Thursday, April 8, 2010

Friday Apr. 9

1 Sam. 17:12-23
12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years. 13The three eldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle; the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14David was the youngest; the three eldest followed Saul, 15but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. 16For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.
17 Jesse said to his son David, ‘Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers; 18also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See how your brothers fare, and bring some token from them.’
19 Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20David rose early in the morning, left someone in charge of the sheep, took the provisions, and went as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the encampment as the army was going forth to the battle line, shouting the war cry. 21Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. 22David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage, ran to the ranks, and went and greeted his brothers. 23As he talked with them, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him.

BLOG DISCUSSION QUESTION: One person kept the army of Israel from doing what they needed to do. Does that ever happen to you? For the same reasons as Saul's army?

4 comments:

laymen l said...

its so easy to become obsessed with what someone says, or does we can lose focus on the war going on. But then reality has to finally hit you in the face and after all the sputtering and cluttering of your brain, and you have to decide what is more important. what is more sane.

rjq said...

For 40 days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.

Goliath dominated the thoughts and efforts of Israel from when they got up to when they went to bed. He took his stand and Israel became more dismayed and afraid. I think we all have faced Goliaths which have caused us to become defeated before actually facing the issue. His size was intimidating, but his speech was also demeaning.

While Saul and his armies' fears increased with the champions' words, David simply "heard him".

As Max Lucado puts it:
Focus on giants---you stumble.
Focus on God----your giants tumble.

Pastor Jerry said...

Life together as the people of God isn't always smooth and easy. Sometimes the voice of one person can stall a church from doing what it knows it needs to do. I learned from the senior pastor that I worked with in Toledo that it is a dangerous thing to let a person with prestige in the congregation keep the congregation from doing what needs to be done. It can be scary when that person is a big contributor, a long time member, or a person of renown in the community....but in the family of God, even the smallest voice (like David's) is as important as the most powerful (like Goliath). Today's verse ends with these words, "And David heard him.".....but tomorrow we find out who David will listen to.

gabriel said...

GREAT COMMENTS PASTOR JERRY!