David and Goliath: Overcoming Giants
Theme: Facing the Giant and Moving on.
Text: 1 Samuel 17:1 - 58
Introduction
The story of David and Goliath is one of the most popular stories in scripture. It has been used throughout the world to illustrate the ability of the small to defeat the big. The underdog to defy all odds and take down the heavily favored. From sports, to business, to life.
This story has been told repeatedly. Yet in that it will cause us to dismiss the power and importance of it.
The willingness to defy all the odds and defeat the giant.
These giants come to mean many things. They could be obstacles in our way. (Jesus referred to mountains that are obstacles).
So this morning let us review with fresh eyes and see what God is teaching us. We are going into the last Sunday before the Christmas season. I wanted to share with you this message as almost a summary message of 2020.
The Story.
We quickly learn that David was the youngest of eight sons. He had two jobs 1) a shepherd 2) to bring supplies to 3 of his brothers who were on the front lines of battle. He would bring reports back to his father Jesse about the welfare of this brothers.
This time as he shows up there is a different battle formation. Two armies are standing around the Valley of Elah. They are “lined up in battle formation to face” each other.
Scripture and description
1Sa 17:3-7 The Philistines were standing on one hill, and the Israelites were standing on another hill with a ravine between them. (4) Then a champion named Goliath, from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was nine feet, nine inches tall (some translations vary because the word here is cubit which is flexible according to the person it usually measured around 18 inches but was from the tip of your finger to your elbow) (5) and wore a bronze helmet and bronze scale armor that weighed 125 pounds. (6) There was bronze armor on his shins, and a bronze sword was slung between his shoulders. (7) His spear shaft was like a weaver's beam, and the iron point of his spear weighed 15 pounds. In addition, a shield-bearer was walking in front of him.
1Sa 17: (8) He stood and shouted to the battle formations: "Why do you come out to line up in battle formation?" He asked them, "Am I not a Philistine and are you not servants of Saul? Choose one of your men and have him come down against me. (9) If he wins in a fight against me and kills me, we will be your servants. But if I win against him and kill him, then you will be our servants and serve us."
This happened for 40 days.
1Sa 17:11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words from the Philistine, they lost their courage and were terrified.
They were afraid. This caused them to freeze. Fear causes paralysis. It can cause us not to react.
David hears this and begins to inquire. Is there a reward for the defeat? Why are the people letting this happen? David calls him and “uncircumcised
1Sa 17:26 David spoke to the men who were standing with him: "What will be done for the man who kills that Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?"
His brother hears him speaking and rebukes him. He refers to him and a young arrogant man who has no idea what he is talking about. Word get back to King Saul, their leader and now Saul is inquiring of David.
King Saul should have been the one to battle this giant. Why? He was the anointed leader of Israel. 2) He was heads above the others
When Goliath demands an Israelite champion to fight with him (vv. 8-10), Saul ought to have accepted the challenge. After all, hadn’t God anointed him to “save [Israel] from the hand of their enemies all around” (10:1)? Wasn’t that what the people wanted when they demanded Samuel find them a king—”that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles” (8:19-20)? Like Goliath, Saul was large and well-armed. And yet Saul’s reaction to Goliath’s trash talk is not resolute action but dismay and fear (17:11). This was supposed to be the story of “Saul and Goliath,” but nobody remembers it that way because Saul flaked out.
From https://pursiful.com/2009/10/06/saul-and-goliath-the-tale-of-the-tape/
1 Samuel 9:2 reminds us that Saul was an head taller than those around him. Which is interesting because when we find him to be anointed he is hiding in the crowd which meant he stooped down.
David was younger (some consider around 17) and considered to be smaller. In the previous chapter when Samuel is sent to Jesse’s house to anoint the new king, God tells him to not look at the stature but the heart. This says a lot about the size of David.
“For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” 1 Samuel 16:7
Yet what David lacked in size he had in faith and heart. A heart that trusted the Lord and not in himself. A heart that would not take pride in God’s accomplishments. A heart that was humble and unassuming. This is the first key to defeating a giant. This battle is fought well before the giant comes.
I. The giant will never be defeated by our own abilities.
David took this personally. This was not against him but against the Lord. We call this the story of David and Goliath. But truthfully it is the story of The God of Israel, Jehovah against Goliath. It was obviously a mismatch.
1 Samuel 17:45 David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with a dagger, spear, and sword, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel's armies- you have defied Him.
This giant could not be defeat by David’s own means. He knew this. This defeat would come from the Lord.
The sooner we acknowledge this and act like this the quicker we can defeat our giant.
This brings us to our next point: Why was David so brave?
II. The Past Has Prepared For What Was To Come
Why did David have so much courage? He tells Saul:
1 Samuel 17:33-38 But Saul replied, "You can't go fight this Philistine. You're just a youth, and he's been a warrior since he was young." (34) David answered Saul, "Your servant has been tending his father's sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock, (35) I went after it, struck it down, and rescued [the lamb] from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, and kill it. (36) Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God." (37) Then David said, "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 may the Lord be with you."
(38) Then Saul had his own military clothes put on David. He put a bronze helmet on David's head and had him put on armor.
This is not the first giant he faced nor would it be the last. God had delivered him from others and God who is faithful will do it again.
He had faith in God.
The giant you are facing now will not be the last giant you face. You are building for something great.
III. Don’t Try To Wear Someone Else’s Armor
Saul encouraged him to go but there was one stipulation.
1 Samuel 17:38-40 Then Saul had his own military clothes put on David. He put a bronze helmet on David's head and had him put on armor. (39) David strapped his sword on over the military clothes and tried to walk, but he was not used to them. "I can't walk in these," David said to Saul, "I'm not used to them." So David took them off.
Why was this a bad idea?
A. This is not what got David to where he was.
1 Samuel 17:40 Instead, he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the wadi and put them in the pouch, in his shepherd's bag. Then, with his sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.
Sometimes when we are facing our “next” giant we want to look around us and use the resources that now have become available. This is where we have to be careful. Yes we have come along way, yes we are doing better now after facing giants but remember how we got here.
Much prayer. Much faith. Much simplicity.
B. Saul wanted to credit for what God was doing
To get to where David is you have to do what David did. This is the key. We love the idea of defeating giants but they begin way early. I believe that Saul was conniving here. He had a unique armor. He wanted credit. But God was not in this.
This was not about credit but praise.
IV. You Enemy Cannot See That Well
1. Goliath can't see.
Let's start with the fact that Goliath is a giant--a mighty, . . . Philistine warrior. He's a big guy by modern standards, and he would have been absolutely colossal in Biblical times. It turns out scientists wrestled with that detail, and have debated for decades whether Goliath might have had a disorder called acromegaly (pronounced ak-crow-me-a-lee.) This condition leads to a person growing extremely tall--but also often leads to double-vision and severe nearsightedness.
Lo and behold, in the Biblical story, as Gladwell points out, Goliath has to call out to David in order to fight him: "Come to me that I might feed your flesh to the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the field." Why? Perhaps because he can't see him. Big competitors' perceived advantages can often mask their even bigger disadvantages.
https://www.inc.com/bill-murphy-jr/3-things-people-get-wrong-about-david-vs-goliath.html
This says a lot by the way Goliath is reacting. Even if he could see clearly physically he could not spiritually. He was arrogant and prideful. He thought he knew the outcome but God had different plans.
The devil is the same way. He is arrogant and prideful. I preached a message once on 5 things the Devil hopes you never find out. In one I point out that the devil is not every where. That is not in his power. Yet he tries to convince us this. Also he is not all knowing. The reason he keeps failing is because of his arrogance.
Proverbs brings this out.
Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.
Other Translations
The Message
First pride, then the crash—the bigger the ego, the harder the fall.
Christian Standard Bible
Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.
Good News Translation
Pride leads to destruction, and arrogance to downfall.
Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Disgrace is before ruin and pride of spirit before misfortune.
Young's Literal Translation
Before destruction is pride, And before stumbling -- a haughty spirit.
1 Corinthians 10:11-13 Now these things happened to them as examples, and they were written as a warning to us, on whom the ends of the ages have come. (12) Therefore, whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall! (13) No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape, so that you are able to bear it.
V. When The Giant Is Down, Finish Him
(1 Samuel 17:45) Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46) This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47) Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord's, and He will give you into our hands." 48) So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hastened and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 49) Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. 50) So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. 51) Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.
David not only knocked him down but he killed him. This is the key. He took the sword and cut his head off so he would never come back again.
You must remove all the evidence of it from your life. Get it out of your life.
This could be a temptation. An addiction.
Conclusion
This giant will be defeated. It will not be by normal means. It will be by the hand of God. The mountain will move but only as we move by faith. We will overcome but only by trusting in the Lord.
