WEDNESDAY June 5, 2019
Determined to Disdain
So the Philistine came, and began drawing near to David, and the man who bore the shield went before him. And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was only a youth, ruddy and good-looking. 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!”
1 Samuel 17:41-44
Imagine, David came towards Goliathwith no helmet, no spear or shield. Goliath must have thought, You have sent me this little peon to fight me? Hey shorty! This wimp will be no problem for me. I will simply step on his head! Then the giant cursed David by his gods.
In Israel’s history, there were those who sought to intimidate and threaten God’s people in an attempt to get them to surrender. Rabshakeh spoke for the King of Assyria and hoped to cause mistrust among God’s people:
“Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you from his hand; nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord will surely deliver us; this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ ” Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: “Make peace with me by a present and come out to me…’ ” (2 Kings 18:29-31).
When God called Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, the enemy Sanballatsought to use the same tactics as the king of Assyria.He and Tobiah the Ammonite disdained and mocked the Jews in Jerusalem:
...“What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish—stones that are burned?” Now Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him [Sanballat], and he said, “Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall” (Nehemiah 4:2-3).
God fought the battle and took care of all these enemies.
A man who is intimate with God is not intimidated by man.
~Leonard Ravenhill~
For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!