David's Victory is Our Victory

I want to glean from the drama of David slaying Goliath. You know what gleaning is, right? The main harvest to this story is David, a type of Christ, destroying Goliath, a powerful enemy beyond our ability that is threatening us. While Goliath can be seen representing Satan, or Death, please feel free to let him represent whatever giant currently menaces you!

Amen, and thank God for the primary truth of 1 Sam 17. Jesus has conquered Satan! He has defeated Death and Hell! But, gleaning is not part of the primary harvest. It is looking for, and gathering up, whatever other grains of truth that might still be available, after the harvest has been gathered in. The crowd is off somewhere rejoicing over the wonderful harvest. God bless them! But you and I are still out in that field, finding treasures others missed.

I mean to encourage here, but a little exhortation never hurt a Christian: We have our bibles and we don't read them. When we do read them, we don't dig deep enough. When we get the primary meaning of a passage we are content to move on, and miss the secondary meaning, the deeper meaning.

Yet the wisdom of God Almighty is "manifold" - many folded. While it is the "glory of God to conceal a matter, it is the honor of kings to search it out!" (Prov 25:2) Perhaps that is why the Lord hid it to begin with, to see who would seek after it. Yet, Paul tells us one of the missions of the Church is "to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places" (Eph 3:10-11).

There is more than one layer to much of scripture. Yet, too often, we settle for the flat doctrine and the pat answer. But please consider this appeal from scripture: "Oh, that God would speak and open his lips to you, and that He would disclose to you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides." (Job 11:6).

Back to David and Goliath. Goliath stood forward as the champion of the enemies of the Lord and defied the people of God. But, did you notice he also swore a public oath? "If you can overpower me, WE will be your servants". If the head of the fell army of Hell can be defeated, then the WHOLE army has been taken. Well, what happened that day? David overpowered Goliath, killing the giant with his own sword! And what happened next? "When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled." (1 Sam 17:51b)

But what happened after that? I believe this is the main handful to be gleaned here: "the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp." (1 Sam 17:52-53)

The enemy has been defeated. Jesus Christ has destroyed the enemy and put him to an open shame. Death could not hold Him and the gates of Hell did not stop Him - He now holds the keys to both! Therefore, the legions of the enemy have been routed. It is not for us to simply stand around and watch. We aren't even called to merely applaud His great accomplishment. No! We are to surge forward and slay to our content. We are to dispossess the enemies of God of their place and positions. And, we are then to "plunder their camp".

They are RUNNING AWAY! Pick one. Pick two. Strike them down. Then take from them whatever they possessed. Be like David from another passage of scripture (1 Sam 30), and take back what the enemy stole from you:

"Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way. And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. David's two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God..." (1Sam 30:1-6)

"behold, they were spread abroad over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day, and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men, who mounted camels and fled. David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives. Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. David brought back all." (1Sam 30:16-19)

Ever since Golgotha, the enemy is all bluff - and we keep falling for it. He's a mouse standing close to a light, so that he casts a big shadow on the wall. The fact is the shadow looms, dark and foreboding. But the truth is, a runt rat sits there, harmlessly twitching its whiskers.

I'm challenging you; I'm challenging us: Let's pick one of the rogue imps of the enemy that has been harassing us and bullying us and robbing us - only because we have been asleep while he furtively works. Let's rouse ourselves! He will flee! That's not my opinion or my hope - that is divine TRUTH: Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.(Jam 4:7) But these things only work for those that believe. Faith is the key. It is our access to the truths of the Kingdom of God. We've all been given more than enough faith, but we don't work it often enough, or for long enough.

Therefore, I'm calling you to remember and respond to the gospel: When Jesus won that battle to the death in His solitary struggle with the evil Titan, He also won the day for His whole army and against the enemy's entire army. We have been given the mopping up part of the battle plan. We aren't the marines invading to start the battle, we're the army occupying after the battle. Jesus said, "Occupy till I come"(Lk 19:13). Therefore, make arrests. Recover stolen property. When it comes to the defeated legions of darkness, dictate, don't be dictated to. Order around, don't be ordered around.

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