The life of King David

Overcoming giants

Overcoming Giants

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Happy Memorial Day!

Thank you for your sacrifice!

All of us have faced or are facing giants in our life, some are people who are stronger and bigger than us, some are problems beyond our capability to handle them, they overwhelm us, and some are demons who are stronger, bigger and smarter than us, they oppress us.

We all face them,

The story of David and Goliath will give us some insight in how to overcome our own giants.

let’s pray

1 Identify your giant .

In the book of 1 Samuel, we read about Samuel the prophet anointing David to be king, David going to Saul’s palace to play the harp for him so he could be free from a tormenting spirit, in chapter 17 how David faced Goliath. The army of Israel was camped in a mountain near Jerusalem and the Philistines have camped on the other side in Ekron and Gath.

In between them was the valley of Elah where the armies had lined up for battle, as the Israelites stood in line the champion of the philistines a giant would come out and challenge them, anyone who would be man enough to fight him.

1Sa 17:4 A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span.

1Sa 17:5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels;

1Sa 17:6 on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back.

1Sa 17:7 His spear shaft was like a weaver's rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him.

1Sa 17:8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, "Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me.

1Sa 17:9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us."

1Sa 17:10 Then the Philistine said, "This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other."

He was a skilled soldier protected by his armor and shield. His armor alone weighted 125 pounds and the head of his spear 15 pounds.

The true height of Goliath is 12.9". 12 feet and 9 inches tall "The Israelite's "cubit" at the time of

Solomon was "25.2 inches.".

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

The part of the brain that controls your survival memories and responses is called the limbic system.

There are three ways that we respond or react with survival responses. Fight, flight or freeze.

a) We fight (anger)

Fight is the most effective of the survival responses. It makes others afraid of us and increases our control.

Many children who were shamed become bullies and protect themselves by bulling others.

Righteous anger as God designed it give us the courage to fight and overcome injustice.

Unrighteous anger, makes us blame others and excuse our behavior.

b) We flight (fear)

Flight is the next most effective way to survive. If you are not bigger than your opponent the way to survive is to be faster, run or hide.

C) We freeze or go numb

The third way our limbic system respond to fear is to play dead (to freeze, go numb or appease)

If you cannot fight or run, playing dead may help you to survive by numbing the fear and pain.

Goliath had been challenging them every morning for 40 days

The whole army was afraid of Goliath the champion. They stay away from him.

Some other names for fear are stress, insecurity, panic, dread and anxiety.

Ex I remember some years ago, I was changing into dry clothing at the Hapuna beach park, bathroom, when this man walked in with his son a five year old boy and he was screaming at boy calling him every fall name he knew how, and I could tell how terrified the boy was.

Everything with inn me wanted to stop that interaction, I was angry, I wanted to hit the man, he was just a short little guy anyway, but all the sudden I froze, I became that little boy listening to my own dad and all I could do was coward under the intensity of the man’s voice and anger, I didn’t do anything.

I was shocked with my behavior, I believed it was my responsibility to do or say something at the time by I could not.

In the story of David a whole army responded the same way when taunted by their giant.

I was like the dear caught by the headlights.

Have you ever observed a child whose parents are always yelling at them?

The child just goes blank and tunes them out. The brain is designed to help you cope and survive.

My trauma with my dad was not resolved yet, so my survival response came in to help me through my difficult time, and I went numb.

We need to listen to what God say about us and not the voice of our abusers. Even if that is mom or dad, or someone we trust.

But happened that as David the young boy of eight, the one who tended the sheep was delivering food for his 3 older brothers in the army, and he heard what the giant was saying to the troops and to king Saul and his brothers.

David’s response was what will be done for the man who kills this Philistine?

1Sa 17:25 The men of Israel said, "Have you seen this man who is coming up? Surely he is coming up to defy Israel. The king will reward the man who kills him with great riches, and will give him his daughter [in marriage] and make his father's house (family) free [from taxes and service] in Israel."

1Sa 17:28 Now Eliab his oldest brother heard what he said to the men; and Eliab's anger burned against David and he said, "Why have you come down here? With whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption (overconfidence) and the evil of your heart; for you have come down in order to see the battle."

1Sa 17:29 But David said, "What have I done now? Was it not just a [harmless] question?"

Eliab was the older brother who was rejected by Samuel, he held on to an offense, and now because David didn’t respond like the rest, dismayed and greatly afraid, he was angry.

David’s question was a simple one, what is the reward for the man who kills this uncircumcised philistine? who is defying the army of the Lord.

The main role of anger, both neurologically and biblically is to anesthetize the emotion of fear. In the limb system pains results in fear.

How do you respond to your giants?

2 Listen to God, not to your giant

The giant had talked a whole army who was ready to fight and lined up to fight to not be an army, but that only one man the best of them should fight Him. Never listen to your giants.

1Sa 17:30 Then David turned away from Eliab to someone else and asked the same question; and the people gave him the same answer as the first time.

1Sa 17:31 When the words that David spoke were heard, the men reported them to Saul, and he sent for him.

Saul was a head taller than all his army he was an experienced warrior, he should be the one out there fighting Goliath but instead he was offering his daughter, money and taxes free for the family of whoever fought Goliath.

1Sa 17:32 David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him."

1Sa 17:33 Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth."

Now he is discouraging David

1Sa 17:34 But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock,

1Sa 17:35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.

1Sa 17:36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.

1Sa 17:37 The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."

1Sa 17:38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head.

David was going to see the deliverance of the Lord Saul couldn’t understand that.

1Sa 17:39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. "I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." So he took them off.

1Sa 17:40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

1Sa 17:41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David.

1Sa 17:42 He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him.

David was a cute boy and Goliath despised him.

1Sa 17:43 He said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

1Sa 17:44 "Come here," he said, "and I'll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!"

1Sa 17:45 David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

1Sa 17:46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hands, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.

1Sa 17:47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands."

1Sa 17:48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.

1Sa 17:49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.

1Sa 17:50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

1Sa 17:51 David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine's sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran.

3 Accept God’s way.

This is how God wants for us to deal with our giants, first we need to understand that in the story of David, we are not the hero,

I was listening to Lui Giglio a few years ago and as he shared This view, it made sense to me.

David gave all glory to God; he never took credit for defeating Goliath. It was God’s victory and deliverance.

We all want to be courageous like David and defeat Goliath, but we are not, and God knew that, in his great love for us HE sent Jesus his champion to deliver us. Let Jesus fight your giants

The giant that we are listening too, is now dead, and Jesus has his head in his hand.

Jesus victory, is our victory.

Our giants are defeated when we make Jesus the Lord of our lives.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Joh 3:16

To receive Jesus we need to accept Him as God’s son, repent from our sins and a life of selfishness, and we need to ask Him to be our Lord and savior, not that we deserve it, but is a gift from God.

If this is your desire today, please repeat this prayer after me?

Heavenly Father I’m sinner,

I’m sorry for my sins,

I’m willing to turn away from my sins.

I receive Christ as my savior,

I confess him as Lord

from this moment on

I want to follow and serve him,

in the fellowship of his church,

In Jesus name. Amen!

1Co 11:23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;

1Co 11:24 and when He had given thanks, He broke itand said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me."

1Co 11:25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."

1Co 11:26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes.

1Co 11:27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks thiscup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

Heb 9:14 dead works, acts, sins

E mau aku ka loko maika’i o ka Haku, Iesu Kristo; me ke aloha a ke Akua, a me ka launa pu ‘ana mai o ka Uhane Hemolele ia ‘olua, a me makou apau. Amene.