CHAMPIONS ARE MADE, NOT BORN (1 SAMUEL 17:21-49)
What makes a champion? Here are some quotes:
“A champion is a person who can achieve a difficult goal or overcome challenging obstacles.”
“A champion is a person who has earned the right and respect to be called a winner through an endless effort and desire to achieve a common goal.”
“A champion is a person who wants to be the best. They won’t give up until they beat the rest.”
“A champion is a person with passion to achieve — one who stands on principle and works hard every day to produce and accomplish.”
“A champion is a person that has the dedication that it takes.”
“A champion is a person who can put the whole season together.”
“A champion is a person who improves his strengths in battlefield irrespective of whether he wins or not.”
“A champion is a person or team who defends, supports, or defeats something.”
“A champion is a person who works the hardest and dedicates him or herself to doing the best job possible.”
“A champion is a person that gets up even when they can’t.”
Hockey’s Great One, Wayne Gretzky, was asked, “What is it that separates great champions from the near-great?” He replied, “My goodness, I don’t know. If I did, I’d bottle it up and sell it.” (“What do Jeff Gordon, Martina Navratilova, Bob Knight and Mariano Rivera have in common?” USA TODAY 9/22/06)
Leonard Ravenhill tells of a group of tourists who were visiting a picturesque village. One person turned to an elderly man sitting nearby and asked, “Were any great men born in this village?” The old man replied, “Nope, only babies.” (Preaching, Jan-Feb 1993)
People are not born champions; they are made champions. They have dreams, they work hard and they overcome failures. Goliath was the reigning champion (vv 4, 23), but David was the real champion. Goliath was naturally big, tall, strong, but David cut him down to size.
What makes a person a true champion? A champion trains in his spare time; he is tenacious in the course and his trust is in the Lord.
The Ball is in Your Court
32 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” 33 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.” 34 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, 35 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. 36 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. 37 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.” (1 Sam 17:32-37)
According to a question posed by the University of Chicago to 1,400 respondents over the last 30 years, most Americans think adulthood begins at age 26, not when one is old enough to vote or drive. The study said that most people do not consider a person grown up until they finish school, get a full-time job and start raising a family.
The categories ranked from “least important” to “extremely important” in achieving adulthood are: having a child, 16%; being married, 19%; living independently of parents, 29%; being financial independent, 47%; supporting a family, 60%; being employed full-time, 61%; and completing an education, 73%.
According to those surveyed the average age someone should marry was 25.7, and the age for having children was 26.2. The average ages for other categories are: financially independent, 20.9; not living with parents, 21.2; full-time employment, 21.2; finishing school, 22.3; and being able to support a family, 24.5. (AOL News (AP): “Survey: Most Say adulthood Begins at 6.”)
David reached maturity quicker than other young people his age. To Jesse, the family and outsiders, David was nothing more than a gopher, a delivery boy, a food caddy (v 17-18). To everyone he was a youth, a boy or a lad – from Saul (vv 33, 55) to Goliath (v 42). The word “youth” in Hebrew can mean any age from baby Moses (Ex 2:6) to seventeen-year old Joseph (Gen 37:2) and Moses’ helper Joshua (Ex 33:11).
David might be young in age, but he was developed in every area of his life – in thought, speech, conduct and deed. According to a fellow youth, he was a man of war (1 Sam 16:18), even though he had never fought in a war up to that point. He did not spend his day doing nothing, nor did he begin doing great things all of a sudden. Lazing around and doing nothing was not an option for him. The fields, the country and the wild were his training ground. From a young age, the shepherd boy met head-on the challenges hard work, wild beasts and life’s uncertainties threw at him. He was tested time and time again by dumb sheep and beasts of prey – not just by a lion, but by both lion and bear weighing 400-500 pounds. Like a good shepherd, David was unwilling to lose a sheep to a lion or a bear, snatching them literally out of the jaws of death and the paws of beasts. The military has a saying, “If you train like you fight, you will fight like you train.”
However, David suffered losses and disappointments just like a normal person. I am sure he had lost his fair share of sheep to predatory animals, even though it is not significant to the story. Also unrecorded was how often his eldest brother chewed him up in front of everyone. Eliab used the strongest possible word and the most unkind and unfair word to condemn David (v 28), who was the only individual in the Bible labeled with this kind of pride, unfairly lumping David with proud nations such as Edom (Jer 49:16, Obad 1:3), the most proud Babylon (Jer 50:31, 32), and even Israel (Ezek 7:10). No wonder David talked back (v 29). David was not proud, as Eliab had charged. He was not cocky, but confident, because he had been there and done that. His training did not let him down. The ball was in his court, and he trained like he played.
The Bigger They Are, the Harder They Fall
38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 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. 40 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. (1 Sam 17:38-40)
A teacher, with some items in front of him, stood before his class, wanting to give her students a valuable lesson. He took a large empty jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks right to the top, to the amazement of students. He then showed it to the students and asked them if the jar was full.
The class agreed that it was. “Really? I don’t think so,” the teacher said. So he took some slightly smaller stones and placed them in the jar, around the rock. The stones filled neatly in the spaces between the rocks.
The teacher asked the students this time if the jar was full. They all nodded their head with satisfaction. The teacher said, “Really? Let’s see what else do I have.” He then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly so that more pebbles could fit in. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas. The students laughed.
The teacher asked his students again, “Now, is the jar full?” The students all happily agreed that yes, it was. Again, the teacher countered, “Really? I think there is room for more.” The teacher then picked up a box of sand and poured it expertly and deftly into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up perfectly the rest of the jar.
Goliath inspired great fear in Israel, but not in the extra-capacity and resourceful David, who was unafraid. He had heard louder roars, encountered more danger and defeated stronger opponents.
The Hebrew phrase “so afraid” appears more times in this chapter (vv 11, 24) than any chapter in the Bible. Unlike Saul and his army who were so afraid – the word “terrified” in verse 11 and the phrase “great fear” in verse 24 - of Goliath, David was a picture of calm. David bravely said, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine,” because he knew Goliath had less bite than his bark, had less fight inside than outside and had everything to lose and to hide. Note that for a man full of defiance, Goliath was very protective of his head, body and even legs (vv 5-6).
David handicapped Goliath in more ways than one. He did not have an armor, an assistant or an advantage. Unlike Goliath, David did not hold a sword, spear or shield in his hand. Goliath was heavily favored, yet he lost the fight. It was a lopsided fight. A stone was more than enough to fell him. The young boy chose five smooth stones, but all he needed and used was one. The stone that was a plaything in Goliath’s eye was a weapon and a missile in the hands of David, who proved he was no longer a child. He not only understood the maxim “The bigger they are, they harder they fall,” but he demonstrated the wisdom of sages and mastered the art of war at a young age.
The warrior was in the boy, not in the stone, or staff, for that matter. To make things harder for himself, David had the sling in his hand for Goliath to see (v 40). The only thing left undisclosed was to inform Goliath that he was aiming for his head. Apparently, hiding his battle plan, catching others by surprise or having an unfair advantage was not cool to David. David looked long and hard, fought tooth and nail, won fair and square and stood tall and proud.
The Battle is the Lord’s
41 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!” 45 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. (1 Sam 17:41-50)
Two paupers wandered from town to town begging for money. One was a giant who had never been sick in his life, the other was a cripple who had never known anything but illness.
The giant used to laugh at the cripple constantly. His unfortunate companion took his mockery very much to heart. At last the two men reached the capital city. They arrived just at the time when a great misfortune had happened to the king. Two of his most trusted servants had died suddenly. One was his personal bodyguard, the strongest man in the land; the other was the most skillful physician among all the royal healers. So the king sent his men into all the towns and villages of his kingdom to gather into the capital all the strongmen and doctors who wished to compete for the vacant court posts.
The king finally chose one strong man and one doctor from among all the applicants. He then asked them to furnish proof of their fitness for the posts they were to fill. “My Lord the King!” said the strong man. “Let there be brought before me the strongest and the biggest man in this city and I will kill him with one blow of my fist.” The doctor said, “Give me the most helpless cripple you can find and I will make him well in one week’s time.”
So the king sent messengers scurrying throughout the city looking for the strongest man and the most helpless cripple. They came upon the two paupers and brought them before the king. First came the strong man, and with one blow from his fist he killed the giant. Then the doctor examined the cripple, and after one week of treatment he made him well again. (A Treasury of Jewish Folklore 60, Nathan Ausubel)
Goliath’s strength betrayed him. He never thought he would fail or the battle could happen, but it was set: size versus speed, the gopher versus the giant, the shepherd versus the strongman, but the fight was not much of a fight to begin with. It was not that Goliath did nothing. Goliath made the first move (v 48) but David made the better move: he was quick off the blocks and hit the battle-ground running. Do not forget that David ran on his errands for his father (v 17). He ran to face Goliath (v 48) like he ran to the battle lines previously (v 22). Goliath used size and strength on David, but David used speed and strategy. David’s advantage was his agility, mobility and versatility.
David ran straight at Goliath, who had no opportunity or flexibility to use his spear, javelin or shield. The three-men battle left only David standing when the dust was clear. Goliath had a shield-bearer to fight his fight, but the shield-bearer (v 8, 41), who was trained to absorb the initial blows to tire the enemy, could only watch – frozen on the spot. David treated him like he did not exist, like he was invisible, like the fight was not with him. In rapid and successive movement, David reached for the sling, loaded his weapon and fired upwards at Goliath. The force of the stone fell Goliath, whose knees capitulated and head crashed. What happened next was beyond explanation. Goliath did not fall backward, but forward. Did Goliath immediately fall facedown, or did the stone hit his head so hard that it snapped back and then propelled forward? The picture was clear in the end: he was bowing to a higher authority.
Did David win the battle? David’s message was clear: “For the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands” (v 47). David’s philosophy in battle was interesting with his use of the word “deliver.” All along, he maintained that it was his business to rescue - the Hebrew word for “deliver” - sheep (v 35) but it was the Lord’s business to deliver – the same word - him (v 37). David did not take the credit for himself, but to the army of God (v 47).
David was the real champion because he depended on the Lord for his strength. The Holy Spirit was with him from day one (1 Sam 16:13). With the Lord’s help, defeating Goliath was a foregone conclusion. Still, David had a plan B he never used: his staff. The best man in Philistia was a soldier and a man, but the best man in Israel was a shepherd and a boy. Goliath was the finest, the fittest and the fiercest, but God chose the sweetest, friendliest and nicest person around to defeat Goliath. David did not use conventional weapons. His weapons were inexpensive – free- and his methods were rather primitive. He was outnumbered, outsized and outfitted but he did not rely on physical strength or battle weapons. His invisible helper was Someone far stronger than him or Goliath.
The battle was the Lord’s. All of David’s vulnerable points were exposed. He brought nothing sharp to the battle – not even a piercing sword or a pointed stone. The stone was smooth (v 40), blunt and ordinary. It’s been said, “Saul and the Israelites thought Goliath was too big to fight; David thought he was too big to miss.”
Conclusion: The Chinese say to the boastful: “There is always a higher mountain.” The strong have their weakness, the perfect their imperfections and the greatest their flaw. The Bible says, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Tim 4:12-13). The better way is not to fight your enemies - the true challenge is not to face or to flee your enemies, but to follow the Lord. Are you discouraged by what relatives, friends and outsiders think of you? Is your priority what others to think of you or what the Lord knows about you? Have you asked the Lord what He can do with you, in you and through you? Pleasing, obeying and glorifying the Lord apply to all ages.
Victor Yap
Other sermons in the series and other sermon series:
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