Most of us are familiar with the account of David facing Goliath. There seems to be no rational reason for a shepherd boy to put himself in the place of danger that none of the trained soldiers or even the king were willing to place themselves. The army of Israel had been hearing the threats of this giant of a warrior for days, and they had been cowering in their own camp with no reply to his demand and no warrior willing to fight him. No one offered to risk their lives. They were at a stalemate. That is until David was sent by his father to take some food to the front lines where his brothers were in the army of Israel. While he was there delivering the provisions, he heard the giant come out and defy, not only the army of Israel, but the God of Israel. He began asking the soldiers questions about this giant. When his older brother heard him, he said to David, “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.” And David said, “What have I done now? Is there not a cause?” There was a good reason why David was there in the camp. He was sent by their father to deliver food. But while he was there, David saw a much greater cause. A cause that was being neglected.
David was just the delivery boy. But once he arrived at camp and
saw what was happening, he knew there was a greater cause than delivering food.
This Philistine was defying God, so David volunteered to fight him. King Saul
said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight
with him; for you are a
youth, and he a man of war from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your
servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came
and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and
delivered the lamb from
its mouth…Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this…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 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. So the Philistine came, and began drawing
near to David, and the man who bore the shield went before him.” David didn’t back up. He stood his ground.
“And when the Philistine looked about and saw David,
he disdained him; for he was only a youth…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. 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!” This warrior
was sure of himself. 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, … 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.”
David was sure of His God. He knew from experience what God can
do, so he declared boldly that he would win. And he did because God was with
him. When the Philistines saw that a boy had conquered their greatest warrior,
they took off running. The army of Israel was right behind them to conquer
them.
Look around you. Is there not a
cause? Is there not sufficient reason to stand up and proclaim the power, love
and the Name of our God? We have been left in this world to provide truth and
light. But what do we do when the enemy rages against us? Do we retreat and
tremble? Or do we keep proclaiming the Good News of Great Joy because we are
sure of our God?
Have
we lost sight of our cause? The cause of every Christian is found in the
words of Jesus. He said, “All
authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples
of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded
you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”
Jesus gave us the command to carry
on the work He started in this earth. We are to teach His Word and make
disciples. Jesus made it clear that all authority belongs to Him. He is the one
in charge. Then He gives us a promise. He will be with us. He is not sending us
out in our own strength. Just as David did not go out in his own strength, neither
do we. He promises to be with us even to the end of the age, so we need to
continue His work “even to the end of the age.” There is not a cut-off date.
Are we so sure of Jesus Christ that we will take up the cause?
As professing Christians we would do
well to look within to see if we are in the condition to accomplish the work
Jesus has assigned to us. Are we, ourselves, walking according to the teachings
of Jesus and the principles of the Bible? Are we ready to be broken and poured
out so others can hear the message of salvation? Are we willing to lay our
lives into the hands of Jesus to use us as He wills, regardless of the outcome?
We are not told to raise up a physical army and go to war with
whoever won’t receive the gospel. The kingdom of God is spiritual, not
physical. Only Light can dispel darkness. So we are here to shine Christ’s
light in the darkness so everyone can see it and accept or reject it.
There is a great need for the people of God to allow Him to search
our hearts and see if there is any wicked way there. If there is any unbelief,
apathy, complacency or disobedience to God’s Word, we need to confess and turn
from it. Proverbs
29:13-14 tells us that “He who conceals
his transgressions will not prosper, But whoever confesses and turns away
from his sins will find compassion and mercy. Blessed and favored
by God is the man who fears [sin and its consequence] at all times, But he who
hardens his heart [and is determined to sin] will fall into disaster.”
If we truly want
to see the Spirit of God move in our world, in our sphere of influence, we need
to be prepared by the Spirit of God. We need a revelation from God to show us
His will and purpose. Proverbs 29:18
tells us this: “Where
there is no revelation, people cast off restraint;
but blessed is the one who heeds
wisdom’s instruction.”
Without revelation from God, without light
illuminating His Truth, people will not restrain themselves from sin and evil. Sin
becomes rampant and the light goes dim. Without revelation, the Light in the
people of God grows dim. When the Word of God is not taught or demonstrated in
the lives of believers, others will have no example to light God’s way and they
will go deeper into sin. There will be nothing to restrain them from delving
into greater evil.
Where there is no revelation, even the people of
God will begin to compromise Jesus’ teachings. Revelation comes from the Word
of God and the Holy Spirit within our hearts. We need a fresh revelation of what God’s Word
really says instead of accepting the watered down version of man’s invention.
We cannot bring Truth down to our sinful level and expect God to accept us. We
are seeing that happen in a far-reaching way. And many are deceived about their
soul’s salvation because they are depending on the “updated rules of religion”
instead of having a relationship with Jesus Christ and following what He has
declared as Truth. If Truth is changed, it becomes a lie. Many are looking for an easy way when Jesus
declared the way of Truth is a narrow path and few walk in it. Many professed
Christians walk in the parts of Jesus’ teachings that make them feel
comfortable, but turn a deaf ear to anything that requires something of them. If
we have no vision from God, no understanding of His Word or leading of His Holy
Spirit, we will live carelessly and spend our time and energies on things that
don’t matter. But if we walk according to the Holy Spirit in us, He will lead
us into truth and holiness. And we can be the Light of Christ to this world
instead of blending in with the evil or hiding in fear. We need a spirit of
brokenness over our sins and the sins of our cities and nation. We need to remove
sin and apathy from our hearts and be firmly established on the Word of God.
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart –
These, O God You will not despise.” “The Lord is near to
those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.” Psalm 51:17 and Psalm 34:18] When we draw near to the Lord, He will open up our
understanding and show us spiritual things that only He can reveal. We need
those revelations to remain steadfast in the faith. Are we cowering in the camp
or taking His Light into the darkness?
Look
around you.
There
is a cause.
