WADDYA LOOKIN’ AT?!
EXTREME MAKEOVER: HEART EDITION (Episode 1)
This series focuses on ten years of David’s early life staring with his “Call” in 1 Samuel 16 and ending with his first “Coronation” in 2 Samuel 1-2. David was a man after God’s own heart and this series focuses on the extreme makeover God did on this shepherd boy’s heart to make him that man. There are five episodes in Extreme Makeover: Heart Edition and each episode focuses on one facet of David’s extreme makeover, moving him episode by episode from a Shepherd boy that loved God to a Warrior King after God’s own heart.
DAVID GETS THE “DOOR KNOCK”
Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king." 1 Samuel 16:1 (NIV)
LONG ODDS DEMAND COURAGE
Goliath towers above them all: nine feet, nine inches tall in his stocking feet, wearing 125 pounds of armor, and talking trash like the main contender at a World Wide Wrestling Federation championship night. He wears a size 20 collar, a 101/2 hat, and a 56-inch belt. 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. 1 Samuel 17:10-11 (NIV)
What odds did David have against his giant? Better odds perhaps than you give yourself against yours. Your Goliath doesn’t carry sword or shield; he brandishes blades of unemployment, abandonment, sexual abuse, or depression. Your giant doesn’t parade through the Valley of Elah; he prances through your office, your bedroom, your classroom. He brings bills you can’t pay, grades you can’t make, people you can’t please, whiskey you can’t resist, pornography you can’t refuse, a career you can’t escape, a past you can’t shake, and a future you can’t face.
How long has he stalked you? Goliath’s family was an ancient foe of the Israelites. Joshua drove them out of the Promised Land three hundred years earlier. Saul’s soldiers saw Goliath and mumbled, “Not again. My dad fought his dad. My granddad fought his granddad.”
You’ve groaned similar words. “I’m becoming a workaholic, just like my father.” “Divorce cuts through our family tree like a chain saw.” “My mom couldn’t keep a friend either. Is this ever going to stop?” When Saul and his men heard the Philistines’ challenge, they were terrified.
But what am I telling you? You know Goliath. You recognize his walk you recognize his voice. You’ve seen your Godzilla. The question is, is he all you see? You know his voice – but is it all you hear? Waddya lookin’ at!?
IGNORE COURAGE KILLERS
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."
[29] "Now what have I done?" said David. "Can’t I even speak?" [30] He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before. 1 Samuel 17:28-30 (NIV)
COURAGE IS FORGED IN OBSCURITY
Goliath jogged David’s memory. This Valley of Elah was a déjà vu. While everyone else quivered, David remembered. 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. 1 Samuel 17:34-36 (NIV)
A good memory makes heroes. A bad memory makes wimps. “Remember His marvelous works which He has done” (1 Chron. 16:12). Catalog God’s successes. Keep a list of his world records. Has he not walked you through high waters? Proven to be faithful? Have you not known his provision? How many nights have you gone to bed hungry? Mornings awakened in the cold? He has made roadkill out of your enemies. Write today’s worries in sand. Chisel yesterday’s victories in stone. Pick up the stone of the past.
David’s heart didn’t suddenly turn courageous on the floor of Elah’s Valley. God had sown the seed of courage in David’s heart years earlier. This makeover began in obscurity with no one watching. Sports Illustrated didn’t document it. USA Today didn’t highlight it. Soldier of Fortune wasn’t there with a photographer. David’s courage was first tested in the loneliness of sheep herding.
David saw more than a bear and a lion? Whaddya see? Whaddya lookin’ at?!
COURAGE IS ALL ABOUT FOCUS
You know Goliath. You recognize his walk and wince at his talk. You’ve seen your Godzilla. The question is, is he all you see? You know his voice – but is it all you hear? David saw and heard more. David’s first discussion, although it was about Goliath, was on the Lord. “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he defy the armies of the living God?” (1Sam. 17:26) David shows up discussing God. The soldiers mentioned nothing about him, the brothers never spoke his name, but David takes one step onto the stage and raises the subject of the living God. He does the same with King Saul: no chitchat about the battle or questions about the odds. Just a God-birthed announcement: “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine” (1 Sam 17:37).
No one else discusses God. David discusses no one else but God. A subplot appears in the story. More than “David versus Goliath,” this is “God-focus versus giant –focus.” David sees what others don’t and refuses to see what other do. All eyes, except David’s, fall on the brutal, hate-breathing hulk. The people know his taunts, demands, size, and strut. They have majored in Goliath. Waddya Lookin’ At?!
David majors in God. He sees the giant, mind you; he just sees God more so. Look carefully at David’s battle cry: "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. 1 Samuel 17:45 (NIV)
David’s brothers cover their eyes, both in fear and embarrassment. Saul sighs as the young Hebrew races to certain death. Goliath throws back his head in laughter, just enough to shift his helmet and expose a square inch of forehead flesh. David spots the target and seizes the moment. The sound of the swirling sling is the only sound in the valley. David got about the distance between a pitcher and a catcher away from Goliath. He took up his sling and began to twirl it over his head. The stone traveled 200 feet per second. When he launched the rock, it hit Goliath right in the forehead with the power of a Colt 45. Goliath’s eyes cross and legs buckle. He crumples to the ground and dies. David runs over and yanks Goliath’s sword form its sheath, shish-kebabs the Philistine, and cuts off his head.
When was the last time you did the same? How long since you ran toward your challenge? We tend to retreat, duck behind a desk. We tend to not charge our giants, we hope they’ll go away.
Try a different tack. Rush your giant with a soul saturated in God. Magnify God and minimize Goliath. Download some of heaven’s unsquashable resolve. Giant of Divorce you are not entering my home! Giant of depression? It may take a lifetime, but you won’t conquer me. Giant of alcohol, bigotry, child abuse, insecurity…you’re going down. How long since you loaded your sling and took a swing at your giant?
Roll Video “Walking On Water”
David made only two observations about Goliath in 1 Samuel 17. One statement to Saul about Goliath (v.36). And one to Goliath’s face: “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (v.26). That is it. Two Goliath-related comments and no questions. No inquiries about Goliath’s skill, age, social standing, or IQ. David asks nothing about the weight of the sword of the size of the spear.
But he gives much thought to God. As we read David’s words again, I count nine references to the Lord. God-thoughts outnumber Goliath-thoughts nine to two. How does this ratio compare with yours? Do you ponder God’s grace four times as much as you ponder your guilt? Is your list of blessings four times as long as your list of complaints? Is your mental file of hope four times as thick as your mental file of dread? Are you four times as likely to describe the strength of God as you are the demands of your day? Whaddya Lookin’ At?!
What good has problem pondering got you? You’ve stared so long you can number the hairs on Goliath’s chest. Has it helped?
No. Listing hurts won’t heal them. Itemizing problems won’t solve them. Categorizing rejections won’t remove them. David performed a lobotomy on the giant because he focused on the Lord. Whaddya Lookin’ At?!
WHAT ARE YOU FIGHTING FOR?
Are you only fighting for you? If so, your strength may run out. Your determination may dry up. David was fighting for God’s reputation. David was living for something more than his own selfishness. Have you considered what your divorce will do to your kids, not to mention your spouse? You say, “The kids will survive?” Maybe so, is that what you want for your children—just their survival?!
Your giant doesn’t just taunt you, he taunts God and God’s people.
Remember your highest priority: God’s reputation. David jealously guarded it. No one was going to defame his Lord. 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." 1 Samuel 17:46-47 (NIV)
David saw Goliath as a chance for God to show off! Did David know he would exit the battle alive? No. But he was willing to give his life for the reputation of God.
What if you saw your giant in the same manner? Your cancer is God’s chance to flex his healing muscles. Your sin is God’s opportunity to showcase grace. Your struggling marriage can billboard God’s power. See your struggle as God’s canvas. On it he will paint his multicolored supremacy.
One might read David’s story and wonder what God saw in him. The fellow fell as often as he stood, stumbled as often as he conquered. He stared down Goliath, yet ogled at Bathsheba; defied God mockers in the valley, yet joined them in the wilderness. An Eagle Scout one day. Tony Soprano the next. He could lead armies but couldn’t manage a family. Raging David. Weeping David. Bloodthirsty. God-hungry. Eight wives. One God.
Acts 13:22 reminds us that God said that “David was a man after God’s own heart.” A man after God’s own heart? That God saw him as such gives hope to us all. David’s life has little to offer the unstained saint. Straight-A souls find David’s story disappointing. The rest of us find it reassuring. We ride the same roller coaster. We alternate between swan dives and belly flops, soufflés and burnt toast. In David’s good moments, no one was better. In his bad moments, could one be worse? The heart God loved was a checkered one. We need David’s story. Giants lurk in our neighborhoods. Rejection. Failure. Revenge. Remorse. Giants. We must face them. Yet we need not face them alone.
Call To Salvation
Take a moment to answer this question. Do you call Jesus Savior and Lord? Perhaps you never have. Perhaps you never knew how much Christ loves you. Now you do. Jesus did not disown David. He forgave David. He loved David. He led David. He won’t disown you. He simply awaits your invitation. One word from you, and God will do again what he did with David and millions like him. He will claim you, save you, and use you. Any word will do, but these seem appropriate!
“Jesus, I trust you with my life. I want to make you my Master, Savior, and Giant-killer. I trust you with my heart and give you my life. Amen.”
Pray such words with an honest heart, and be assured of this! Your greatest Goliath has fallen. Your failures are flushed and death destroyed. The power that made pygmies out of David’s giants has done the same with yours.
Communion Set Here
In Christ Alone
Your Name
My Glorious
