Spiritual Confidence Is Not Self-Confidence | 1 Samuel 17:30-41

Vince Miller Podcast

Do you confuse spiritual confidence with self-confidence?

Welcome to the Daily Devo. I am Vince Miller.

This week, we are in 1 Samuel 17. I've titled this chapter "Battling Giants."

We have the battle scene. In today's text, David approaches the King before running to the battle. Let's read 31-40:

When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. And David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine." And Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth." But David said to Saul, "Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God." And David said, "The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." And Saul said to David, "Go, and the Lord be with you!"

Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, "I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them." So David put them off. Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine. — 1 Samuel 17:31-40

Three features of David's approach in this text:

One | God's Man Is Bold But Humble. David's boldness is striking. He is a 15-year-old boy who steps into the octagon to fight a UFC champion in hand-to-hand combat. And he is confident that God will deliver him. But his courage should not be confused with secular understandings of "self-confidence." Never wrongly correlate David's confidence with "self-confidence" because that is not what this is. David's confidence is not born from himself. It was born from faith and assurance in God and God's power. You'll notice here that David doesn't boast about his strength or abilities. Instead, he merely recounts his past victories over similar opponents like Goliath, attributing his success to God. This blend of boldness and humility is what believers need. We should not be overly inactive, camouflaged in meekness, or not excessively active, presented in arrogance. We have to find the right blend of boldness and humility; in this instance, David gets this right.

Two | God Did It, Then. He'll Do It Now. David's spiritual confidence is rooted in his past experiences with God. For David, this moment is a continuance of the work of God through him. He believes that what God did back in the fields with the sheep, he will do on the war field with sheepish people. Most of us fail to remember this. And there is a reason why. When God delivers us in the past, we fail to see it as God's victory; therefore, in the present, we put unrealistic pressure on ourselves and fail to act. You have to stop seeing past victories as your victories if they were God's victories. If you don't, you will never have the strength for the present battle and the victory that God wants you to know.

Three | God's Logic Defies Human Logic. The way David approaches the battle defies conventional logic. Instead of sporting Saul's armor and carrying his sword, which would have been standard for a battle like this, David opts for his familiar sling and a few stones. His choice may seem irrational from a human perspective, but it highlights a key feature of David's faith: faith in God results in responses that sometimes defy human logic. While it may look humanly irrational, it is spiritually rational. When bold faith is required, we have to go back to what God has done before, and we must use the same tools of faith again in what appears to be a slightly different situation. And this will bother some people because, to onlookers, it may look illogical, but we all know it's perfectly logical.

Three features of David's approach:

He behaved bold but humble. He believed God did it then and would do it now. He believed God's logic defies human logic. So, the question I will leave you with today is: What do you need to change in your approach to today's challenges? Note: Spiritual confidence is not self-confidence.

#FaithOverFear, #BoldAndHumble, #DivineVictory