CONQUERING GIANTS

1 Samuel 17:1-11

Whatever giant you are facing today please know that with God it can be conquered.

Now most giants are stronger than we are alone - Satan is much more powerful than any of us - but the Bible says:

1 John 4:4 AV

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

How God chooses to slay it is up to Him. It may be sudden, like with David, or it may be subtle. Whatever way He chooses to - you be faithful through the process. He is in the business of slaying Giants.

Isaiah 54:17 (AV)

No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

Let’s trust Him and go forward and fight the fight.

I. THE RENOWN OF THE GIANT

Let’s start out looking at some factors as to why this Goliath was so intimidating.

A. He was a giant

That already speaks intimidation. This was a title giving to someone, to anyone and because of that description they were bigger than life.

B. He was called the Champion

Might I say he was not just called one, he was one.

He was undefeated. No one had ever taken him - no one had ever come close.

He was the champion of a group that was already known for their size, power and veracity.

When I was in the Marines, I knew several Samoan Marines. The smallest Samoan’s I knew were my size.

C. He was the biggest

He was six cubits and a span according to v.4.

I was doing some studying and one of the new versions has in its permanent notes that he was around 6 foot 4 inches.

I don’t care what age you are living in, 6 foot 4 is not a giant, especially with Solomon there - who the Bible says was a head taller than the average person in Israel. He was one of the tallest of the Israelites.

No, he was believed go be 9 and 1/2 feet tall.

D. Helmet of Brass

v.5 - the significance of which was no one in Israel save Saul and Jonathan had any armor, and if they had helmets, they weren’t much - some leather with some thin metal sheathing.

But Goliath’s helmet was 30 ponds.

E. The Coat of Mail

5,000 shekel weight in v.5 That equates to around 150 pounds.

So between those two things alone, he was carrying 180 extra pounds.

F. Greaves of Brass and a Target

v.6

This is talking about shin guards, and the target is the shield and man bore that for him, but it had to be the size of the smaller man.

G. The biggest spear in history

v.7 It was like a weavers beam.

For the physics of our Goliath’s spear beam to work properly with a 16lb 11oz spear head and the height of Goliath, we choose a 10’ length 2in diameter pole, including a 6lb 1.2oz counterweight, giving our spear a total length of 12 ft 7in. This is not to say the spear could not have been even longer. The Bible doesn’t give us the exact length. However, the length we calculated for our replica would allow Goliath to have a center of balance to hold the spear easily with one hand about 62 inches from the tip.

It had to total 50 or more pounds.

H. An intimidating cry

v.8

I. A sword like no other

I don’t even want to go there, I don’t have time.

J. A name like no other

There was no one else named that - it had no meaning in Hebrew, the closest phonetically would have been a word that meant Exile, which is interesting but not really there.

When so many Bible names and titles especially had such significance and meaning - to come to Goliath and find no meaning is interesting tells me that he was one of a kind. The best of the best for what his purpose was - to destroy Israel.

II. THE REACTION OF THE THREAT

It was pretty normal. The reaction of the people of Israel, the army of Israel - was a reaction of the flesh. It was one of fear and things that accompany fear. Look at all the reactions that are listed here:

A. Dismayed

Can I remind us that is not how we are supposed to live our lives. Nothing should dismay us are cause us to cower in fear.

B. Greatly afraid

Beyond fear, beyond dismay, greatly afraid denotes the idea of those who hid e invear.

yea sore afraid in verse 24

C. They fled

v.24

D. They murmured

v.25

They said in verse 25 that this man was here to defy Israel.

E. They froze in fear

III. THE RABBLE ROUSER

Here are two armies facing off, one with a giant on their side, the other with no champion.

But finally, a rabble rouser - to younger folks - this is a person who steps and rallies the crowd to get with a cause - good or bad.

David was that man. But he didn’t do it with intention or to make a name for himself. No, this Rabble Rouser was there for a different reason.

A. He had conviction

The only thing that would get people to run into battle against all odds is a conviction of their soul that it was right.

B. He had a conscience

My old pastor, in the 70 or early 80’s heard of some prisoner of wars in Vietnam. He went to the bank, got a loan, and financed some guerilla fighters to go get them and bring them out.

C. He had a cause

The name of God, the glory of God, and the blessing and name of his people.

The thing about David is that he feared disappointing the God of heaven - he was living for his honor, and that was a great fear to him than any giant could throw his way.

David had the promises of God and knew no matter what, even if he died, God’s promises were tu.

IV. THE RALLY

The most famous part of the account found in verses .

David ran to Goliath swinging his sling - slung it and struck Goliath in center of his forehead and dropped him.

V. THE RESULT

OF DAVID’S VICTORY

Never since the days of Joshua had anyone had such a victory.

David conquered his giant. More than that, Israel had a great victory, David won the respect of the people - he rose in power and ultimately became king.

But none of this happened apart

VI. THE REPORT

THE REPORT FOR US - What is that report, what is the lesson.

A. I need to conquer my giants for the glory of God’s sake

The important thing is when you and I conquer our giants, things we could not do on our own - people will know that God did that for us and He gets the glory.

He wants to do that. He wants to work in that way in our lives - He wants to show His great, power and might even in this dark hour.

He wants to confound the wise of the world. he wants to confuse the powers that be - He wants to do mightily on your behalf.

B. I need to conquer my giants so that others can conquer their giants

So my kids, my grand kids, my brethren, the kids at church, the community can see that God is alive and He does care about us and He can help you to get the victory over your giants.

You see, because David conquered his giant, remember wha happened?

Five other of his family were defeated by others later.

2 Samuel 21:16 AV

And Ishbibenob, which was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David.

2 Samuel 21:18 AV

And it came to pass after this, that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, which was of the sons of the giant.

2 Samuel 21:19 AV

And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, a Bethlehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

1 Chronicles 20:5 AV

And there was war again with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear staff was like a weaver’s beam.

2 Samuel 21:20 AV

And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant.