We all face obstacles in life. Part of what makes life fantastic, exciting, worthwhile, and energizing is having a goal or a purpose or a call that is so worthwhile that we will fight through any obstacle, overcome any difficulty, literally “move any mountain” to overcome it.
And I am not just talking about lofty, world-changing things that we see about and hear about and admire, that other people do. I looked for some inspiring stories about people overcoming obstacles, thinking that would be a good way to introduce my sermon, and I found some good stories: like about a shooting champion who lost his right hand in a grenade accident and had to re-learn how to shoot with his left, and went on to win Olympic gold. Or a guy who was paralyzed by Polio at age 9 but re-learned to walk and became an Olympic high jump champion. You know the type of story – good, inspirational, but you know what? Those aren’t the kind of obstacles most of us face. I’m talking about the kinds of things that each of us face. Like caring for those we love, whether they are growing older or experiencing illness or going through challenging emotional situations. Like raising our kids in the Lord. Like living with integrity in the middle of a world of short-cuts, compromise of principle, and where the only thing that seems to matter is maximizing profit. How do we face those kinds of obstacles, and what does our faith provide for our day to day life?
Context:
We are in a sermon series I’ve called “Pivotal Moments in the Biblical Story”. Thus far we looked at the story of Abraham and his obedience when God called him to sacrifice his son Isaac, and we learned that God calls us to complete obedience. Last week we looked at Moses, when God called to him out of the burning bush and told him to go lead God’s people out of slavery in Egypt, and we learned that it is ok to argue with God as long as we know that God will win the argument and we will be glad he does, because His way is best. Today I want to take us to the story of David and Goliath, and see what we can learn together from that story.
David did not kill Goliath:
The story is in 1 Sam 17, but before we go there and read the story I have an important new insight to share. What you and I were taught in Sunday school was wrong. What you and I have believed about this story is not correct. Upon further and closer investigation into the story, I am standing here today in front of you to declare that we now know conclusively that David did not kill Goliath. You heard me correctly – David did not kill Goliath.
Is there some new archeological evidence to support this crazy claim? Some weird linguistic nuance in the original Hebrew that scholars are just now figuring out? Some new ancient manuscript recently discovered in Israel that proves my point? Nope; it is actually in the Biblical story itself. Let’s read it together and find out…
1 Sam 17 (NLT)
The Philistines now mustered their army for battle and camped between Socoh in Judah and Azekah at Ephes-dammim. 2 Saul countered by gathering his Israelite troops near the valley of Elah. 3 So the Philistines and Israelites faced each other on opposite hills, with the valley between them.
4 Then Goliath, a Philistine champion from Gath, came out of the Philistine ranks to face the forces of Israel. He was over nine feet tall! 5 He wore a bronze helmet, and his bronze coat of mail weighed 125 pounds. 6 He also wore bronze leg armor, and he carried a bronze javelin on his shoulder. 7 The shaft of his spear was as heavy and thick as a weaver’s beam, tipped with an iron spearhead that weighed 15 pounds. His armor bearer walked ahead of him carrying a shield.
Ok, let’s pause there to absorb how intimidating this guy actually is. Nine feet tall. A coat of mail weighing 125lbs – that is like hanging 14, 4L jugs of milk off your shoulders (to fight in!). 125 pounds is the weight limit of the featherweight division of boxing, so it is possible that David himself only weighed about that much! And this spear – a long heavy shaft with a bag-and-a-half of flour hanging off the end of it. This is a significant obstacle…
8 Goliath stood and shouted a taunt across to the Israelites. “Why are you all coming out to fight?” he called. “I am the Philistine champion, but you are only the servants of Saul. Choose one man to come down here and fight me! 9 If he kills me, then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves! 10 I defy the armies of Israel today! Send me a man who will fight me!” 11 When Saul and the Israelites heard this, they were terrified and deeply shaken.
Any volunteers? Here is one of the key factors when we face any obstacle – it might look intimidating. It might look threatening. It might look dangerous and un-tackle-able. It might even leave us “terrified and deeply shaken”. And that is ok… Because David didn’t kill Goliath…
12 Now David was the son of a man named Jesse, an Ephrathite from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. Jesse was an old man at that time, and he had eight sons. 13 Jesse’s three oldest sons—Eliab, Abinadab, and Shimea—had already joined Saul’s army to fight the Philistines. 14 David was the youngest son. David’s three oldest brothers stayed with Saul’s army, 15 but David went back and forth so he could help his father with the sheep in Bethlehem.
16 For forty days, every morning and evening, the Philistine champion strutted in front of the Israelite army.
Notice the timing. This taunting is going on every day, twice a day, for 40 days. And nothing changes. It doesn’t go away. This is another important factor when we face an obstacle: they don’t move themselves. Goliath doesn’t get bored and move on to another army. And God doesn’t strike him dead while he sleeps and solve the problem for the Israelites. The army of Israel does nothing, probably because of their fear, so nothing changes.
17 One day Jesse said to David, “Take this basket of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread, and carry them quickly to your brothers. 18 And give these ten cuts of cheese to their captain. See how your brothers are getting along, and bring back a report on how they are doing.” 19 David’s brothers were with Saul and the Israelite army at the valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.
20 So David left the sheep with another shepherd and set out early the next morning with the gifts, as Jesse had directed him. He arrived at the camp just as the Israelite army was leaving for the battlefield with shouts and battle cries. 21 Soon the Israelite and Philistine forces stood facing each other, army against army. 22 David left his things with the keeper of supplies and hurried out to the ranks to greet his brothers. 23 As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, came out from the Philistine ranks. Then David heard him shout his usual taunt to the army of Israel.
24 As soon as the Israelite army saw him, they began to run away in fright. 25 “Have you seen the giant?” the men asked. “He comes out each day to defy Israel. The king has offered a huge reward to anyone who kills him. He will give that man one of his daughters for a wife, and the man’s entire family will be exempted from paying taxes!”
26 David asked the soldiers standing nearby, “What will a man get for killing this Philistine and ending his defiance of Israel? Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?”
27 And these men gave David the same reply. They said, “Yes, that is the reward for killing him.”
28 But when David’s oldest brother, Eliab, heard David talking to the men, he was angry. “What are you doing around here anyway?” he demanded. “What about those few sheep you’re supposed to be taking care of? I know about your pride and deceit. You just want to see the battle!”
29 “What have I done now?” David replied. “I was only asking a question!”
It is an interesting little sidebar… there is obviously some sibling tension here. It probably helps here if I let you know that in the previous chapter, 1 Sam 16, which was probably about 5 years earlier, the priest Samuel had already anointed David as the next king of Israel. His brothers knew, they were there and had been rejected as the next king in favor of their little brother, and that is no doubt behind some of this tension and conflict. And there is another reality about obstacles here, which is an unfortunate one: sometimes the people we expect to stand with us and help are also overwhelmed with the obstacle and react negatively towards us. The stress and tension of the overall situation sometimes leak out, and instead of standing together and being supportive of one another we sometimes lash out. Let’s work hard to not be the ones to do that to others, and be patient and forgiving when others do it to us.
30 He walked over to some others and asked them the same thing and received the same answer. 31 Then David’s question was reported to King Saul, and the king sent for him.
32 “Don’t worry about this Philistine,” David told Saul.
Ok, another bit of context. David is likely around 15 years old, a sheep-herding and food delivery boy, and he tells the king, “Don’t worry about this Philistine…”
32 “Don’t worry about this Philistine,” David told Saul. “I’ll go fight him!”
33 “Don’t be ridiculous!” Saul replied. “There’s no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win! You’re only a boy, and he’s been a man of war since his youth.”
“Don’t be ridiculous!” These are expected words from Saul, they make the most sense. This particular solution to the obstacle named Goliath is “ridiculous”. “There is no way”… is what Saul says. Interesting… from a human perspective, sending a small 15 year old up against a 9 foot giant is ridiculous. Sometimes, that is how God’s way looks.
34 But David persisted. “I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and goats,” he said. “When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, 35 I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. 36 I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! 37 The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!”
David’s reply shows a willingness to present his credentials and win his first battle – this one with the king rather than Goliath. And that is how obstacles often are in our lives – not just one big battle, but a series of smaller ones, smaller decisions, leading up to the larger confrontation.
Saul finally consented. “All right, go ahead,” he said. “And may the Lord be with you!”
38 Then Saul gave David his own armor—a bronze helmet and a coat of mail. 39 David put it on, strapped the sword over it, and took a step or two to see what it was like, for he had never worn such things before.
Do you see the comedy in this? I see a king trying desperately to help God, but seeing it only through human eyes, reveals how silly this actually is.
“I can’t go in these,” he protested to Saul. “I’m not used to them.” So David took them off again. 40 He picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them into his shepherd’s bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd’s staff and sling, he started across the valley to fight the Philistine.
41 Goliath walked out toward David with his shield bearer ahead of him, 42 sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy. 43 “Am I a dog,” he roared at David, “that you come at me with a stick?” And he cursed David by the names of his gods. 44 “Come over here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals!” Goliath yelled.
45 David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! 47 And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!”
There it is. Did you catch it? Who killed Goliath? It isn’t David. “Today, the Lord will conquer you… This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!”
This is not a facetious playing with words here. This, I think, is the most important fact of all when we face obstacles in life that seek to prevent us from all that God has for us to do and experience. The point is this: “This is the Lord’s battle…”. David doesn’t kill Goliath, God does. Now yes, He uses David to do it, just like He used Moses to lead the people out of Egypt, but make no mistake: God is the one who does it.
This is critical for each of us as well, when it comes to facing our obstacles. It isn’t all on our shoulders. It isn’t up to us. We don’t need to get dressed up in the fancy armor that doesn’t fit because it was made for the king, and we are putting it on because we think we need to pretend to be something else as we solve the problem/overcome the obstacle ourselves. No. “This is the Lord’s battle”, and the Lord will be victorious.
Our job is to be obedient. To not run away, to not cower in fear, to not hide in our tents. Our job is to know what is right, and step up to do what is right. To face the obstacle, no matter how scary or intimidating, and then do what is right and trust God for the rest.
You know how the story ends, but let me read it to close.
48 As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him. 49 Reaching into his shepherd’s bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it with his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in, and Goliath stumbled and fell face down on the ground.
50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with only a sling and a stone, for he had no sword. 51 Then David ran over and pulled Goliath’s sword from its sheath. David used it to kill him and cut off his head.
When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they turned and ran.
Closing Prayer
