Slaying Giants

Unsettled Choosing Faith over Fear

Intro Series - Characters of the Bible who committed to following God wherever he called and how God birth out of them great acts of faith that paved the way and produced a victory that couldn’t have been achieved otherwise.

1 Samuel 17:1–11 ESV

Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines. And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And his shield-bearer went before him. He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” And the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

This story begins with fear.

Fear is what create the unsettled state we experience so often.

Fear causes us to say, “I can’t beat that” I can’t overcome that”

“That Giant is too big”

“That addiction is too strong”

“That Debt is too big”

“That kid is too crazy” (I have a kid going through the terrible two’s right now and she is living up to the stereotype) and moms out there.”

“My situation is too bad”

“My sickness is too much”

What we are going to find out in this story is that in the midst of fear, faith triumphs

In the midst of 40 days of taunting the people of God. After 40 days of the impending doom of slavery to a foreign invader, after 40 days without a plan to defeat the enemies of God.

One person steps up and takes him head on.

One person will step through the fear and engage with the enemy.

Faith triumphs in the midst of fear.

David is sent by his dad to the battlefield with food. His older brothers get on GRUBHUB or HELLO FRESH and need some food so David gets stuck being the Schwans man and delivering it to them.

David heard something was wrong and took action

1 Samuel 17:26 ESV

And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall 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 defy the armies of the living God?”

David sees the problem and gets angry with the enemies of God. His heart is moved to action.

Faith —) Courage —) Power

David was young - probably 18-21 yrs old.

He had a faith that was unbreakable.

He’s is trying to convince Saul, the King, that he is the man for the job. He is the giant slayer. He’s saying “put me in coach” “let me take the winning shot”. “I got this”

Listen to what David says

1 Samuel 17:37 ESV

And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”

What is David saying here?

“My God delivered me then and he can deliver me now”

“When fear surrounded me as I stepped toward that Lion, God was with me”

“When my arms were shaking as I lunged and attacked that Bear who was endangering my flock, God had me.”

That same God who was there way back when, is here with me now.

David had a Faith that was unbreakable because he knew the works of God. He had seen him move before. He knew if he were to engage this Monster, he wouldn’t be alone.

David’s Faith created Courage.

When you have Faith producing courage, there is a power that transends fear and what people see in the natural. You can function at a higher level.

POWER IS AN ACTION WORD. When you have power produced by courageous faith, when that fear comes, its not crippling, its manageable.

POWER PUSHES - When someone is operating out of power it pushes them through fear. They see it for what it really is, they can manage the emotion and step through it.

Spirit Power casts out Fear

David’s Victory removed any semblance of fear from the minds of the Israelites.

David was courageous when everyone else was fearful

David was bold when every one else shrunk back.

Here’s the statements we make

How can I be fearless like David?

How can i be bold when the enemies of my life are pounding on the doors of my life?

English Standard Version Chapter 16

13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward.

HOW DO I DEFEAT THOSE GIANTS?!

Victory doesn’t start with your faith.

Victory starts with a realization.

Realization leads to Faith, faith leads to courage, courage leads to power.

Jesus won the bigger battle