Fighting the Giants

Scripture: 1 Samuel 17:32-49

Introduction

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  Isaiah 41:10

• We all face giants in our lives: both as individuals and as a church body.
• Our giant could be our health. One day we are doing fine and suddenly we are down.
• Our giant could be losing someone important in our lives because God called them home.
• Our giant could be financial: maybe losing a job; maybe we get hacked by a thief.
• A giant is something much bigger than us and something we can’t handle easily.
• In our story today, which should be familiar, we have David facing the giant Goliath.
• David is a young man who has found the favor of God’s heart.
• David has already been anointed by the prophet Samuel to replace Saul as the king.
• The Israelites wanted their own king; to be like other kingdoms around them.
• They had been under close supervision by God Himself through the judges He appointed.
• They thought they had a better idea, so God said, “OK I’ll give you a king.”
• He had Samuel anoint the first king, Saul, and Saul did some good things.
• But Saul would occasionally only partially follow God’s direction.
• So, God, lost confidence in Saul and decided to replace him with a young guy name David.
• David was 100% devoted to God and he 100% obediently followed God’s plan.

1. Pride vs Confidence

• In verse 39: David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”
• David had complete confidence that he would win a battle with Goliath.
• Where does David’s confidence come from? It comes from God.
• God’s plan was to replace Saul with David, but He needed to ease David in slowly.
• In verse 16:14: “Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.”
• Basically, what has happened to Saul is: “God has pulled the goalie.”
• In other words, the Holy Spirit has “left the building” from Saul.
• Among his many talents, David was a gifted musician, songwriter and lyre player.
• In fact, MOST of the Psalms, at least 75, are literally songs that were written by David.
• Of course, it doesn’t come close to the nearly 3,000 songs that Dolly Parton has written.
• God created a situation where David’s music would calm Saul’s tormented spirit.
• In verses 16:15-16: Saul’s attendants said to him:

See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you.  Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the lyre. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes on you, and you will feel better.

• In Verse 16:17: Saul said to his attendants, “Find someone who plays well and bring him to me.”
• Who do you think is the perfect person to do this job? You guessed it: David.
• God has created in Saul a demand for someone that will allow David to gain favor.
• Keep in mind that Saul is not aware that God has already picked David to replace him.
• In verse 16:18: “One of the servants answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the lyre. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the Lord is with him.”
• Problem solved – Enter David into Saul’s service.
• Although Saul was oblivious to God’s real plan with David; David was well-aware of his favor with God.
• This gave David a very high level of confidence which, in turn, gave him great courage.
• It’s a fine line between confidence and pride – let’s make this distinction with David.
• What sets David’s confidence apart from pride is the source that it comes from.
• Where does David’s confidence come from? From God.
• David is obedient to God and fearlessly follows God’s leading for his life.
• This is the challenge for each us as individuals and for us as a church:

We must remain obedient to God and fearlessly follow God’s leading for our lives.

2. The battle

• f you recall from the earlier part of the story that we didn’t read in the beginning of chapter 17, the Philistine army was poised to do battle with the Israeli army.
• Out of the Philistine army came a prideful giant of a man named Goliath.
• This Goliath feller was about 9 feet 9 inches or about 3 meters tall.
• His coat of armor alone probably weighed as much as David at around 125 lbs.
• In verses 17:8-9 He calls out the Israelites and boldly says:

Choose a man and have him come down to me.  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.

• Goliath made this same taunt every day for forty days.
• David finally had heard enough and stepped forward to accept the challenge.
• It was a risky gamble but one that David believed he could accomplish with God’s help.
• Saul didn’t think David could do it and said: “you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”
• 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.  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 rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.

• David had a long history of faith in God and having God’s protection.
• With this argument, Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”
• Saul tried to dress David up in armor and helmet and sword, but David took it all off.
• Instead, in verse 40: “he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.”
• As David approached Goliath, the giant taunted him and dismissed him as a threat.
• Step back for a moment and think about this church.
• Think about all the giants we have faced.
• Now what kind of armor do we wear? The armor of God; obedience to His will.
• We are small and insignificant if you compare us to many other churches around us.
• We are not First Baptist, or Mt Vernon, or St. Pauls – we are a tiny little guy like David.
• And what did David do? Did he run away in fear?  NO he stood his ground

 

3. The final outcome

• David boldly confronted Goliath by saying in verse 45:

You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

• Are any of us here for our own agendas? Why are we here?  Because God called us here.
• We come in the name of the Lord Almighty and in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ.
• We come to claim the community of Biltmore in the name of Christ and for his sake.
• We come to serve a risen Lord who has found favor with this community and with us.
• And like David says in verse 46:

This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands

• And the Lord has delivered Biltmore into our hands, my friends, and it is ours to lose.
• And as David cried out to the Philistine giant, so do we:

The whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.

• Do we do anything out of pride and ourselves? NO
• We do what we do in obedient service to our Lord – verse 47:

For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of it into our hands.

• This doesn’t come from pride, but from a confidence that we have gained over time.
• As we continue to face giants, we need to remind ourselves of this confidence and have faith.
• I know we have faced giants and suffered losses here: people are out sick, stuff is going missing, we are sometimes overwhelmed.
• But be careful what you ask for. God’s plans for us are bigger than we even realize yet.
• We worried about how we would keep up with the demand for the clothes closet.
• God sent us so many people last Friday, that we were tripping over each other.
• God is faithful as long as we remain faithful to His request for obedience.
• This tiny church has faced giants and will continue to face giants.
• So, what happened when Goliath came forward to attack David? David killed him.
• And so, it shall be with all the giants we face as individuals and as a church.
• Always turn to God; and it is through God’s almighty power, that we will prevail.