Facing Our Giants; David: A Man Anointed By God

Have you ever been in front of a camera when the flash went off and you were blinded for a moment? This is the way some problems hit us. We are blinded by the problems that seem overwhelming to such a degree that we don’t know what to do. We can’t see anything. We can’t see past the problem or the challenge because it is so overwhelming in our lives.

It happens to all of us at one time or another. It is very normal, even for people that go to church. The essence of the matter is, what do we do after we are blinded by the problem? What do you do when you get hit by a problem? How do you overcome this? How do you overcome when something hits you so hard with such a swift power that you are utterly blinded by it? How do you overcome it?

One of the best known stories in the Bible has to be David and Goliath, but what makes this story so amazing? Is it that everyone likes the underdog? Is it the wonder of seeing a young boy take on a giant and living? Is it hoping that if David could beat the giant then we can beat the big evil…corporation…government…state that stands in our way? Is it the need to hope in something more than ourselves? This morning I want to do some unpacking of one the best known story, this story that I’m sure most of you could tell me in your sleep and I want to look at what made David so different than all the other men on this battlefield.

In the Broadway musical, The Scarlet Pimpernel, the 18th century (fictional) hero encourages his followers by reminding them of David vs. Goliath. The song goes:

"David walked into the valley

With a stone clutched in his hand

He was only a boy

But he knew someone must take a stand

There will always be a valley

Always mountains one must scale

There will always be perilous waters

Which someone must sail."

In the lyrics I just quoted, although they unfortunately emphasize David as a boy instead of as the teenager or young man he was, the words tie the ancient text together with the challenge that the heroes faced. More than that, the lyric says that there are always challenges or obstacles that we must face. Do you ever feel overwhelmed? Do you ever think that everything is stacked against you? Do you ever think there is no way out? Do you ever feel like life is full of "no win" situations? That’s the way everyone on Israel’s side of the battlefield in the Valley of Elah felt—-everyone except for David.

If you have your Bibles with you today please turn with me to 1 Samuel 17

Read 17:1-4

Goliath … was six cubits and a span. See NIV text note. A cubit was the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, and a span was the distance from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the smallest finger of a hand fully spread. There was considerable variation in the precise lengths of cubits and spans in antiquity, but by any standard Goliath would have been over nine feet tall.

Read vs 5—Five Thousand Shekels of bronze would weigh around 126 lbs

Read 6-30

David, who is a shepherd also had a different job at this time, Look over to 16:14-23

So David would normally travel back and forth to Saul and his sheep. To Saul because not only did he play soothing music for Saul, but he is also Saul’s armor bearer. Notice David’s reputation in verse 18

1. Skillful in playing an instrument—the Harp

2. A Mighty man of Valor, a Man of war—not remember he is still young, but that did not change his reputation. While David was not a part of the fighting force of Israel, David’s courage was wel known.

3. Prudent of Speech—The NLT says he had good judgment—there is wisdom in him even though he is young

4. He is good looking—I’m not sure why that one mattered so much, but we know he is good looking. Kind of like what I heard from one of the teacher’s aids about the new principal…she put it something like, now I’m married and this isn’t me talking, but I’ve heard he is good looking with an athletic build—why would the Bible put this in there, well it talks about the creditability of this testimony. Does God care what you look like—yes he made you and loves you how he made you, does man care—people talk and this servant was sharing what he or she heard of David. While all these things are good, there is one more attribute…the best is saved for last.