“Lord, save us! Lord, please grant us success! He who comes in the name of the Lord is blessed!” Psalm 118: 25-26
This Psalm is a victory Psalm, praising God for what He has done. The author is unknown, but believed to be David. David had great success in his lifetime. He was a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). One of his most notorious victories was over Goliath, the Philistine giant who dared to taunt the army of the Living God (1 Samuel 17:26). One of my favorite parts to this story is when Saul dresses David in his armor. He’s trying to help him have success, but in reality, he’s only setting David up for failure. I love David’s reply to him:
“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:39-40 NIV).
David was a self aware man. He was a shepherd, which meant he had lots of practice with a sling. He would use it to keep away wild animals, as well as steer the sheep in the direction he wanted them to go. It was a simple thing, two pieces of leather with a place to hold the stone. He would swing it around his head a couple of times, then let it loose. David had years of practice at this, but he had no practice at using the armor that Saul was accustomed too.
Often times, we have well meaning people in our lives, like Saul. People who are trying to dress us in their armor, but their armor won’t work for us. It is up to us to know what our strengths are. God has equipped each of us for the journey’s we are on, but our bags are packed with different weapons. It’s up to us to know what those strengths are and use them to fight our giants.
If you want true success on your journey with God, don’t try to put on someone else’s armor. Put on the armor God created and tailored specifically for you. There is no giant that can stand against it.
