“David and Goliath” - 1 Samuel 17

In one of his meetings, D.L. Moody was explaining to his audience the truth that we cannot bring about spiritual changes in our lives by our own strength. He demonstrated the principal like this: “Tell me,” he said to his audience, “how can I get the air out of the tumbler I have in my hand?” One man said, “Suck it out with a pump.” But Moody replied, “That would create a vacuum and shatter it.” Finally after many suggestions, he picked up a pitcher and quietly filled the glass with water. “There,” he said, “all the air is now removed.” He then explained that victory for the child of God does not come by working hard to eliminate sinful habits, but rather by allowing Christ to take full possession.

Victory. Yes we all love victory. Webster defines victory: the overcoming of an enemy or antagonist. Achievement of mastery or success in a struggle or endeavor against odds or difficulties. We love it. It defines many of us. We wear the symbol of it as a swoosh on our shoes. We do not like defeat. But when brought into the arena of Christianity we find a whole mess of confusion. We seek and celebrate victory in Jesus, but what does that mean to us? Many church leaders will say that our goal is to achieve victory in Jesus, but our struggle today is that this means many different things to many different people. As pilgrims in the land, citizens of the kingdom of heaven, we find ourselves face to face with a great many giants before us. Some of them fell, but are still standing. Lets be honest.

The real problem. Many of these giants cannot be beat with our efforts. They can only be defeated by Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. The air in the cup cannot come out by our ingenuity, but by the filling of the Spirit. But when face to face with our giants, we want to slay them ourselves and we are always on the search for the latest and greatest ways to do it. But when we have tried it all, they are still standing. We become discouraged and in despair. These giants will never fall. I can’t wait for God to drop them any longer. I think the Lord has abandoned me. I have problems and no matter what I do they do not go away. Much of the problem has to do not with what we need to do, but what we need to believe. Oh the giant of unbelief. Many of us today could say that we have giants standing before us right now. Is there hope for us today? Yes. I will show you why in our passage today.

2:  achievement of mastery or success in a struggle or endeavor against odds or difficulties

Last week we saw that the Spirit of God was taken from Saul and a tormenting one was given to him. David filled with the Spirit played music for Saul to relieve him of the torment. Now we today will explore one of the most beloved stories in the entire Bible. David and Goliath. But maybe not in the way you have heard it before.

The Setting, the Drama. The Philistines gathered their army for battle as did the Israelites. A stand off. Then an over 9 foot tall Philistine champion emerged. He carried pounds and pounds of armor and weapons calling out to Israel. He offered terms of an agreement to the people… send out your champion and if I beat him you will be our slaves and if he beats me we will be your slaves. He said, “I defy the armies of Israel.” He was defying God while Saul and the people shook in terror. David arrived on the scene simply running back and fourth helping his father. Goliath came out for 40 days and “strutted” before them. David ran an errand for his father bringing his brothers gifts and overheard the taunts of Goliath witnessing the armies of Israel running away in fear. Saul offered a reward of his daughters hand in marriage and not having to pay taxes anymore... nice. But there were no takers. David inquired… “For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” David’s brother got upset. They asserted that he should be helping dad but he just wants to come and watch the battle. David volunteered. Are you crazy Saul said. You are just a boy and he has been a man of war since he was a youth. Sire, I killed lions and bears taking care of the flock and I will do the same to this Philistine who defies the armies of the living God. The Lord will rescue me. David goes out armed with only a shepherd staff, a slingshot, and 5 smooth stones. Goliath said… Am I a dog coming out here with a stick? David replies… you come to me with sword and spear, but I come to you in the name of the Lord. The Lord is going to conquer you and I will cut off your head. The Lord will rescue his people and everyone will see it. He shot the Philistine in the forehead killing him. He cut off Goliath’s head with Goliath’s sword and the Israelites ran with a shout and routed the Philistines. Theirs was the victory this day.

1 Samuel 17

1 Samuel 17:44–47 NLT

“Come over here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals!” Goliath yelled. David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!”

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.

Identification

Proof of Assurance

Proof of Insurance

The first thing we will look at today are three characters and find out which one we would identify with. The last thing, we will see how the victory of Christ is our proof of eternal life and life more abundantly.

Thesis: Though sin and the effects of sin in this world stand like a Goliath taunting us to fear, it is the Lord, our shepherd like David, defeats the enemy by crushing his head without sword and shield, but by His death and resurrection bringing us the victory.

I. Identification

- Which one are you?

A. The People of Israel. In the face of an apparent impossible situation, the people of Israel along with Saul were terrified and trembling in the fear of failing. They were also terrified before opposition that would defy the Lord in their face making fun of who they were and what they believe. Worst of all he showed the unbelief of the people. You all talk about how you are the people of God and how God fights for you. If that is the case then come out and fight. Or do you not believe He will save you?

B. They also coward in fear as the over 9 foot soldier strutted his stuff before the people singing… “Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk, I'm a woman's man: no time to talk. Staying alive, ah ha ha ha staying alive.” Humiliating them!

C. They attempted to face the fight but when the apparent difficulty set fear in gear they took off running. For 40 days he humiliated them for their unbelief. Faithless Fear.

D. And how many times last week did we take off running in the face of difficulty in faithless fear? The reality…the soldiers of Israel knew that this was a fight that they could not win and knew it. But did they forget who they were? Forget the truth?

E. Now, how many times did we try to stand up and fight and got beat feeling then that now all situations would end in a loss. Disbelief? Of course it is frustrating when it is the giants of our superficial and self-indulging obstacles. Now we should lose those.

F. But what of sin? What of the real enemy? How many times did we lose our battle with sin? Sin. That thing that so easily entangles us. How many times were we disobedient? How many times were we too afraid to stand against the world? Afraid of what we see. Afraid of appearances. How many times did we lose to ourselves? How many times were we ashamed of who we are and what we believe? And how long will we fear? 40 days or more? A humiliating amount of time? How long will we be beaten by our unbelief? Today… in many ways, we are beaten and now cower in fear like the Israelites. One thing we see of Christians in our culture… we are afraid. Afraid of…

G. Goliath. An intimidating and awesome foe. Anybody seeing this would be scared. This dude is one man who Shaq could not dunk on. This guy carried loads of armor, around 126 pounds of it, showing how strong he was. This dude is one guy who could probably bench more than Dwayne Johnson. This guy was a master of war. This dude could out strategize Napoleon and Genghis Kahn combined. Awesomely Unbeatable.

H. His Javelin was huge… bout the size of a small truck drive shaft and the tip of it weighed 15 pounds. This guy could throw this spear farther than a Spartan. But, worst of all. He defied the name and people of the Lord worse than any atheist ever did.

I. This man was detestable and unbeatable… and this is true. No normal man could do this. No sword or spear wielded by any man would be able to stand, much less win. Unbeatable. Like Adrian said to Rocky IV… You can’t win!

J. How about a memory that you just cannot let go. An addiction that you cannot defeat. Can’t Explain the Pain you feel from a past that seems to ever last. Scars from people who have hurt you and you can’t seem to live or forgive. Something you have done in the past to someone and now you just cannot forgive yourself. Unbeatable.

K. How about circumstances in life that make making ends meet so difficult and you have fallen so deep that you just cannot get out. Something going on in your life that feels like quick sand… the more you fight to get out the quicker you sink. Unbeatable. Parents that do not understand. Children that will not understand. Problems that make us say... “This is just hopeless. It’s over. Game over.” We say…“God why have you forsaken me. Where are you? Why are you letting this happen to me? No matter how hard I try… I fail. And now, in your word, You are going to come and judge me for my failures. Your wrath, like Goliath, is coming.” It is impossible. Unbeatable.

L. David. The man who was anointed king. He’s essentially an errand boy for his father and his brothers. He checked on his brothers for his father and helped his dad in the pastures. He was the connection between brothers and father.

M. David came to the camp and over heard the taunts of the man who defies the armies of God. Who is this guy? Does he think so highly of himself that he would offend God? David recognized the place of mankind and the place of our Eternal God. He questioned Goliath’s power over God. He saw the situation as it really was… this was not a giant. It was an enemy of God who was offending Him and His people.

N. David again had his motives questioned by his brothers in what he was doing there. He then decided to give his life and fight the giant. He was urged by Saul… you can’t do this. What are you thinking? You will die for sure. (Did you know how humiliating Goliath was? They knew the terms of the agreement and still let David represent.)

O. But he emphasized that the Lord will rescue him from death like he did with the lions and bears. Saul gave him armor and sword to make him a warrior, but he insisted that he would remain a humble shepherd.

P. The Word of David declared a gospel nugget. “You come to me with sword and spear but I come to you in the name of the Lord.” David fought and mortally wounded the giant with a blow to the head. Crushing the Head of his enemy. Then cutting it off.

Q. David got the victory… and it inspired the people to rout the enemy. They won the war…with all authority on earth given to David. With the victory now they were sent and went into all the land and made free the people of God with God being with them always till the end of the age.

R. Did you see it? See, the picture of Christ is all over the Old Testament. This whole connection was maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but I’m hoping you see my point. All Scripture is about Christ. They bear witness of Christ. So in all of this… we find beauty and real hope when we see that we are the people, sin and the wrath of God is Goliath, and David, our hero, is Christ. We get real hope! Not book selling lies!

S. Have you guys listened to sermons or books that encourage you to be a David and face your giants? Dare to be a David. You can be a Giant Slayer. Zing your Sling.

T. Did you do it? Did you fail? Got beat down didn’t you. Your giant is still there isn’t it? How many times did you zing your sling with your 5 stones (planning, priorities, passion, purpose, power) and hit nothing but air? See this is not encouraging. Do you know what the 5 stones were? It is defeating. After all the mess, I bet you now feel more like the people than David. It is discouraging. Now you have been defeated. You are now afraid. You are feeling weak and helpless. Like the people.

U. The truth… We cannot beat some of our issues and difficult circumstances. If we could then we would have already. We definitely could not beat sin. The effects of sin. The power of the world, the power of the enemy. The power of Satan. And we definitely could not beat the wrath of the living God. In life we are weak and helpless.

II. The Victory

- Not what we need to do, but what He has done.

A. The truth…We are the people of God trembling in fear of the giant. We again, cannot beat our giants. Especially sin and the wrath of God. Our greatest weakness is unbelief, o ye of little faith. We cannot beat unbelief. Also, our greatest problem is not our earthly circumstances, the economy, politics, terrorism, tax hikes and gas prices. Our greatest problem is the Wrath of God. Goliath. The Ultimate Goliath.

B. These are giants that we cannot beat, reason with, or avoid. This is why we cannot be David. Our smooth stones will not drop the wrath of God and sin. Nothing we throw.

C. But Christ. The cornerstone He threw, slayed the giant. Like David. Our Shepherd. Was anointed King. He was our connection between his brothers (us) and the Father. He questioned Pontius Pilate over his belief that he had power over God. His motives were questioned by his brothers (the Jews). He offered his life to fight the Giant (the Wrath of God). Christ is our shepherd… the Lord is my shepherd. The Lord, like he did for David, rescued him from death (the resurrection). Jesus told Peter to put the sword away for the victory comes from the Lord. Jesus fulfilled the first gospel promise by crushing the Head of the enemy. Jesus won the day and gave us the great commission to make disciples of the world finishing the work He started and He will be with us to the end of the age.

D. We win because He won. For our sake. The Gospel… Like David said… you come with sword and spear… Essentially. Not by might nor power, but by my Spirit says the Lord. Jesus declares with man this is impossible, but with God. The Gospel

E. There is hope and strength for us today. Our King has come and won the day. The third day. For Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures… The saying is trustworthy and deserving… Now justified by His resurrection.

F. If you are hearing this for the first time...

G. The victory is won… He is risen from the dead. This is the Gospel. Today if there is anyone out here who have heard this message and now believe… We do not celebrate the stones we throw, but the cornerstone He threw. Himself

H. Christian be encouraged…Though sin and the effects of sin in this world stands like a Goliath taunting us to fear, the Lord, our shepherd, like David, defeats the enemy by crushing his head without sword and shield, but by His death and resurrection bringing us the victory…life and life more abundant!