All credit goes to Max Lucuado for these series of stories of
Facing your Giants, Story of David
This is a very familiar story. This story has been preached, read and told about for many generations but let us look at this thing and see can we lift some nuggets from this text to help us with our everyday life.
We find David, a ruddy, slender fellow who is kneeling down by the brook. He is not looking for a place to go swimming, nor is he looking for a place to drink some water from, but David is looking for some rocks! He is looking for just the right smooth stones to put in his bag.
- You can relate; you have thrown rocks before. You want to find the right rock. (Give examples)
- one that you can grip just right, one that you can hold just right, one that you can sling the furthest.
David is not scared. (Somebody say: In order to face your giants, you cannot be scared)
Then there is Goliath staring down the hillside. (Goliath represents our Giant!)
Goliath is nine feet, nine inches tall, wearing 125 pounds of armor. Standing glaring over the Earth looking to whom he make seek and destroy. “Bring it on”
No Hebrew volunteers could be found to fight him, until today, until David!
- Nobody can face your giants better than you can, God has predestined you to fight and win certain battles, Do not be scared.
Here is David, Jesse’s boy, normally tending sheep, but today he has some other business to tend too. He was supposed to be delivering bread and cheese to his brothers on the battle field, but then he hears Goliath defying God, David was not going to put up with that!
- 1st sign that you are dealing with a giant, it will go against the will of God!
- Then there stands Goliath: Toothpick vs. the tornado; the mini-bike vs. the eighteen wheeler; the poodle vs. the rottweiler. What odds do you give David?
- That is the way it looks when we fight out giants in life, the odds look slim
That is a real interesting question, because we sometimes give David better odds against Goliath, than we do against our own Giants. We say stuff like…..
- At least our Goliath (giant) does not carry a sword or shield
- But he does carry stuff like unemployment,
abandonment, sexual abuse, depression,
loneliness, defeated heart and bad relationships
- Your Giant does not parade up and down the hills of Elah
- But he prances through your office, or your
bedroom or your classroom
- He brings bills you cannot pay, grades you cannot make and people you cannot please
- Whisky you cannot resist, pornography you
cannot refuse and career you cannot
escape
- He brings you a past you cannot shake and a future you cannot face
Does anybody know the roar of Goliath? Can anybody say I got some giants?
David faced a giant that made challenges morning and night. For forty days, twice a day morning and evening the Philistine giant strutted in front of the Israelite army (17:16) Our Giants do us the same way.
- Things that bother us pop on our mind first thing in the morning and the last thing you think about before you go to bed. Your Goliath dominates your day and infiltrates your nights!
- Don’t your giants do you like that? You be like man, that gas bill due today, how am I going to pay it? Then before you go to bed you be like Lord, you know I got that gas bill.
When the soldiers saw Goliath they mumbled. Can’t you hear them now, “Dang not him again, if they did not have them we would whoop them!” This was a long tradition. Their dad fought his dad, their granddads fought his granddads; the saga never ends.
So it is with us, we have groaned similar words:
- My momma was a workaholic now I am becoming a workaholic
- My aunt and uncle got a divorce, now I am headed to divorce court
- My grandmother had a bunch of “friends” now look at my daughter; she has a lot of friends
Goliath is the long standing bully of our valley. He waits on you morning, noon, and night. He stalked your ancestors and now he stalks you. He blocks the sun and leaves you standing in a shadow of doubt.
- When Saul and his troops heard of the Philistines challenge, they were terrified and lost all hope, they lost their faith in other words. (17:11)
As we face our giants, like David faced Goliath; we know our giants, we recognize their walk and talk, but the question is this: Do you see anything else? Is that all you hear?
- David saw and heard more. (17:26)
- David shows up on the scene discussing God!
(I am trying to help somebody here today)
- The soldiers did not mention him, the brothers never mention God, But David, my boy, stepped up and starts talking about God
- Says the same thing over in 17:37
David stays true to this theme, because when Goliath mocked him, look at what David says (17:45-47):
- No one else discusses God, but look at David; he discusses no one else But God!
(I am trying to tell how to defeat your giants!)
This is becoming more than just David vs. Goliath, now it is God-Focus vs. Giant Focus
So it is with us! It is God-focus vs. Giant focus:
- David see what others do not see and he refuses to see what they see
- The people have began to major in Goliath
- David majors in God. He sees the giant, but he sees more of God!
So David charges into battle (17:48)
- Can’t you see David’s brothers covering their eyes, embarrassed and scared for their little brother
- Goliath is like whatever and begins to laugh.
He laughs just enough for his helmet to slip back on his head, which gives David a chance to crack him.
- Can’t you see David swinging the sling shot, busting Goliath dead square in the head. (Bow)
David runs over and cuts his head off!
- David knew how to get a head of his giant!
- When was the last time you got to the head of your giant?
- How long has it been since you challenged your giants head on? or
- Do you run and tuck tail?
- Do you crawl in your work on your desk?
- Do you run to the club?
- Do you run to the bottle?
- Do you run to the mall/Wal-Mart?
These things are temporary fix. For a moment, a day, a week, we will feel safe, but whenever you sober up; whenever you come home from the club or the mall, you still have to face your giant! He is still there waiting on you.
Why don’t you try a different tactic! Charge your giant head on; learn how to face your giant.
.Now, Now, Now
A lot of people wonder why God called David a man after his own heart (Acts 13:22). David had many faults, fell many times. He whipped Goliath, but fell weak to Bathsheba. He was an eagle scout one day, and then danced with the mafia the next day. He could lead armies, but could not manage a family.
Ragging one day, weeping the next.
Bloodthirsty killer but yet was still hungry for God.
How he was a man after God’s on heart?
For your deep super sanctified saints, you cannot get with David, but for the rest of us who fall down daily we can relate to him!
A lot of us ride the same rollercoaster ride as David did. When David was on he was on, but when he was bad he was bad.
We have to face our Giants, but as David shows we must not face them alone.
Can I tell you how to face them?
- First focus on God and focus only on God
- If you look back over this story, only two
times did David refer to Goliath verse 26 & 36
- He never asked about his skills, age, weight, history, track record, none of that.
- He gave the enemy no credit
- Unlike some of us. Always talking the enemy
up, always pumping up our problems, always
talking about how the enemy is attacking
you, he is attacking me also.
- We know that he is attacking, that is his job that goes without saying but we should be speaking or talking more about God!
Take a look at how many times he mentions God’s name vs. Goliath.
9 times verses 2 times
(Goliath is mentioned in verses 26 and 36)
verses 26, 36, 45, 46, 47
- God’s thoughts outnumbered Goliath thoughts, 9 verses 2.
- Do we ponder what God thinks, 4 x as much as we do our giants?
- Is your list of blessings 4 x the list of your complaints?
- Your positive thoughts 4 x the amounts of your negative thoughts?
- Do you go around crying oh woe is me 4 x as much as you say God is good and well able to supply my every need and defeat the devil?
This is how we defeat our Giants!
Focus on giants – you stumble
Focus on God – your giants tumble
Keep you eyes lifted up for you to be a giant slayer!
- The same God that gave David power and favor to defeat Goliath wants to give you that same favor
-that same power, that same courage, to stand in the face of your enemies with nay sayers all around you,
God is waiting to give you…
- even if they are your family members
- even it seems strange that you are playing in the
rocks
- even if the odds are against you
- even if you do not have the right amour
- even if your family and friends have been defeated
by this same giant over and over again
- even if no one that you know or have ever known has
defeated this giant
- even though the odds are against me
- even though I am a woman in a mans world
- even though I make 8 dollars a hour
- even though I have 1 year experience
- even though gas is high
- even though my kids are bad
- even though our church is small
- even though I am from the country
- even though I am unemployed
- even though I am over 65
- even though my money funny
God is well and able; he is more than capable of defeating your giants
He is standing here waiting on you
- I can Defeat my Giant
- I am a child of the most high God
