God Is More Than The Giant

Text

1 Samuel 17:41-51. [Read]

The Narrative of David and Goliath is indeed, a popular one

It has been told, preached and taught many times

Because of what we know in [Rom 15:4 “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” ], we can learn how to deepen our hope in God throught these scriptures.

The Historical Setting

The year is about 1090 BC

The Place is The Valley of Elah

The problem was the army of the Philistines, and their champion Goliath

The champion was imposing in height, stature, armourment, skill, and rhetoric

This is a giant of a problem for Israel, and they couldn’t even trust their king

The reponse of Saul and Israel is telling

When Goliath “defied the armies of israel” (vs.10), he insulted and taunted them with abusive speech

1 Sam 17:11 “When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.”

DISMAYED - This word conveys the idea of being greatly discouraged and in a state of panic

GREATLY AFRAID - They were too afraid to move

We are going to take three looks at this account, from three different perspectives

NARRATIVE

THEOLOGICAL

REDEMPTIVE

Narrative

What does this teach us to apply?

Lesson # 1 - If you want those giants to go, faith needs to show up

Goliath taunted Israel for 40 days, until David showed up.

Fear took over for faith and that’s why they couldn’t face or beat the giant

Lesson #2 - People that don’t share your faith will shame your faith

1 Sam 17:28 “Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger burned 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 insolence and the wickedness of your heart; for you have come down in order to see the battle.””

Sometimes your faith threatens people, especially if it challenges the depth and genuiness of theirs.

Lesson # 3 - If God did it before, God can do it again

1 Sam 17:37 “And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.””

1 Sam 17:39 “David girded his sword over his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. So David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” And David took them off.”

My faith in God helps me see that God is bigger than my giant

Theological

What does this narrative teach us about God?

The bible is primarily a book about God, it tells us about God and God’s will

1 Sam 17:26 “Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, saying, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?””

1 Sam 17:36 ““Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God.””

When Goliath said these things he was signing his death warrant because God is not to be dishonoured.

What the text is showing us is that God must be honoured

This wasn’t only a lesson for the Philistines, but also Israel. They needed reminding of the God they had.

David, for what it was worth had a very high view of God

Maybe this is why David wrote Ps 57:5-6 “Be exalted above the heavens, O God; Let Your glory be above all the earth. They have prepared a net for my steps; My soul is bowed down; They dug a pit before me; They themselves have fallen into the midst of it. Selah.”

David had a high opinon of God because he knew:

The army was His

The battle was his

He was his

To honour God is to respond to His Nature and His work in our lives by enhancing the way we think about God.

The way we treat God has a lot to do with how we think about God.

If I truly honour God I will know that God is bigger than my giant.

Redemptive

This is where it gets interesting, because this isn’t just about David and Goliath, it’s about Jesus.

Jesus made it very that was written in the “Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms” was about Him

The bible is clear that the OT writers spoke of Jesus

Peter first quotes Deut 18:15.

Acts 3:23-24 “‘And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ “And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days.”

So Samuel had something to say about Jesus

So you cannot simply read the narrative and not see that it’s pointing to Jesus.

Samuel is the one who said a “descendant of David will come forth and have an eternal kingdom” [2 Sam 7:12-14]

Jesus had to deal with some giants way bigger than Goliath

Jesus had to deal with SIN, SATAN, and DEATH

So when we see Goliath, don’t just see Goliath

He opposed God’s people

He did not honour God

He threatened the life of the people

They needed God to deal with the problem

When we see David don’t just see David, see Jesus

Rom 1:1-3 “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh,”

Matt 1:1 “The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:”

David said “I will go” ---- Hebrew writer said, “a body thou hast prepared” - “not my will by Thy will be done”

David didn’t look like much (young and ruddy) - Jn 1:46 “Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.””

David was anointed by God ---- Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, and has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. . .” Luke 4:18 ““The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed,”

David cut off the head of the enemy ---- Jesus “crushed” the head of the enemy

Jesus dealt with some giants that cut us off from God, so I know he can deal with any Giant in your life

My God is Bigger than My Giant

The Call