Listen to your Enemy

25 At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land. 26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.” 30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

Giant — From Merriam-Webster

1: a legendary humanlike being of great stature and strength

2 a: a living being of great size

b: a person of extraordinary powers

3: something unusually large or powerful

This definition is talking about physical size, stature or strength as being a giant. Who has seen a giant? Some members of the NBA have got to be pretty close to being classified as giants.

Gheorghe Muresan (Romania) - Washington Bullets (1993-1997) and New Jersey Nets (1998-2000) was 7 ft 7 in tall.

Yao Ming (China) - Houston Rockets (2002-2011) was 7 ft 6 in tall

There are actually quite a few that are over 7 ft tall.

Not all tall people play basketball.

The actually tallest person recorded in current history was Robert Wadlow (United States). He was 8 ft 11.1 in tall.

The tallest living person is Sultan Kosen (Turkey) - 8 ft 2.8 in tall.

Notice that these are all men.

The tallest woman ever recorded is Zeng Jinlian (China) - 8 ft 1 3/4 in tall.

In the United States anyone that is 7 ft or taller is usually considered a giant.

In some cultures or nationalities, people of shorter stature would be considered giants.

All I have talked about so far is people of height. A giant could also be considered based on physical size or strength.

Bill Gates and Steve Jobs would be considered a giants of Industry. Just to consider two.

Legendary Giants

The Anakim were described as a race of giants, descended from Anak. They were said to have lived in the southern part of the land of Canaan, near Hebron. According to the Bible they inhabited the region later know as Edom and Moab in the days of Abraham. Their appearance as described by the 12 spies sent to search out the land, filled the Israelites with terror. The Israelites seem to have identified them with the Nephilim or Anakim. Joshua finally expelled them from the land, except for some that found a refuge in the Philistine cities of Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. Goliath was from this race of giants.

Atlas was a legend in Greek mythology - same as Hercules in Roman mythology - condemned to hold up the heavens for eternity.

In New York City at the entrance to the RCA building on Fifth Avenue is a massive statue of Atlas, a perfectly proportioned man who, with all his muscles straining, is holding the world upon his shoulders. There he is, the most powerfully built man in the world, and he can barely stand up under his burden.

On the other side of Fifth Avenue is St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and there behind the altar is a statue of Jesus as a boy, maybe eight or nine years old, and with no effort, he is holding the world in one hand.

The story of David and Goliath is one of the most familiar stories of the Bible. Sports broadcasters and announcers like to use this story to explain Great teams vs. No So Great Teams - when odds are heavy on one side of the competition.

Let’s remember this story for a bit. We know how this story ends, but how did David find the courage to face Goliath when no one else could? Let’s look at the situation a little closer.

The situation is clear-cut. Two nations are at war, Israel and Philistine. The dispute could be settled by simply sending down their respective champions. The champion of the Philistines is Goliath, the famous giant of Gath. His height was 6 cubits and a span. A cubit was considered the length of the arm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger and was usually considered to be 18-21 inches. A cubit was also considered to be 6 palms or 2 spans. Rough calculations indicate that Goliath was somewhere between 117 in. and 136.5 in tall - somewhere between 9 3/4 feet and 11 1/2 feet. That’s pretty good size.

Scripture records that for 40 days, Goliath called for any challengers, but none came from Israel.

What Giants do We face today?

There are giants we have to face today. Problems and concerns can feel like giants.

Health Problems

Financial Problems

Marital Problems

Governmental Problems

Employment Problems

Children Problems

These giants like Goliath all have names. Names like:

Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express

Mortgage

Terrorism

Cancer, Diabetes, Arthritus

Addictions, etc.

Like Goliath, these giants are standing in the valley, intimidating us, scaring us, putting the spirit of fear in us. The good news is that others have faced giants and walked away victorious. Others have stood toe to toe with giants and came out on top. Giants don’t have to win. Like David, we can overcome the giants in our lives.

Now let us remember the other characters in this story. We have David’s brother. David’s big brother, one who David no doubt admired and looked up to. However, when David suggested that someone should go down and face Goliath, his brother tries to discourage him. One of the things that we have to do if we are to conquer the giants in our life is to overcome discouragement.

There will be people close to you who will try to convince you that you can’t beat the odds. You can’t beat the system. The giant is too great and you are too small. But, with God, all things are possible. Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

The next person we see in this story is Saul. I see Saul in the story as a lover and not a fighter. We live now where a lot of people think they are lovers and not fighters (spiritual). They don’t fight to keep their marriages. They don’t fight to keep the communities free from drugs or other addictions. They don’t fight to keep their children from the wrong crowds. In short, they don’t fight for anything.

As children of God, we are called to Stand up and fight with the weapons of God - Praise, Prayer and the Word of God.

So how did David find enough courage to go down to face Goliath?

David said that he had fought the lion and the bear and God delivered him from them. The lion likes to hunt at night, under the cover of darkness. The lion likes to keep its prey in fear with his loud roar and then it seeks out the weakest in the group to separate them from the rest.

1 Peter 5:8 NIV

8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

The Devil is described as a roaring lion. He cannot destroy you but he can scare you to death. This is how the Devil tries to conquer our soul. By making a lot of noise. Fill our lives with so much busy-ness that we cannot hear the voice of God. Problems seem greater than they are because the Devil amplifies and magnifies the problem in our lives.

However, David had the testimony that God had delivered him from the lion. David had the testimony that problems and challenges that he had in the past that seems to big to conquer, God had already delivered him. We should learn from our experiences with the lions in our lives.

When we were kids the dark, and monsters under the bed scare us but God has delivered us into adulthood, therefore we should not be afraid. We should use our past experiences with God to help us stand for God in the face of present and real dangers.

Secondly, David recalled how God delivered him from the Bear. In scriptures the bear is more furious than the lion. The bear is certainly a very cross animal; the name that was given to it in the Bible times means a grumbler or growler. The bear hibernates, lays dormant during the winter months, then comes out hungry and grumpy. That’s a bad combination. Some people are like that ambitious and irritable. Anything will set them off. They are always complaining about something, problems in the world, problems in schools, problems in the family, problems in the government, problems in the church. Something is wrong with everybody and everything. It’s always too wet or too dry, too cold or too hot. Nothing seems to please them and they will attack you. They attack your dreams, your plans, your hopes.

If you have never faced a bear-type person, just keep on living.

David had the testimony that God had delivered him from the bear.

It’s based on these testimonies that David could face Goliath. David had faith that with God’s help he could face the enemy. David believed that if God delivered him from the lion and the bear, he would surely deliver him from this giant.

You can face the greatest challenges when you realize what God has delivered you from in the past. When you realize that God has delivered you from sin and temptation in the past, you should be able to stand for God now in the face of wickedness and unrighteousness. You too will be able to say that the same God that brought me this far will also bring me through this battle/giant.

If we consider the Israelites battle with the Philistines, Goliath was not the only giant the Israelites were facing. The biggest giant in their lives was their lack of faith.

Even though God had brought the Israelites out of Egypt.

Even though God had raised up Joshua to lead them into the Promised Land.

Even though God had given them many victories along the way, they didn’t have faith that He could give them victory over one person! They were focused on the size of the giant. In stead of being focused on the size of their God.

When do your circumstances terrify you?

When they are GIANTS?

When, from your perspective, things look HOPELESS, you see no possible way to defeat or overcome what you’re faced with. I pause to ask you this question. What are the giants in your life? What does your battle front look like?

What are the obstacles that leave you dismayed and discouraged? Maybe your giant is financial. You have a stack of bills. It seems as soon as you pay off one, another one comes along. The problem seems so large that you just can’t see how God can help you.

Maybe your giant is an addiction. You’ve been struggling with it for years and years. You’ve done everything in your power to try and break the habit. But it’s become such a large problem that you’re starting to wonder if you’re ever going to have the victory in this life.

Are you facing the enemy of Cancer or some other life threatening disease?

Maybe your giant is a person. Not because they’re 9 feet tall. But because they intimidate you. Their personality is strong. Maybe their ability is so great that you feel small in their presence.

How many of you are dealing with a giant in your life right now?

The normal reaction to the giants in our lives is to get discouraged.

LISTEN - instead of saying, “Look how big my giant is,” you should be saying, “look how big my God is compared to this giant! Look how awesome He is compared to this little problem in front of me!”

David more than likely had no idea who Goliath even was. But that’s the way it is with giants that we battle. We never expect them, they just show up., and we get so caught up in the battle that we don’t see beyond ourselves.

We must remember that God is bigger than our problems; God is bigger then our giants; and that day, God was bigger than Goliath.

When we look at this situation, there seems to be a sharp contrast in how to battle a giant.

Notice how Saul approached the situation. they kept putting it off, and the more they delayed, the more intimidated they got, the harder the problem became for them to handle. It’s the same thing when we battle our giants. We wake up every morning and walk to the battle line. We look across the valley and see the problem standing there. And it happens day after day, and the more we delay in battling the giant, the more intimidating the problem becomes, and the harder it is to handle later.

I’m sure that you have figured out by now that your giants are not going to go away by themselves. The Israelites could relate to that. The Bible says that every day for forty days Goliath would get up early, walk down to the valley, stare up at the rocks behind where the soldiers of Israel were hiding and he would call them out. He would taunt them. Deep down, they must have hoped that Goliath would get fed up with the situation and walk away.

David mode them realize that the only way to resolve the issue was by going up against the giant.

David’s Process of Killing His Giant

1.Preparation - David left the worldly things with the keeper before going to the battlefield. God had provided David with victory earlier in life to prepare him for such a time as this.

1 Samuel 17:20 NIV

20 Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry.

2. Provision - David did not rely on his own strength or ability. He was not arrogant enough to take just one stone, he chose 5 - incidentally that was the Biblical number for Grace. He knew that God could God could win the battle for him, but made sure that it was God’s plan and not his.

3. Power - there is power in the name of Jesus! David came against the giant in the name above all names - He didn’t come against him in his own strength, but in the strength of the name of God.

4. Persistance - Just getting to the battlefield was an accomplishment in itself seeing that no other fighter in the entire Israeli army would do so. But David was persistant to go onward and forward, never backward in the battle, in other words, he was persistant in the quest to win.

Note: He left the sheep, he left the supplies, he left the scared and afraid and ran into battle, because he knew it had already been won.

5. Prevail - As believers we, like David, will prevail. If God be for us, who can be against us? We need to keep in mind that we have already won. The battle is the Lords and he never loses.

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