In The Land Of The Giants

IN THE LAND OF THE GIANTS

1 SAMUEL 17

* As a kid when I heard the word “giant”, all I thought of was that old TV commercial for the Jolly Green Giant Vegetables. (sing) We perhaps I also thought of Jack and the Beanstalk and His words; "Fee, fi, fo, fun, I smell the blood of an Englishman: Be he alive, or be he dead, I’ll grind his bones to make my bread!" The best part of that story was when Jack chopped down the beanstalk and the giant (the danger) is gone..

* The Bible speaks of Giants on many occasions. The Children of Israel came to Kadesh Barnea, sent the committee to scout the land, and then heard a report about the “giants” in the land. This Report could have rightly been named, “The good, the bad, and the ugly.” The good was there indeed flowing with milk and honey, the bad was the discovery of “giants” in the land, and the ugly would most definitely have been the decision of the people to focus on the size of those giants instead of the size of their God. The result? The Giants won. Frequently giants do win but they don’t have to.

* Arguably, we have read the most famous “giant story” in the Bible and maybe in history itself. The story of David and Goliath has been told and retold time and again. With this story firmly place in our mind, let’s investigate the being in the Land of the giants.

* If there is a universal symbol for Giants, it would be the Philistines. For they were big people and almost always fighting God’s people. In fact, it’s safe to say that the Philistines always opposed God’s people and even to God himself. Such is the nature of Giants. In the same way Goliath faced down armies of Judah and attempted to intimidate David, Giants face us down today. Our giants carry a different name but in a more realistic way they discourage, defeat, and on occasion debilitate us. What are these? A complete list would require all of working together to name them all, but a partial list of “giants would include; financial, family, grief, guilt, discouragement, depression, temptation, loss, and many more.

*For the next few minutes, let look at Giants get some help.

I ENLIGHTENMENT – Most of us spend little time thinking of those things in our lives which constantly defeat us.

A. Description of a Giant – Let get our description from Goliath

1. Distressing – Remember he’s the enemy and he’s good at what he does. The very nature of a giant is he’s huge, he’s strong, & maybe the best. Judah was indeed distressed at seeing Him.

a) The same happens to us when Satan sends a giant to us. He sends the best, the biggest, and the “baddest”. The distressing part is that from a human perspective it will appear that you cannot win against your giant. That is Satan’s plan.

2. Daring – In basic terms, Goliath came out and gave a “double dog dare” to the army of Israel. He taunted them and “tried to get them to engage” on His terms. He wanted someone to take him on alone. He made it a matter of pride. When our giant can get us to engage emotionally, as a matter of pride, we will be alone and we will be defeated. He is counting on our nature.

3. Diligent – This is incredible. Too often in the work of the Kingdom we grow weary in well doing and faint or fade away. Not so with the enemy. Goliath continued day after day, he was relentless, 40 days he continued the challenge, just waiting for someone to be offended enough to take him on, ALONE!

a) Just as a reminder, Satan knows your weakness & when you’re weakest. His plan is to break you at that point.

4. Demoralizing – The giant desires to makes you feel helpless & hopeless. He wants you to believe there is no way out and now way to win. In verse 24, the men “ran” from Goliath and I dare say, they saw no end in sight. In the face of a giant, frequently we are demoralized wondering if it will ever end.

5. Dangerous – Generally, the giants Satan sends into our life does indeed have the ability to “defeat us.” Goliath could have & should have killed David, but David knew a little truth which we’ll talk about in just a few minutes.

* Here is our QUESTION for right now; “what is there in your life that affects you like a giant?” Can you name one or more?

B. Detection of a Giant – It is my belief that many have giants wreaking havoc in their life and really do not realize that it’s the enemy so now that we have described the giant, let look at some way to detect him with some recognizable attributes of the giant.