“The Battle Belongs to the Lord” (10 mins.)
All of us are afraid of something. It can be our boss at work, a teacher at school or college. To a spouse who does not have good character. to some animal Sometimes something as tiny as a spider can cause panic. Each of us has a fear to face, but sometimes that fear completely paralyzes us and does not let us move forward.
That happens in our spiritual life. Every time we go forward in our service to Jehovah, we may encounter obstacles and these can stop us in our tracks and prevent us from continuing in our sacred service. And that's what we're going to talk about in this Treasures of the Bible talk. "The battle belongs to the Lord."
And we will deal with the situation that David faced, a young man, and he had something in front of him that caused terror. Even the bravest soldier was the mighty Goliath. Let's try to quickly describe about this character. His name Goliath possibly meant "outstanding" due to the size of him almost three meters tall. He was from a group of people of extraordinary size because throughout the history of the Bible several of these of colossal size are mentioned.
He was so strong that only his vest could be called that, weighing approximately 126 pounds. The spear he used weighed 15 pounds. He was the pride of the Philistines, because no one could stand against him. Anyone who wanted to attack ran into that obstacle. The army of Israel and the Philistines were face to face. The Philistines put their representative warrior. Who were the Israelites going to put? Nobody wanted to face tremendous obstacle.
Tremendous man with supernatural size. Suddenly David appears in the story of the Bible and he wants to intervene, because what he was hearing about blasphemies against the people of God was not something he was willing to tolerate. He somehow talks with Saul and exposes his request to confront this man.
David was coming out of his late teens. He wasn't even old enough to be a soldier. How was it possible for him to face Goliath?
LET'S READ: 1 Samuel 17:36,37.
36 Your servant has already killed a lion and a bear, and that uncircumcised Philistine is going to end up just like them because he has defied the army of the living God.” 37 And David added: “The Lord delivered me from the clutches of the lion and the bear, and he also will deliver me from the hands of that Philistine.” Saul then said to David: "Go, and may the Lord be with you."
Reading the story, David is not saying at any time about his history of experience in the war. His protection or his weapon in this case was Jehovah the living God. And he trusted Jehovah because he knew that he had already protected him, helping him kill a lion and a bear. A young man, what could do that. So he was putting Jehovah's help ahead of him to deal with this man. The people of Israel were risking their future, because if they lost, they would become permanent servants of the Philistines. It was not easy at all.
In our days, we also have to face very difficult situations. For example, how many sisters have to deal with an unbelieving spouse who does not want them to continue serving Jehovah loyally? Or what to think of young people in schools or colleges who have to deal with bad company. And that could be an obstacle to showing that they serve Jehovah.
Or perhaps it may be our own personalities that hold us back from doing more in Jehovah's service. Or if you are a student of the Bible, are you facing a habit that for years and years you have tried to quit and you can't, such as alcohol, smoking or any other activity that you know is against Jehovah's standards?
The correct way to deal with these situations is not to say, "I just don't have the personality to deal with it." That is trusting one. Remember, the battle is Jehovah's. David put Jehovah as the one who was going to get the victory. We too must do the same. We may say, "If Jehovah wills," Jehovah will always want us to win. Sometimes we are the obstacle that we do not want to move forward.
Going back to the story of David and Goliath, we come to a very special point. David didn't compare himself to Goliath because if he did, he didn't even try to face him.
LET'S READ: 1 Samuel 17:45,47.
45 And David answered the Philistine, “You come to fight me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I will fight you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the troops of Israel, whom you you have challenged 46 This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I will defeat you and cut off your head. Today I will leave the corpses of the Philistine army for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth. And the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 Everyone here will know that Jehovah does not need swords or spears to save us. The battle belongs to Jehovah, and he will deliver all of you into our hands.”
What is the strategy that David uses? The only one. Compare Goliath, that impressive man with the Almighty, with Jehovah. That is the right way to deal with something that hinders us in our service to Jehovah.
You may be a seemingly weak sister, afraid to face your spouse. You may be young people who really feel a lot of pressure at school and facing difficult situations could hurt you more. Or maybe our personality doesn't allow us to do as much as we'd like. But remember, a little can go a long way.
LET'S READ: 1 Samuel 17:48,50.
48 Then the Philistine came closer and closer to David to meet him, and David ran to meet him, toward the line of battle. 49 David reached into the bag, pulled out a stone, slinged it, and hit the Philistine square in the forehead. The stone hit his forehead, and he fell facedown. 50 So David defeated the Philistine with a slingshot and a stone. He struck down the Philistine and killed him, and he didn't have a sword.
When we fully trust in Jehovah, we do not need to be the same as others to overcome them. When we have a small amount of faith, we can defeat the enemy. For Jehovah's is the battle. Let us continue to show absolute trust in Jehovah and surely any obstacle that arises in our service to him will be overcome. Because Jehovah supports us. Because the battle belongs to Jehovah.
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