11-08-23-ENG.

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. "

Proverbs 3:5
YOUR GOLIATH

Read It: 1 Samuel 17:26-27
What is your Goliath today? Maybe it's that marriage you can't get together. Maybe the Goliath staring you in the face today is financial cial pressure that seems insurmountable. Whatever it is, Goliath is always scary, and not just because he's so huge. He's also intimidating, daring you to do anything about your problem. Have you ever felt as if a problem was talking to you? "I dare you to try to solve me. I'm too big for you. I'll take you down." Well, if you haven't met a Goliath yet, you will. So this week I want to give you some biblical cal armor you can put on the next time you meet a giant. I want to talk about the power of a total commitment to God. I want you to see what the mind of Christ looks like in action as we walk in the sandals of David. David was not on the battle line when Israel squared off against the Philistines. He was back home with the sheep. His older brothers were part of the army. You can refresh your memory on the details of the story by reading verses 1-25. But David was there when Goliath showed up for about the eightieth time (v. 16) to defy Israel and God. Israel couldn't send anyone out to fight him and defend God's honor because this was strictly a volunteer operation. ation. So on the day David was present, Goliath issued his challenge.

Now everyone had heard him, but David heard him in a way that ticked him off. Here is the first key to the power that comes from commitment. mitment. All that the Israelites saw was Goliath. But David said, "Wait a minute! This man is coming out threatening God's people. He is uncircumcised cumcised [meaning that he had no part with God's people and God's privileges]. Our God is not on this man's side. He is with His circumcised people Israel. That's us!" David was saying, "God is alive, right? We are God's circumcised people, ple, right? God has made His covenant with us, right? Then let's go." Are you a part of God's people? Then your problem is not too big, right? Think About It Goliath was nine feet, nine inches. How tall is your God? You only have power when you are able to measure the size of your God against the size of your problem.