The Battle of the Giants

Battle Scars

The battle of the lions - This battle that takes place in your private life.

This attack is designed to destroy your heart and character in the preparation season of your life.

2. The battle of the giants - This battle that takes place in your public life.

This attack is designed to destroy you purpose in your session of promotion.

The enemy will attack with giant lies of hell. The battle of the giants is similar to the attack of the lions. The goal of this attack is to paint a picture of no hope.

The victory in your private life will give you confidence in your public life.

The Battlefied

1 Samuel 17:45–47 ESV

Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.”

The Champion of Gath

1 Samuel 17:4 ESV

And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

The hebrew word for champion is defined as “the man between.”

The man who goes out between the opposed battlelines to fight a counterpart.

Goliath is standing in between your preperation and your purpose.

Goliath

In 1 Samuel 17:5–7, there is detailed list of Goliath’s superior equipment picturing him as a formidable opponent.

A “helmet of bronze” was not typically Philistine and may have been imported from elsewhere.

His “coat of mail” would have consisted of overlapping pieces of metal tied together with leather thongs as body armor. Weighing 5,000 shekels—over 120 pounds.

“Bronze armor on his legs” consisted of greaves covering the front of his lower leg.

His “javelin” was a small spear designed for throwing, strapped to his back because his hands held his other two weapons, a sword and a spear, designed for being thrust at an enemy rather than being thrown.

“A weaver’s beam,” that was tipped with “six hundred shekels of iron,” 14.5 pounds.

A large rectangular shield designed to protect the whole body.

Progression

1 Samuel 17:22 ESV

And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers.

Now we see David start to transistion from a shepherd to a warrior.

Flock

Provisions

Armour Bearer

3 P’s

Preparation

Promotion

Purpose

David Heard Him

1 Samuel 17:23 ESV

As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him.

Goliath roars!

David was like, “I know that roar!” That’s just like the roar of a lion!

Was it not but a Word?

1 Samuel 17:28 ESV

Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.”

The lion continues to roar, but this time he brings up past rejection.

Now that the enemy couldn’t defeat him in the field he was to remove him from the battlefield so he won’t fulfill his destiny.

Within this text, David utters one of the greatest phrases in all of scripture. “Is there not a cause?”

Used to Be

1 Samuel 17:34 ESV

But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock,

The transistion has begun.

From His Mouth

1 Samuel 17:35 ESV

I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him.

David would rescue sheep out of the lions mouth.

Meaning David knew what it was like to come face to face with death and make it out alive.

David Was Unable to Walk

1 Samuel 17:38–39 ESV

Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off.

David wasn’t meant to take up Saul’s mantle

David couldn’t fight Goliath with Saul’s annointing/experience.

David couldn’t walk… Meaning David could’t walk into the fight as a king, but as a shepherd.

God alone equipped David for the fight, not Saul.

And since God chose David he wore God’s armour, and not Saul’s.

A reminder that David was chosen by God, and not by the people.

He Took His Staff

1 Samuel 17:40 ESV

Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.

David took his staff and was ready to go toe to toe with Goliath and beat him senselessly! Just like he faced off against the lions!

The Battlelines

1 Samuel 17:48 ESV

When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.

Now the scene transistions from Goliath roaring like a lion, to him charging like a bear!

But David came prepared! He brought his staff to fight against Goliath! He learned from his past and use the strategies and intelligence of the lions. He was vigilant and prepared for his face-off to be just like his former battle against the lions! But he was also prepared to face off against the bears by bringing his own kill-shot! He aggressed toward goliath like a bear would, and he used his distance like a lion and he pulled out his sling shot!

5 Stones

For my father

For my brothers

For the lions

For the bears

This one is for you, Goliath!

There Was No Sword in the Hands of David

1 Samuel 17:49–50 (ESV)

The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David.

In verse 51, he took Goliath’s sword and cut his head off.

David used Goliath’s own authority against him.

Like his god Dagon before him, the Philistine champion is face down on the ground, headless.

David carried the head of Goliath back to Jerusalem. When everyone else saw a public victory, David remembered the lions and the bears.

People often see your highlight real, and always remember your public victories, but they rarely if ever, see what you had to go through to get there.

You’re not called to live a defeated lifestyle, but you’re called to…

1. Courageously Move Forward.

2. Be Yourself.

3. Remember your history with God.

4. Confront your Giant Head On.

5. Cut your Giant’s Head Off!

Whose Son Are You?

1 Samuel 17:58 ESV

And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

Saul knew David as a musician (season as a shepherd)

Now Saul is being introduced to David as a warrior.

David now has an identity. He is no longer a mere shepherd, but is now recongized in the public eye.

Not By the Sword and Spear Does the Lord Deliver.

1 Samuel 17:47 ESV

and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.”

Not by the sword (Goliath) does the lord deliver.

Not by the spear (Saul) does the lord deliver.