1 Samuel 17:38-39
38 So Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. 39 David fastened his sword to his armor, and he tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, "I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them." So David took them off. NKJV
"I have not tested them,"......So David took them off!
In the blog I wrote on..."A Zealous Warrior at Dawn, or in the Dark of Night"....inspired by the Holy Spirit to write on that test in wilderness and of the heart! Like David, out with the sheep, we can see everything tested in the "wilderness" . I, too, think our hearts are measured in that place like David's was tested. God always comes to check our motives, our devotion, our faith, our relationship with Him and with others. David's skill came from what he used in the "wilderness" of what he had on or in his hand. He had to lean on God alone.
David wrote Psalm 139, and many believe it was written while David was still just a shepherd herding sheep. They believe he wrote it about the.....scene in which he wrote and sang it to God.
For a moment, let's think on the darkness of night and the lights that shine are displayed on the black velvet sky. Let's think on what David probably viewed in the midnight hour, in the solitude, where even the quiet seems loud. For in that moment we can feel that darkness wrap its cover over us. It is in those moments when we note God's omniscience, His omnipresence, and of course of His omnipotence!
Omniscience: 1 Samuel 2:3.............3 "Talk no more so very proudly;
Let no arrogance come from your mouth,..For the LORD is the God of knowledge;
And by Him actions are weighed. .NKJV
Isaiah 46:9-10..........9 Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning, NKJV
Psalm 139:4.............4 For there is not a word on my tongue,..But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. NKJV
Omnipresence: Jeremiah 23:23-24.......23 "Am I a God near at hand," says the LORD,
"And not a God afar off?
24 Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?" says the LORD;
"Do I not fill heaven and earth?" says the LORD. NKJV
Proverbs 15:3.....3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Keeping watch on the evil and the good. NKJV
Psalm 139:5.............You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. NKJV
Omnipotent: Luke 1:37........ 37 For with God nothing will be impossible." NKJV
Jeremiah 10:12........12 He has made the earth by His power, He has established the world by His wisdom, And has stretched out the heavens at His discretion. NKJV
Isaiah 43:13.....13 Indeed before the day was, I am He; And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?" NKJV
Colossians 1:16-17.............16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven & that are on earth, visible & invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him & for Him. 17 And He is before all things, & in Him all things consist. NKJV
What has been tested when no one sees, when it is just you and God, that is the "thing" God will bring forward in your life? But Shelley, I have tested nothing. I have not worked on anything and brought it to God!
Do you read the Word of God diligently? Do you ask God about certain scriptures or passages, for He will certainly answer you on them!
"How do you act at the workplace?" Are you giving or taking? (are you taking care of your job and seeing you do your best at it?) "How do you act around your family"? Is your family surprised when they take you out to church or to a party for a friend? Do you act different when others you do not know are around? "How do you treat your husband or children?" Are they treated the same in a social setting as visiting in someone's home, out to the theater for a movie, etc.? Is God surprised when you show up for church? How about if God is surprised when you speak in a gentle voice? As we read in the scriptures above, God created, nothing is impossible with Him, His eyes keep watch on you and me, He knows the evil and the good, and everything I do or you do is weighed by HIM!
David said in Psalm 139...23-24...search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:23-24............23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties; 24 And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting. NKJV
To test something or....To prove it...
David was going against a giant, Goliath, who spoke defiantly against God! (see in 1 Samuel 22-27, 31-54)
What skills do we hold in the "wilderness" area? Will we search the Word to find what God has already done in the lives of so many? Or would we rather find that remote control and just hibernate and allow another to voice something to us of the world. I like movies too, but there is a fine line we can cross if we are not cautious about what we put before our eye gates!
I found that like a student from 1st grade to graduating the 12th, I loved to study. I liked having plenty of paper, pens and pencils with good erasers. I loved looking in encyclopedias and searching in many informational books I needed for some classes. So, when I started praying in Tongues, (that Baptism in the Holy Spirit) I began to look into the Word of God that perfect law of liberty and find my place. As I did, I kept praying, and found myself leading in places I didn't know I could do!
I found that like a student from 1st grade to graduating the 12th, I loved to study. I liked having plenty of paper, pens and pencils with good erasers. I loved looking in encyclopedias and searching in many informational books I needed for some classes. So, when I started praying in Tongues, (that Baptism in the Holy Spirit) I began to look into the Word of God that perfect law of liberty and find my place. As I did, I kept praying, and found myself leading in places I didn't know I could do!
1 Samuel 17:39-54...........And David said to Saul, "I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them." So David took them off.
40 Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. 41 So the Philistine came, and began drawing near to David, and the man who bore the shield went before him. 42 And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was only a youth, ruddy and good-looking. 43 So the Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 And the Philistine said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!" 45 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."
48 So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hastened and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 49 Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. 50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. 52 Now the men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines as far as the entrance of the valley and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell along the road to Shaaraim, even as far as Gath and Ekron. 53 Then the children of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their tents. 54 And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent. NKJV
1 Corinthians 1:31... Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord." NIV
Amen and Amen! Making our boast in the Lord, like David, he made his boast, used his sling shot and stone, and in the end, carried the giant's head to Jerusalem and the armor he put into his tent. David had drawn the sword from the sheath of Goliath and used Goliath's own sword against him!
UNPRETENTIOUS: Modest, Without Ego, Not Proud, No "flash in the pan", Sincere, HONEST, and BOLD!
David's confidence that he stood with God. He said ," 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 wild beasts of the earth, that ALL THE EARTH MAY KNOW THAT THERE IS A GOD IN ISRAEL. THEN ALL THE ASSEMBLY SHALL KNOW THAT LORD DOES NOT SAVE WITH SWORD OR SPEAR; FOR THE BATTLE IS THE LORD'S AND HE WILL GIVE YOU INTO OUR HANDS."
David took care of what he did in the "wilderness" and he got a training in trusting God. He kept his life attached to the God of life, the God of more than enough, the God who does the impossible, and weighs our actions.
Can we like David run to the place where there is a battle going on? Do we not see them everywhere today? Is there something that I have been trained to do in the "wilderness" that qualifies me to take up that which I can use against the enemy of the devil and speak, "NO MORE devil!" Can I move through the crowd and NOT throw my weight around so to speak, but move through like Stealth and take the place that is being bombarded by the devil.? Can we move through our day and speak life over individuals who may never walk into a church setting, but will listen when you speak, because you deal in truth and honesty. They will listen because you speak in love and not to bash someone! In truth I am ready to pray for someone, unless there are more leaders who are over me or who I do not know, say in a church setting and must wait for directions from the pulpit, but if I am out for the day with my husband, we pray for those opportunities that we may seize them and pray for someone in need of encouragement!
All is not for my glory, but for God's glory.
In closing I mention David's brother, Eliab. In 1 Samuel 17:28-29....when David has first arrived and all the shouting has begun........(1 Sam 17:24-25...........24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were dreadfully afraid. 25 So the men of Israel said, "Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel; and it shall be that the man who kills him the king will enrich with great riches, will give him his daughter, and give his father's house exemption from taxes in Israel." NKJV).....................................we find, that all the men of Israel had fled from him (the giant). (yes, those military men) And it was told what the man would get who would go against the giant Goliath!
In the verses 28-29, we see Eliab aroused to anger against David. ...........he said, "why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle."My question: Why would a military man be envious of David at this point? Was it because David saw it and was ready to take action against it? Was he addressing what needed to be said and done in the power of God? Was Eliab still angered because David had been anointed with a horn of oil by the prophet in 1 Samuel 16:13?
For the Lord certainly refused Eliab........in verses 7-8 of 1 Samuel 16..........But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
No, God was looking on the heart, and David's was found with God.
God was leading David, and no man got a say, even a military man with some expertise under "his belt" so to speak. And speaking that David had pride and insolence in his heart was so out of line with what God was showing and doing in Israel through David, the shepherd! Eliab was saying, "David, you are prideful and you are arrogant!" But David was none of those things. David was making his boast in the Lord. There is a lot of difference when standing for truth and justice for all.
It is not being haughty but having a boldness in heart to have courage to stand against the enemy!
God was directing David, because David loved God, had a heart after God and would not settle for less!
David showed up at the right place, at the right time, and would operate in the power of God. David was skilled with the sling and had his five stones. (one for every brother of Goliath, and Goliath himself). We read where David ran to Goliath!
David was the instrument of justice and was ready to face the injustice against Israel. Will we do as much? David was moving into plain view, for people to see and witness God. David had no pretense. They have this undaunted courage from the times they spend with God and hearing Him. They are not discouraged but they keep moving forward. THEY ARE ARMED WITH THE PRESENCE OF GOD!
David wrote in Psalm 34:2....I will make my boast in the Lord, let the afflicted hear and rejoice...and in Jeremiah 9:23-24.....................23 This is what the LORD says:
"Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom
or the strong man boast of his strength
or the rich man boast of his riches,
24 but let him who boasts boast about this:
that he understands and knows me,
that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,"
declares the LORD. NIV
Father, we pray in Jesus' name to not be wise man who boasts in his wisdom or the strong man who boasts of his strength or of the rich man boasting of all his riches. But we desire to boast in the Lord. It is YOU who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth and in these do you delight. We pray to be diligent to seek You and hear You. We pray to strong and determined to find YOUR thoughts and ways for our lives. For we truly desire to walk in truth and to have a boldness as David did in confronting Goliath. Lord lead us by Your Holy Spirit and help us to see that which must be addressed by us. We pray to be those who are skilled in that which we are about to walk in, faithful to keep our walk with you, considerate of others, and ready to pray for others when the need arises. May we shut out all other voices that do not pertain to where we are going and what You have planned for us. Right now, we give You all the praise and thanks for allowing us to be apart of this great end time move in the harvest for souls. Amen.
You can also visit my Youtube channel The Voice of Prayer for more teaching at http://bit.ly/1tNyBhV
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