Killing the Giant of Criticism
1 Samuel 17:25-28
When the Israelites saw the man, they all ran from him in great fear. Now the Israelites had been saying, "Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his father’s family from taxes in Israel." David asked the men standing near him, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?" They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, "This is what will be done for the man who kills him." When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, "Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle."
(NIV)
I. UNDERSTANDING CRITICS AND CRITICISM
A critic is one who points out how imperfectly other people do what the critic does not do at all!
1. When a critical person is HURTING, he will naturally HURT others.
2. Criticism hurts when it comes from someone who HAS KNOWN US for a long time.
(vs. 28)
When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, "Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle."
3. Criticism hurts when it questions our MOTIVES.
4. Critics have problems with projects that require a GREAT DEAL of FAITH. (vs. 31-33)
1 Samuel 17:31-33
What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him. David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him." Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth."
(NIV)
II. HOW TO DEAL WITH CRITICS
Critics come in TWO flavors:
PHYSICAL (Sour)
& POSITIONAL (Sweet)
PHYSICAL: Eliab, David’s older brother had been passed over for the kingly throne. He criticized David and called him names. But he was unwilling to face the giant.
How do we deal with the SOUR Critic:
1. Focus on the REWARD of defeating the giant. (vs.25-27)
Now the Israelites had been saying, "Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his father’s family from taxes in Israel." David asked the men standing near him, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?" They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, "This is what will be done for the man who kills him."
2. REALIZE the rationale of the critic.
How do you know where they are coming from? Listen for continual criticism.
1 Samuel 17:29
"Now what have I done?" said David. "Can’t I even speak?" He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before.
1 Samuel 16:4-7
Samuel did what the LORD said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, "Do you come in peace?"
Samuel replied, "Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me." Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, "Surely the LORD’s anointed stands here before the LORD."
But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
POSITIONAL (Sweet): King Saul should have been the one facing the giant, but he’s back in the tent!
If someone has been challenged
to take on a task, and yet refuses to do so, he will naturally criticize the one who takes up the challenge.
1 Samuel 17:32-33
David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him."
Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth."
How do we deal with the SWEET Critic:
3. REMEMBER & RELATE PAST VICTORIES (vs. 34-35)
1 Samuel 17:34-35
But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock,
I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.
David was not COCKY!
David was CONFIDENT!
4. REMAIN GOD-FOCUSED
(vs. 36-37)
Saul saw Goliath, but David saw God!
1 Sam 17:36-37
Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.
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." Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you!”
