“The Strength of David” by Jeff Phillips

No matter how big the task or the advisory David had courage bigger than him. David had that courage because he knew where his strength came from. God gave him that strength and courage because David was a man after God’s heart.
David was the youngest son of Jesse and a descendent of Ruth and Boaz. He was a shepherd as well. As a shepherd, his job was to protect the sheep in his care. It is written in 1 Samuel 17: 34-35 “And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: and I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him and slew him.” That is one piece of evidence of his courage that God gave him. Another sign of his courage was when faced Goliath, a giant close to ten feet tall. Goliath was insulting God, which David loved with all his heart all his soul and all his might, and he was not having any of. There may be some that would David’s running from Saul as fear of Saul. Above all David feared the Lord, Saul was anointed by God to be King. So David’s fear in fighting Saul was not being defeated and killed by Saul. He knew that if he faced Saul with the Lord on his side, he would defeat and possibly kill the anointed king Saul. David’s biggest weakness was his lust for women. At a time when he should be in the field of combat he got complacent and gave into that weakness with a married woman Sheba. God forgave him for that sin and the sin of murder in an effort to cover it up, but he paid dearly for his sin.
As can be seen in David’s life, as long as we stay focused on God we have nothing to fear. The minute we get complacent in our service to God is when we are our weakest. That is the opportunity that Satan will use to attack us with his fiery darts to make us fall. The good news is that God is a patient and forgiving God and we have his son Jesus Christ that wash away our failures away and continue to help us be better disciples of Him.