Defeating Giants
Here My Cry • Sermon • Submitted
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Before we jump into today, I want to focus for a moment on those of you who join us online. I want to first say we absolutely love you. Whether you have joined us in this building, or even live locally to us, that does not matter. We value you. We love you. And we are for you.
That means, whatever we can do to help you, serve you and please, if there are things we can do that will help you feel and know that you are a part of this community just as much as those of us who are inside the building, please reach out to us. We don’t ever want you to feel like an afterthought, and we don’t ever want you to feel like you’re looking through a window into something happening somewhere else. We want you to feel at home, a part of this community, a part of God’s community, His church, His people, and we are journeying in faith together. So please, reach out to us, send us a message, AND if you see us around town, make sure you say hi!
And if you ever want to join us in person, please do. Or for any of our events, groups or classes. We would love to see in person too.
So, let’s jump in this morning. We are starting a new series today called / / Hear My Cry.
The reason we’re calling it that is because we are focusing on lessons from the life of David.
No, not David Beckham, or David Duchovny, not even David Hasselhoff. We’re talking about King David, from the Old Testament scripture of our Bible.
David had one of the most fascinating lives in the bible, full of success, triumph, but also of absolute failure and if there’s anyone we can look at and say, “Wow, that dude messed up royally and yet God still loved him....” David is right near the top of the list.
He is truly one of those, like Paul encouraged the churches he led, “Imitate me AS I imitate Christ... AND ONLY as I imitate Christ. Do NOT do these other things I’ve done. God does not approve...”
Mistakes can be great teachers.
Failure can be one of the most influential instructors that we have.
Recognition of sin can be the thing that actually propels us forward toward holiness and righteousness.
Why? Because / / it’s in our weakness that the power of God is recognized and we experience His strength.
If I’m never weak then do I ever realize that I need God? And many people feel that way in their lives, “Oh, I’m a good person… I don’t need that religion stuff.” “I can make it on my own, I don’t need that crutch like you do...” “Jesus is just a crutch for weak people.”
Well, don’t mind if I do!
/ / Hear my cry!
If anyone coined that phrase, it was David. Maybe not those words specifically, but especially throughout the Psalms you see over and over again David coming to the end of himself and crying out to God for help.
Psalm 3:1-4 says, / / O Lord, I have so many enemies; so many are against me. So many are saying, “God will never rescue him!” But you, O Lord, are a shield around me; you are my glory, the one who holds my head high. I cried out to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy mountain.
And he says in vs 7, / / Arise, O Lord! Rescue me, my God!
Psalm 4:1, / / Answer me when I call to you, O God who declares me innocent. Free me from my troubles. Have mercy on me and hear my prayer.
Psalm 5:1, / / O Lord, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but you. Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.
Psalm 6:4, / / Return, O Lord, and rescue me. Save me because of your unfailing love.
Psalm 7:1, / / I come to you for protection, O Lord my God. Save me from my persecutors - rescue me!
You get the point...
Well the Old Testament books of the bible are split into 4 different categories of writing style, or purpose. And the Psalms are what we call one of the / / Poetic Books. The other poetic books are Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes & Song of Solomon.
We just finished up a series on the Ten Commandments, they come from what we call the books of the / /Law. Not so poetic.
Then we have the books of / /History, outlining the history and exploits of Israel, through all they did right and wrong - those ones can seem hard to read sometimes.
And then we have the / /Prophetic books, which are split themselves into two categories of what are called the minor prophets and the major prophets.
So, when we read the Psalms, we get this incredible insight into the heart of David throughout his entire life - through this poetic style of writing. And we see his connection with God from before he was king, and in the fields protecting his father’s sheep. He certainly wasn’t talking about being the King on a throne when he wrote, / /The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams....
Good chance that even if he didn’t write them while he was in the field, the content came out of his experience in the field watching sheep and goats.
But then Psalm 3 is written out of a time when he’s running from his very own son who is trying to kill him. Remember, during our Big 10 series we mentioned Absalom, who stole the hearts of the people. Well he chased David out of his kingdom and that’s where, / /O Lord, I have so many enemies; so many are against me. So many are saying, “God will never rescue him!” He felt backed into a corner.
And out of these moments flow this beautiful poetry of self reflection, of earnest prayer, and of a heart that understands and wrote Psalm 55:22, / /Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.
Now, David did not write all of the Psalms, there are 150 of them. But, / /73 are specifically attributed to David in the book of Psalms, and 2 more are actually attributed to him in the new testament scripture, so that really bumps us up to 75, half of the Psalms. And then 48 of the remaining Psalms are anonymous - so who knows, maybe David had a hand in those, maybe he didn’t. But we know he’s responsible or half of this beautiful book.
Now this series isn’t a walk through the Psalms, but as we’re looking through some of the stories in the life of David, the Psalms give us a really special insight into the heart behind the man. And I think that is incredibly important because sure, we’re going to look at some of David’s triumph, but his life was most definitely not all triumph, and none of us want to be known for our worst moments, do we? Those moments we wish we could undo. The moments we wish wouldn’t have happened. Where we can’t take back what we said, we can’t take back what we did, and we are so incredibly grateful for the grace of God, but when it comes to trying to explain to people we’re like, “No, but that’s not the real me, honestly, I’m not normally like that......” We say things like - “I’m just having a bad day!”
A lot of people have asked the very important question. With his track record of messing up, how could David truly be an inspiration? Why should we use him as an example? Have you looked at how he’s messed up?
And in todays society I think that happens even more now than it ever has before. Where we are willing to cancel someone permanently for something they did. We are able to mentally write someone off for something. Sometimes even things they did in the past, that they don’t do now, but because they did do it, society is all too ready to cancel. Not work with, not rehabilitate, not have grace for, but just get rid of.
And I think the fact that David isn’t perfect is actually the point.
Acts 13:22 says of David, / /But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’
Two really important things there.
First, we have to look at / /WHEN God said this of David.
Second, God says He will do everything I want him to do. He does NOT say, “Everything he does will be what I want him to do.” Those are very different things.
So, first of all, God says that David is a man after his own heart. What is the context there? Well, first, he’s not saying that to David, He’s actually saying that, through the prophet Samuel, to Saul, who was the current King of Israel. Saul had not been following the ways of the Lord, and 1 Samuel 13:13-14 tells us that Samuel says to Saul, / /“You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. Had you kept it, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”
That’s chapter 13, and leading up to the starting of our story with David, there’s a beautiful verse in 1 Samuel 15:22 that says, / /“What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.”
One of the greatest lessons that Saul and ultimately David learned as king. Obedience is better than sacrifice.
And so we move from Saul’s rejection, to the lesson he ultimately learned, to the introduction of David in 1 Samuel chapter 16. God tells Samuel to grab a flask of oil, which would be used to anoint the new king, and he leads him to the house of a man named Jesse, in the town of Bethlehem, the same town where 1000 years later the Messiah, who would be called the Son of David, Jesus Christ, would be born.
We are going to look at a little bit of what David went through to become King, and how we can learn from that. We aren’t just looking at this story because it’s a good story, but because in it are messages to us on how we can live a life before God, to be what God said of David, a man, or woman, after God’s own heart.
The story of David is also a story of being kicked down, beat up, pushed back, and overlooked. And I think most people can relate to that feeling at least once in their lives.
When life is hard. When we feel like we are facing more than we can handle - How do we respond?
Right away, even at the very introduction of this young man, David, we see what he’s up against. 1 Samuel 16 says that Samuel went to the house of Jesse and asks him to join him, along with all his sons, as he goes to the temple to make a sacrifice to the Lord. One by one Samuel meets the sons of Jesse, assuming the oldest and best looking is the chosen one, but one by one the Lord says no.
The story of David is almost in a complete contrast to the story of Joseph, who was something like 11 generations earlier, the son of Jacob, whose family would become the nation of Israel.
Joseph had dreams from a very young age where God showed him his value, and that he would be important. And because of who his mother was he was his father’s favorite. Jacob loved Joseph more than his other sons. He gave him special treatment, a special robe that set him apart.
David on the other hand. Jesse, his father brings “all” his sons to this prophet, Samuel. Well, Samuel meets all seven of his brothers, and God says no to all of them - because David wasn’t invited to the part! The bible even says in 1 Samuel 16:10, / /…all seven of Jesse’s sons were presented to Samuel. Don’t you mean seven of the eight???? He’s got EIGHT sons, not seven. David is completely overlooked. Samuel has to specifically ask, / /“Are these all the sons you have?”
“There’s still the youngest,” Jesse replied. “But he’s out in the fields watching the sheep and goats.”
One of the brothers in the back snickering, “ya, probably writing his poetry...” getting a chuckle out of the bros...
The contrast here is unreal. Joseph, the son of Israel, the prized son. David -the forgotten son.
I want you to see this. Because then we look at Jesus, who would be called the Son of David, come to save the children of Israel who is both the prize son, the son of God himself, and the rejected son, by the house of Israel, the man who was betrayed - the lamb who was slain. In Jesus is the embodiment of all that his ancestors had felt and all that future humanity would feel. The height of acceptance and the depth of rejection.
As the story would go, David is brought before Samuel and the Lord says to him, “This is the one.” Samuel anoints him and it says in 1 Samuel 16:13, / /So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. And the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on.
So, today we’re going to look at what David faced on the outside. What external threats, external struggles, outside things that tried to push him back. And how God delivered him.
Next week we’ll look at the internal struggle David fought. And the last week of this series we’ll tie it all together by looking at what truly sustained him through it all.
Like I said, right away we see what David was up against. Seven brothers, and his father forgets about him in the field. I don’t know about you, but I might deal with a bit of rejection if that was my home situation.
And because he has been anointed, what he does is anointed. And so, King Saul, having been rejected as king by God, is now having a pretty rough time, he’s completely overcome by depression and fear, and it says that someone in his court tells him that there’s a young boy named David that plays the harp that carries the presence of God. Saul says, bring him here. And when David played his harp, Saul felt peace. So pulled from his family, he’s now living in the king’s palace, knowing he’s been anointed to sit in that chair, but nobody else knows that.
Ever feel like you’ve got something great to give, but no one else sees it? Like you have this purpose that no one else can see.
Sometimes / /there is a season between anointing and release. And however long that season may be, very short, or drawn out - in that season you have to have patience and faith that in the right time you’ll see the promise come to pass. Remember, Israel took 40 years to get from slavery to promise, and even then, they had to fight for the victory! / /Don’t assume just because it hasn’t happened yet that it won’t. And / /Don’t assume because it’s been more difficult than you want, that it isn’t God’s plan!
Sometimes in the process of being made ready for what we’ve been anointed for, we come up against some pretty big obstacles.
Let’s read from 1 Samuel 17 this morning to see one of these things David faced.
/ /The Philistines now mustered their army for battle and camped between Socoh in Judah and Azekah at Ephes-dammim. Saul countered by gathering his Israelite troops near the valley of Elah. So the Philistines and Israelites faced each other on opposite hills, with the valley between them.
Then Goliath, a Philistine champion from Gath, came out of the Philistine ranks to face the forces of Israel. He was over nine feet tall! He wore a bronze helmet, and his bronze coat of mail weighed 125 pounds. He also wore bronze leg armor, and he carried a bronze javelin on his shoulder. The shaft of his spear was as heavy and thick as a weaver’s beam, tipped with an iron spearhead that weighed 15 pounds. His armor bearer walked ahead of him carrying a shield.
Goliath stood and shouted a taunt across to the Israelites. “Why are you all coming out to fight?” he called. “I am the Philistine champion, but you are only the servants of Saul. Choose one man to come down here and fight me! If he kills me, then we will be your slaves! But if I kill him, you will be our slaves. I defy the armies of Israel today! Send me a man who will fight me!” When Saul and the Israelites heard this, they were terrified and deeply shaken.
Israel faced a giant. Sure, it was a literal, real, 9 ft giant. But we all face giants. This giant would become the giant David would face.
Here’s some things about Giants.
/ /1. Giants are Bigger than You
Goliath was big. Greater than nine ft tall… I think it’s more like 9ft 4 inches… You know how tall that is? That’s from the stage where I’m standing, to 4 inches above the top of that TV right there.
Now, I’m a pretty big fellow, and there’s not too many people that I walk up to that I feel physically intimidated by. But let me tell you, if I was on the one side of a field, and there was a nine foot behemoth on the other side and he yelled out, “Rover Rover send Robert over...” I’m not sure how I would handle that situation.
What are the giants in your life that are just simply bigger than you. It’s not a matter of what you are, who you are or how you’ve handled yourself. The thing is just big, and by it’s very definition of something being big, it’s intimidating and domineering.
This was a very real, very physical giant in the life of David. And sometimes we have very real, very physical, very in our face giants to deal with.
Do you feel at the end of yourself financially?
Do you feel like you’re drowning with responsibility and don’t know how to manage it?
Are you like me and this past week your car broke down, you know nothing about cars, and you’re left wondering what to do next. The feelings of dread wash over you as you think, “How much is this going to cost?
Did you get an unexpected bill in the mail. IF you own a home this week you probably got your Property Tax assessment, or at least what they are estimating it will be if the proposed budget is accepted or denied. Was it good news or bad news?
Do you have a relationship that feels on the rocks at the moment?
Maybe an injury in your body that’s been limiting you.
Or a physical issue that’s holding you back.
What are the giants that are taunting you, saying they’re bigger than you?
The second thing about giants is that
/ /2. They are Stronger than us
Let’s just be real. Yes, we’re going to talk about God in our situations, but when you’re faced with a giant some very real thoughts go through your head.
You are absolutely right. I don’t have the money for that.
100%, I don’t have the skill to make that happen. Or the strength, or the fortitude, or the ability. What I have is Not enough to overcome this giant.
There was no denying that Goliath was stronger than anyone on that field. And we don’t have to deny that in our own strength, the giant might not just feel like it’s 9 feet tall, but it’s a reality, it’s bigger, it’s stronger and let’s be honest...
/ /3. They are Louder than us.
Giants tend to be loud. I’m assuming Goliath didn’t have this tiny, squeaky voice… “Hey, send your best fighter out to meet me...”
No, they tend to be loud and they tend to make noise. They don’t sit quietly on the sidelines and pretend they aren’t there. They are usually right up in our face, screaming at us from the top of their lungs, putting us down, making us feel smaller than we already do, taunting us and jeering at us just like Goliath did with the armies of Israel, I defy the armies of Israel today!
That word, defy, it means to pull off, to expose, to defame. I don’t know about you, but sometimes the giants I face taunt me in a way that make me freeze in my tracks. They make me feel exposed. And for everyone these giants are different. I was saying to someone the other day when they were helping me with something, “I know a lot of things about a lot of things, but not this…I don’t know anything and I am completely at the mercy of those who do.”
Let’s be honest, that can make us feel pretty vulnerable. Pretty exposed. Our story today says in vs 11, / /When Saul and the Israelites heard this, they were terrified and deeply shaken.
And so the story continues and our hero is introduced.
1 Samuel 17:12, / /Now David was the son of a man named Jesse, an Ephrathite from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. Jesse was an old man at that time, and he had eight sons. Jesse’s three oldest sons - Eliab, Abinadab, and Shimea - had already joined Saul’s army to fight the Philistines. David was the youngest son. David’s three oldest brothers stayed with Saul’s army, but David went back and forth so he could help his father with the sheep in Bethlehem.
Remember, David is in the service of King Saul by this point, playing his harp to help calm him, so he’s having to pull double duty here. And he’s about about 20 miles from the camp each way… traveling most likely on foot.
/ /For forty days, every morning and evening, the Philistine champion strutted in front of the Israelite army.
One day Jesse said to David, “Take this basket of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread, and carry them quickly to your brothers. And give these ten cuts of cheese to their captain. See how your brothers are getting along, and bring back a report on how they are doing.” David’s brothers were with Saul and the Israelite army at the valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.
So David left the sheep with another shepherd and set out early the next morning with the gifts, as Jesse had directed him. He arrived at the camp just as the Israelite army was leaving for the battlefield with shouts and battle cries. Soon the Israelite and Philistine forces stood facing each other, army against army. David left his things with the keeper of supplies and hurried out to the ranks to greet his brothers. As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, came out from the Philistine ranks. Then David heard him shout his usual taught to the army of Israel.
As soon as the Israelite army saw him, they began to run away in fright. “Have you seen the giant?” the men asked. “He comes out each day to defy Israel. The king has offered a huge reward to anyone who kills him. He will give that man one of his daughters for a wife, and the man’s entire family will be exempted from paying taxes!”
David asked the soldiers standing nearby, “What will a man get for killing this Philistine and ending his defiance of Israel? Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?”
And these men gave David the same reply. They said, “Yes, that is the reward for killing him.”
But when David’s oldest brother, Eliab, heard David talking to the men, he was angry. “What are you doing around here anyway?” he demanded. “What about those few sheep you’re supposed to be taking care of? I know about your pride and deceit. You just want to see the battle!”
“What have I done now?” David replied. “I was only asking a question!” He walked over to some others and asked them the same thing and received the same answer. Then David’s question was reported to King Saul, and the king sent for him.
Here’s the next thing about our giants.
/ /4. Sometimes the people around you agree with the giant more than they agree with you
The Israelite army was scared. When Goliath came out they all booked it. They ran for their lives. And when David showed even just the slightest bit of confidence, his own brother pushed him down.
And I hate to say it, but it’s true: / /Sometimes the closest people to you will not understand the desire you have to conquer the giants in your life.
Sometimes people are so comfortable with you, so used to you and how they see you, that they don’t, or even just can’t see the giant slayer in you. And usually, that’s because there’s not much of a giant slayer in them - or at least they don’t feel like one.
See, we actually have this love hate relationship with success. Very few find it. Jesus even said in Matthew 7:14, / /…the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.
Life, zoe, actual life, full of vitality, overcomer of giants, living your best life.
And the problem with a lot of people is that when they see someone else step up, it challenges their inability to step up themselves, and so out of pride, and insecurity, they pull that person back down to their level.
“Who do you think you are? Trying to prove you’re better than us.”
Rather than recognizing, “Wait a second, I was there when that prophet Samuel anointed my little brother to be the next King. This could be the moment that could define him as that king.”
Facing our giants alone doesn’t means we will lose, it just means we have to rely on something greater than ourselves and we might not find it in the people around us.
So, the King hears about David’s question and sends for him.
/ /“Don’t worry about this Philistine,” David told Saul. “I’ll go fight him!”
“Don’t be ridiculous!” Saul replied. “There’s no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win! You’re only a boy, and he’s been a man of war since his youth.”
But David persisted. “I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and goats,” he said. “When a lion or bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I take it by the jaw and club it to death. I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!”
Saul finally consented. “All right, go ahead,” he said. “And may the Lord be with you!”
Then Saul gave David his own armor - a bronze helmet and coat of mail. David put it on, strapped the sword over it, and took a step or two to see what it was like, for he had never worn such things before.
“I can’t go in these,” he protested to Saul. “I’m not used to them.” So David took them off again. He picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them into his shepherd’s bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd’s staff and sling, he started across the valley to fight the Philistine.
Goliath walked out toward David with his shield bearer ahead of him, sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy. “Am I a dog,” he roared at David, “That you come at me with a stick?” And he cursed David by the names of his gods. “Come over here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals!” Goliath yelled.
Next thing we face when we’re facing our giants is:
/ /5. Direct Opposition and Lack of Faith
First, He gets it from Saul, Don’t be ridiculous! You’re just a boy, he’s a giant. How could you do this? Did you hear what’s on the line? If we lose we become their slaves...
And then, when Saul finally lets him go, he gets it from Goliath himself.
So, his brother, his king, the giant. Doesn’t feel like anyone thinks David can do this.
I don’t know about you, but there are plenty of times where the challenges I face feel exactly like that. And sometimes it just feels like no one else understands your situation, or I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but people can tend to be a bit negative.
Like David’s brother, sometimes people look for negative motive rather than think the best in people.
Like Saul, sometimes people - usually because of their own experience, just think you’ll never able to do it. You might walk in all excited, but it feels like all they can do is play devil’s advocate, “Have you thought about this? What if this happens? Are you sure you want to this? Does that seem safe? Does that seem healthy? I don’t know, did you ask around about that?”
And by the time we’re standing in front of the thing we’re facing, it can feel like nobody is behind us. And the army we thought was behind us now just feels like a large group of people waiting for us to fail.
I don’t know what David felt in that moment. But if he looked around at all, he wouldn’t have seen anyone standing with him.
So, the five things we are up against when we face our giants:
/ /1. Giants are bigger than us
2. Giants are stronger than us
3. Giants are louder than us
4. People around us don’t always agree
5. We experience push back and doubt
So, what’s different about David?
Well, he's said a few times in his life before, many times probably, “Lord, hear my cry!” Which has given him a different perspective. See, all of Israel was standing there just taking it. 1 Samuel 17:16 says, / /For forty days, every morning and evening, the Philistine champion strutted in front of the Israelite army.
/ / The longer you allow the giants in your life to face you down and taunt you, the smaller you feel. So by the time David walks on the scene, probably the smallest person out there, everyone is like, “Ya, this isn’t going to work...” But David is different. He hasn’t spent 40 days listening to the giant, he’s been going back and forth, helping his father tend the sheep. 40 miles a day, in solitude with the Lord, maybe playing his harp, writing poetry in his head about the goodness of God.....reflecting on taking a lion by the jaw and beating it to death with a club...
Psalm 23, which is one of the greatest passages of scripture in the bible comes, not from a place of being surrounded by people, surrounded by an army, facing giants, facing problems, no, it comes from a place of solitude with God. The Lord is my shepherd....He leads me.... His rod and staff comfort me… I will not be afraid.
And so as he’s walking up to this giant, 1 Samuel 17:40 says after walking out of King Saul’s tent, / / He picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them into his shepherd’s bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd’s staff and sling, he started across the valley to fight the Philistine.
Psalm 23 again, ringing through my ears, / / his rod and staff comfort me...
I want to give you five things this morning I think David had that can help us combat those five things we’re up against when it comes to our own giants.
/ / 1. Faith built on Experience
David had faith that was built upon his experience. Look at what he said to Saul, / / When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death.
Now, that all sounds like David just being completely awesome. But he doesn’t attribute that to his own strength or ability. I mean, what does that even look like, catching a lion or bear by the jaw? clubbing it to death. This is the stuff of super hero movies, of legends.
And he says this, / / The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine. I bet ya lions would be afraid of a nine foot giant. Lions don’t attack things bigger than them. They don’t attack elephants unless they are young or old and dying…
See, Goliath is big. Bigger than a lion. Bigger than a bear. We get some pretty big bears over here, and sure, this story is 3000 years old, but the Syrian brown bear, which is the bear the bible would have been talked about, the bear that David encountered in his father’s fields with the sheep, get to be about 550lbs and stand between 6-7 feet tall… smaller than Goliath by up to 3 feet!
My point is this, / / what you have faced in the past may not be as big or as scary as what you face right now, but no matter WHAT you have faced, if God did it instead of you, if God was with you, then you have seen the power of God and you can rely on that moment of your history to encourage you now!
See, even though David did the actual clubbing, he knows full well that the hand of God was on his life in those moments.
Take my experience in the hospital last year. Sure, I was on medication, I had a great team at the hospital looking after me, I physically and mentally was fighting for my life, and even before that point, the weight I had lost, the decisions for my health, I know they all had an impact. But I walked away from that, without any doubt in my mind and heart that it was God who preserved my life. As much as I did. As wonderful as medicine can be. As great as the doctors and nurses and team were. God’s hand was on my life.
/ / Sometimes we have to look at what we’ve been through in our lives and recognize that God had his hand in it.
See, usually, it’s our pride that gets in the way. David could have easily said, “Saul. Baby. Listen to me. I grabbed a lion by the jaw, dude. I knocked it down and clubbed it to death. These hands. You think I’m afraid of a Philistine man? Come on bro, I’ve got this.”
I could look at my life and say, “Wow, look at all I’ve done. Look at all I’ve accomplished.” OR, I can recognize that God has done miracles upon miracles upon miracles and I have simply done the best I can with what HE has provided me in my life and still his hand was with me.
Yes, David killed the bear and the lion, and Yes, he’s about to go fight the giant, but in all of those situations, he was more than he could ever be by himself because he had God with him.
/ / The Lord who was with me in my past situations will be with me in this coming situation.
/ / 2. David already had what he needed
Once he’s decided to let David go on this suicide mission, Saul says, “Alright, alright, but here, at least take my armor”… David takes 2 steps in it and realizes, ya, this isn’t going to work.
“I can’t go in these,” he protested to Saul. “I’m not used to them.”
These past few months I’ve been facing a similar, but different giant than I did last year. And the repeated narrative coming at me from the giant is, you can’t face this, you don’t have what you need, you need something you don’t have and can’t get.
But that’s not reality, I actually do have what I need, and God was with me when I used it last year.
Same with David. There were two different types of Shepherds staffs. When David says in Psalm 23, your rod and staff comfort me. The rod was a shorter club like piece that the shepherd would attach to their waist, or use as a walking stick. They never went without it. When David says he clubbed a lion to death, probably the rod. It was a simple walking stick that doubled as a weapon if need be.
The staff on the other hand was a long stick with a crook on the end - what we would traditionally think of when we think of a shepherd’s staff.
So, David is probably holding that rod when he is walking onto that field of battle. And he’s used it before to defend himself and protect his sheep. What’s he going to use it for this time? Defend himself and protect the people behind him.
And then he’s got his sling, with his stones. Five stones, yet, he only needed one. The dude’s over prepared.
The point is this. God has done a work in you, He’s shown himself faithful, and I believe in each of us, to varying degrees he’s shown who we are in Him. Yes, we rely on God, but we also recognize who God has created us to be. God doesn’t want us to sacrifice our own identity for His. He wants us to REALIZE our identity in the LIGHT of His. Romans 8:37 in the ESV says, / / …we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Through Him who is our strength, we become more than we ever could on our own. But if we constantly sit back and think of how weak we are, and how lame we are, how broken we are, we will never partner with God’s strength to rise above the giants in our lives.
/ / 3. Declaration
The next thing David had on his side was not just a reminder, but a declaration to the giant of what is about to happen.
1 Samuel 17:45, / / David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies - the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us.”
Look at the wording in there. This is all about what God will do. Yes, David recognizes he’s going to be a part of it, but he’s fully relying and fully giving God the credit for what is about to happen.
David says to Goliath:
The Lord will conquer you.
This is the Lord’s battle.
I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
And what will happen as a result? You, the army of Philistines behind you, the army of Israel behind me, and the whole world will see that there is a God in Israel.
What if we woke up everyday, facing the giants in our lives, and said, “I’m not standing alone. I speak the name of Jesus into my situation.” We’ve been singing it, haven’t we? Shout Jesus from the mountains, Jesus in the streets, Jesus in the darkness over every enemy. Jesus for my family, I speak the holy name of Jesus!
There may be a giant in front of you trying to get you to tremble, and although that giant may not tremble at the sight of you, it sure will at the sight of Jesus.
/ / …at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord! (Philippians 2:10-11)
/ / 4. Stand your ground, believe, charge ahead
There comes a point where our faith, our belief and our preparation have to step up and get to work.
/ / As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him. Reaching into his shepherd’s bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it with his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in, and Goliath stumbled and fell face down on the ground.
So David triumphed over the Philistine with only a sling and a stone, for he had no sword. Then David ran over and pulled Goliath’s sword from its sheath. David used it to kill him and cut off his head.
James 2:14, 17 says, / / …What good is it… if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough.
David had faith. He had seen God move in his life before. He was as prepared as he was going to be, holding his staff and sling, five stones in his pocket -and in that moment, and this has been my experience, right after you declare the word of God, right after you declare His faithfulness and His name, the giant says, “ya right...” and charges at you.... And in that moment you gotta make a choice...
It’s rubber meets the road time. What do you do? Do you turn tail and run, or do you put into action what you’ve been saying you believe?
/ / Belief without action unfortunately only shows we don’t actually believe what we say we believe...
Remember, the word faith or believe as it’s sometimes translated in the bible - the word itself means commitment. As strong as a marriage to something that should never be broken. So, to say we have faith in Jesus is to say we are 100% wholeheartedly committed to Him and His teaching, His way. Not just saying we believe it. Oh ya, I believe Jesus saves, for sure.
Ya, but do you? Does your life say that? Do your actions show that?
What if David walks up and says, “I come to you in the name of the Lord....” And Nine foot tall Goliath grabs his spear and starts charging at him and he goes, “oh wait..... never mind.... not ready...” and turns to run
Did he really come in the name of the Lord? Did he really believe God would deliver Israel that day?
Even the father in the New Testament, one of my favorite stories. He comes to Jesus with his son who needs healing and says, “If you are able, would you please heal my son.” Jesus says “If I can??? All things are possible for him who believes.” The man could’ve said, “you’re right, clearly I don’t believe....” and walked away sad and missed the opportunity at hand. Instead, he says, “I do believe, so, in the areas that I don’t, help me. Push me over the line Jesus. Get me that last little bit of the way I need, because I know you can, I’m saying you can, and I want to act out that you can! This giant is trying to back me down, but I know you are with me to back me up and walk me through.”
David says in Psalm 23, / / Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me!
Are you in a valley of darkness?
Are you facing a giant?
Don’t sit down.
Don’t give up.
Don’t walk away from the fight. Now is not the time to give in, it’s the time to give it your all, in faith, with faith believing that God is walking with you, and will give you the victory! The battle is the Lord’s. Walk in that confidence.
/ / 5. Stay humble
The last thing David had was humility. And it carried him a long way. Ya, we’ll see that in his story that didn’t always last, but as long as it did, it kept him.
Remember how the story started. Saul says, “If there’s anyone who can save us from this Philistine, I’ll give you my daughter as your wife and you and your family will be exempt from taxes.”
in 1 Samuel 18:17 it says, / / One day Saul said to David, “I am ready to give you my older daughter Merab, as your wife.”
“Who am I, and what is my family in Israel that I should be the king’s son-in-law?” David exclaimed.
The Psalms are filled with this poetic echo.
Psalm 8:1-4 says, / / O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens. You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you. When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers - the moon and the stars you set in place - what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?
Essentially saying, “Who am I that you would pay attention to me? That you would be focused on me and my life?”
That expression, who am I? saved David’s life that day. What he didn’t know is that Saul was getting fearful of David’s success. Remember, Samuel already told Saul that God’s rejected him as king and has chosen someone after his own heart. He doesn’t know it’s David, but with David’s success, and with David himself saying, “in all these situations the Lord was with me...” He’s gotta be starting to suspect it might be David.
And the people were singing songs about David. And so, he thought if he could put his daughter as a prize before David, he could convince him to go back out to battle against the Philistines and maybe just maybe the Philistines would win that time. But David’s humility saved his life.
I want to end today by reading Psalm 56. There was a time that the Philistines did get ahold of David, and in that moment David wrote Psalm 56. The introduction to the Psalm says, / / A psalm of David, regarding the time the Philistines seized him in Gath. Remember, Goliath was called the Champion of Gath. The story is in 1 Samuel 21...
Whatever the situation you’re facing today. Whatever Giant you have in your life. Whether it is external or internal, I want you to hear these words and take comfort in them, but also allow God to strengthen you today for the battle to come. You can fight. You should fight. Don’t duck away from the things that are facing you, face them head on, with the confidence of that young shepherd boy who said, “I come to you in the name of the Lord. This is the Lord’s victory!”
I want to read this over you and your situation as a prayer to our Lord
Psalm 56 says:
/ / O God, have mercy on me, for people are hounding me. My foes attack me all day long. I am constantly hounded by those who slander me, and many are badly attacking me. But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me?
They are always twisting what I say; they spend their days plotting to harm me. They come together to spy on me - watching my every step, eager to kill me. Don’t let them get away with their wickedness; in your anger, O God, bring them down.
You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.
My enemies will retreat when I call to you for help. This I know: God is on my side! I praise God for what he has promised; Yes, I praise the Lord for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me?
I will fulfill my vows to you, O God, and will offer a sacrifice of thanks for your help. For you have rescued me from death; you have kept my feet from slipping. So now I can walk in your presence, O God, in your life-giving light.