1 Samuel 17 – GOD DEFEATS
#3 of 5 of D. O. G. (Depend on God) Days
Imagine waking up one morning and discovering that there is an invading army in the United States, ready to attack!
A similar thing happened to King Saul and the nation Israel, when one day, the Philistines moved into Israeli territory and set up camp! They were there to invade Israel. Vs. 1
Word came to King Saul, who mustered his army and went down to the same valley and set up for battle against the Philistines. Vs. 2
Vs. 3 tells us that the Philistines were set up on one mountain, and the Israelites on the other, and there was a valley between them.
It appears that there was little or no action between the two armies.
Then out comes this gigantic dude, a giant name Goliath. Not only was he big, but he was the best warrior that these Philistines had. He was their champion!
This guy with all his height, and equipment, and power stands out in this valley and begins to yell a challenge to the Israeli army. 1 Samuel 17:8-10
The giant was calling for one warrior from Israel to come out, and fight, in a “winner takes all” type match!
Talk about intimidation!
Vs. 11 says that the response of King Saul and all Israel was one of fear and dismay!
This went on morning and evening for 40 days! (Vs. 16)
It got so bad, that Goliath came out yelling, that the Israeli army went to running!
Such was the impact of the GIANT!
Do you have any giants in your life?
It could be a habit, a sin, a person, a situation, that is bullying you around and taking control of your life?
It could be worry, or smoking, or cursing, or bad behavior, or temper, or alcohol, or illicit sex, or pride or gossip, or money, or a friend that influences you to sin, or any number of giants that tend to dominate you!
It could be that this giant, or these giants have been harassing you for so long, that you have given up hope of ever being delivered from their influence.
If you have such a giant in your life, you can then be sympathetic to what Saul and the men of Israel were up against!
They needed help.
They needed deliverance.
They needed a champion greater than the giant opposing them!
You are the same way with your giants.
You need help.
You need deliverance.
You need a champion greater that the giant who is harassing you.
Let me tell you at the outset that the champion Israel had was not David!
And let me tell you at the outset that your champion will not be a fellow human being, yourself, a machine, a computer, or even the government!
Israel’s champion and your champion against giants is the same person. David was just an instrument in the hand of Israel’s champion. 1 Samuel 17:45
Israel’s champion is the “Lord of Hosts”.
And, my friend, your champion against any giant is the Lord of Hosts.
GOD DEFEATS GIANTS!
I want you to see four things concerning giants in 1 Samuel 17.
THE ENEMY IS REAL!
The enemy was no figment of Israel’s imagination!
The Philistines had given Israel grief for some time, and kept harassing and kept trying to control Israel.
And as for Goliath, he was a formidable enemy.
The Jews are traditionally short anyway, but Goliath measured in at “six cubits and a span”, which was somewhere between 9 and 10 feet tall!
This man was big! He was built!
According to verse 5, his “coat of mail”, or amour weighed in at 5,000 shekels, or about 125 pounds.
Besides, he wore a brass helmet, had brass protection on his legs, and a javelin between his shoulders.
He had to be big and strong to carry all that weight!
And he carried a spear that was so big that the head of the spear weighted about 15 pounds!
For one Israeli soldier to take on such a giant would have been a formidable task!
Israel’s enemy was real! So is yours!
No matter what the “giant” is in your life, the one behind that giant has been mankind’s enemy since the Garden of Eden.
This enemy is God’s enemy as well as your enemy. The problem actually started before the foundation of the World. Isaiah 14:12-15
Lucifer, or Satan, was a beautiful creature in Heaven.
Evidently, according to Ezekiel, he was responsible for covering or guarding the holiness of God.
Instead, he willfully tried to set himself up as God!
As the enemy of God he led a rebellion among the angels.
As the enemy of God he tempted Eve in the garden.
As the enemy of God and man he is called “the Father of lies”.
As the enemy of God and man he is on the prowl. 1 Peter 5:8
If you are a born again Christian he seeks to devour your testimony by putting giants in your path.
If you have never trusted Christ as your Savior, he tries to keep you from being born-again.
Satan is a deceiver, a counterfeiter. 2 Corinthians 11:14-15
Your enemy is out to get you!
He knows your weaknesses, and the giants he sends your way are those to which you are particularly vulnerable.
THE STAKES ARE HIGH!
When Goliath came out and taunted the Israelites, what was at stake?
- Personal integrity for every soldier was a stake. Not one of them had enough guts to go out and face the enemy on an individual basis.
- National integrity was a stake. The nation could be then known as a nation of cowards.
- God’s integrity was at stake. That was the most serious problem of all.
David recognized this when he said in verse 26 …for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?
God would be viewed as a weakling because of the failure of anyone in Israel to trust God enough to go out and face Goliath.
When your giants come out and taunt you, or when you give in to sin, to worry, to a bad habit or the ungodly influence of a friend, or loved one, what is at stake?
- Your personal integrity is at stake. You are not saying much for yourself as a Christian. You are not doing what we are supposed to do as Christians. Matthew 5:16
- Your church’s integrity is at stake. You are bringing a bad reputation upon your church. Like it or not, people will often associate your church with your failures.
- And God’s integrity is at stake. This is the worst thing of all. We are telling the world by our behavior that our God is not strong enough to delver us from the hand of the giant!
But our God is strong enough to deliver us from the hand of any giant!
Israel was promised in Joshua 23:10, One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the Lord your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you.
Romans 6:14 – For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Philippians 4:13 – I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
THE BATTLE IS THE LORD’S
- David, had been anointed king, but was not yet on the throne.
- David had served in the court of King Saul, playing his harp and singing when Saul was visited by an evil spirit.
- David had served as the king’s armor bearer.
- David had spent much of his time keeping sheep in the wilderness. There he learned communion with God and perhaps wrote some his early psalms. It was there too, that he leaned trust in God when he had killed a lion and a bear that had threatened his father’s sheep.
- David was probably not old enough to be in the army.
- David was back keeping his father’s sheep.
- David was probably the errand boy who would take supplies to his brothers, and then report the status of the war to his father.
David was sent with such an errand. And when he arrived, he found and started talking to his brothers.
Guess who started in on another day of his forty day taunt?
Yep! It was Goliath! 1 Samuel 17:23-24
Vs. 26 – David, because he had walked with God and trusted God, thought that no giant was too big for God to handle!
In spite of a verbal attack from his oldest brother, Eliab, David continued to talk, until finally someone told King Saul. When Saul heard that someone was willing to tackle this giant, he sent for David.
Vs. 32 – David comes before Saul and tells him not to fear, because he is going to fight the giant.
Vs. 33 – Saul protests that he was too young, and that Goliath had been a warrior since his youth.
David then proceeds to tell Saul about killing a lion and a bear, and then shows where his confidence came from. See vs. 37
Fellow Christian, we should be able to say something similar.
“The Lord Jesus that delivered me from hell, who saved me, gave me eternal life, and through His Spirit, lives inside of me, will also deliver me from any giant in my life, whatever it might be!” David tried on Saul’s armor, but it wasn’t for Him.
All David needed was his shepherd’s staff, his slingshot, and some stones, and he was ready for battle!
Whoops! I almost forgot one more thing. He needed God to fight the battle through him, and for him!
David went out to meet the giant, and the giant was disappointed at who came out to fight him!
Read verses 42-44
1 Samuel 17:45 – 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 verse teaches us how to attack a giant!
- The giant has all sorts of help and strength.
- David comes in the name of the Lord of hosts.
- The Lord is not only Lord of the army of Israel, but of an angel army that nobody can defeat.
- So David came in this name. To come in the name of the Lord of Hosts, he was coming with faith in the Lord who would strengthen and deliver.
- And the reason he came was because the giant was defying God!
Any giant in your life is there in defiance of your God and your Savior.
And you and I can kick them out, by faith in the living God who will give us strength to do so!
1 Peter 5:8-9 – Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: [9] Whom resist steadfast in the faith…
1 Corinthians 10:13 – There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
1 Samuel 17:47 – And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hands.
The battle is the Lord’s.
Trust God for strength, for victory, for power over your giant and he will deliver you when you turn the battle over to Him.
THE ENEMY IS REAL
THE STAKES ARE HIGH
THE BATTLE IS THE LORD’S
THE VICTORY IS GOD’S
Vss. 48-51– Poor Goliath didn’t have a chance.
God guided that rock to just the right place and the giant fell.
At first glance the victory was David’s. He slew the giant.
In reality it was God who slew the giant.
The Victory was God’s!
We can have similar victories, if we will just depend on the God who defeats!
James 4:7 – Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
THE ENEMY IS REAL
THE STAKES ARE HIGH
THE BATTLE IS THE LORD’S
THE VICTORY IS GOD’S
