Life would be easy if our call was not a call to faith and courage. David had heard from Samuel he was going to be the next king, but it was not long before he discovered it would not be a simple life of living in a palace and giving orders – No, soon he would be facing giants
Giant Statements about Giants
Every giant introduces a person to himself – A crisis doesn’t make us it only reveals who we are.
People who reach giant positions have defeated giants – no team or individual has ever achieved greatness without, somewhere, facing a great obstacle.
OUR “PROMISE LAND IS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF GIANT LAND”
Giants are often tools by which God uses to prepare us for bigger things.
1. Giant killers don’t start off as giant killers
He did not start off as a giant killer what do we know about him at this time
Shepherd
Musician
1 Sam 17:14-15, David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul, but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.
But things were about to change
1 Sam 17:16-24
For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand. Now Jesse said to his son David, "Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance from them. They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines." Early in the morning David left the flock with a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other. David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and greeted his brothers. As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. When the Israelites saw the man, they all ran from him in great fear.
OBSERVATIONS:
David did what he was supposed to do
The army was not doing what they were suppose to do
2. Giant killers see the potential reward if they defeat the giant
1 Sam 17:25-27
Now the Israelites had been saying, "Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his father’s family from taxes in Israel." David asked the men standing near him, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?" They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, "This is what will be done for the man who kills him."
OBSERVATIONS
The army saw Goliath
David saw God
The army saw the problem
David saw the potential
MOST PEOPLE FEAR THE GIANT MORE THEN THE REWARD
We cannot evaluate every thing in light of what we see. What is observable is real, but it is not the ultimate reality. Behind what we see is an all-powerful God, and we must remind ourselves of this reality.
J. Oswald Sanders – Eyes that look are common, eyes that see are rare.
“Climb out on the end of the tree - that is where the fruit is”
REWARDS of FACING GIANTS
Evangelism – a friend for life
Tithing – a life of stewardship living by faith
Teaching children – a reward of knowing you are making an impact on the lives and shaping their eternal destiny
Confronting a problem – you are not having to continually worry about the sin, but also James 5:19-20, My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
THERE ARE GREAT REWARDS IN FACING GIANTS
3. Giant killers don’t listen to doubting critics
Ho we handle criticism will go a long way when it comes to defeating giants
To handle criticism we must:
a. Get by the Eliabs – they are over us emotionally
1 Sam 17:28-30
When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, "Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle." "Now what have I done?" said David. "Can’t I even speak?" He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before.
OBSERVATIONS:
Criticism hurts when it comes from someone over us
Criticism hurts when it questions our motives
Criticism hurts when it is continual
Criticism hurts when it comes from people we have know for a long period of time.
b. Get by the Sauls of life they are over us positionally – HE WAS THE KING
1 Sam 17:31-33
What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him. David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him." Saul replied, "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."
A critic is one who points out how imperfectly other people do what the critic does not do at all (Example of Saul)
c. We must get by the Goliaths they are over us ability wise
1 Sam 17:41-44
Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him. He said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. "Come here," he said, "and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!"
Critics point out our failures
Youth
You come at me with sticks
I will feed you to the birds and beast
4. Giant killers are not overwhelmed by the challenged
While the army cowered in fear notice the words of David
1 Sam 17:32, David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him."
OBSERVATIONS about people who are overwhelmed by giants
Overwhelmed when are giants confront us
Overwhelmed when our giants have a reputation
Overwhelmed when they continually show up
Overwhelmed Others on our side are afraid
Overwhelmed and never deal with the giant
Why David was not overwhelmed?
A passion for God to be honored – David was indignant for the way God was being dishonored.
He had a desire for the reward.
He had confidence in God and in himself.
5. Giant killers build on Past Success
1 Sam 17:34-37
But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 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." Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."
David’s confidence was based on success in the past and in God’s protection
We need to celebrate the victories of our life, they remind us we have faced ginats before and we can face giants again.
6. Giant Killers do not try to be something they are not
He never tried to be Saul even when Saul tried to make him Saul
1 Sam 17:38-40
Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. "I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." So he took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.
Note how many times we see David take HIS equipment
OBSERVATIONS
During a crisis, people will try to make you like them.
You will never be able to defeat giants in your life with fleshly weapons
God only expects us to use what we have to defeat our giants
7. Giant Killers face the challenge with a higher purpose
He was not simply defeating a giant he had a purpose for the victory.
1 Sam 17:45-47
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. 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. 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."
Notice his continual references to God
8. Giant Killers are eager to win
1 Sam 17:48, As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.
Have you ever noticed how many words there are in the Christian vocabulary regarding forward thinking or victorious living?
Press on
Victorious
Paul told the Romans we were More than conquers
Phil. 1:12 - Advance the gospel
The idea is that we are winners thus we should be eager to face the giant and receive the victory.
9. Giant Killers take those around them to a higher level.
1 Sam 17:49-52
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. 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. 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. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.
What men chased the Philistines? The same ones who were afraid to face the giant for the past 40 days.
David was the ultimate giant killer his facing the giant could be summed up in the following formula
Considered the cause
He Counted the Cost
Charted the cost
What Giants are you facing today?
