Trying To Get Out of Saul’s Armor

Last Thursday Sharron Angle and I were emailing back and forth and I asked her how she was doing. Here is her response:

    It’s a battle. Keep praying. I’m trying to get out of Saul’s armor and pick up my sling. All the while Goliath is taunting. I hope that makes sense.

Oh it makes perfect sense! Why do we do that?! Why do we try to fight with man’s armor when all the while we know we have God’s power to rely on?

Simply put we’re human. We battle with the flesh and the spirit and it is a constant battle. Paul knew this all too well:

    “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.” (Romans 7:14-20)

I want to do good but I don’t. I don’t want to do bad but I do. That’s is one miserable place to be; in fact Paul calls himself a wretched man in Romans 7:24 and that would be devastating if he ended it there, but he doesn’t:

    “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 7:25-8:11)

Most Christians believe the story of David and Goliath is about fighting personal giants. If you look back at the story David and Goliath, David did not go to the Valley of Elah to fight the giant. Let’s revisit this story:

    “So David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, and took the things and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the camp as the army was going out to the fight and shouting for the battle. For Israel and the Philistines had drawn up in battle array, army against army. And David left his supplies in the hand of the supply keeper, ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers. Then as he talked with them, there was the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, coming up from the armies of the Philistines; and he spoke according to the same words. So David heard them. And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were dreadfully afraid.” (1 Samuel 17:20-24)

Is Goliath David’s giant? Did God send this giant into David’s life? Read all of 1 Samuel 17 and you will be hard-pressed to find that. What actually happen is Goliath found David much to the giant’s demise. This giant was Israel’s…the whole nation’s, not just David’s.

    “Then David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, ‘What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?’… And Saul said to David, ‘You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. But David said to Saul, ‘Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.’ 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!’” (1 Samuel 17:26, 33-37)

David took on this giant and when Saul tried to equip David with his gear, David refused them because he could not walk in them nor had he tested them…I have not tested them.

Oh my, what little nugget have we discovered here? Just as David did, we need to look back on how God has fought His battles through us and we must remember the weapons that were used. That is why David took his staff, sling and rocks and went out to battle this giant knowing the Lord would deliver him.

What battle are you facing today? Are you doing so wearing Saul’s armor? My dear friend you cannot walk in that armor nor have you tested it. You must get out of Saul’s armor and pick up your sling, especially while Goliath is taunting you!

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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    Copyright © 2010 David Jeffers

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