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thank you so much for listening. I’ll see you next time on the Bible for Busy People.

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