The Plumbline

David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the  Lord  of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.     Today the  Lord  will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel!     And everyone assembled here will know that the  Lord  rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the  Lord ’s battle, and he will give you to us!”  (I Samuel 17:45-47 NLT) So many times we are faced with "the battle of a lifetime" and get stopped right there in our tracks, cowering in fear or overcome with doubt simply because of the "size" of the enemy in front of us. We stand there, prepared as we are for the battle, then we "see" or "hear" things such as: - The size of the enemy in front...

This morning, a three word sentence caught my attention as I was reading through the account of David and Goliath.  The words, "David heard him."  Not very profound, but I hope they will speak as "clearly" and as LOUDLY to your heart as they have mine.  In considering the story of David taking on the giant of a man who had been taunting the camp of Israel's strong armies for quite some time, I was almost stunned to realize it took only one man with his "ears" tuned into the giant to realize the giant had NOTHING on God!  I think David knew the voice of God - the power, purpose, and provision of God - and recognized nothing would stand up to one word from him - not even the giants we face! Israel and the Philistines moved into position, facing each other, battle-ready. David left his bundles of food in the care of a sentry, ran to the troops who were deployed, and greeted his brothers. While they were talking together, the Philistine champion, Goliath...