Learning From David and Goliath

This morning I am reading 1 Sam 17 - the story of David and Goliath. A few verses stood out to me:

(NIV)1 Samuel 17:11, 16, 24
[11] On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

[16] For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.

[24] Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.

I was just thinking about how a spirit of fear and cowardice had come over the whole camp. They were all infected with this spirit, from the King to the least of them. Its amazing to me that they did the same routine for 40 days, twice a day and the Philistines never attacked. It appears the Philistines still had a healthy fear of God, and were trying to figure out a way to take Him out of the equation. So Goliath came forward and challenged them to individual combat, calling them out as the fearful men they really were, trying to get them to overstep the will of the Lord.

Just previously, in 1 Sam 14, God had routed the Philistnes when Israel came before them without any swords, except for Saul and Jonathon. Jonathan had gone up against the phlistines by himself and killed 20. However, it wasn't until God sent panic amongst the Philistines, that Israel actually attacked. It seems that they were generally weaponless, and unused to fighting. I think it was probably this lack of experience and faith in themselves, that caused them to quake when Goliath came out. They weren't putting their faith in their God, but rather in their own very limited abilities. What they forgot was that God was much greater than this giant they were facing.

On the other hand, the Israelites were smart enough not to go out and fight Goliath in their own strength, on his terms, as he was challenging them to do. The Israelites only hope was in their God, but none of them had faith enough to step forward, and all of them were letting the enemy set the rules for confrontation. They didnt step forward to do battle this way, but they didn't know what to do either, so they just quaked in fear for 40 days.

We need to know that God is the one who sets the rules for confrontation with the enemy, not the other way around. God is not limited by the tactics the enemy chooses, nor is He limited by the abilities of His men, or boys in this case. God is sovereign over all, all the time. He is the King. He has defeated the enemy. He will be victorious always. He dictates the place of battle and the tactics to use. We only need to seek Hm and wait on Him and He will show us the way forward.