Tuesday, February 12, 2008

By Faith... David, Part 5 of 15

TEXT: 1 Samuel 17:37, 46-47 (see below)

IDEA: God often shows his power by using human means.

PURPOSE: to help listeners see that god works through us, not in spite of us.

One question that we face is how does God work and how do we work.

In the jargon of the theologian, how does the transcendent power of God break into human affairs?

• It is easier to see that than to explain that.
• Look at the story of David and Goliath.

I. What is it that David brings to that battle against Goliath?

He brings some experience having fought a lion and a bear.

He knows how to use a slingshot.

He carries the slingshot and five smooth stones.

II. Would you say that that explains David's victory over Goliath?

No, it is clear that the biblical writer is saying that David trusted in the power of God, and it was God's power that overcame Goliath: 1 Sam 17:37, 45-47:

Moreover David said, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”  And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!” …Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with 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 defied.  This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you.  And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.  Then all the assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”

III.  This battle leads us to ask a question: what enabled David to win the battle against Goliath?

Was it God?

Do you think that David could have won the victory apart from the power of God?

Was it David?

Could he have won the battle without the slingshot and the five small stones?

When God works, it is often through an interaction between God and his people.

One of the great miracles Jesus performed was feeding the 5,000. where did Jesus get the bread and fishes from? Could he have supplied the bread for the 15,000 without the loaves and sardines from the little boy?  Did he perform the miracle without the bread and sardines?

CONCLUSION: God seldom performs miracles that are apart from what men and women bring to serve him.