Giant-Sized Faith

Prayer

1 Samuel 17, the Story of David versus Goliath

We’re back in 1 Samuel, which is the book of the Old Testament that brings us into the monarchy period of the Israelites, a time when they become truly united as a nation, at least for a short period of time. We left off last week having seen David, a shepherd and the youngest son of Jesse of Bethlehem, being anointed in secret by Samuel to be the new king, the one who would replace the current king, Saul, whom God has rejected as king, Saul. David was chosen because he was a man after God’s own heart. That was 1 Samuel 16.

Today we’ll be in 1 Samuel 17, Saul is still king, and he and the Israelite army have come together in war against the Philistines in the area of Judah. The two armies are encamped on opposite hills, with the Valley of Elah between them. A quick note here regarding the timeline, because honestly, it’s a little confusing - because last week we saw that after David was anointed king, he went into the service of Saul to play the lyre whenever the tormenting spirit came upon Saul. But in this story, Saul will not know who David is when he shows up, so it’s unclear what the order of events is.

So the two armies are camped up on their respective hills, and each morning they form in battle lines against each other. And every morning, out of the Philistine line comes a mountain of a man, their champion, Goliath. He is described as being nine feet tall, dressed from head to toe in bronze armor - helmet, full scale armor, greaves for his legs, javelin slung on his back. An incredibly imposing figure, to say the least.

And every morning, Goliath issues a challenge, 1 Samuel 17:8-9 - 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. 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.”

So that’s the deal, instead of the two armies fighting, they would settle the winner by a man-to-man battle. The Israelites, however, didn’t really care for this idea, vs. 11 - On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

The story shifts at this point to Bethlehem, where Jesse is gathering together food supplies to send to his three eldest sons and their army unit gathered there at the Valley of Elah. Jesse is sending his youngest son, David, to deliver the food. David loads up and heads to the camp of the Israelite army, and he arrives just in time to witness Goliath, the Philistine champion, emerge from the battle lines to issue his daily challenge, just as he has been doing for the last forty days (think about that for a moment - almost six weeks, every day, these armies lined up, that’s a lot of tension).

And again, we see the response of the Israelites, vs. 24: Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear. Not a great showing for your army when they scatter every time this giant comes out to defy them. Remember two weeks ago, when we talked about Saul’s fear - this army has followed his lead in this.

But we see a very different response from David, 1 Samuel 17:26 - David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” David’s whole thought - what a minute, somebody has to stop this guy! This is a disgrace. He is defying the armies of the living God. David is mad, he’s outraged by this. This uncircumcised Philistine can’t get away with this.

Turns out quite a lot will be done for man who kills Goliath - he’ll receive great wealth, the king will give him his daughter in marriage, and his family will be exempt from taxes. Saul really wants someone to take this guy on - and up until this point, no one has taken him up on the offer.

At this point we get this interesting little tidbit where Eliab, David’s oldest brother gets angry at David for asking all these questions and berates him for doing so, asking him, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.” Ouch!

Anyway, word gets to Saul that David is asking questions so he calls for David to come and David volunteers to go fight Goliath, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” Of course, Saul takes one look at this young man, dressed in regular clothes, no armor, weaponry - you can’t fight this guy, he’s a seasoned warrior.

David tells him how, while shepherding, he has chased down and killed both a bear and a lion that tried to take off with one of his sheep - and this uncircumcised Philistine will be just like them, because - here it is again, “he has defied the armies of the living God. 1 Samuel 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.

So Saul gives him the go ahead - and even dresses David in his tunic and armor and helmet and sword. But David isn’t a warrior - he’s never worn armor, never fought in a battle. After trying to walk around in this over-sized armor, he ditches them. So David goes to battle with just the staff in his hand, a sling, and five smooth stones that he pulls from a nearby stream.

And as he goes to face the Philistine champion, Goliath is quite shocked - and offended - that after waiting forty days, this “kid” is who the Israelites have sent out to face him in battle. It’s like he’s being punked. And it makes him mad - so mad that it says that he despised David. He wants to tear him from limb to limb. But it doesn’t faze David - listen to his response, this is key to David’s mind and heart here, 1 Samuel 17:45-46 - 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. 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.

David is ready to go - and go he does. Goliath starts moving toward David, going on the attack - and David doesn’t back up, doesn’t run, doesn’t even just stand there - he runs quickly toward the battle line to meet him. And as he does, he reaches into his pouch, pulls out one of the stones, and slings it at Goliath, striking him right in the forehead. By the way, a skilled slinger can sling a rock with great accuracy from a distance of 100 yards - at 100 miles per hour. It can be a very dangerous weapon, as David demonstrates here. Goliath collapses to the ground, and just as David promised, he grabs Goliath’s own sword and cuts off his head. The Philistines can’t believe their champion has been killed and they turn and run. The Israelites give chase, striking down many of them, winning a great victory.

David’s Giant Faith

David and Goliath is a classic story, theme is so powerful, David versus Goliath, the idea of the under-sized underdog taking on the champion, the giant - and winning. Overcoming the great odds. We see it in so many stories - all the great sports movies (Hoosiers, Miracle on Ice, Dodgeball), it’s often the theme of legal movies, small town independent lawyer takes on the huge corrupt *-*corporation with their team of high-priced lawyers.

But I want to point out that in this sense, the David & Goliath story here in 1 Samuel 17 is not a David versus Goliath story - or, at least, that’s not the way David sees it. David doesn’t see his battle against Goliath as the way most people - including Saul and his fellow Israelites - see it. What do I mean by that? I mean that David doesn’t see the odds as stacked against him, as if he’s the underdog here. The one who has no real chance to win.

Because David doesn’t see this as just a battle between him and Goliath - he sees it as a battle between Goliath and him - and the living God of Israel. As he himself says - “the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” It’s actually Goliath who’s outclassed here. He’s the puny one, the big underdog. He’s the David, so to speak - because he thinks he can defeat the Lord God Almighty.

It’s this perspective, David’s way of seeing, that is the basis of his bold faith. It’s what enables him to face a man, a seasoned warrior, who towers over him, decked out in full scale armor from head to toe, fully armed with spear and sword and shield. A man so intimidating that there is not a single soldier - including the king himself (remember, Saul himself was a head taller than everyone else) in the Israelite army who is willing to face him in battle. By the way, this is another thing that points to Saul’s cowardice - at some point, he should have stepped as king and taken on the challenge, but he didn’t.

No, it is a young shepherd who is willing to face him in battle because he sees what they cannot see - the greatness of God. His presence there with him. The reality of God. The living God. He knows the Lord is with him. And he knows the Lord is powerful. Everything David declares is from this base assumption.

Notice how this perspective informs how he sees the situation. It’s helpful to realize that no one else sees it this way - they’ve all bought into the lie. The lie that God is not present, not there to be with them, to fight for them. Lie that gets repeated and more deeply ingrained day after day (for forty days), leads them to flee from Samson every day he comes out to issue his challenge.

When David enters the camp, his reaction - which is so instantaneous, so spontaneous - because he’s informed by this great reality of who the Lord is - he’s in shock. He’s flabbergasted. What the heck? What’s going on here, this is a disgrace! How are we letting this Philistine defy the living God?! David isn’t scared, he’s mad. Who is this guy? Does he even know who he is challenging, who he is defying?!

Fascinating to see how the other Israelites respond to David - because as soon as he shows up and starts asking questions, this challenges them and their lack of faith. It gets exposed and they don’t like it.

Here’s a perfect example, I mentioned this earlier - 1 Samuel 17:28: When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.” It’s ironic that Eliab would describe him as conceited and how wicked his heart is - the very heart that spurred God to choose him as the next king of Israel, a man after his own heart.

Saul, who is failing in his kingship, his leadership (he should have been the one who went out to face Goliath), tells David there’s no way he can do this, he can’t win. David remains dissuaded - he knows the greatness and power of God. He’s experienced it in his own life, as he faced both a lion and a bear. In his eyes, the uncircumcised Philistine is another enemy who knows nothing about the living God - and therefore defies him. But David knows the living God, he knows that he is the God who rescues, who fights the battle. It’s Goliath who should be afraid.

Ultimately, this is a story about seeing differently. And seeing what everyone else misses - the power and presence of God with us. The king, Saul, couldn’t see it. David’s brother, Eliab, couldn’t see it. The Israelite army couldn’t see it. But David could. He knew that when he went to fight Goliath, that it wasn’t just him fighting alone, but that the living God was him. That this was the Lord’s battle.

Now odds are very low that we’re going to have to face a 9 foot armored champion in battle. But that doesn’t mean we don’t face real battles in our own lives, of all sorts. Relational battles - having to deal with difficult people on a regular basis. Financial struggles - bills are piling up and we’re getting overwhelmed. Physical battle - a chronic illness, debilitating pain. Often, the battles are more internal - fighting depression. Anxiety. I feel often that the most difficult battles are with myself - desires of flesh. Those tendencies to want to hang on to hurt, when I’ve been wronged…take the easy way out of a situation rather than the right way.

What would change for us if we engaged those battles knowing, like David, that these weren’t just our battles, but the Lord’s? That he really is the Living God - alive, here, present with us, mighty in power? I think that’s why the story of David versus Goliath has been such a powerful one, because it resonates so deeply within us - the desire to have that kind of faith. Because we know we’re going to face battles - battles where we feel overwhelmed, way outmatched. And to be able to charge in because you know the Lord is with you!

To have the kind of faith described in Hebrews 11:1, the faith Hall of Fame: Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Ability to see differently, with different eyes - spiritual eyes. Like night vision googles - put them on - oh, yeah, there’s God, right there with me. That’s what we need, God-vision googles.

Spiritual Disciplines - let me offer this morning a couple of spiritual disciplines that I believe will help grow faith in us, the kind of faith - the sight - that David had. Called soul-training exercises because we’re engaging to training to see differently. To see God in our midst.

One crucial discipline here is the discipline of solitude. To get alone to be with God. I have to imagine that David, as a shepherd, spent a lot of time alone - and took advantage of that time to be with God. Solitude involves quiet - no distractions (lock the cell phone away, no music, away from others), in order to be with God, attentive to his presence. Quiet place in your house. Taking a walk, or a hike. Give yourself time.

Second way to grow faith is by putting ourselves in places where we have to trust God, truly depend on him - primarily comes through obedience to what he teaches us. It might be in our finances (giving sacrificially), hopefully, as we seek to become more of a church that makes disciples (inviting a friend to church, engaging in spiritual conversation with someone). David learned to trust the presence and power of God when he went after the lion and the bear, he learned that God would rescue him. We learn when we live into what God has for us - ministry he’s calling us to, leadership role he wants us to take on, etc. Is there an area of your life God is calling you to trust him?