April 13, 2007

HOW TO FIGHT A GIANT

I Samuel 17

Do you have any giants in your life? Giants come in different forms. A giant might be a particular temptation or chronic sin problem that you have not been able to overcome. Or the giant might be some circumstance or problem in your life to which you can find no solution. Or the giant may be a task or job you have taken on, a responsibility that you have accepted that is just too big for you. Or the giant may be a strong person in your life whose influence is hindering your spiritual growth and preventing you from moving forward in your walk with Christ. We all face giants in our lives from time to time. Maybe you are facing one today.

The title of my sermon today is How to Fight a Giant. We are going to be looking at the best know giant story in the Bible, and possibly one of the best know giant stories in all of literature. Almost everyone is familiar with the story of David and Goliath. It is recorded for us in I Samuel 17. The army of Israel, under the command of King Saul, has gone out to battle against the army of the Philistines. They are facing each other across the Valley of Elah, a few miles southwest of Jerusalem. Among the soldiers of the Philistines there is a giant by the name of Goliath. He is described as being over 9 feet tall. The text in I Samuel 17:4-7 goes into great detail describing his height and the size of his weapons and his body armor. One scholar notes that it is the most extensive physical description we have of any person in the Bible.

Every day Goliath came out with his armor bearer and bellowed his defiance against the army of Israel. He challenged them to send forth a champion so that the two of them can engage in hand to hand combat. If Goliath prevailed and killed the Israelite champion, the Philistines would become rulers over the Israelites. If the Israelite champion succeeded in killing Goliath, the Philistines would serve the Israelites. Whether the results of such a battle by proxy would have been accepted or whether this was just psychological warfare and an effort to intimidate the Israelites, we don’t know. We do know the effect he was having. It is found in verse 11: On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

Into this chaotic scene came David. He was probably in his late teens by this time. He had recently been secretly anointed as the next king of Israel. On this occasion he came to the camp on an errand from his father. Three of his brothers were soldiers in Saul’s army. David had been sent to bring them special provisions as well as to check on their welfare. While he is there, he witnesses Goliath’s defiant challenge. As I have been meditating on this story this week, I have been looking for answers to the question: How to fight a giant. I would like to share with you four “Don’ts” and four “Dos” for fighting giants.

1. Don’t follow the crowd.

Most of us have a tendency to get swept up in the general consensus of people around us. We take our cues from them, our ideas about what is possible and what is not, about what is wise and what is not. It is clear that Goliath has succeeded in infecting the entire Israelite camp with a case of mass hysteria. We read verse 11 a few minutes ago. What is sad is that not only were the rank and file soldiers terrified, but so was Saul, their king and their commander. David witnessed this panic among the armed men of Israel. It’s really rather pathetic. Verse 20 says that he reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. They are whipping themselves into battle fever. But then Goliath steps up with his challenge, and look at verse 24: When the Israelites saw the man, they all ran from him in great fear.

If you are going to fight giants, you can’t follow the crowd. You can’t get swept along in the tide of public opinion and the general hysteria that fear produces. King Saul did not offer any leadership at this point. He simply mirrored the terror that was in the eyes and faces of his men. He was as terrified as they were.

2. Don’t look for someone else to send.

This was Saul’s only identified leadership response. (Read verse 25) He offers to reward anyone who will fight the battle on Israel’s behalf. And he does so by appealing to man’s baser nature, the simple promise of financial and temporal reward. What kind of champion are you going to get with that kind of appeal?

3. Don’t listen to the scoffers or the doubters.

This is where many potential heroes and champions get sidetracked. We listen to the naysayers, the doubters, the skeptics. I find it rather telling that in the narrating of this story, it takes only 5 verses to narrate the actual events of the fight. It takes considerably longer to tell of David’s struggle with the doubters and negativists in his own camp, starting with his own brother Eliab in verse 28. (Read). Talk about demotivating! No one can pour cold water on our dreams and ambitions quite so effectively as an older brother or a negative family member. David had to persevere in spite of Eliab’s taunts. He also had to overcome Saul’s doubts. (Read verse 32-33). It would have been very easy for David to slip away at that point; to simply melt back into the crowd and head for home. How many heroes have given up without a fight, discouraged by the scorn and doubt from people who should be on their side?

4. Don’t wear someone else’s armor.

When Saul finally agrees to let David have a go at Goliath, his first action is to load him up with his own armor and weapons. It’s a bit hypocritical, don’t you think? Saul obviously didn’t think the armor and weapons were enough to fight the giant himself, but he’s ready to put it all on David to salve his own conscience. Look at what happened: (Read verse 38-40)

David was polite at first. He tried the armor. But he had the common sense and the personal presence and courage to refuse the unfamiliar weapons and armor, choosing instead to equip himself with his simple shepherd’s staff and sling and five stones selected from the brook that ran through the valley.

I had a chance to visit the valley of Elah and the probable site of this famous battle some years ago. David chose five stones. I picked up one of the stones David didn’t choose. (Show stone).

I keep it on my desk to remind me of David’s great victory that day and the lessons behind it. I want to look now at four “Do’s” for fighting a giant.

1. Do analyze the situation with your spiritual eyes.

Our natural tendency is to view things on the purely earthly dimension. We see only what we can discern with our physical eyes. We measure Goliath’s height and the size of his spear and the weight of his armor. These are all physical realities. But there is another spiritual reality. We need to assess what is going on in the spiritual realm. We need to put God into the equation.

This is what David did from the moment he arrived on the scene. (Read verse 26) David immediately discerned the spiritual reality of what was going on. Israel was being disgraced. An uncircumcised Philistine was defying the armies of the living God. It wasn’t just Israel that was being mocked here. Israel’s God was also being challenged and subjected to ridicule. And what is more, Israel’s God was the living God, in contrast to the false gods and idols that Goliath believed in and in whose name he was going to battle.

David was able to see to the very heart of the matter with his spiritual eyes. Who was bigger? The gods of the Philistines or the God of Israel?

That brings us to the next point…

2. Do seek the glory of God.

David had a passion for the glory of God and for his reputation. When Goliath defied the armies of Israel, he was defying the God of Israel. When the Israelite army fled in panic, they were confirming the giant’s assessment that the God of Israel was powerless before his awesome military might. This theme of the glory of God runs throughout David’s dialog in this chapter. It is especially clear in verse 46: This day Yahweh will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beast of the earth and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.

It is important for us as well, to ensure that our motives are right in God’s eyes before we charge into battle. Is it God’s glory we are seeking, or simply our own agenda and self promotion?

3. Do recall past faith experiences.

David based his confidence in God’s power and deliverance on his memory of how God had worked in his life in the past. In fact this is the line of argument he used to persuade King Saul to let him go out against the giant. (Read verse 34-37)

This is sound practice and an important spiritual discipline. We are so quick to forget what God has done for us in the past. This is one of the disheartening things about Israel’s history as we have been tracing it in the Pentateuch. They never seemed to carry over their experience from one time to the next. I keep wanting to shake them and say, “Don’t you remember what happened in the last chapter?” But I have to confess that I am also subject to the same selective amnesia. When you are faced with a giant, take time to reflect on how God has delivered you or supplied your needs in the past.

4. Do put all your confidence and trust in God.

This is the final one and I have saved it until last because it is the real crux of the matter. It is revealed at the very peak of tension and crisis in the story as Goliath and David approached each other, shouting their challenges to each other.

(Read verses 41-47)

Do you see it? Do you hear it in his words?  I come against you in the name of Yahweh Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel…the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that Yahweh saves; for the battle is Yahweh’s.

And so with his faith firmly fixed in God, he ran toward the giant. His hand slipped into his back and plucked out a single stone. He fitted it securely into the pocket of his sling and he began to swing it around his head, faster and faster until the leather thongs whistled in the air above him. Then he released one of the thongs with the skill of hours of practice, and the stone sped, guided by God himself, and struck the giant on the forehead. It struck with enough force to literally sink into his forehead, and with a mighty crash Goliath fell face down to the ground. Quickly David ran to his side, drew the giant’s own sword with a mighty blow he severed the giant’s head. The giant was dead!

Why? Because David was a mighty warrior? No. Because God is a mighty God and David put his full confidence and trust in him. That is how to fight the giants in your life. Put all your confidence and trust in God.

This became one of the fundamental principles of David’s life. It is a truth that comes through in many of his psalms. We read one in the Scripture reading this morning. One verse especially from that psalm stands out to me. It’s found in Psalm 20:7: Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of Yahweh our God. They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.

David says it again in Psalm 16:8: I have set Yahweh always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. That is the challenge before us; to set Yahweh always before us. Fix our thoughts and hearts and minds and above all our trust in him. With him at our right hand, we will not be shaken, no matter how big the giant that confronts us.

Those are the do’s and don’ts for fighting giants. Let me leave you with two questions that I find very helpful when I get caught up in fear and frustrated with the worry and the uncertainty of all the hassles of life. They help me bring focus and clarity to my thoughts.

Question #1: If it isn’t the Lord’s battle, why am I fighting it? Sometimes we spend a lot of our time and energy and lose a lot of sleep over things that really do not have eternal consequence or lasting value. We need to choose our battles carefully.

Question #2: If it is the Lord’s battle, why am I sweating it? It comes down to a simple question: Can God be trusted or not? Is he all powerful or not? If it is his battle, and he has promised to fight for me, then why am I fretting and stewing and lying awake at night as thought it all depended on me?

Keep these questions in mind and follow these instructions for fighting the giants that appear in your life and God will give you the victory!