David made another faith statement as he faced his giant. In 1 Samuel 17:47 he continued his faith proclamation to Goliath. It says, “Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”

In verse 48 it says that David hurried and ran to meet the Philistine. Verse 50 says, “So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David.”

With his sling, David’s stone found its mark and took out his giant. The Philistines speak of our flesh. Our flesh taunts our spirit. We know from 2 Corinthians 10:4 that our weapons are not of the flesh. It says they are, “…mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.”

Verse 3 Amplified says, “For though we walk (live) in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons.” Psalm 149:6 says, “Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand.”

2 Chronicles 20 is a great chapter. Verse 1 says that the people of Moab, Ammon, and others came to battle against Jehoshaphat. In verse 12 his prayer from verse 6 continued. “…For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.” 

Verse 17 is a verse we can stand in also. It says, “You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you…Do not fear or be dismayed…” Verse 20 says, “…Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.”

Jehoshaphat appointed singers to go out before the army. Verse 21 says, “…those who should praise the beauty of holiness…” Verse 22 says, “Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people…and they were defeated.”

Armed with stone verses we use them to praise our God. We can run towards our giant because the victory has already been won. Colossians 2:15 says, “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” Jesus’ finished work on the cross is our battle cry.

Let’s go back to when Saul tried to get David to wear his armor. Remember that Saul was head and shoulders above all the people of Israel. David was still a young man. He put on Saul’s armor. 1 Samuel 17:39 says, “David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul; I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them. So David took them off.”

We cannot successfully fight our giant by just quoting a verse. It needs to be a ‘tested’ verse. Meaning that it’s a verse we have used through experience. It is a truth that is embedded in our heart that has set us free. It’s a smooth stone that has gone through the waters so that the rough edges are worn away.

Stone verses are smooth so that they hit their target and penetrate. We use the truth of His word as praise as we face our giant. Let’s take the giant of fear. It rises up to impact us when we fall into a hard trial. Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” When this verse has become part of our heart, we can use it to praise the Lord.

We don’t pray, ‘Lord be with me’ because He is! We use our stone verse like this, “Lord, I know that You are with me right now. You are my Present Help. I praise You because I am enveloped in Your Presence. Every breath I take I am breathing in Your Presence. Thank You for Your sustaining power.” Our praise comes from a heart that knows the stone verse personally through prior experiences. The Lord truly is Present. He inhabits our praise and the giant of fear is felled.