Stand Courageously
1 Samuel 17 1-58
Giants come at us all through life. Some kill our enthusiasm for Christ. Some attack our attitudes and habits. Personal relationships, compromising situations, sinful additions become giants that taunt us day and night. The giants win one small battle and then attack other areas in our lives. Suddenly we are unable to stand up against the giants. As a result, our witness among friends and family become ineffective. Nonbelievers look at us cowering in the corner and determine not to become Christians because they don’t want to be like us. What enables us to stand up against such giants? We need courage that comes from only God. With courage comes determination to overcome fear, to depend on God, and to act to glorify Him. David showed us how to face Giants!
1. Fear: Don’t let it defeat you. 17: 8-11
2. Depend on God’s help. 17: 32-33,37
3. Act in ways that honor God. 17: 45-47,50
1. Fear: Don’t let it defeat you
A. Giant was 9 feet tall
B. Saul was scared of this Giant
C. What is the giant in your life?
D. No matter what age, we all have Giants! Something in our lives that hinder us from serving the Lord like we should and hinders our faith
E. David had three giants that we see.
1. Eliab
2. Saul
3. Goliath
2. Depend on God’s help
A. VERSE 26: David couldn’t believe that the Philistine had the audacity to defy the armies of the living God.
1. Army of the living God is us. We are God’s Army Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength”
2. Who does he think he is?
B. Who do you depend on? God or Man?
1. Saul told he couldn’t do he was crazy this guy has been fighting since he was your age.
2. David knew better. Why?
a. God had delivered him before
b. Practice makes perfect
c. How? VERSE 37 “THE LORD WHO DELIVERED ME FROM THE PAW OF THE LION AND THE PAW OF THE BEAR WILL DELIVER ME FROM THE HAND OF THIS PHILISTINE”
C. How was David able to depend on God? How can we do the same?
1. David didn’t look at the Giant. He never called him by name. He looked to God!
a. Psalm 91: 2 “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust”
2. Do we look to God? I know sometimes I don’t and that is when the giant usually wins
3. God wants to deliver us from the hand of the Philistine?
a. For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you hope and a future. JER 29:11
4. Does God have the power to deliver us from every Giant we face? Absolutely! Does He? NO!
5. We should be confident of God’s ability to overcome an impossible situation or sustain us through the situation.
a. Through the situations we can claim the two verses I just read.
b. Psalm 91:2 and Jeremiah 29:11
c. My God is bigger than this Giant. That is what David was saying. How can you guys not see this?
6. David knew God. David walked with God. He wasn’t terrified of this 9 feet tall giant because his God and our God is bigger than any Giant we will face as long as we depend on God.
3. Act in Ways that Honor God
A. How easy would it have been for David to take the credit?
1. Instead he said “ The battle is the Lord’s”
Conclusion:
God gave us these 58 verses for more than just a story about a young boy who defeated a giant with a slingshot. When we are face with fears in our lives David has shown us how to depend on God and give Him all the glory.
The rest of these 15 verse talks about Saul wanting to know who is David’s Father. I want to ask you this who is your Father. Not your earthly father, but your creator. Can you say what David did “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from this Philistine.”
In closing I would like to tell you a story about a man named John Griffith. John was the father of an 8-year-old boy during the 20’s and 30’s. John was very fortunate during those times, because he had job. John loved his son very much. He was the apple of his eye. John’s son was a normal little boy who constantly wanted to go to work with his father. John decided he would take his boy to work with him one day. John was bridge conductor across the Mississippi River. John was in charge of raising and lowering the bridge so that boats could get through and trains could pass. John’s son was so amazed at the gears and all the things that went along with his father’s job. They had brought their lunch to work with them that day and decided to eat their lunch on the bank of the river. John and his son was eating lunch and John had realized that in about 3 minutes the Memphis Belle carrying 300 passengers was getting ready to cross the bridge, but the bridge was not lowered. John didn’t want to alarm his son so he patted him on the shoulder and told him to sit right their and he would be right back. John hustled up the stairs, he grabbed the lever to lower the bridge and he had realized that somehow his son had climbed to the bridge and had fallen in between the gears of the bridge. John could hear the train coming carrying the 300 passengers. In his mind he started going over ways he could get his son from the gears and still lower the bridge, but he knew he had to make a choice. John lowered the bridge just in time for the train to pass crushing his son in between the gears. John looked at the train passing by and saw a man reading his newspaper a woman drinking her tea and another talking to his wife. John screamed at the top of his lungs “Hey, Don’t you know what I’ve just done for you” they didn’t hear him so he screamed again “Hey, Don’t you know what I’ve just done for you” But again they just went along with their lives not ever realizing what John had done for them. God is asking us the same question “Don’t you know what I’ve done for you. I sent my only son to this earth for you. He died a terrible death so that you could spend eternity with me. Why are you going on with your busy meaningless live not serving me, and some of you have not even accepted me as your savior. I love you so much.
