Most of us are familiar with the story of David and Goliath. It truly is one of the greatest victories in all of Scripture. David, a mere shepherd boy stands to face the giant, Goliath in battle and he wins.
This is the kind of story we need to hear isn’t it? After all who doesn’t have a giant or two in his or her life that continues to taunt us and try to make our life miserable.
What do you do with the giants in your life anyway? Everybody seems to have advice for us don’t they? It is so much easier to counsel someone else on defeating the giants in their life than it is for us to receive counsel for our own.
I recently received an email entilted, “Wise Advice from Kids.” It goes like this.
1. Never trust a dog to watch your food. Patrick age 10
2. When your dad is mad and asks you, “Do I look stupid?” don’t answer him. Michael age 14
3. Never tell your mom her diet’s not working. Michael, age 14
4. Stay away from prunes. Randy age 9
5. Never pee on an electric fence. Robert, age 13
6. Don’t pull dad’s finger when he tells you to . Emily age 10
7. When your mom is mad at your dad, don’t let her brush your hair. Tonya age 11
8. Puppies still have bad breath even after eating a tic-tac. Andrew age 9
9. Never hold a dust buster and a cat at the same time. Kyle age9
10. If you want a kitten, start out by asking for a horse. Naomi age 15
11. Felt markers are not good to use as lipstick. Lauren age 9
12. When you get a bad grade in school, show it to your mom when she’s on the phone. Alisha, age 13
13. Never try to baptize a cat. Elaine age 8
It appears these kids have learned some valuable lessons about life experiences haven’t they? It reminds me of the wise school teacher who I understand sent this note to all parents on the first day of school: “If you promise not to believe everything your child says happens at school, I will promise not to believe everything he says happens at home.”
We too can learn some valuable lessons about life as we look at the battle between David and Goliath.
I. Lesson #1. Facing a giant is an intimidating experience!
A. This morning we can look back at David’s bravery and victory with the prefect hindsight and the safe distance of two thousand years. In fact, our distance can diminish how David must have felt at this situation in his life.
1. Goliath stood over 9 feet tall. And it wasn’t just his size that overwhelmed you; he had body armor from head to toe that could have weighed as much as 175 pounds. Plus he had a personal shield bearer to go with it.
2. And according to verse 16, for 40 days, every morning and every evening Goliath would march toward the army of Israel taunting his size and his strength daring someone to take him on. Now that is intimidating!
3. But then aren’t all of our giants intimidating? That is why we call them giants, because they are bigger than we are.
4. That is how it is with the giants of fear and worry, for example. They don’t come just once; they come morning and evening, day after day, relentlessly trying to intimidate us.
5. They may come in the form of a person, or a pressure, or a worry. In fact, few things are more persistent and intimidating that our fears and our worries, especially when we face them in our own strength.
6. When the battle comes and our giants are at the door, it is usually intimidation that sends us in a full retreat! When they intimidate us, we get tongue – tied. Our thoughts get confused. We forget to pray. We focus on the odds against us. We forget whom we represent, and we stand there with our knees knocking.
7. But David’s eyes were not on the giant. Intimidation played no part in his life. He may have appeared to others to be an ant before the elephant, but David was not listening to the others. He told Goliath in verse 45, “I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel,….
8. This was the secret to David’s life - The battle is the Lord’s. We need to stop waiting on the devil, fearing his arrival. Rather we need to be out looking for him, because the battle is the Lord’s.
9. Are you trying to do your own battle? Trying to fight it your way? Trying to outsmart the enemy, outfox him? You can’t. But God can!
10. David lived by a very simple principle: nothing to prove nothing to lose. He didn’t try to impress anybody in the army of Israel. He didn’t try to impress his brothers. He didn’t try to impress God. He just ran to meet Goliath.
11. This morning your giant is waiting on you as well. Everyone of us have them and we can either let them intimidate us and steal our joy, steal our peace, steal our security or we can face them in the power and strength of Jesus and put them in retreat!
II. But there is another lesson we can learn from this story. Doing battle can be a lonely experience!
A. No one else can fight for us. Your Goliath is your Goliath. Someone may say, “Ah don’t worry about that.” But to you, it’s a Goliath.
Illustration: Nobody else can battle him for you. We always want to call for backup don’t we? It is like the new police recruit who was asked during his exam, “What would you do if you had to arrest your own mother?” He said, “Call for help!”
1. We can ask a counselor, a pastor, a parent, or a friend to help. They can hold our hand. They can give us support, but the battle is ours and ours alone. . It can be lonely, but it is on the lonely battlefield that you learn to trust God.
2. We also discover a new turn in the battle at this point. Did you note the response of David’s brothers to his defiance of Goliath? Eliab, his oldest brother? Instead of a high 5 David got a slap in the face.
3. Sometimes during a time of standing by faith, we receive flak and often it comes from those we least expected. How many times as a Pastor have I heard of the disappointment someone has received because of a misplaced word said behind their back, or another brother or sister’s inappropriate actions toward them. Sometimes it is intentional and sometimes we are just being used by the devil and don’t even know it!
Illustration: Fred had been a faithful Christian and was sin the hospital near death. The family called their preacher to stand with them. As the preacher stood next to the bed, Fred’s condition appeared to deteriorate and he motioned frantically for something to write on. The pastor lovingly handed him a pen and a piece of paper and Fred used his last bit of energy to scribble a note, then he died. As a result of Fred’s room now in chaos, the preacher thought it best not to look at the note at that time, so he placed it in his jacket pocket. At the funeral, as he was finishing the message, he realized that he was wearing the same jacket that he was wearing when Fred died. He said, “You know, Fred handed me a note just before he died. I haven’t looked at it, but knowing Fred, I’m sure there’s a word of inspiration there for us all.” He opened the note, and read, “Hey, you’re standing on my oxygen tube!”
4. Eliab remembered this was his little brother who had been anointed by the prophet Samuel, to be King over him. Now was his time to express his displeasure and the anger he had allowed to build up in his heart over being rejected as King. He said to David, “Why have you really come?” He is attacking David’s motive isn’t he? Then he asks the second question, which was designed to humiliate David. “Hey, David, where did you leave the handful of sheep?” And then he really gets ugly; “I know your insolence and the wickedness in your heart.” You just came here for the excitement.
5. The enemy would love to get our attention off of what is important. The average person would have rolled up his sleeve and used all his energy to punch his brothers lights out, rather than dealing with Goliath. Isn’t that what Satan wants us to do as well. He tries to take our focus off of what is important and put it on the incidentals.
6. But David ignores his brother and he turns away. David knew who to fight and who to leave alone. We need to choose our battles wisely. If we don’t watch it, all of our battles will be fought among those we call brothers and sisters, while the real enemy of our souls roams around our territory winning victory after victory.
7. This morning remember where your battle lies. Parents it is not with your children and children not with your parents. It is not with other members of the Body of Christ either. Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places, so stop wasting your energy fighting those you need and who need you.
III. A third lesson we can learn, is trusting God is a stabilizing experience.
A. David brought down Goliath with the first stone. His aim was true and didn’t miss the mark. It appears he was not nervous at all. He was stabilized by his trust in God.
1. If you try to tackle the giant in the flesh, you cannot get it done. You will lose. But when you have spent sufficient time on your knees, it is remarkable how stable you can be.
2. In the previous chapter, chapter 16 we read that all of David’s older brothers were passed up by Samuel to be anointed as King. David’s brothers were older, wiser, stronger, more mature and more experienced so David’s father didn’t even bother to have David come in from the fields to meet the Prophet Samuel, until Samuel had declined every one of Jesse’s sons and asked, “Don’t you have any more?”
3. It is then that we read verse 7 of chapter 16, “for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
4. Goliath had all the things that would normally impress, intimidate and instill fear. But David had been given the ability to see as God sees, and he was neither impressed nor intimidated. Because no matter how big the giant might be, God is greater. And no matter how powerful he might be, God is all – powerful.
5. David’s trust was in his God! If you tolerate a Goliath, he will take over your territory. He will move into your camp. He will take your thoughts that normally ought to be on God, and he will put them on himself. That is why you can not afford to tolerate giants: you kill them!
6. Goliath did not look that impressive to David at all. God had been with him in the past and He will be with me now. In fact listen to the confidence that David has in God in verse 37, ”The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”
7. Trust in God can move a mountain can’t it? It can knock a giant down. It just depends on how much trust you have. Do you trust God with your life? Then let go of it. Give your problems, your giants to God and see what He can do.
Illustration: One day three men were walking along and came upon a raging river. They needed to get to the other side, but had no idea of how to do it. The first man prayed to God saying, “Please God, give me the strength to cross this river.” Poof! God gave him big arms and strong legs, and he was able to swim across the river in about two hours. Seeing this, the second man prayed to God saying, “Please God, give me the strength and ability to cross this river.” Poof! God gave him a rowboat and he was able to row across the river in about three hours. The third man had seen how this worked out for the other two, so he also prayed to God saying, “Please God, give me the strength, ability and intelligence to cross this river.” And Poof! God turned him into a woman. He looked at the map and then walked across the bridge.
8. I don’t know what God needs to do for you, but trust him to do it.
IV. But there is yet one more lesson we need to learn from this story. Winning victories is a memorable experience. Don’t forget it!
A. So often, when facing our own giants, we forget what we ought to remember and we remember what we ought to forget.
1. We remember our defeats and we forget the victories. Most of us can recite the failures of our lives in vivid detail, but we are hard-pressed to name the specific, remarkable victories God has pulled off in our past.
2. But David did not have this problem. He says, you know why I can fight Goliath, Saul? Because the same God who gave me power over a lion and a bear will give me power over Goliath. It is God who will empower me.
3. But let us not forget too, that what works for one-person will not necessarily work for someone else. We are always trying to put our amour on someone else or put someone else’s armor on ourselves -- but that is not the way to do battle. Just be you!
4. It is interesting to note that after the defeat of Goliath, David drags Goliath’s spear and sword into his tent. No doubt to be a reminder of what God has done. To lie alongside the lion’s skull and the bear’s paw.
5. Winning victories is extremely significant. Remember them! Where do you keep your memories? Do you quickly pass over them? Break that habit! God does not waste victories.
6. When God pulls something off that only He can do, He says to us, “Now don’t you forget that.” In the OT God had His people pile up stones as reminders of His winning victories on their behalf. Those stones of remembrance were to remain for all to see and remember.
7. This morning you may feel the weight of the world is on you, but I can assure you that in your past God has given you some victories. Retrieve them from your memory bank and allow them to give you courage to face your present giant.
Conclusion
I don’t know what your intimidating giant is today. It may relate to your job, or it may be a person, 0r a disaster, etc. Perhaps it is the fear that is lurking around the corner, sucking your energy and draining your faith.
God is saying to you right now, all I ask of you is five smooth stones and a sling of faith. I will take it from there. You don’t have to wear anyone else’s armor. You just trust Me.
Maybe you don’t even know what your giant is, but it’s there, and it haunting you. The uncertainty alone is a giant. The battle is the Lord’s!!
