Here we are in the final message in the series of Old School Old Testament Bible Stories. I wanted to wrap up with one of the most famous stories in all of the O.T.—David and Goliath. You’ve all heard the story, probably seen the Veggie Tales episode-Dave and the Giant Pickle, or maybe were even tucked in bed when you were a little tike, picturing yourself as David—beating the giant bully in your class. Wherever you were when you first heard the story, you’ll remember that the premise of what you were told was that “little guys can do big things, too.”
It was probably explained to you that this is a story of courage—maybe just like the other stories—of the fiery furnace, and the lion’s den. It took courage for them to stand up for the right thing, but this may be a little different.
I’d like to give you a brief history of the Old Testament—to look at 1 Samuel 17-David’s story-in light of the bigger picture of OT Scripture.
Beginning at Genesis 12:3 in what’s called the “Abrahamic Covenant.” There, God says to Abram,
3 “And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3, NASB, emphasis mine).
If it is true that Goliath is both cursing Israel and her God, then if God is a covenant-keeping God, we would expect Goliath to be divinely cursed. Biblically speaking, a dark cloud already hangs over the head of Goliath, the blasphemous Philistine.
In Numbers, Moses and the chosen people of Israel are traveling around and looking for the promised land—the land of Canaan, that God had promised to give to Israel. In Chapters 13 and 14, the people are on the verge of taking the land, but they’re scared. They decide to send some spies into the land to check it out, so they choose 12 men and send them in. The only problem for ten of the spies is the size of the inhabitants of the land:
27 Thus they told him, and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 “Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 “Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.” 30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it.” 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.” 32 So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. 33 “There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight” (Numbers 13:27-33, NASB, emphasis mine).
What causes the Israelites to fear is the size (and thus military strength) of the “giants” who live in the land of Canaan. “We can’t go up against the Canaanites,” they protest, “there are giants there!” Because of their fear and refusal to trust God for victory, this generation of Israelites dies in the wilderness. When their children – the second generation of Israelites – are ready to possess the land, God gives them very clear instructions regarding their response to the enemies they will face in possessing the land:
21 “’See, the LORD your God has placed the land before you; go up, take possession, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. Do not fear or be dismayed’” (Deuteronomy 1:21, NASB).
7 “The LORD will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they shall come out against you one way and shall flee before you seven ways” (Deuteronomy 28:7, NASB).
1 So Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. 2 And he said to them, “I am a hundred and twenty years old today; I am no longer able to come and go, and the LORD has said to me, 'You shall not cross this Jordan.' 3 “It is the LORD your God who will cross ahead of you; He will destroy these nations before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua is the one who will cross ahead of you, just as the LORD has spoken. 4 “And the LORD will do to them just as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when He destroyed them. 5 “And the LORD will deliver them up before you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandments which I have commanded you. 6 “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.” 7 Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance. “And the LORD is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear, or be dismayed” (Deuteronomy 31:1-8, NASB, see also Joshua 1:9; 8:1; 10:25).
So, you’ve got the people of Israel, the people who God has delivered over and over again, coming to take the land, and yet they are scared. They shouldn’t have reason to be afraid, right? But they are, because there are giants there.
And yet, when we come to David’s story, so many years later. The story is still the same—the people are scared of this giant. We are dealing with a lack of faith here. They’ve continued to see God do miraculous things, to hear stories of God’s faithfulness and deliverance, yet they don’t have faith that God can do just one more miracle.
I wonder how many of us have those same feelings. We’ll go on mission trips, and see God do amazing things. We’ll go on retreats, and we meet God there, and we realize He’s so real, and He’ll do anything to get our attention and affection. Yet, we come to a rough patch in our lifes, and if God doesn’t show up right away…we start second guessing God. We wonder if what we experienced was really real. Is God big enough to save us from ourselves this time? Will He show up? We don’t think so. We’re scared.
What happened to the Israelites when the Philistines came for battle the second time. Let’s take a look. 1 Samuel 17:1-11 , “1 Samuel 17 (Today's New International Version)
David and Goliath
1 Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Sokoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Sokoh and Azekah. 2 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. His height was six cubits and a span. [a] 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels [b]; 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 armies 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.”
They were all afraid—except one. As the story goes, for 40 days the giant kept coming back to challenge them, and every time he showed up, everyone ran! David was a shepherd, so he was busy tending to the sheep, and he would visit the battle field and bring food for his brothers who were there fighting, when one day he heard the giant taunting the Israelites, and was wondering why they weren’t doing anything. So, finally, word got back to the King that David wanted to fight him. Vs. 32-37, “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 little more than a boy, and he has been a warrior 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 rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine."
Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."
So, David gives Saul the rundown on all that he’s accomplished and Saul gives the O.K.
What happens next may have looked something like this…if they were vegetables. (Show Veggie Tales clip)
So, you’ve got this young man, he’s probably between 12 and 16 years old-same age as some of you. He’s fed up with what the older people are doing…their whining about the giants in their lives, and he steps up to the plate.
I think there’s something here to learn that maybe your parents didn’t teach you. And this applies so much more to you at your age than anybody else! You see, we’ve all got these giants that come along in our lives. Your giant may be different than the person sitting next to you. And you have a choice to make. You can choose to be like the Israelites and be scared of those giants, or you can choose to be like David, and face your giants. Your giant might be your parents going through divorce. Your giant might be your friends making fun of you for being a Christian. Your giant might be telling your Dad about Christ. Your giant might be telling your friends you aren’t going to smoke or drink with them anymore. Your giant might be finding new friends. Whatever it is, you have a choice to make. Stand up and Face it, or Run Away and be scared of it.
1 Timothy 4:12 says, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in FAITH, and in purity.”
When you choose to stand up to your giants, you set an example. Many of you want to be treated like adults, but you still act like little kids. People will always continue to look down on you if you make the wrong choices. When you make the right choice, you gain respect. When you set an example, you gain respect. Will you be the kind of person people respect, or look down on. I challenge you to be a generation of respected teenagers. Gain their respect. Make people look up to you by the decisions you make.
Tonight, as I wrap this up, I’m going to ask you to make a decision. (Invitation)
