April 13, 2008                                                     

“Overcoming Giants in Your Life”

Scripture – 1 Samuel 17

© Rev. Joseph Liddick

Introduction:

        Last week we began to look at the life of David, a man spoken of in Scripture as being “a man after God’s own heart.”  Specifically, we looked at several contrasts that the Bible notes between David and his predecessor, Saul as we set out to discover what is important to God.

        There is one particular story in the life of David that stands out above all others – the story of David and a Philistine giant named Goliath.  We like this story because there is something in its plot with which we all identify.  That’s probably one of the reasons why Hollywood constantly uses and reuses the plot of this story– sports stories like the washed-up fighter Rocky Balboa taking on the world champion Apollo Creed, tiny Milan High School taking on all the Indiana state basketball powers in Hoosiers, and undersized and scholastically challenged Rudy trying to make the Notre Dame football team. Then there are courtroom dramas like Erin Brockovich taking on a corporate giant power company that was polluting a town’s water supply. I think Disney has a habit of making David and Goliath the subplot of almost every cartoon they’ve ever produced. Hollywood knows that the bigger and more scary the villain is and the smaller the hero is, the greater the drama will be. That’s really why I root for the Chicago Cubs who haven’t won a World Series in 100 years and not the New York Yankees who have won too many to count. Come to think of it, I’d love to see them go head to head in the World Series this year – right after reading this Bible story and doing a lot of praying. The truth is, I believe we like the David and Goliath story so much because we all face giants of some kind every day of our lives – problems that seem insurmountable. We like to envision ourselves as a David who can overcome them.

        On a human level, this story inspires courage.  It lets us see that no problem is so great that it cannot be overcome.  It creates hope in us that the “little guy” can ultimately come out on top in the end.  But on a deeper level, this story also shows us something more about the spiritual character of David and why I believe he is called “a man after God’s own heart.” 

        Like David, I believe we here at Gates Wesleyan also want to be people after God’s own heart.  Today we want to look closely at this familiar story, and as we do we will discover at least four things that David did that allowed him to overcome his giant.  Hopefully they will help you overcome the giants you face as well.

David Knew the Record of What God Had Done (v.25-6)

        Israel had a morale problem.  They were at war with a neighboring group of people known as Philistines. The Philistines were an advanced culture of people who resided in the cities of the fertile plains that ran along the coast of Palestine.  They controlled all the trade and commerce of the whole area, since the key road linking east and west ran right through their territory.  Among other things, they controlled the production of iron, so the Israelites were themselves unable to fashion weapons that could compete with the Philistines on a battlefield.  Yet here they were, lined up on opposite sides of a valley, facing an enemy that God said they were supposed to evict from the land, an enemy bigger and stronger and more advanced than themselves. 

        To add insult to injury, the Philistines had a champion fighter in their army named Goliath, appropriately named because of his size – he was 9’6” tall. Now I had a college friend that I really looked up to at 6’11”, but Goliath would have been a full 2½ feet taller than that! His head was just below the rim of a basket – standing flatfooted! How would you have liked to have him on your basketball team? The text tells us that the armor he wore weighed 125 lbs., the shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and the spear’s head alone weighed 15 lbs.  Well, with a star player like Goliath, the Philistine army started talking trash. They taunted the Israelites by challenging them to come out and fight their champion in a “winner-take-all” contest. Not surprisingly, no one among the Israelites was brave enough, or foolish enough, to take up the challenge. Undoubtedly the WWF would have loved to have had this guy in its stable of wrestlers! But even Kane and The Undertaker together wouldn’t have been brave enough to take on this guy! I can just hear them saying, “He’s too big to hit!  You couldn’t pay me enough!” And, wouldn’t you know, that’s precisely what King Saul tried to do. In v.25 he offered to give his own daughter in marriage and exempt from taxation the family of anyone who would defeat Goliath. In spite of the incentive, though, no one took him up on his offer.

        No one, that is, until David happened to come by, on his way to deliver a bunch of pizzas from his father to his older brothers serving in the army.  David’s perspective was shaped by a different source than those in the army.  He had a deep understanding of the faithfulness of God.  He knew all about God’s calling of Abraham, his deliverance of Israel from Egypt, the fall of Jericho, the exploits of Gideon, Deborah, Samson and other heroes that God had used in the past to rescue his people and establish His righteousness.  How did he know all this?  David knew the Word of the Lord and hid it in his heart.  For him, “faith came by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  So when David arrived on the scene, he thought he’d have a front-row seat to witness Israel’s champion defeat Goliath (v.26).  For David, this contest was already a “done deal.”  It didn’t matter how big or strong Israel’s representative was – he’d have God on his side!  For David, Goliath was not too big to hit; he was too big to miss!

        What has God done for you?  The answer to that question is your testimony, and it is also your record of his faithfulness.  If He did it once before, do you think he can do it again?

David Ignored the Criticizers and Demotivators (v.27-33)

        The minute David started probing the men in the army regarding who was going to go out and face Goliath he heard nothing but negative reports and criticism.  “You’re just a shepherd; you are conceited; you have a wicked heart; you are only a boy; you are not a soldier; it can’t be done.”  Don’t you just love people with attitudes like those?

        Some people are naturally very critical.  They can find something wrong in everything.  They carry negative attitudes throughout their life and never seem very happy.  Others get “testy” whenever their comfort zones are threatened.  They have a built-in self-protective mechanism that tends to throw cold water on any new idea because “we never did it like that before …”  Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, “The human race is divided into two classes of people - those who go ahead and do something and those who still sit and inquire ‘Why wasn’t it done the other way?’”

        The easiest words to utter when facing a giant are “It just can’t be done.”  Columbus had to ignore all the people who insisted that the world was flat.  The Wright brothers had to ignore all the scientists who said that flying was a crackpot idea, an “opium induced fantasy.”  Even Marshall Foch told them, “It is all very well for sport, but it is no use whatsoever to the army.”  Thomas Edison, who himself ignored many naysayers with his inventions, said “talking pictures” would never catch on.  He said, “Nobody would pay to listen to sounds coming from a screen.”  He also tried to talk Henry Ford into abandoning the motor car as a worthless idea. 

        Does criticism “derail” you sometimes?  A lot of people give up and quit trying when they hear anything negative from their boss, their husband or wife, their parents or teachers, their pastor, a friend.  Criticism and negative thinking pulls people down so that their only focus is the problems in front of them rather than the possibilities.  But like the old proverb says, “The moon could not go on shining if it paid any attention to the little dogs that bark at it.”  And so David said to King Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”  David listened to the criticism, but he refused to let it douse his faith or deter him from his vision of seeing this giant vanquished and God glorified.

David Had Experience Winning Past Battles (v.34-37)

        When he volunteered for the fight, Saul told David that he was no match for this giant Philistine fighting machine.  But David began to remember some other fights that he had had in his life.  As a shepherd he had been responsible for the safety of his father’s flock, and occasionally the sheep were threatened by a ferocious beast like a lion or a bear.  On several occasions he rescued one of his sheep from the mouths of these beasts, and even fought them in hand to hand combat.  These were no small tasks, especially for a young boy.  David demonstrated unusual courage, but that courage was actually reinforced by all the small victories that he won along the way – the jackal, the wolf, etc.  Now this giant was no different.  He was formidable, to be sure, but so were the lion and the bear.  And God gave him strength and rescued him in each of those instances.  Why wouldn’t God give him victory now?

        David showed us that you gain confidence in facing your giants if you have a few “wins” under your belt.  I remember coaching a youth league soccer team that got off to a rough start one season.  But one week things began to come together for them and they squeaked out a win.  You’d have thought it was the world cup!  Then they won another, and another, and another.  Finally, they faced the undefeated top team in the last game of the season.  They had previously been beaten 5-0, but this day they played them to a tie.  Confidence from getting a few wins will do that.

        When facing our giants, we too need to remember the small victories that brought us to this point.  When facing a major temptation, remember the smaller ones that God helped you to overcome and that are no longer even a temptation any longer.  When facing a huge responsibility that you feel is out of your league, remember how God helped you in the past in developing your giftedness so that most of your tasks now are “second nature.” i.e.

He Armed Himself with God’s Strength

        King Saul did not have a line of volunteers beating down the door of his tent to go out and face Goliath.  In fact, this young kid David was it.  And standing there in his shepherd’s garb he was hardly armed for the task.  So in desperation Saul rounded up some armor to put on him – his own tunic, a coat of armor, a bronze helmet, and a sword.  As he started walking around, he nearly tripped over himself.  This scene must have looked very comical!  Fortunately, David realized that if this giant was going to be defeated, God would have to lend his power to the things David already had in his hands.  And what did he have?  A staff, a sling, and a few smooth stones.  Shepherd weapons. Not much against someone that big with all that armor and all those weapons. I’m sure as David walked out to face Goliath he must have prayed, “Oh God, what am I doing. He is so much bigger than I am.  You’re the one who’s going to have to do this.”  And when Goliath started talking trash, laughing at him and cursing him, David declared, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty.”  David’s real weapon as he walked out to meet Goliath was faith!

        How many times do we try to take on giants without taking the time to arm ourselves?  The faith of our parents won’t do.  Neither will the spiritual strength of a spouse, a child, a sibling, or a friend.  One can look as foolish as David in Saul’s armor by trying to fight spiritual battles with someone else’s faith.  It simply won’t work.  Faith that overcomes giants must be personal faith, not borrowed faith.  I remember when I discovered the truth of that in my own life.  As a young teenager I witnessed to my friends at school about the truth of the Christian faith as my church taught it – but it had nothing to do with what I believed.  And when I was called on it, I had nothing on which to stand.  That is, until several years later, when I came into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. 

        David’s weapons were a stick, a sling, and 5 stones.  Not much – but in the hands of God, it was all he needed.  What do you have?  Some of you have a talent for teaching.  Others have a knack for organizing things.  Some of you like to make people welcome, or care for their hurts, or help others in whatever way you can.  Some of you have the ability to make and give money that can be used to accomplish many wonderful things for the Lord.  By themselves, they are not much – just sticks and stones and slings.  But in God’s hands, these things become mighty weapons that can topple giants.  As Paul wrote to the Philippians, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Conclusion:

        What are the giants you are facing in your life today?  Is it an impossible task, a broken relationship, an economic hardship, a health problem?  How insurmountable are the odds?  How many people have told you that it can’t or shouldn’t be done?

        When you are all done asking yourself these questions, ask this one – “How big and strong is my God?”  Next to David, Goliath was a giant.  But next to God, Goliath was less than an insect!  Begin to look at your giant through faith eyes – “Is he too big to hit, or too big to miss?”  Nothing is too big for God.

        As you seek to become a person after God’s own heart, what do you need to do to have victory like David?  Do you need to remind yourself (and others) of His past faithfulness?  Do you need to quit listening to the doubters and naysayers in your life?  Do you need to remember the battles God has already helped you to win? Do you need to arm yourself with the Lord’s strength?