Good morning. This morning we are going to continue our look at some of the crime scenes from the Bible, and we will investigate them to see what we can learn. Last week we began by looking at how Cain killed Able. And this week, we move to another familiar story.
Before we take a look at today’s crime scene, let’s open with a word of prayer. Let’s Pray!
The sun was hot on his back as he knelt at the edge of the stream and pushed his hand into the icy cold water. The shock ran up to his elbow as his fingers played on the rocky bottom looking for the perfect stones. Yes there was one, and another, and one more, no that one wasn’t quite right. Finally he had chosen 5 perfect stones and he pulled his arm dripping from the stream. He looked down at the stones, hardly more then large pebbles but they would have to do. Drying his arm on his tunic he dropped the rocks into the leather pouch hanging around his waist and he started off in the direction of the noise that he could hear in the distance.
How had he gotten here? What had seemed like a great idea at the time, certainly seemed to border on stupidity and suicidal thoughts now. But there was no turning back, after all, he had committed himself to none less than the king. As he topped the hill he saw them, 2 opposing armies standing firm on opposing hills. Closest to him were the Jews, the army of Saul, the Israelites.
Farther off in the distance was the enemy, the Philistines, and there he was, right in the middle of them standing head and shoulders above everyone else, the giant, Goliath. Well, this was it. He could stop now, come to his senses and walk away or not. And so he looked straight ahead and walked into history. This one act in his life would have been enough to make him into a mighty Bible hero.
If you read the Bible, you come across a story about a man named Goliath, and really if you think about it, a story about Goliath isn’t really complete without talking about David. As in David and Goliath.
Let’s start with who was David? He was the second and undoubtedly greatest King of Israel and lived about 3 thousand years ago. He is mentioned 1,092 times in the Bible and his stories read like something off the fiction shelf at your local library. There is a little something for everybody in his stories.
David turned Israel into a major military power and he put it on the map. He was the author of the majority of the poetry in the Bible and was the architect of Solomon’s temple. Jesus Christ was referred to as the Son of David 19 times in the Gospels.
But what does everybody know David best for?
Right, for how he killed the giant. Everybody knows how that little David, defeated that giant, Goliath.
I Samuel chapter 17 tells us the story but we all know it don’t we? Through most of its history Israel had been ruled by a religious ruler called a judge. But then the people rebelled and demanded a king like all the other nations. And so God appointed Saul. He was a good king, tall, handsome, and smart, and he ruled the kingdom of Israel well, for the most part. But then he began to think, “Hey I’m a good king, I can think for myself” and we know what happens when people start thinking for themselves don’t we? One thing led to another and another and soon Saul was being outright disobedient to God’s will for His kingdom. And with that disobedience came military defeats and here we are in I Samuel chapter 17 where the Israelites are facing the greatest obstacle in their history.
So let’s start by looking at the Giant. It seems like there was a bit of a stand off here with the Philistines on one mountain and the Jews on the other mountain and when things were just getting warmed up we read in the New King James Version of the Bible in I Samuel 17:4 that, “A champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.”
Well if nothing else the story of David and Goliath would prove to be a popular illustrative device through the years. You know, small verses large, good verses evil. The whole idea of conquering the unconquerable odds. But so often we fail to realize that the story of David and Goliath is more then just a story, it’s a fact from history.
So, how big was this guy? He was very big. The Bible tells us that he was “6 cubits and a span.” Now, we could take time to do all the math, but someone has already done that for us. In the New International Version of the Bible, it says that, “A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall.”
Now, if we did all the math out, we would find that he was actually 9 feet 9 inches tall, that’s ginormous. His coat of armor weighed 5,000 shekels or 125 pounds, and it was just a vest. The Bible tells us that his spear was like a weavers beam, now I don’t know what a weavers beam is but I do know that the Bible says that the head of the spear weighed 600 shekels, or 15 pounds all by its lonesome.
Now, you might say, “Josh, you’re bluffing, there is no one that can be that big. The Bible didn’t mean that he was literally 9’9’’ tall. It just said that so you would know he was big.” Well, if that is how you feel, here is a life size statue of Robert Wadlow. He was the world’s tallest man, standing at 8’11” tall. That is over a foot taller than the tallest basketball players. His shoe size was 37 AA. And you thought you had problems finding shoes that fit. His hand was a foot long, and he had a 10 foot arm span. When he died in 1940 at the age of 22 he was still growing and needed 8,000 calories a day to survive. Now, some of us may like to be able to eat that many calories a day, but that would be no weight loss program, trust me.
So, if Robert Wadlow could be 8’11” then surely Goliath could be just 10 inches taller. And so the big guy puts a very reasonable proposition to the Israelites. In the Bible in I Samuel 17:8-9 it says, “Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects, but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.”
In other words, the big bully Goliath stood and shouted across to the Israelites, “Do you need a whole army to settle this? Choose someone to fight for you, and I will represent the Philistines. We will settle this dispute in single combat! If your man is able to kill me, then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves!”
Great idea huh? Think of how many lives would have been saved if through the years each nation had sent out their best man instead of their best men to fight the battles. Now I know that at first glance the odds don’t seem all that great, what with Goliath being so big and everybody else being so small.
But don’t forget that this bunch of people had a pretty neat history behind them. Noah had built an ark, Moses had parted the Red Sea, Abraham had fathered a child when he was a hundred, and Joshua had brought down the walls of Jericho. If anything, you’d think that the odds were stacked pretty much against Goliath. But nobody was ready to put their faith on the line.
Nobody believed in God enough to take a risk. Sure God could do those things for other people but not for me. And here’s where the rubber meets the road, where our faith either becomes a reality or we back out.
We all have giants in our lives. I read recently that “everybody has a problem, is a problem, or lives with a problem.” And isn’t that the truth. We all either have a problem that we are facing. Possibly we are the problem that others are dealing with. Or, we are living with a problem. So, what’s your giant? Unemployment? Illness? Family problems, relationship problems, work? Maybe it is depression, or temptation, or something unresolved in your past? What is it in your life that is you Goliath?
Whatever it is, here is the good news about the giants that we face in life. Just as sure as we have giants in our lives, we have a God who can help us kill our giants just like David killed Goliath. But what does it take to be a giant killer, to get on top of the giants that always seem to be on top of us? Well let’s see what we can find in David’s life.
In the Bible we are told that he was the son of Jesse, that he was born in Bethlehem, which of course you remember as being the birth place of Jesus. We know that he was the youngest of 8 sons, but we don’t know for sure how old he was, although he would have had to be younger than 20 or he would have been in the army already. At this point in his life he was serving the King as his personal musician as well as working for his father tending the family’s flock of sheep.
It was while he was working at home that his dad sent him to the front with a care package for his big brothers. It was when he arrived that he discovered this monster taunting the Jewish army.
Now, as we investigate this crime scene, there are a few things worth noting.
1) David Was Already In The Service Of The King.
I Samuel 16:14-23 tells us that David was already serving the king. Now I’m not saying that problems don’t happen to Christians, I’m just saying that they don’t have to go through them alone, that Jesus is there. Tony Campola a prominent speaker and Professor of Sociology tells the story about being on a plane and noticing a nun who was sitting across the aisle from him. Tony says it was very apparent that she was terrified as she ran through her rosary and so he leaned over and said “Don’t worry sister, remember what Jesus said in Matthew 28:20, “I am with you always,”” and the nun turned and replied “No, what He said was “Lo I am with you always.””
Well high or low it doesn’t matter, He is with us if we are with Him. If we are going to want Him with us when the giants come, no matter what those giants may be, then He needs to be with us when there aren’t any giants around as well. And I would suspect that when trouble comes God hears all kinds of unfamiliar voices.
What we need to understand from David’s life is this, before there were any giants in sight, David was already in the service of the king.
2) David Knew That Nobody Else Was Going To Do It.
One of the most important steps in overcoming the giants in our life is coming face to face with the fact that it is up to you. We live in a society that has mastered the fine art of blaming others. If it’s not your parents fault and it’s not society’s fault then it must be God’s fault. And if it’s somebody else’s fault than somebody else ought to fix it.
We have the thought process that says, “I have all of these problems in my life. These giants are attacking me from every side. I didn’t get the breaks that others got and would somebody please do something about the giants that are breathing down my neck.”
The giant wasn’t David’s responsibility he was just a shepherd who was delivering a message to his brothers. It wasn’t David’s fault that Goliath was there, but I wonder how the course of history would have been different for Israel if David hadn’t done what David did.
When I talk to people who are facing giants in their lives, I try not to say “I know what you’re going through,” because in all likely hood I don’t. When we face the giants in our lives, we have a couple of options or outcomes. Some go through it, and some grow through it. It makes some bitter, and it makes some better. And the choice is up to the individual.
I don’t know what you are going through, haven’t got a clue. But I do know this, you are going to have to stand up, look that Goliath in the eye, and tell yourself, “If it’s to be, it’s up to me.” Don’t wait for a David to come along and take care of your problems for you. Why, because you are your own David!
Now having said that I can’t kill your giants for you, let me just say that I am willing to be there with you. I’ll hold your hand, I’ll pick you up, I’ll let you lean on me, I’ll do whatever I can to help, and so will a lot of people here in this church, and so will God, but you are going to have to take action to kill your giant yourself.
I Samuel 17:28 says that, “When David’s oldest brother, Eliab, heard David talking to the men, he was angry. “What are you doing around here anyway?” he demanded. “What about those few sheep you’re supposed to be taking care of? I know about your pride and dishonesty. You just want to see the battle!””
3) David Had To Put Up With Abuse.
David’s brother was a real grouch. David didn’t do anything to provoke his brother, he hadn’t said anything to set big brother off, but he went off anyway. So understand this, if you are going to kill giants, then you are going to have to put up with abuse. It’s a fact of life. The main reason of course is that when you kill a giant in your life, it tells others that there is no reason that they shouldn’t be killing the giants in their life.
David knew that what he had to do was right. He knew that he was on the side of the Angels, and he did what he had to do. God is ultimately who you will have to answer to, so ultimately He’s the only one that you need to please.
And Finally, David Knew Who The Giant Was And What He Had To Do.
David knew that nothing less then total success would be acceptable. He knew that if he only wounded the giant, that would just make him mad, and there is nothing worse than a mad giant. And so he says in I Samuel 17:36, “I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God!” His goal was clear, his vision was certain, no ifs, no ands, no buts, he was going to kill the giant. It’s been said that sometimes we are so afraid of getting out on a limb because of our faith that we won’t even climb the tree. Well David was up the tree and out on the limb and he didn’t care.
Too often we don’t set goals in our personal and spiritual lives because we are afraid of how it will look if we don’t succeed. And then we don’t succeed anyways because there is no accountability. If you are going to get anywhere in your life you’d better know the direction you want to go before you head out, because if you don’t know where you are going how will you know when you arrive?
David’s goal may have sounded a little extravagant, but he knew that it was all or nothing. It’s amazing that when you aim at nothing 9 times out of 10 that’s exactly what you hit, nothing. So, David knew who the giant was, and he knew what he had to do.
Also, keep this in mind. You might think that you can’t do it by yourself, and you are probably right, but then again you don’t have to. David never expected that he could do Goliath in all by his lonesome. If we keep reading in I Samuel 17:37 listen to what David says. “The Lord who saved me from the claws of the lion and the bear will save me from this Philistine!” So in our story, Saul finally consented. “All right, go ahead,” he said. “And may the Lord be with you!” Basically David was saying, “Goliath might be big, but my God is bigger!”
Goliath wasn’t the only giant to besiege David, nor was he the toughest, he was simply the most famous one.
So how big are the giants in your life? They may not look very big to others, but to you they are enormous. Are your problems bigger than you can handle? Are they bigger than God can handle? I don’t think so. Keep this in mind, our God is an awesome God. The Bible tells us in the book of Romans 8:31, “What can we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?” And again in Philippians 4:13 it says, “For I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.”
So what do you think? Think you can whip that Giant with God’s help?
If so, as you leave this morning, I want you to pick up your stone at the door!
Let’s Pray!
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