They Must be Giants
1 – David, Goliath and the power of God
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
House of Faith Ministries
www.PS127.org
WELCOME
INTRODUCTION
Most of us are all familiar with the story of David & Goliath.
1 Samuel 17
Today I want to begin a series entitled “They Must be Giants!”
This is a reference to Numbers 13:33 when the Israelites saw the Giants and said they must have looked like grasshoppers to them, and left in fear.
However, you will not find the word “giant” in your NIV Bibles; it has been left in the original Hebrew tongue, “Nephilim”, which means giant. Nephilim was the name of one of the tribes of Canon.
Over the next few weeks we will be examining how the devil puts giants in our lives to try destroy us.
But for us to understand what odds we are up against, or rather, what odds the devil is up against, we need to look at the Story of David, Goliath and the power of God.
SCRIPTURE READING
1 Samuel 17:2 – 11
“Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. 3 The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them.
4 A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall. 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels; 6 on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. 7 His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. [c] His shield bearer went ahead of him.
8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, "Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us." 10 Then the Philistine said, "This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other." 11 On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.”
PRAYER FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT AND UNDERTANDING
Goliath
6 Cubits & a Span (About 3 meters tall) or About 9 feet.
I have been asked many times if I think this is a literal or figurative figure.
I feel it is both, it is Goliaths literal size, but figuratively it represents the spiritual things that come against us in our lives today.
Robert Wadlow, who died in 1940 was over 8’ 11” tall and weighed 439 pounds, so I believe that Goliath was as big as the Bible says.
Goliath was the Palestinian champion and veteran Warrior.
We’ve talked about spiritual warfare;
Devil attacks where you are weakest.
He establishes footholds that grow into strongholds in you life if not dealt with.
He’s methodical in his preparation.
Here we see the same situation.
Goliath struck fear into the Israelites.
Face to Face no one would challenge him.
This tactic with Goliath and the one-on-one challenge drove the Israelites into a state of cowardice.
This took place for 40 days, which is the Biblical number for testing.
God’s people were tested for 40 days, and fear kept them silent.
How many of us stay silent during our trials?
How many of us fear to face the giant that the devil has placed before us?
When will we stand and realize that the battle is the Lord’s, and we have nothing to fear!
But fear was the Israelites master this day, and Goliath’s taunts continued.
One thing about the enemies taunts and attacks.
When he sees something working, guess what, he does more of that one thing.
Once he finds a weakness in your defenses, you better believe that all of his forces and attacks are going to be focused on that one area of your life!
Oh, how the devil continues this today!
He can cause us to shrivel up and fear him by challenging us with a one-on-one battle with him.
And we look at this giant, so much bigger than us.
We see a seasoned veteran who knows how to fight.
He appears to us in our lives as this thing that is so big, we could never defeat it!
Drugs
Alcohol
Sickness
Fear
Anger
Bitterness
The list goes on and on.
And he taunts us.
And out of our shock at the size of the giant, out of our fear his taunts create in us, out of the one-on-one challenge he makes, drawing the line in the sand and commanding from us, “give me your best, and if you lose, you will surrender to me!”, we forget, like the Israelites forgot, this isn’t our battle.
The one thing the devil does not want you to realize, this isn’t your fight!
Ephesians 6: We battle NOT against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities…
Our battle, just as the battle this day between the Israelites and the Philistines, was spiritual!
Though it may appear that wars take place with people, the forces behind these wars are spiritual.
For power, authority dominion of land and countries.
But the Israelites were walking not in the spirit, but by flesh.
They were going by what they saw, not by what they believed.
We need to walk in the spirit, and walk not by sight, but by faith.
Walk with the faith and assurance as a child of God.
Here comes such a young man named David.
He’s the youngest son of Jesse.
He’s not here this day to fight though, he was sent on an errand.
David was sent by his father to deliver provisions for his brothers.
He happened in on a bad situation.
God brings us to these places sometimes.
This giant was not looking for David, but God brought David to him.
David walked in the spirit.
How do we know this?
Because in the previous chapter we see God had chosen David and he was anointed with oil by Samuel, which represents God pouring out His Holy Spirit, and it says in 1 Samuel 16:11 “and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.”
During this time, Jesus had not died on the Cross yet, so the Holy Spirit was not sent to all, only a few choice leaders and priests and prophets to lead the people.
David was chosen by God to lead the people of Israel, and although God had chosen him and anointed Him with His Holy Spirit, it would be years before David would actually take the throne.
There are some of you here right now God has anointed.
There are some of you right now who God has chosen to step up and lead for God.
There are some here today who God has anointed and blessed with His Holy Spirit to be leaders among men.
Perhaps He has called you to preach.
Perhaps He has called you to teach.
Perhaps He has called you to minister to those in need.
And you have not seen this happen yet in your life, don’t be discouraged.
If God has anointed you, it WILL come to pass.
God prepares the way for the anointing He has given.
He is the Good Shepherd and will lead the way for you to take.
Just as He did for David.
Continue to walk in the Spirit, and be patient for God’s hand.
David, who walked by the spirit, heard the Israelite men talking around him and saw how they feared this giant.
He listened in disbelief.
On one hand you have this uncircumcised philistine, which during this time, uncircumcised was short for saying they did not have a relationship with God, and on the other side of the valley you had the Children of Israel, God’s chosen people, God was with them!
Although the Israelites could not see, David saw clearly.
We have armies of the living God on one side, and a bunch of fools who rely on idols on the other!
David saw the battle, the task at hand for what it was.
Why could he see so clearly?
Because he was anointed with the Holy Spirit.
Why was he so bold and brave at such a young age?
Because his confidence and strength came from the Lord, who dwelled in him as the Holy Spirit.
David knew the battle was not his, but the Lords.
And David knew no one could defeat the Lord our God?
Goliaths taunts and challenges of a one-on-one was not going to be man to man, rather mortal against God.
Think of Goliaths description as man sees him;
9 foot tall, hundreds of pounds, a trained killer, a veteran soldier.
Against;
The Living God, who made the universe and everything in it (including Goliath!)
This is perspective.
So why can David see this perspective that everyone else is missing?
David has lived with the Living God all his life, and has been anointed with the Holy Spirit.
He has lived in the fields tending sheep and spending time with God.
He has called on God many times for help when faced with wild animals, lions and bears, who have threatened his sheep.
He was just a teen at this time!
And he had seen the way God had protected him and gave him victory over those wild animals.
David looks across the valley at this giant of the philistines, and he sees just another man who opposes God and who’ll die at God’s hand in the end.
Perspective, it changes the battlefield!
God want us to have, and to keep this perspective in life.
Reading God’s Word will remind you of these things.
Spending time in prayer will build that relationship with the Lord.
Like David, remembering the things God has already done in your life will remind you of how He provides in every situation.
This is why it is so important to thank God for blessings each day, so that you are thankful, but also reminding yourself of all God does for you in your life.
Our praises and thanksgivings and blessings will always outnumber our concerns and worries, although we may not realize it.
Concerns and worries always appear to be so much bigger.
They appear this way because we look at our problems and try to have solutions instead of handing them to the Lord.
This makes them seem so much bigger than our praises sometimes.
Perspective changes everything.
This story went from an Israelite having to face a giant, to a giant having to face the creator of everything!
This is the perspective we need in our lives so that we too can be victorious like David, defeating the so called giants in our lives.
David proclaims “I will fight him.”
We need to decide when enough is enough from the devil.
We need to realize we do not have to put up with his garbage!
The disciples were amazed when they found that the demons had to obey them in the name of Jesus Christ when they rebuked them.
They have no choice in the matter. But we need to know that!
We need to know that when you belong to the Body of Christ, you are a child of the Living God!
Remember the prodigal son.
When he returned to his father, he was given blessings and benefits of the kingdom were returned to him.
His father gave him a ring the scriptures say.
During that time, the signet ring represented the power and authority of the father’s kingdom.
With that ring, benefits of the father’s kingdom followed the son.
The power and authority was the father’s, but the son had access to it because it was given to him.
The same goes for us.
All power and authority was given to Jesus Christ by the Father in heaven (Matthew 28:18), and we are acting as the Body of Christ, representing the Kingdom of God here on earth!
This is why we do everything in the name of Jesus Christ. It’s not by our power or might, but by the name of Jesus!
THAT is where the power and authority is found!
And we as the Children of the Living God, members of the Body of Christ, have access to it.
When we face our giants, it is not by our might but the Lord’s, for it is His battle, not ours.
Saul replied David, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth."
David replied, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."
Confidence in the Lord.
Assurance that the Lord will CONTINUE to protect and deliver him from evil.
Now this is the most important part of the story.
This is very important.
They put the king’s armor on David to prepare him for battle.
Of course it didn’t fit because David was just a kid.
Still looking at the situation from the eyes of men, they think David cannot face this giant, and they try to prepare David with their man made equipments.
How many times do we stare at our giants in life and try to resolve things our way or in the ways of man?
David removed the armor and went down to the valley to face Goliath with his staff in hand.
1 Samuel 17:41 – 51
“Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him.
43 He said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 "Come here," he said, "and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”
“David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
46 This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.
47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”
“48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.
49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.
50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.
51 David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the scabbard. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword.”
It’s God who gives the victory.
Not through our devices, weapons or formulas.
Not through our plans, or man made vices.
But through the power of God, in the form of the Holy Spirit.
David did not win because of His might, but because of the Lord’s.
David did not win because of the king’s armor, but the Armor of God.
David did not win because he had superior abilities or weapons, but by the hand of God.
It doesn’t matter what you face in life, God can defeat it!
But you have to turn to him.
You must submit to the Lord.
Closing
