Use what you got and hold on to what you're getting . . .

⁵⁴ And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent. 1 Samuel 17:54

When this verse leaped off the page, I wasn’t quite sure what the Lord wanted to say.  See I have seen a theme with Him these last couple of weeks.  He seems to have been focusing on lessons needed to success in going forward in a new life, . . . after being given a new heart. So I was not sure at first what was going on here. To gain an understanding of the pericope (big word for passage – for you seminarians, LOL) you have to look back at the context.  What has happened up to this point.

This comes at the end of the story of David killing the giant Goliath.  Most of us know the story.  But perhaps we have not taken a look at the detail which this verse is dealing with.  In particular what armour is it speaking about?  And why is he storing it?

³⁸ Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head.
³⁹ David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. ⁴⁰ Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.  I Samuel 17:38 – 40
The armour is what Saul, the king had given David to fight in, but which David chose not to use because he had not used them before.  Instead David decided to use what he had used before.  Take a moment and note Saul’s concern and David’s answer:

³³ Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”
³⁴ But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock,
³⁵ I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. ³⁶ Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. ³⁷ The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” 1 Samuel 17:34-37
When I went to look back at these verses I see a pattern.  He uses the rock or sling to strike the animal, the enemy, and then takes them on “mano a mano” or hand’s on.  But his focus is not on his expertise, his prowess or his great skill but on the God.  It is on the relationship that God has with His people; God’s desire and intent to protect His people.  It is the Lord which rescued David and it will be the Lord which rescues Israel from the Philistine.

David knew that the Lord had used this means to rescue him, these tools – the rock and sling.  He knew the method that God had worked through him before.  David had never fought a battle in the armour.  So he did not want to at that time.  He had not trained in it. Built up to such a battle.  See he had fought a lion and a bear and now he would fight a giant!  A progression of challenges.

What is God’s point to us:

1.       Look to see what God has used in your life to win battles through you in the past and start with those tools first.  You know a particular prayer cycle.  Use it.  He has blessed you with a skilled tongue . . . then use it to further His purpose for you.  If it is writing, then write.  Do what God has given you success in in the past;

2.      Keep an eye out for the NEW skills and tools that he is preparing you to use.  Don’t be afraid of the introduction; and,

3.      REMEMBER IT IS GOD WHO GIVES YOU THE VICTORY!!!

David took the lessons from his past victories and used them to fell a larger enemy . . . a real giant of a problem (forgive me I just couldn’t resist, lol).  You and I can do the same when starting out again.  But don’t forget the final point. . .

4.      Don’t throw away the new weapons.

⁵⁴ And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent. 1 Samuel 17:54

The Word of God says:

³ For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. ⁴ For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,

⁵ casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, ⁶ and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. 2 Corinthians 10:3-6

AWESOME!! God is building up our arsenal!!  Don’t throw the weapons away! 

Oh, you are not sure what they are?  Well, perhaps we need to spend some time on this armour the King of kings, and Lord of lords has given us to use.

Keep reading . . .

Got Word?

Love yah,