Facing Giants Part 1

Facing Giants, Part 1

1 Samuel 17:1-37

 

This morning we continue our study of the book of 1 Samuel by turning to 1 Samuel 17. 1 Samuel chapter 17 is one of the most well-known chapters in all of the Bible because of the great victory that takes place after the Israelites were faced with a giant enemy. That enemy was a group of people called the Philistines, and amongst their group was a giant named Goliath.

The outcome of the story of David and Goliath is one that needs little to no introduction. It is an account in Scripture, and one that is so profound, and so memorable, that some dictionaries define “David and Goliath” as an adjective used to describe a situation in which a small or weak person or organization tried to defeat a much larger or stronger opponent. Other dictionaries define the phrase “David and Goliath” as “an underdog situation.” If you type Goliath into a thesaurus in order to find matching word meanings, you will find words like “monster,” or “mountain,” or “giant.” In other words, a Goliath is a giant that is an intimidating and seeming insurmountable problem or opponent.  

 

Illus. What’s the problem?

 

Sometimes our problems are like that…Everwhere we look, we cannot seem to see beyond what is hurting, beyond the mountain, or around the monster…we aren’t able to get beyond the giant, Goliath that we are up against…

In terms of the backstory, we saw a couple weeks ago in 1 Samuel 16, the story of David, a young man around the age of 15 anointed as the next king and described as “a man after God’s own heart.” While he would eventually be the next king, the scenes that follow show him back tending his father’s sheep, and also helping keep the current king at peace from time to time by playing the harp for him. As we turn to chapter 17, we turn to a battle scene and that is where we pick up with morning.

 

Read: 1 Samuel 17:1-11

 

The battle scene of 1 Samuel 17 is set in a valley, the Valley of Elah that is still in place today. The Israelites were on one mountain and the Philistines were on an opposite mountain and there was a valley in the middle.  The valley is about a half mile across. It’s this long valley with two sloping hills, where an army would be on one side, and the opposing army would be on the other side, and they would come down the hill and call out across the valley, hoping the other enemy would attack first. Because whoever attacks first has to go up the hill. It’s an uphill battle all the way.

What we see in verse 4 is that the group shouting sessions end when Goliath, there referred to as “a champion” steps forward. Goliath stepped out from the battle line and walked to the middle the valley taunting and challenging the Israelites. He walked out in front of the Philistine army and essentially says “Why are you out here in battle formation, how about this, choose a man as your representative to come and fight me. If that representative can take me out, we will become your servants, but if I take him out, we will become your servant.” As we see the story go on, nobody was willing to represent Israel against him…They were frozen and afraid. From verse 11, we read that the people were “dismayed and very fearful.”

So often, the giants in our own lives can easily attempt to do and sometimes even succeed at doing the same to us. But as the chapter goes on, David comes on the scene, and we will see his faith in the face of the giant. We know how the story ends, we have heard the story of David and Goliath. We love to see the victory. But the reality for David is, when he came on the scene he was not able to read the end of chapter 17…In other words, he had a giant problem, but he also had giant faith.

From this story I want to direct your attention to four strategies we see David display in order to encourage your faith when facing giants in your own life centering on what to recognize, how to respond, and what to remember.

 

1. Recognize the Reality of the Enemy

 

• I want to start by looking at the anatomy of the giant the Israelites were facing and note that Goliath was a real person who was serving a real enemy.

 

1 Samuel 17:4-7, Then a champion came forward from the army encampment of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath. His height was six cubits and a span. And he had a bronze helmet on his head, and he wore scale-armor which weighed five thousand shekels of bronze. He also had bronze greaves on his legs and a bronze saber slung between his shoulders. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and the head of his spear weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and his shield-carrier walked in front of him.

 

• Goliath stood at six cubits and a span A cubit is about 18 inches and a span is about 9 inches. That puts Goliath at around 9 feet 9 inches. The armor he wore weighed five thousand sheckels of bronze (around 100 pounds) and the head of his spear weighed six hundred sheckels of iron, or around 15 pounds.

 

• Goliath was from a town called Gath and it is interesting to note that Gath is known as a residing place for Giants in the Old Testament.

 

• In the book of Numbers chapter 13, Moses sent out 12 spies into the land promised by God to spy it out. When they got back, 10 gave a bad report lacking faith, and 2 gave a good report filled with faith.

 

• Those without faith were filled with fear, and they primary reason for their fear, what that they reported there being “giants” in the land. They said, “there are giants there and we are like grasshoppers in comparison.”

 

• Joshua and Caleb noted that there were giants, but they believed God would give them the victory.

 

• We know that the people did not respond in faith ultimately because of the reality of the giant enemies.

 

• But these giants had a particular description, the Anakim, or Sons of Anak. And in Joshua chapter 11, we learn that Joshua had eliminated most of the Anakim.

 

Joshua 11:21-22, Then Joshua came at that time and eliminated the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, Debir, Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah and all the hill country of Israel. Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities. There were no Anakim left in the land of the sons of Israel; only in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod some remained.

 

Illus. Giants.

• Goliath, from Gaza, was a giant and very real enemy.

 

• Not only this, but he was also a powerful and persistent enemy.

 

1 Samuel 17:16, the Philistine came forward morning and evening, and took his stand for forty days.

 

• This is often the posture of the giant enemies in our lives as well. They seem larger than life, they try to take charge in our lives, and they try to barge in day and night.

 

• Goliath would not let up. Day and night, night and day, for 40 days he would come out and taunt the people.

 

• There enemy had set up a plan, put together schemes to get the people in fear and believe there only opportunity was to stay in hiding.

 

• Now, David is going to come on the scene and he is going to see things with a different perspective, but before we get there, it is important to see that we, like the Israelites, have an enemy that often looks like a giant and wants to find every opportunity to cause giant problems that will give us pause in our lives.

 

Ephesians 6:10-11, Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

 

• So, we have a real enemy, he is a reality, and he has real schemes. The words “schemes” in Greek is methodeia, it looks similar to methods. It means trickery, craftiness, or to lie in wait.

 

• In his schemes he looks for an opportunity to “steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10).

 

• You might remember when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness in Luke 4. Satan tried to temp Jesus and every time Jesus quoted Scripture to him.

 

Luke 4:13, And so when the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.

 

Illus. Survey: A living being?

 

1 Peter 5:8-9, Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

 

1 John 4:4, …Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

 

Illus. No problem?

 

John 10:10, The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

2 Corinthians 10:3-4, For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

• When facing giants in our own lives it is important to know that the enemy is a defeated foe. We are able to do what the Israelites weren’t able to, we can turn to the end of 1 Samuel 17 and see God give the victory, we can turn to the cross and see Jesus defeat death itself, we can look to the end of the Bible and get revelation that Jesus is coming again and we win!

 

1. Respond in Faith, Not Fear

 

• Verses 11 to 30 reveal that all the men of war are filled with fear, and one man, a young man at that, was filled with faith.

 

• Saul, and the men who were supposed to be out there fighting the battle are first noted as “dismayed.”

 

• The word there for dismayed is “shattered, broken down, scared, terrified…” (You get the picture.)

 

• The word for fearful is “full of dread, or terrified.”

 

• In verse 24, we see that at the very sight of him they would run and flee, and they are described there as “very fearful.”

 

• Because of what they see. But in this same section, David comes on the scene and sees things much differently.

 

• David had been out tending his fathers sheep. This was a time in his life where he spent most of his time tending sheep, but he would also help Saul by playing harp for him when he was being tormented by an evil spirit.

 

• The reason David ended up near the battle scene was for a couple of reasons (vs. 17-18). First to bring a supply of food to his brothers, and also to bring back a report from war.

 

• David then left the flock in the care of another, and headed out to the camp of the army. When he arrived, he saw the Israelites and the Philistines in battle formation, he hear war cries, and in verse 22 we read, “David ran to the battle line…”

 

• He greeted his brothers…

 

1 Samuel 17:23-24, As he was speaking with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine from Gath named Goliath, was coming up from the army of the Philistines, and he spoke these same words; and David heard him. When all the men of Israel saw the man, they fled from him and were very fearful.

 

• So Goliath, now on the 41^st day it seems, is out there saying the same thing. He has nothing else to say, it is the same threats, the same guy, nothing has changed in what he is saying, and nothing has changed in how the people are responding.

 

• Change happens, however, when David comes to the battle scene and ends up hearing Goliath shouting.

1 Samuel 17:25-32, The men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who is coming up? Surely he is coming up to defy Israel. And it will be that the king will make the man who kills him wealthy with great riches, and will give him his daughter and make his father’s house free in Israel.” Then David said to the men who were standing by him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and rids Israel of the disgrace? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he has dared to defy the armies of the living God?” The people answered him in agreement with this statement, saying, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.” Now Eliab his oldest brother heard him when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger burned against David and he said, “Why is it that you have come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I myself know your insolence and the wickedness of your heart; for you have come down in order to see the battle.” But David said, “What have I done now? Was it not just a question?” Then he turned away from him to another and said the same thing; and the people replied with the same words as before. When the words that David spoke were heard, they informed Saul, and he sent for him. And David said to Saul, “May no one’s heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight this Philistine!”

• Picture this, David comes to the battle scene, he hears Goliath and the people essentially say, “did you see that guy? That guy who is coming to defy Israel?
• They continue “if anyone can take him out, that man will be given great riches, he will marry a princess, and his fathers house won’t have to pay taxes anymore, the household will be free.

 

• David asks the question to confirm, but in the question, he gives his thoughts on Goliath, and what he see is that he is not filled with fear, but with faith… “For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he has dared to defy the armies of the living God?”

 

• David declared something that is essential to our perspective of faith over fear, that is, that when God’s people are attacked, God takes it personally.

 

Illus. Saul in the New Testament, would be named Paul after the Lord got a hold of his life. In Acts 9:4, the Lord interrupts Saul’s life with these words…“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” What does had been up to before that was persecuting, arresting, and putting Notice something, David brings God into the picture. It is not just Goliath going against the Israelites, in David’s eyes, it was Goliath against God and His people.

 

• David’s response seems similar to “who does he think he is?”

 

• The people confirm what will be done and David begins to display a posture of faith, not fear.

 

• David’s brother then begins to question him, but his brothers questions would not cause him to fear, or cause him to back down from the battle, rather, he would become the first volunteer.

 

• I love David’s response to his brother, he asks a question, “what have I done?” Then adds a statement, “it’s just a question.” And then in verse 33, “he turned away.”

 

• David’s brother was filled with fear, David had faith. He is running to the battle line and ready to go! He had a faith that was lacking in the group, no fear, just faith.

 

• And in his faith, his brother accuses him of having the wrong motivation. A little family fued in the midst of the battle, but David turns away, he doesn’t engage, he is set on the bigger issue.

 

Proverbs 15:1, A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

 

Illus. The real battle.

 

• The word gets to Saul about David, and David says to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of that giant, your servant will go and fight him.”

 

• What I love here is that David, in the fact of the giant, does not take the posture of being down and out, or alone, but rather, he recognizes that Goliath is a big guy, but David serves a big God.

 

• And when it comes to the giants that arise in our lives, they are giants because they are large, but the reality is, they may be large, but they are not in charge, God is on the throne. When we come up against big problems, our God is greater.

 

• There are many giants we face personally, culturally, occupationally, relationally, and to each one we can respond fearfully, or with faith because we know in whom we live, move, breath, and have our being.

 

1 John 5:4, For whoever has been born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith.

 

Illus. Fears.

 

Illus. Counselor. 

Ephesians 1:1-8 (Summary), Blessed with every spiritual blessing; chosen, holy, and blameless before God; redeemed and forgiven.

1 Corinthians 15:57, Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

John 16:33 (b), In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. (NIV)

 

• “What ifs,” Goliaths, and giants will counsel you one way, but the question is, what does the Lord have to say?

Illus. Whose counsel are you going with?

 

2 Timothy 1:12, I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to protect what I have entrusted to Him until that day.

 

III.       Remember How God Has Brought You Through

 

1 Samuel 17:33, But Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight him; for you are only a youth, while he has been a warrior since his youth.”

 

• Someone in Israel finally steps up, David, and once again, he is doubted and questioned. This has been key to David’s story, his dad doubted him, Samuel was about to choose Eliab before even considering him, he comes to battle field and his brother questions him, and now the king, who has nobody else in all of the land who will even give fighting Goliath a shot, first resorts to rejecting him.

 

• David, however, is not phased.

 

1 Samuel 17:34-37, But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a sheep from the flock, I went out after it and attacked it, and rescued the sheep from its mouth; and when it rose up against me, I grabbed it by its mane and struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.” And David said, “The Lord who saved me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear, He will save me from the hand of this Philistine.” So Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.”

• While David’s biography points to powerful and perhaps fearless posture, it is clear that the absence of fear in him was only do to the presence of faith in God in him.

 

• David declared, it is the Lord who will save me from the hand of the Philistine.

 

Psalm 16:8, I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. (NIV)

 

Psalm 20:7, Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. (NIV)

Psalm 34:1-3, I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear of it and be glad.  Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.

 

 

1 Samuel 17:1-30