1 Samuel 17:23 (NKJV)
“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.”

Do you hear Goliath? Do you hear the voices that blaspheme the name of the Lord?

Every day, those voices are raised high with audacity and people are either not listening, or they don’t feel they can do anything about it. But we must be different.

So what can we do? The first thing to do is to pay attention and actively listen.

As we go through the busyness of life, and struggle with all kinds of important daily tasks and deadlines, our spirits must be alert to the voices of Goliath all around us?

David came to see his brothers, and was excited to see them. But as they talked together, Goliath came out and repeated the same words he spoke every day.

David not only heard those words, they greatly disturbed him.

David stopped what he was doing to pay attention, to listen to what Goliath was saying, to let the words spoken sink in.

David did not dismiss things as though they were not his business. Why? Because what concerned his God concerned him.

Are you disturbed like David?

Do you let the words you hear trouble you or are you so “spiritual” that you do not lose your peace irrespective of what you hear?

Do the things that negatively impact the kingdom of God impact you?

We must not isolate ourselves. Many voices today are blaspheming our God. We don’t need to travel to hear them. We just need to be attentive to the world around us.

And as we hear, let the voices provoke our spirits to action.

Let’s keep our spiritual antennae’s high and vigilant. As we hear, let’s ask more questions.

Then let’s carry the burden to God in prayer. Let’s raise our voices with our God-given spiritual authority. Goliath must not go unanswered.

But it all starts with active listening. And letting what we hear trouble us.

Allow yourself to be troubled enough to want to do something about it. Quieten other distractions and hear what is important to God. Amen.