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TEXT: 2 Samuel 21:15-21
TOPIC: The Giants David Couldn’t Kill
Pastor Bobby Earls, Northgate Baptist Church, Florence, SC
Sunday morning, April 24, 2022
(Also preached this sermon on July 27, 1997 at FBI in Icard, NC)
The Story of David slaying the giant Goliath is familiar to us all.
You will recall that Goliath was not only a giant standing some nine feet tall, but he was also a giant warrior.
The Philistines had made Goliath their champion warrior.
Goliath had issued a challenge to the armies of Israel but because of his great size, no one was willing to step forward and fight the giant!
No one, that is, until little David arrived on the scene.
David may have near the age of 16 and probably an inch or two taller than five feet.
On the surface, David appeared to be defeated before he even began.
Yet David took offense at this “uncircumcised Gentile” that defiled the people of Israel.
Now you know the rest of the story.
How David took a Shepherd’s sling and five smooth stones and with one snap of his wrist sunk a stone into the skull of this giant Goliath!
Thus began the exciting life and career of this young shepherd boy who would one day become the King of Israel.
But perhaps there is one part of the story of David and Goliath that you may not know.
Within the details of the story, the Bible tells us the reason David took up five smooth stones from the brook as he charged toward Goliath that day.
I’ve always been fascinated by the thought, “Why did David pick up five stones?”
Did he think he might miss with a couple of the stones and he needed backup ammunition?
In 2 Samuel 21:15-22, we find the answer to that question, “Why five smooth stones?”
2 Samuel 21:15–22 (NIV) 15 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.
16 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.
17 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.”
18 In the course of time, there was another battle with the Philistines, at Gob.
At that time Sibbekai the Hushathite killed Saph, one of the descendants of Rapha.
19 In another battle with the Philistines at Gob, Elhanan son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver’s rod.
20 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.
21 When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah, David’s brother, killed him.
22 These four were descendants of Rapha in Gath, and they fell at the hands of David and his men.
According to this passage, Goliath had four relatives.
David may have been thinking he might have to face all of Goliath’s brothers as well!
C.I.T.
The story of David defeating the giant Goliath is a great story reminding us that with faith in God, we can overcome tremendous odds.
But later in David’s life, he faced some giants in his life, these four brothers of Goliath he did not kill that day.
And this time David could not kill these giants.
In the same way, each of us, as God’s children will face from time to time, giants we cannot overcome alone.
Sometimes, when facing giants, we need a little help from others.
What were the giants David could not kill?
I. THE GIANT OF BOREDOM WITH THE BLESSINGS AND BATTLES OF GOD,
2 Samuel 21:15-16, 15 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.
16 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.
This passage describes a time in David’s life some 42 years after his defeat of Goliath.
For over four decades David had lived and served God.
He had experienced many victories in battle and many blessings from the hand of God.
A. Blessings (Remember, David was called in the Bible, “a man after God’s own heart.”
1. God took David from being a shepherd boy to being the King over all of Israel.
2. God provided constant protection for David from King Saul’s threats as well as David’s and Israel’s many other enemies.
(i.e. 2 Samuel 22)
3. God blessed David with a family or linage called “the House of David,” that would lead to the coming of the Jesus, the Christ, or Messiah.
B. Battles
1.
His Battle with Goliath
2. His Battles with King Saul
3. His Battles with the Philistines and other nations.
But now David is old and weary, a burden rather than a blessing to the armies of Israel.
2 Samuel 21:17, 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.”
Boredom, the giant of complacency had crept into David’s life.
He was unprepared both physically and spiritually to fight the current battles of God.
But thankfully, a man named Abishai comes to David’s rescue and kills this giant named Ishbi-benob.
We have more than once faced the giant of boredom with the blessings and battles of God.
Too often, and far too soon, the shine wears off our coat of salvation and we become dull and disinterested in the things of God.
We become “at ease in Zion.”
We’re just happy to know our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life so we settle comfortably into our padded pews and wait until our name is called for Glory!
As a church, have we fallen prey to the giant of boredom with the blessings and battles of God?
Many have lost the joy of Christian fellowship and faithful attendance to the house of God.
Many no longer worship together at church as the Bible commands.
We have grown “weary in well doing.”
We have fought in far too many battles for the Lord.
Like David, we have grown old and disinterested in our service for God.
II.
THE GIANT OF GUILT AND REMORSE OVER HIS SIN WITH BATHSHEBA
2 Samuel 21.18, “After this there was again war with the Philistines at Gob.
Then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Saph, who was one of the descendants of the giants.”
Saph (saf) by Sibbechai (Sib’-e-ki) Captain of 24 thousand
David wrestled with yet another giant in his lifetime.
In verse 18 we read about the giant called Saph.
Saph represents yet another of the giants that plagued David, the Giant of Guilt and Remorse.
You remember that David sinned before God when he took Bathsheba into his harlem and had her husband Urriah the Hittite murdered.
The clouds from this time forth gathered over David’s fortunes, and henceforth, the Bible says, “the sword never departed from his house.”
That sword was the giant of guilt and remorse.
Some of us fail to serve God effectively because of the Giant of Guilt and Remorse.
We’ve all had our Bathshebas and our Urriahs.
We all face the Giant of Guilt called Saph.
Guilt is a great hindrance because it weighs upon our minds like a giant vice-grip.
But there’s no reason for us to suffer with guilt and remorse.
Don’t misunderstand what I am about to say.
There is a difference between guilt and guilty.
We are all guilty.
All have sinned.
None is righteous.
The good news is that we all have a Sibbechai as well.
Christ is our advocate, and He completely removes our sins and our guilt from us.
I John 1:9
Illustration-I’m not sure if you’ve ever done this, but sometime write on a piece of paper every sin, ever wrong thing you’ve ever committed, or said or thought.
Write them down if possible.
Anger, unforgiveness, jealousy, covetousness, pride, theft, sexual immorality, lust and so on, and so forth.
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