Think About Your Thinking – Lesson 6
David and Goliath
By Glennys Elliott
As we think within our hearts, that is who we are.
Paraphrased from Proverbs 23:7
“The Lord our God is one Lord, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all you mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:29b-31 NASB
(Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Luke 10:27; 1 Timothy 1:5)
Lesson 6
Keep in mind the scripture above. We are to love the Lord our God with all our being, believing and focusing not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. We are to get a new way of thinking, renewing our minds, so that we will then know what His will is, His good, pleasing, and perfect will.
We are also created for relationship: First, our relationship with the Lord our God and then with others. We are to encourage and love fellow Christians. We are to have a love for the lost and a desire to tell them about the forgiveness of sins, and salvation and hope of eternal life that is theirs through Jesus Christ.
In Lesson 6 we are going to look at the life of David. Read 1 & 2 Samuel. We will not cover all of David’s life in this lesson. However, reading both 1&2 Samuel will give a good foundation of the beginning of the time of Kings.
Before Samuel, there had been many years of rebellion against the Lord. Samuel had been faithful in his God-given role as judge over the people of Israel. As Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons to be judges after him (1 Samuel 8:1-3). However, his sons did not walk in his ways, they turned toward dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.
The rest of Chapter 8 tells of the elders of Israel asking Samuel to appoint a king because his sons did not follow his example. “Therefore, appoint a king to judge us the same as all of the other nations have.”
Notice here, the Israelites wanted to be like the other nations around them. This was worldly thinking not spiritual thinking. The reality of this request was that the people were rejecting God as their King and wanting him replaced with an imperfect human. (V7)
After Samuel had informed them of what it would be like to have a king (8:10-18), they still wanted one. Once again in V19-20, the people wanted a king to rule over them so that they could be like the other nations. Does this sound familiar? Remember the Israelites that left a life of slavery in Egypt and wanted to return to that life rather than be uncomfortable in the desert. They would rather be under the rule of a pharaoh rather than under the rule of God.
God listened and had Samuel anoint Saul as the first king over the Israelite people.
For this lesson we are going to focus on David and how he represented and then acted on his faith in his fight with Goliath.
Read 1 Samuel 17 and think about how David, even at his young age, had confidence that God’s power was more trustworthy than human logic.
2 Corinthians 5:7 “for we walk by faith, not by sight” [living our lives in a manner consistent with our confident belief in God’s promises].
David acknowledges that it was God that rescued him from the lion and bear. God did this to prepare David for what was to come. Can you look back on your life and think of a time when God was preparing you for an event in the future?
_____________________________________________________________________________
Imagine a young man standing before the king and confidently acknowledging that God would have him kill the Philistine Goliath. Is there a time that your confidence in the Lord outweighed your human logic?
_____________________________________________________________________________
From our account in scripture, David had no second thoughts about taking on Goliath. Goliath was defiling, mocking, and taunting the armies of God, and God himself. From a spectator’s view, it made no sense that a young shepherd could take on a seasoned warrior giant. Have you taken on a task or event that made no sense from a human standpoint, but trusted in the promises of God?
______________________________________________________________________________
Have you ever stood alone and defended the honor of our Lord?
______________________________________________________________________________
When God has given you success/victory in an event or events of your life, do you acknowledge that it was God and not you being successful on your own might or intelligence? We must always thank God for the events of our lives as He works out His plan. We must also acknowledge to others, that our victories are due to the love and power of God working in our lives. As with David and the lion and the bear, God prepares us for the events of our lives that will cause our faith to increase even more
David used past experiences that had built his faith in God to face the challenge before him.
Think about the events of your life, how God was with you….did your faith grow?
Think about the scriptures, God’s words, that have sustained, encouraged, convicted you in your life thus far. Most of us have favorite scriptures that inspire and encourage us every time we go back and read them. Our faith increases as we experience the truth in God’s promises in His Word. Perhaps, you even have those scriptures memorized.
We will call those “Verses in your purses.”
In your purse you put the things that you need as you go through your day. Your purse carries what is important to you. So, it is with your verse purse.
Teacher’s Note – I like to provide a visual, hands on object to emphasize a point. I will call these objects symbols.
With this lesson I provided a small pouch with Romans 12:2 printed on a pre-cut business card. I also provided a few blank cards so that the individuals favorite scriptures could be added to their “Verses in their purses.” I found fabric printed with the same cactus that was on the sunglasses from the first lesson. I could then tie both symbols together. Life is stickery but looking through the lens of scripture changes our perspective. Focusing on the unseen, not the seen.
If you have spent time with God by reading your Bible, then you have special verses that have had meaning to you in your relationship with the Lord. Perhaps you were at an exceptionally low point in your life, experiencing the death of a loved one, incarcerated, homeless, ill, abused, betrayed, and the list goes on and on. In your time of despair, you opened your Bible, listened to a teaching, or read a devotional or inspirational message. You may have read or heard a Bible verse or passage that brought great comfort and encouragement. What God gave you to encourage you through His word will always have a special meaning to you. It is a passage or verse to put in your “purse.”
There is no authority above God. If God says it, it is the truth.
It is especially important for us to know the Bible. We should know the Bible better than we know anything else. It is a book that we should read over and over, cover to cover.
The amazing thing about the Bible is that it is timeless. It is filled with every bit of comfort, guidance, truth, instruction, and our ability to understand it is through the Spirit of God. In the Asbury Bible Commentary, we read this of the Psalms; “The individual’s experience often mirrors the life of the whole family of God.”
- As Solomon, who was the son of David, said in Ecclesiastes; “there is nothing new under the son.”
- In the book of Hebrews, we are told that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.”
- God is unchanging and the word of God is useful for teaching, rebuking….2 Timothy 3:16-17,
- Through God’s divine power he has given us everything we need for life and godliness, 2 Peter 1:3-11.
This tells us that even though the Bible was written an exceptionally long time ago, it is still useful for us today. The people that wrote the words that God wanted them to write did not all live at the same time or place in history. The stories told were of individuals and groups that lived throughout the history of the years that the Bible was being composed. They lived in a time and place of different customs and traditions. Their entire material and economic environment was different from ours. Their communication and ways of maneuvering from one place to another was far removed from the way that we can now relay information anywhere in the world in seconds. We can traverse the entire planet earth in just a matter of hours.
Is it not amazing that the Bible has no errors, fits perfectly together, and is still as useful for us today as it was in the past? That is what makes it more than just a great piece of literature. The culture that we live in may be different, the time in history different, but we are created by God just as they were. We may be different in many ways, but God is not. God’s being, character, and truths are unchanging and apply to us today with the same significance as they did for all people throughout history. If you believe that; “In the beginning God created the heavens and earth,” then you must believe all the Bible. It is not a buffet where you can pick and choose what you want to believe, what you want to put into practice in your own life.
Unfortunately, there are many today who believe that it is just a great piece of literature. The question they ask is “How could it be from God when men wrote it, and it was written over many years. However, it is a book that can be historically proven, there are no contradictions, it has stood the test of time, and it has not been completely destroyed as many have wanted to do since its beginnings. (Taken from Biblegateway.com).
2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God–breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness,
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints, and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
James 2:19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
James 2:18-20 (in Context) James 2 (Whole Chapter)
On a card that fits in your verses purse, write down the Bible verse that has meaning to you. You may only have one or two now, or you may have enough to fill your purse. Keep them handy. A great place is in your Bible, and read them often and meditate on them. God will speak to you, through them, over and over. Our God is loving and always provides the comfort and direction that we need (Deut 4:2, 6:6-7, 29:29; Ps 19:7-11; Mt 4:4; Jn 14:26; Rm 10:13-17; 1 Cor 2:13-14; 2 Tim 3:16-17; Rev 22:18-19).
Scripture has been given by God to lead people to faith, salvation and maturity.
Scripture is intended to lead people to salvation 2Ti 3:14-15 See also Ps 19:7-11; Jn 20:30-31;Ro 10:8
Scripture is intended to lead believers to maturity in faith
By its teaching 2Ti 3:16 See also Dt 6:6-9; Ps 19:7-8; Ps 119:9,130; Col 3:16
By its rebuke and correction 2Ti 3:16 See also Ps 19:11-13; 1Co 10:11-12; Heb 4:12-13
By training in righteousness 2Ti 3:16 See also Dt 29:29
By its illumination Ps 119:105,130 See also2Pe 1:19; 1Jn 2:8
By its encouragement and reassurance Ro 15:4; 1Jn 5:13 See also Ps 19:8-9; Ps 119:50-51,76; Heb 12:5-6
By its record of God’s promises 1Ki 8:56; Ps 119:140 See also Eze 12:25; Lk 24:44; 2Co 1:19-22
By its trustworthiness 1Ki 17:24; Ps 19:7-11; Ps 33:4 See also Ps 119:151,160; Jn 21:24; Rev 21:5
Scripture is essential for spiritual growth and maturity Ps 1:1-3 See also Mt 4:4; Jn 15:5-8; Jn 17:17;Eph 6:10-17; 2Ti 3:14-17
About The Author
