1 Samuel 17:1-10 (KJV)
Now the Philistines
gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at
Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in
Ephesdammim.
And Saul and the men of
Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the
battle in array against the Philistines.
And the Philistines
stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the
other side: and there was a valley between them.
And there went out a
champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose
height was six cubits and a span.
And he had an helmet of
brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of
the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.
And he had greaves of
brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders.
And the staff of his
spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred
shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.
And he stood and cried
unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your
battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a
man for you, and let him come down to me.
If he be able to fight
with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail
against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us.
And the Philistine said,
I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight
together.
Andre’ Rene Rousimoff
was born into a French farming family in 1946.
Born with a problem in
his pituitary gland that did not regulate growth hormone, Andre was 6’1” tall
by the time he was 12 years old. He eventually reached a height of 7’4”
and a weight of 520 lbs.
He was a teenager when
he was recruited as a professional wrestler and eventually give the moniker,
“Andre’ the Giant.”
As big as he was, it was
easy to exaggerate stories about him.
He was also known for
eating mountains of bacon
They say one time he
ordered extra bacon with his breakfast. When they brought out three extra
slices he complained. The waitress then, they say, delivered him two plates
piled high with bacon.
From then on that’s how
he ordered his bacon.
He was at one time
called “the greatest drunk on earth” because he one time drank almost 2500
ounces, that’s 156 16oz bottles of beer in one sitting.
That story got so blown
out of proportion that, once when Andre’ had surgery, the anesthesiologist used
his alcohol tolerance as a dosage guide during the surgery.
They say one time he was
at a restaurant with Arnold Schwarzenegger. When Schwarzenegger got up to pay,
Andre’ picked him up carried him outside and deposited him on top of his car.
Andre played small parts
in a number of movies. In one episode of The Six Million Dollar Man he
appeared as Bigfoot.
While he did lose some
wrestling matches due to technicalities or disqualifications, he was never
pinned or forced to submit.
He could therefore claim
the title as “the only undefeated wrestler in wrestling history.”
Imagine the stories one
could tell about Goliath!
The Bible says he was
six cubits and a span tall – that’s 9’9”.
Given that height, he
could easily have weighed 700 or 1000lbs.
Don’t be fooled into
thinking he must have been slow and ox-like either.
Until Andre the Giant
was into his late 30’- early 40’s he was capable of performing the most
sophisticated wrestling techniques, like flying kicks, etc.
Goliath shook Israel to
their core.
· He was asking them to fight in a manner they had never
fought be before
· He was asking them to send a man who could in no way match him pound for pound
He was bigger
· His spear was bigger
· His shield was bigger maybe
But Goliath was defeated
in a manner much the same as was his challenge, by a totally unconventional and
unheard of warrior; a boy with five smooth stones and a heart after God’s.
Before David could kill
Goliath he had at least five other giants to kill:
First there was
I. THE GOLIATH
OF INSIGNIFICANCE
1 Samuel 17:12-15 (KJV)
Now David was the son of
that Ephrathite of Bethlehemjudah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons:
and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul.
And the three eldest
sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle: and the names of his three
sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next unto him
Abinadab, and the third Shammah.
And David was the
youngest: and the three eldest followed Saul.
But David went and
returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem.
Consider the simple insignificance of David at this point in his
life.
He was a young man, a boy
really, the youngest of his father’s eight sons.
· He was an unknown.
· He was not a soldier.
He was merely a shepherd
who had been sent to the field with a bit of food for his brothers.
His only responsibility,
and his father must have thought was all he was capable of,
was
· To get the food to his brothers and
· To bring back word how the battle was going
One of the biggest
challenges we all face in our lives is not believing we are capable of facing any
bigger challenges.
It’s true of all of us.
Once in a while you will
hear someone question, “Is this all there
is to life?”
It is if you won’t try anything more in life.
I heard a fella the
other day explain his life this way. He said, “Listen I am black. Others died.”
Then he stopped and
said, “No, it’s not about my color. It’s about the opportunities we all face.
· We live in houses built by people who had to learn a
construction trade
· We use water, brought into our homes after hundreds of years
of work learning to plumb in clean water into our homes.
· We are warmed by heat that took hundreds and hundreds of
years of experimentation and instruction before it cold safely warm our houses.
· A doctor studied for 10 years or more so he could help your
parents deliver you into this world.
· Your mom and dad struggled to pay bills and put food on the
table so you could go up to adulthood.
And you think you have a
right to be selfish and blow your life in mediocrity?”
He said he just could
not be that kind of selfish person. He had to push himself to make a difference
with his life.
David was nothing more
than a shepherd boy.
Before he could ever
fight Goliath, he had to kill the giant that said he couldn’t fight Goliath.
Second, David had to
kill
II. THE
GOLIATH OF INTIMIDATION
1 Samuel 17:26-29 (KJV)
And David spake to the
men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this
Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this
uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?
And the people answered
him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him.
And Eliab his eldest
brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against
David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left
those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of
thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle.
And David said, What have
I now done? Is there not a cause?
I am not sure that, at
this moment, David had it in his head to fight Goliath himself.
He just thought someone
should.
Then along comes his
brother who began to mock, belittle and ridicule him.
The moment you presume
that something more can be done, that you can do something more than you have
done, somebody, somewhere will begin to mock you for it.
It might be your
· Parents
· Your brothers or
· Your sisters
Remember, Jesus very own
siblings didn’t believe Him at the first. They tried to get Him to be quiet and
stop making such bold claims, as that He was the Son of God.
When Anita and I got
married I was an ironworker and she was a public school teacher.
We began to grow as
Christians at just about the same time we were married.
Not long after our
marriage our church announced it was going to start a Christian School.
Anita felt led to resign
her job as a public school teacher and volunteer at the new Christian school.
The person who gave her
the most grief was a fellow Christian who also worked at the public school she
resigned from.
Before David could enter
the valley and fight Goliath he had to defeat the giant of intimidation
preventing him to going into the valley at all.
Thirdly David had to
kill,
III. THE GOLIATH
OF INEXPERIENCE
1 Samuel 17:31-39 (KJV)
And when the words were
heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul: and he sent for him.
And David said to Saul,
Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this
Philistine.
And Saul said to David,
Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art
but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.
And David said unto
Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear,
and took a lamb out of the flock:
And I went out after
him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose
against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.
Thy servant slew both
the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of
them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
David said moreover, The
LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the
bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto
David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.
And Saul armed David
with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him
with a coat of mail.
And David girded his
sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And
David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And
David put them off him.
The thing that appeared
to be David’s greatest weakness, that he was not a proven soldier, turned out
to be his most effective strength.
He could not fight
Goliath like a soldier fights
But Goliath could not
fight David like a shepherd fights
You know, God made you
exactly the person that you are.
I am not giving you an
excuse to keep from bettering yourself.
Everyone of us is commanded:
· to put off the old man and
· to put on the new man
That means there ought
to be constant change and growth in us.
· David could not fight Goliath with a sword and a shield.
· But he fought plenty of other enemies with them later.
What I am saying is that
all you have to be to be used of God today is who you are today.
· You don’t have to know what someone else knows
· You don’t have to act like someone else acts
· You don’t have to pretend to be who someone else is
Be honest, be godly and be yourself.
Before David could cut
off the head of Goliath, he had to be convinced his sling and stones would do
the job.
Fourth, David had to
kill
IV. THE
GOLIATH OF ANXIETY
1 Samuel 17:41-44 (KJV)
And the Philistine came
on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him.
And when the Philistine
looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and
ruddy, and of a fair countenance.
And the Philistine said
unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine
cursed David by his gods.
And the Philistine said
to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and
to the beasts of the field.
Can you imagine a fight
more unfair than this one looked to be?
The giant disdained
David.
He tried to scare David
with threats, “I
will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the airs and to the beast of the field.”
Fear may be the most
crippling enemy any man ever faces.
The old gladiators, they
say, subscribed mostly to the philosophy of stoicism; to embrace pain and
hardship as a reality and to befriend it.
That may seem crazy
until you realize:
· That pain and hardship was an obvious reality for them and
· That a synonym for stoicism is patience or forbearance.
Romans 5:3-5 (KJV)
And not only so, but we
glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
And patience,
experience; and experience, hope:
And hope maketh not
ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost
which is given unto us.
Colossians 3:12-13 (KJV)
Put on therefore, as the
elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of
mind, meekness, longsuffering;
Forbearing one another,
and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as
Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
In many respects those
first century Christians were very much like the Roman Gladiators.
· They knew the hardships associated with their faith
· They embraced those hardships and
· They grew better because of them
David looked his fear
straight in the face and the Bible says,
1 Samuel 17:48 (KJV)
And it came to pass,
when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David
hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
Before David could kill Goliath
he had to face down his fears.
And then, David had to
kill
V. THE GOLIATH
OF IRREVERENCE
1 Samuel 17:45-46 (KJV)
Then said David to the
Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a
shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the
armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
This day will the LORD
deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from
thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto
the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth
may know that there is a God in Israel.
The last thing anyone
should think is that the enemies we face are powerless.
Jude 1:9 (KJV)
Yet Michael the
archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses,
durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke
thee.
Like the seven sons of
Sceva who tried to cast out a devil without the power of God and were driven
away wounded instead,
people try to wrestle against feelings of:
· Inferiority an
· Anxiety and
· Intimidation and
· Inexperience
today, without faith in
a living and true God.
And it is not working.
Does anyone honestly
believe a shepherd boy and a slingshot could kill a 9’9” soldier with a sword a
shield and an armor bearer without any help?
There were no Israeli
soldiers in the valley with David, but he was not alone.
And I just want to tell
you today, you can’t defeat your feelings of
· Inadequacy
· Intimidation
· Insignificance and
· Anxiety
on your own.
Let alone a Goliath like
the spiritual wickedness in high places.
Until you defeat
irreverence in your heart through faith in Jesus Christ – the little pebbles in
your pouch are nothing but dust against the devil.
But once you have
conquered such irreverence so that you, like David can cry, “I come to thee in the name of the
LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
This day will the LORD
deliver thee into mine hand…”
Conclusion
Scholars believe that Psalms
144 and 145 were written by David after defeating Goliath.
I want to merely point
you to two passages,
Psalms 144:1 (KJV)
Blessed be the LORD my
strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:
Psalms 145:1-3 (KJV)
I will extol thee, my
God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.
Every day will I bless
thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.
Great is the LORD, and
greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.
A heart after God
glorifies Him for victories.
Known as gigantism in
children and acromegaly
in adults.
If Goliath had
something similar to acromegaly,
he might have had a significantly deeper voice than most – as did Andre’ the Giant.
