Giant Killers

Introduction

Alright, well good evening and welcome back!

Tonight if you will, turn in your Bibles back to 2 Samuel 21.

Tonight we are going to be looking at a little portion of the life of King David.

And, we find ourselves in a time about 40 years after we are first introduced to king David when he was just a young boy anointed by Samuel.

Other than his anointing, really the first time we see David in battle, he is killing a giant.

And now we find him 40 years later doing the same thing, killing giants.

And if you have studied the life of David at all, you will know that over the course of David's life he had many ups and downs.

He is know for killing lions, bears, and eventually all enemies that came against him.

He was anointed as God’s first King of Israel.

Saul was the first king, but Saul was “the people’s” king, but David was God’s King.

And because of Saul’s jealousy, David spent many years avoiding being killed by Saul.

After becoming king, he was guilty of having Uriah killed and committing adultery Uriah’s wife Bathsheba.

He lost the child born from that sin.

Had one son kill another for raping his sister.

All sorts of family turmoil.

But in the end, also being the father of Solomon, one of the greatest kings of Israel.

So, David had a very storied life and very complicated life.

But God’s hand was on David and God was always with David.

Not because David was perfect, but because David had a heart for God.

And when David sinned, David repented.

David tried to make things right.

And no matter how bad things got and how bad the things David did, God forgave David.

Which is a lesson for us in itself.

Regardless of what we do or have done, God is still God.

And God is still willing to forgive, so long as we are willing to swallow our pride and repent.

Not just say “sorry about that God” but really and truly repent.

Really try with all our heart not to make the same mistakes.

Not to fall victim to Satan.

Not to fall into his traps.

But we know that the battle is long and hard.

Which is no different than the life of David and his task of killing giants throughout his life.

So tonight we are going to look at one episode where David was killing giants and see what we can also learn from that.

So, if you have found 2 Samuel 21 in your Bible’s or you can follow on the screen, starting in verse 15, the Bible writes . . .

Scripture Focus

2 Samuel 21:15–22 NIV - Anglicised

Once again there was a battle between the Philistines and Israel. David went down with his men to fight against the Philistines, and he became exhausted. And Ishbi-Benob, one of the descendants of Rapha, whose bronze spearhead weighed three hundred shekels and who was armed with a new sword, said he would kill David. But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David’s rescue; he struck the Philistine down and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, saying, “Never again will you go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel will not be extinguished.” In the course of time, there was another battle with the Philistines, at Gob. At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, one of the descendants of Rapha. In another battle with the Philistines at Gob, Elhanan son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver’s rod. In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha. When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah, David’s brother, killed him. These four were descendants of Rapha in Gath, and they fell at the hands of David and his men.

Waxing Faint

Now, we see from our passage here that right off the bat, things were not going as picture perfect for David as we try to make our minds believe.

And that is actually a problem we have when we read about the heroes in our Bible.

We often will see the good that they did but ignore their human weakness and frailities as well.

We will psych ourselves out and tell ourselves “I can’t do those great things,” forgetting that it was not always great and perfect for our Biblical heroes either.

Which is exactly what we see going on here with King David.

So, again starting in verse 15 . . .

2 Samuel 21:15 NIV - Anglicised

Once again there was a battle between the Philistines and Israel. David went down with his men to fight against the Philistines, and he became exhausted.

So, like I said in the beginning, we find David (40) years after the killing of Goliath and he is again engaged in battle with the Philistines and with the race of giants.

And given his age now, David was no spring chicken.

And these Philistines were the mortal enemies of Israel and we can glean from other Scripture that the Giants of the Philistines were the offspring of fallen angels (demons) who had bore children with humans.

Genesis 6:4–5 NIV - Anglicised

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterwards—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown. The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.

The Nephilim is translated as “giants” and the sons of God here were angels that had been cast to earth with Satan.

And God sees how dangerous they are and how wicked the earth had become because of their sin as well as man’s sin.

And these Philistines that David is battling against were the descendants of these Nephilim and were nothing more than the seed of Satan.

And all of that makes for a good story, but what does that have to do with us?

Well, it’s simple, we also face giants each and every single day of our Christian walk.

The spawn of Satan, if you will.

In fact, this is why Paul tells us to put on the full armour of God . . .

Ephesians 6:11–12 NIV - Anglicised

Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

It is the exact same concept here.

And, David, like many of us had been battling for many years, fighting tooth and nail with these giants and he had reached a point where he grew exhausted or "waxed faint" as the KJV puts it.

David had grown weary in the fight.

He had been bruised and wounded many times in his battles and reached a point where he was worn down and worn out.

I wonder, has anybody ever been there?

Got, so low you thought about giving up.

That's where David was.

He had got to that point and Isbibenob, the giant could sense that he was ready to kill David, take him out of the fight all together.

2 Samuel 21:16 NIV - Anglicised

And Ishbi-Benob, one of the descendants of Rapha, whose bronze spearhead weighed three hundred shekels and who was armed with a new sword, said he would kill David.

He thought he had David.

He had David, isolated and cornered off, where all he had to do was strike the fatal blow.

But that wasn't God's plan.

It wasn't David's time to die just yet, and remember, David didn't go into battle alone!

Abishai, his right hand man was there with him fighting these giants.

So . . .

2 Samuel 21:17 NIV - Anglicised

But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David’s rescue; he struck the Philistine down and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, saying, “Never again will you go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel will not be extinguished.”

And that is really our next lesson:

Never, ever, ever give up.

Don’t go into battle alone!

Ecclesiastes 4:9–12 NIV - Anglicised

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no-one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

We've got to stick together and fight these giants together!

Abishai saved David that day and we never know when one of our brothers or sisters will need to save us from certain destruction.

Back to Paul’s advice . . .

Galatians 6:1–2 NIV - Anglicised

Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ.

Which boils down to mean that we are obligated to help one another fight the fight.

And sometimes that means laying back and letting our brothers and sisters stand in the gap for us.

Letting them fight for us when we can no longer fight.

David had reached this point.

He was no longer able to go out to battle with his men.

And even though David could no longer take the fight to the enemy, God still intended to use David and that had not diminished.

David's role had simply changed.

The same is true for each of us, as we mature, the role we take in the fight changes with that.

We are not always going to be right there on the front lines.

Some times we are back away from the lines fulfilling other roles.

We are the support troops.

Maybe we are the brass back at headquarters directing the troops.

And that’s okay.

What’s important is realizing what our role is.

And realizing what our limits are.

And operating within God’s will inside those limits.

That’s why it is so important that people hear that all callings are just as important than others.

It really doesn’t matter what role God has called you to fulfill.

What matters is that you are working to fulfill that role.

That’s is all God asks.

And if the role wasn’t important, God wouldn’t have created it.

For instance, an example that comes to mind is a shut-in who can’t get out and do things.

But they spend time each and every day praying for their church and praying for the sick.

Even though they are in the background and people probably don’t even know they are doing it, it is vitally important.

It is just as important—I would say in many instances more important, than many of the other things that go on.

Prayer is the backbone of all we do as Christians.

Prayer covers us, protects us, empowers us, delivers us.

And without it we are useless.

So, if God has called you to be a prayer warrior and that’s all God calls you to do, embrace it and pray with all your heart.

Because we need it!

The Enemy Still Comes

Because, just like David is no longer on the front lines, it doesn’t mean that the enemy stops coming and stops attacking.

If, anything the enemy attacks more.

Look what happens next in our text . . .

2 Samuel 21:18–21 NIV - Anglicised

In the course of time, there was another battle with the Philistines, at Gob. At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, one of the descendants of Rapha. In another battle with the Philistines at Gob, Elhanan son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver’s rod. In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha. When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah, David’s brother, killed him.

So, after the battle in which Abishai saved David, the Bible records at least (3) more battles with the giants.

In each one of these battles, one of David's men that he had trained and fought with killed a giant.

They prevailed because for years they had fought alongside of God's anointed.

They themselves had tapped into the anointing of God.

They had HIS favor and were victorious because of it.

And the same thing is true for each of us.

Regardless of our role, the enemy is not going to stop coming.

The enemy is not going to give up and go home.

The enemy is going to continue to come, continue to attack.

And we need each other.

We need God’s anointing.

We need God’s favor.

Because when we have God’s favor . . .

Romans 8:31–32 NIV - Anglicised

What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

Altar/Challenge

So, tonight, what about us?

If God is for us, then who can stand against us?

What enemy can prevail against God's anointed?

Folks our battles with the giants is not over when we receive Jesus Christ.

We've not yet conquered the giants of our lives.

And there are going to be times when we may grow weary, faint, and weak.

Tonight may be one of those times.

The Bible tells us:

Galatians 6:9 NIV - Anglicised

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

We cannot give up and grow faint.

We have to keep our strength and renew our strength each and every day . . .

2 Corinthians 4:16 NIV - Anglicised

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

I wonder, do you need a fresh anointing tonight?

Is your well running dry? If so, this altar is for you.

Maybe you've never been in the fight, don't know what the battle is like because you've never accepted Christ as your savior.

Come now, join the battle.

WE ALL HAVE A DECISION TO MAKE....

DO WE WANT TO BE GIANT KILLERS OR BE OVERRUN BY THE GIANTS OF OUR LIVES.

If you want victory, this is the place for it.

Let’s pray . . .