BECOMING A GIANT KILLER
1 Sam. 17:2-51
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: You have to know…“HOW TO GET HELP”
1. One day Jacob, a Jew living in Russia, slipped on the wet riverbank and fell into the water. Unfortunately, Jacob couldn’t swim and was in serious danger of drowning.
2. Two Communist policemen heard cries for help and rushed over. But when they saw that it was a Jew, they laughed and just stood there watching him drown.
3. "Help, I can't swim," shouted Jacob. "Then you’ll just have to drown," they replied.
4. Jacob got a brainstorm and shouted with his last breath: "Down with Vladimir Putin!"
5. The policemen immediately rushed into the river, pulled Jacob out, and arrested him for trouble making.
B. SPORTS CELEBRATIONS
1. One thing I’ve never liked about pro-football are the “touchdown celebration dances,” where players taunt their opponents after a good play.
2. Another area is prematch “mouthing off,” when a player tells how bad he’s going to beat the competition.
a. “I’m going to wup him so bad his mama will be ashamed to claim him.”
b. “All he’s going to see of me is the dust of my shoes.”
3. But TRASH TALKING is nothing new. It has been going on for thousands of years. Some very famous people in the Bible have done some trash talking.
C. TEXT
2 The Israelites...drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. 4 A champion named Goliath...came out of the Philistine camp. His height was 9 feet, 9 inches tall.* 5 He had a bronze helmet...a coat of scale armor...bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. 8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “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!...11 On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified. 32 David said to Saul, “...[I] will go and fight him.” 33 Saul replied, “You’re not able to; you’re only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul....35 “Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear. 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.” 42 [Goliath] looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy…and he despised him. 43 He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” 44 “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!” 45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty...whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47...The battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” 48 David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground. 51 David ran...hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. 1 Sam. 17:2-51, abbreviated.
D. THESIS
1. Today we’re talking about an AWESOME GOD! We see a.) An impossible Contest, b). An unlikely Champion, and c). An Unconventional Fight.
2. The title of this morning’s message is “Becoming a Giant Killer.”
I. AN IMPOSSIBLE CONTEST
A. ISRAELITES IN TERRIBLE SITUATION
1. Would you agree with me that fighting a totally armored-up Giant would be a frightening situation? But the Real Problem was, their faith wasn’t giant enough to take on Goliath. They saw Goliath as too big to conquer.
2. Excuses of the Israelites:
a. The Size of Goliath 17:4 -- 9’9”
b. The Armor of Goliath 17:5-7; approx. 150 lbs
c. His Confident Attitude 17:8-10; mock, ridicule
d. The Experience of Goliath 17:33
3. They forgot that One Person and God is a Majority. Goliath may be big, but how big is God?
B. GIANTS YOU MAY BE FACING
1. You might be a Christian student facing an atheistic professor who taunts or demeans Christians in class;
2. Or you might be a single mother facing staggering bills and rebellious kids;
3. Or a person battling to save your marriage;
4. Or a TDC C.O. facing opposition from a group of inmates. The key is to learn to draw on God’s resources.
5. HUMOR. “We All Have Problems.”
a. I heard about one Man who took his son to the Doctor because he swallowed their House Key.
b. The Doctor asked, “When did this happen?”
c. The Man answered, “About 3 Months ago.”
d. Doctor said, “Why are you finally bringing him in Now?”
e. The Man answered, “Because Now We’ve Lost Our Duplicate Key!”
C. GOLIATH’S STRATEGY?
1.Goliath’s strategy? Psychological Warfare – “to strike fear, intimidate, make easy prey” -- God's people. That’s still the devil’s strategy today.
a. To keep you from believing God.
b. To keep you from speaking for God.
c. To keep you in fear and depression.
d. To make you believe there's no way out of your problem.
2. Goliath had the whole Israelite army:
a. Shaking in their boots;
b. Paralyzed with fear;
c. Running for cover.
3. LOOK AT THE PEOPLE OF GOD:
a. There hasn’t been a fight yet.
b. No one has thrown a spear or shot an arrow.
c. Yet the Army of Israel is talking defeat.
d. Already defeated and there hasn’t been a fight! The sight of Goliath made Israel forget all the things that God had done for them! Trials do that.
D. ILLUSTRATION
1. Leroy Eims, founder of the Navigators ministry, told of when he and his son, Randy visited Istanbul, Turkey. They were sitting in a restaurant and looked out the window in surprise to see a huge brown bear, muzzled and on a leash.
2. When a crowd of people had gathered, the bear's owner produced a tambourine, and immediately the bear stood up on its hind legs and began to dance around and do other tricks.
3. The crowd applauded and the tambourine became a collection plate. Suddenly a small, mangy, mongrel dog came leaping out from behind the bushes and began barking at the bear.
4. Suddenly the mighty bear began bounding around trying to hide behind people or get on top of something.
5. Why was this magnificent wild beast afraid of a scruffy little dog? It was muzzled and declawed. It was a pathetic sight.
6. But it's also a picture the Church, who has unlimited potential and resources from God, yet responding with fear instead of faith to the challenges of the world.
7. “God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, of love, and of a sound mind!” 2 Tim. 1:7.
II. AN UNLIKELY CHAMPION -- FOR A LOT OF REASONS:
A. DAVID’S INEXPERIENCE
1. SIZE – 5’ 7” tall; 4’ 2” shorter than Goliath.
-- Weight? Probably ¼ of Goliath's.
-- Goliath's one leg prob. weighed more than David.
2. EXPERIENCE
a. David -- boy, Shepherd.
-- Not trained in warfare.
-- Probably had never killed a man in battle.
b. Goliath had killed many men in battle, and was an Unbeaten Champion!
3. NO ARMOR: just a Shepherd's garb, staff & sling.
4. HUMOR. You’d think David would be worried by the disparity. Like the police recruit who was asked during training, "What would you do if you had to arrest your own mother?" He said, "I’d Call for backup!"
B. ILLUS.-DAVID HAD A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE
1. Two men took part in the Normandy invasion in 1944. One was a soldier who fought on the ground. Reflecting back on that time he said, "I was convinced there was no way we could possibly win."
2. The other was a pilot who saw things much differently from his vantage point in the air. He said, "I was convinced there was no way we could possibly lose."
3. From our limited view on Earth we are often tempted to become discouraged and defeated, but God's omniscience reminds us the victory is sure. "If God be for us, who can be against us?"
4. Your situation may look bleak. Let me remind you: we've got God on our side. All the resources of heaven are at your disposal. Have faith in God; He will not fail you!
III. AN UNCONVENTIONAL FIGHT
A. DAVID REMEMBERED HOW GOD HAD HELPED HIM BEFORE
1. We want to see miracles, but not to be put in a situation so bad where a miracle is the only way out. God often puts us in places ‘over our head,’ so that we can experience the God who’s ‘over our head!’
2. David had experienced previous divine moments -- once with a lion, another with a bear. So have YOU! David reasoned, “The same God who helped me defeat the lion and the bear, will help me defeat this Philistine!”
3. “The SAME FAITH & ANOINTING by which I overcame before -- God being the same -- will have the same results this time!"
B. SO HE LEANED ON GOD’S POWER TO SOLVE
1. "You come with sword and spear, but I come against you in the Name of the Lord of Hosts..."
2. Like you saying, “I’m not depending on my employer, or the government, my doctor, or my medicine, or my lawyer to save me – I’m depending on the Lord!” The Lord is my provider. Whom shall I fear, and of whom shall I be afraid?
C. RESULTS?
1. David threw a super-sonic rock that was laser-guided by the Holy Spirit to hit the only vulnerable, unarmored spot on Goliath's body -- his fore head. David hit a bull's-eye.
2. David’s last step is one many Christians don’t do. David didn’t just SUBDUE the Giant, he SLAYED the Giant! Until your Giant is dead, it might return and attack you again. DAVID FINISHED THE JOB!
3. Be sure, when you defeat your Giant, that you don’t settle for partial victory. Paul said, “Make no provision for the flesh” Rom. 13:14. Don’t leave any avenues by which can stage a come-back! David made sure Goliath was dead! He made Goliath’s head his trophy of victory!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Knute Rockne was an American football player and coach, both at the University of Notre Dame. The College Football Hall of Fame calls him "without question, American football's most-renowned coach."
2. Legend has it that Knute Rockne was about to face the football team of USC (S. California) -- and knowing that was a far superior team, wondered if there was any way he could defeat them. Then he hit on this idea.
3. He scoured the city of South Bend, Indiana, for about 100 of the biggest men he could find -- 6 foot five and weighing in at 300 pounds. He put them all in Notre Dame uniforms. With the shoulder pads and helmets, they looked like giants. (before the days of limited rosters and eligibility restrictions)
4. Then, when it was time for the game to begin, he sent these men out of the locker room first. As the USC team watched, they just kept coming and coming and coming until these hundred men were all the USC team saw. The USC coach kept telling his team, "They can only field 11 men at a time." But the damage was done.
5. None of those men ever played one minute of the game. But USC had become so intimidated at the sight of them that they were unable to function, and Notre Dame won the game.
6. That was the same strategy that the Philistines used on the Israelites, and that the devil still uses on
Christians; he tries to make the situation look worse than it actually is to discourage and intimidate us.
7. Don't buy it! Greater is he who is in you than he that is in the world! [1001 More Humorous Illus, Michael Hodgin, #211, p. 88; www.sermonnotes.com, Steve May]
B. THERE WAS ANOTHER FIELD OF BATTLE
1. There was another field of battle 2000 years ago, and there was a spiritual giant on it too: sin and death!
2. It too was an impossible contest. But like David, God raised up a Champion for us: the Lord Jesus Christ! Instead of sword & spear, Jesus used His death on the Cross to atone for all sin -- then he rose victorious over death, hell, and the grave.
3. Have you trusted the Savior to forgive your sins? If you’d like to do that, raise your hand!
C. ARE YOU FACING A GOLIATH?
1. Are you in debt? Suffering abuse or rejection; have a troubled kid, are battling a fears, health issues habits, failure, or depression? God hasn’t forgotten you!
2. God has sent Jesus to help you fight your battles! He is down here, by His Spirit, to join with you to defeat every fear and bless your life. Let’s pray & trust in Him. PRAYER.
