Today, We Praise You, Greater Than, Crown Him with Many Crowns

Do you have a “Christian” sticker on your car, or have you seen one on other vehicles? Does it remind you to behave on the road in a way that represents Jesus well? Why or why not?

⁴⁴ The Philistine also said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field.” ⁴⁵ Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and 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 taunted. ⁴⁶ This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, ⁴⁷ and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands.” ⁴⁸ Then it happened when the Philistine rose and came and drew near to meet David, that David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. ⁴⁹ And David put his hand into his bag and took from it a stone and slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead. And the stone sank into his forehead, so that he fell on his face to the ground. ⁵⁰ Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck the Philistine and killed him; but there was no sword in David’s hand.

What we focus on really does make a difference! This applies to underdog sports teams, it also applies especially to those of us who consider ourselves as part of “Team Jesus”. The Person (Jesus) we represent is more important than our individual identities. Many of us today are facing “Team Giants” in our lives — discouragement, financial needs, fears, failures, pride, sickness, addictions, etc. What principles then, can we learn and apply, from the life of a young shepherd, David (future king of Israel) as he faced his giant enemy, Goliath?

1) CONSECRATION

Consecration means that we are in a fully committed relationship with Jesus Christ. It’s like a committed relationship in marriage—you belong exclusively to your spouse. Don’t ever expect to see “the giants fall” in your life if you are not in a committed relationship with Jesus!

Before this encounter, the prophet Samuel had already anointed David to be the future king of Israel where God’s revealed His criteria for His chosen king (1 Samuel 16:4-7). How are our hearts today? Are we fully consecrated to Jesus? You can only be 0% or 100% consecrated to the Lord—you either set apart for Him or you are not. David was not the most obvious choice for a king — even his family did not consider him to be “worthy” to be God’s anointed one. But God chose the young shepherd David (around 16 years old) to be king (1 Samuel 16:12-13)! David’s ceremonial anointing was simply a public confirmation of what was already true in his life that God knew about: David already had a personal relationship with God. David was a young man of worship, prayer, and dependence on God; he had a lot of intimacy and solitude with God as a shepherd out in the pastures.

Today, water baptism is also a public confirmation of a person’s personal relationship with God that already exists prior to the baptism ceremony. Baptism does not save us, but it is a public declaration that we are in a consecrated relationship with God, that we will follow Jesus for the rest of His life.

There’s so much about David’s life that is a foreshadowing of Jesus:

TRENDS SAY: I am the captain of my ship, the master of my destiny. I will live my life my way.

TRUTH SAYS: Galatians 2:20

No longer I, but Christ!

2) COURAGE (1 Samuel 17:1-32)

Courage means we trust and obey Jesus in all circumstances. It is based on Jesus, who is the Truth. If we trust Him, we will obey Him. That’s genuine biblical courage…as Charles Spurgeon said, “He who fears God has nothing else to fear”.

1 Samuel 17: 1, 3 describes how the Israelites and their enemies stood on two mountains opposite each other. In between them was a valley on which the Philistine giant, Goliath (8.5-9.5 feet tall) stood mocking and challenging the army of Israel to send their own champion to face him in battle (vv. 4-9). The original Hebrew meaning of “champion” is “someone who stands in the gap”. The Bible records other giants who existed way back and Goliath had brothers (2 Samuel); giants are not a myth—they did walk on this earth. Israel’s king, Saul, and all Israel were all dismayed (shattered) (vv. 10-11,16). They just stood there while Goliath challenged them day and night. Meanwhile, David was told by his father, Jesse to bring food to his brothers who served in the army (vv. 20-21). Israel’s army ran away from Goliath, even with great incentives offered to anyone who would fight him (vv. 24-25). They were focused on how gigantic the enemy was, but David was focused on the reputation of God, and this 16-year-old shepherd boy volunteered to fight for His name’s sake (v. 26, 31-32).

TRENDS SAY: If it gets too difficult, just bail out.

TRUTH SAYS: 2 Timothy 1:7

Jesus is our giant-slayer!

3) COMMEMORATION (1 Samuel 17:33-37)

Commemoration means we recount the faithfulness of Jesus in our lives. Where have you seen the reality that Jesus is the giant-slayer in your life? The courage of David was not self-talk; his basis for it was God’s faithfulness in his life (vv. 33-34, 37). Both in David’s case and even in Samson’s life, it was God’s Spirit who gave the power to slay the lions who threatened them—it wasn’t by brute strength that they won over their adversary.

TRENDS SAY: Is there still hope for me? I have failed (or people have failed me) too many times

TRUTH SAYS: Lamentations 3:21-23

God’s faithfulness is fresh every morning!

4) CONQUEST (1 Samuel 17:38-50)

Conquest means we take action and give the glory to Jesus. David knew God and made sure that even before he took action (and after), he gave glory to God (Daniel 11:32). Sometimes we over-spiritualize and simply wait for some solution to come by without us taking any action; David did not just stand there— he approached Goliath (v. 40). David displayed amazing God-confidence when facing Goliath. His purpose was for God to be given all the glory (vv. 41, 43-47)! When David killed Goliath, he didn’t even have a sword in his hand (vv. 48-50). Today, we may not even have “swords” in our hands to fight “goliaths”, but what we have is the sword of the Spirit, the word of God. The greatest triumph over the trends of today is the Truth (Jesus). You and I have everything it takes to see our giants fall!

TRENDS SAY: I can do this on my own! OR…I can’t do this anymore!

TRUTH SAYS: Romans 8:37

Conquest is through Jesus who loves us; our Champion who bridged the gap between God and sinners.

Pray for family and friends you know who are facing a giant problem, challenge, or need today.

Share this Sunday’s message to them and introduce them to the only Savior, Jesus who alone can conquer the giant of sin that separates us from God.

• Worship God for who He is, what He has done, and what He will do in our lives.

• Upright and moral governance of public servants; repentance and salvation for government leaders and citizens for a Christ-centered Philippines.

• War in Ukraine to end, loss of lives prevented; tension in East Asian and Middle East countries to stop.

• Continue to pray for the rest of Israeli hostages to be restored back to their families safely. Pray for Israel and the war with terrorists to end according to God’s purpose and for His glory.

• For the recent political and social upheaval in the US to result in spiritual awakening in the church and a great spiritual harvest.

• That CCF Members would honor and love God and make disciples.

• Elders, pastors, dleaders, and families (holy, humble, harmonious, happy, heart-working).

• Ministries and churches expansion worldwide.

• Worship and Training Center

• Prayer Mountain

• Deeper intimate relationship with God.

• Righteous living.

• Salvation of family and friends.

47 and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands.”