Dear Friends,
This is the first message in a two-part series on how to know when it’s time to stand for the right with particular attention to David’s confrontation with Goliath recorded in 1 Samuel 17.
I am giving you these instructions, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies made earlier about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight having faith and a good conscience (1 Tim 1:18-19).
The Apostle Paul was approaching the end of his life when he wrote these words to his protege Timothy. Even though “the good fight” is a metaphor for living a faithful life in a faithless world, Paul’s exhortation also offers keen insight into one of the most difficult things to know — when is it right to take a stand?
“Having faith” means our trust and confidence in God and our future with God is our guide to how we live in the ordeal of today. “Having . . . a good conscience” means we obey God’s will as revealed in Holy Scripture and inspired in our souls by the Holy Spirit. If waiting and watching in prayer reveals motivations like pride or envy, we are standing for ourselves, not for God, and we need to stand down.
“The battle is the Lord’s” said David to Goliath in the prototype for stand-taking conflicts (1 Sam 17:47). The simple, but essential question is whether we are relying upon the Lord for wisdom and strength, or are we off on some prideful joy-ride of our own initiative. The answer to that question always requires our refinement by waiting upon the Lord in prayer and thought. The answer can never be assumed. Our good intentions are irrelevant. Trust and obedience are what are required of those who serve the Lord in battle.
I have given a good deal of thought to conflict. I have the “fight instinct” as shown in the pattern of my life and the results of many psychological tests of the kind employed in management in-service training. My training and experience as an attorney have also honed my skills in argument. But I’m describing my flesh, and I testify that I cannot put any trust in my flesh.
Most people handle conflict poorly. Tempted by taunts and perceived insults, they become angry and personal, “fighting fire with fire” and end up losing their point to soul-scorching bitterness or humiliating surrender. Fighting fire with fire is never God’s way.
Even when we are viciously and unfairly attacked, the battle still belongs to the Lord. Jesus said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:44). The Apostle Paul wrote, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord'” (Rom 12:17-19).
Yet, Jesus took a whip and drove the money-changers out of the Temple, and Paul took strong stands for the rights of believers and defense of the gospel of Christ when pressed by secular or religious authorities (See e.g., Acts 22 and 23). It takes divine wisdom received after much prayer and submission to the Holy Spirit’s leading to know when and how to speak “the truth in love” without malice (Eph 4:15, 29-32).
Conflict is actually something that I loathe, so I seek to only enter it when necessary and effectively as possible. It took me a long time to learn that when my mind and heart are inflamed with indignation or wounded pride that I quickly forget my Lord and I live and act badly. Over time, I have come to depend on quiet prayer to clear the waters of my soul of their turbid froth, and to see the right way ahead. More often than not this leads me to forgiveness rather than eloquence I am seeking to reprove adversaries.
I am still learning, but God is gracious in teaching me the grace of waiting to take a stand for him in a way that honors him because it relies upon him. How can we read the signs of the seasons that Solomon called — “a time for every matter under heaven: . . .
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
. . .
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing
. . .
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love; and a time to hate;
a time for war; and a time for peace.
(Ecc 3:1,3,5,7,8)
No story is more instructive in Scripture on the point of how one knows when to make the right stand at the right time than David’s conflict with Goliath described in 1 Samuel 17. This vivid story is too often relegated to the status of children’s literature or a metaphor for sports writers. The scribe who wrote it down had a good ear for the nuances of human reactions in moments of conflict. It is a field manual of how to fight the good fight. There are ten points worth pondering.
1. Faithful service is the only reason to come to the field of battle.
David’s father, Jesse, told him to take food to his brothers serving in the army. He made careful provision for a substitute sheepherder. Then he followed his father’s instructions to the letter. David arrived at the moment the army was taking the battle line for the day. He delivered his supplies to the quartermaster before running to find his brothers. (1 Sam 17:17-22)
If we are not there to help, why are we at the scene of conflict? Helping may involve fighting well. Those serving in the military are called “servicemen and servicewomen.” They have a specific mission to protect and defend their country and its citizens. They help keep us free. Anyone who seeks the freedom and well-being of others above his or her own interests is a servant. “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” is an undeniable call to each of us to serve (Gal 6:2).
2. Be clear on the issues. Is the stand that you are about to take about God’s will or your bruised pride?
The Army of Israel was cowering before the bullying giant who not only insulted their courage but blasphemed their God. David was filled with a righteous indignation about the slurs on the God of Israel. He and wouldn’t stop talking about it even though his eldest brother, Eliab, derided and chastised him and accused David of being no more than a thrill-seeking kid.
David saw that this was no time to be embarrassed or indulge selfish interests. He asked, “For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should deny the armies of the living God?” (1 Sam 17:26). The honor of God and the freedom of his people are the issue that should always get our attention and service.
3. Be true to your convictions. What do you believe is the right thing to do beyond your feelings?
David told Saul, “Let no one’s heart fail because of him [Goliath]; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine” (1 Sam 16:32). David knew that the humiliating taunts of Goliath were demeaning to Israel’s God and demoralizing to its army. He was willing to put his life on the line to stop this which is the true meaning of intercession. Jesus said, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13).
David was willing to risk his life to stop the blasphemy against God and the oppression of God’s chosen people. This was not a rash emotional response. It was grounded in David’s conviction that the real ruler of Israel was God and the honor of God was the purpose of the nation. For what are you and I willing to risk our life?
4. Be true to our experience. How has the Lord led you through threatening trials in the past?
David had killed predatory wild animals in hand to hand combat to protect his sheep. He recognized that God was the source of his strength in those terrifying moments. David told Saul, “‘Your servant has killed both lions and bears; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.’David said, ‘The Lord, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine'” (1 Sam 17:35-36).
David had seen what God could do for him in difficult, dangerous situations and he trusted the Lord. I was raised with a quotation that my mother often repeated when our family was facing faith-challenging problems. “We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we forget the way the Lord has led us, and his teaching in our past history” (Ellen G. White, Life Sketches, p 196). Experience matters when we fight the good fight. We have all had our confrontations with lions and bears of one kind or another and the Lord has brought us safely through. It is a good thing to remember this in our time of trouble.
5. Never let someone else put their armor on you. Do you trust the Lord to equip you for the fight?
Saul could conceive of only one way of fighting. He put his bronze helmet and coat of mail on David. The heavy armor immobilized David. He told Saul, “I can’t even walk in these; for I am not used to them” (1 Sam 17:38-39). David took them off and wouldn’t wear them. (That Saul wasn’t wearing his own armor, speaks volumes about the plight of Israel.)
People want us to fight their way with their armor. They weigh us down with their conditional defenses and the projection of their fears, even as they urge us into battle. We dally while we listen to their anxious entreaties, looking for a “good fit” and perfect security before we venture out. Will we trust that the Lord can provide us with the covering we need if we follow him into battle? The overpowering presence of evil is always a call for faith that sings:
This is my Father’s world. O let me ne’er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.
(Maltbie D. Babcock, 1901)
We should never be embarrassed or discouraged about how poorly equipped we are for the circumstances in which we find ourselves if God has called us there. Neither should we demand of the Lord that he make us strong and wise because we are likely to be tempted to forget him and try to take control of the battle. The moment when we are about to engage the adversary is way past time to be asking for stuff anyway. It is time to trust and surrender.
The power and sufficiency of God’s grace is always the perfect solution to our weakness (2 Cor 12:9-10). Here is the secret to how we access his grace — We give the Lord our weakness and ask him to be strong and wise for us and in us (1 Cor 1:30). After all, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31).
Next week we will look at the lessons to be learned when David took the field against Goliath.
“O taste and see that the Lord is good. Happy are those who take refuge in him” (Ps 34:8).
Under the mercy of Christ,
Kent
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The Lord is the strength of his people;