Dealing With Giants - 1st Samuel 17:32-49

Snow White had to face off against a troll.

It was no troll that David had to face…depending on your point of view, it was just as bad, or worse.

The last time that God’s people and the Philistines had gotten along without question was during the time of Abraham, when as Abraham traveled to the land God was leading him, he lived for a time amongst the Philistines.  However, since the time of Abraham’s son, Isaac, there has been tension between those who follow Yahweh and the people called the Philistines.  Isaac had lived among them for a while.  Tensions began when Isaac tried to pass his wife Rebekah off as his sister, out of fear for his and her lives.  Isaac and his family continued to live amongst the Philistines until they grew to be a formidable size family.  The king of the Philistines then told Isaac and his family they had to leave the land.

The Hebrew people eventually found themselves in Egypt, first for refuge from the famine that struck Egypt…then later as slaves.  After escaping Egypt under the guidance of Moses, Joshua led them into the Promised Land, bringing them into conflict with the tribes and nations that lived there—amongst those people were the Philistines.  Battles over the land, much like the battles that wage there now, continued on and on between the people of Israel and the Philistines.

The conflicts waned and then would renew.  This renewal came again during the time in which the prophet Samuel was leading Israel.  It was after the Philistines pulled off a successful attack, enabling them to make off with the Ark of the Covenant (a sacred chest that housed the Ten Commandments and understood to represent the presence of God in the Tabernacle), that the people turned on Samuel and began clamoring for a king, so that they could be like other nations, and supposedly defend themselves.

We reflected last week on Saul’s rise and fall from power, and Samuel’s anointing of the boy, David—the one who would rise to power, taking Saul’s place after Saul’s death.  Today’s reading, though, finds us in the midst of one of the Philistine/Israel battles under the rule of Saul. 

The army of Israel had lined up on one side of a valley while the army of the Philistines lined the other.  The Philistine army in an apparent effort to cut down on their blood loss, sent in their champion, called Goliath with a challenge:  “Why have you come out to draw up for battle?  Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul?  Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.  If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants; but if I prevail against him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.”

Sounds like a good solution, right?  I mean, consider it, my brothers and sisters. Instead of a bloody war field that they have become accustomed to, it would be one on one, winner takes all, battle.  We might think that one of those men in Israel’s army—you know they kind of man we encounter everywhere who think they are tougher than anyone else—would have stepped up and said, I’ll fight your champion.  We might even think that Saul, as King of Israel, would champion his people.  However, no one stepped forward to take on Goliath—forty days this went on and the men of Israel cowered and hid like little girl hiding behind her momma’s skirt when she meets someone she’s afraid of.

What’s the problem?  Why would the people of the God who brought them out of Egypt through the Red Sea, led them through the wilderness, and had aided them in one battle after another?  It’s because they were looking at Goliath.

Goliath—a man that would make almost anyone quake—stood nearly 10 foot tall.  To help us gain some perspective, the world’s tallest man, Sultan Kosen, of Turkey, stands at only 8 foot, 3 inches tall.  The tallest man on record, Robert Pershing Wadlow, stood at 8 foot, 11 inches tall.  The average height of an American soldier is only 5 foot, 9.5 inches tall.  All pale in comparison to Goliath, who would have bumped his head on a basketball rim.  Goliath’s armor weighed more than 100 pounds, and the head of his spear weighed about fifteen pounds.  If you don’t think that spear-head is significant, imagine throwing a spear any distance that has the weight of the second-largest bowling ball on the end of it.  In addition to the spear, he carried a javelin across his back, and wore a sword on his side.

Why did Israel cower?  It was because when they opened their eyes, all they could see was this giant of a man.  After forty days of this, young David, still a shepherding boy, brings lunch to his brothers, and is shocked at when he sees the mighty men of Israel hiding from Goliath…he is infuriated that Israel’s army would let anyone insult God the way that Goliath and the Philistines were doing.

We pick it up at this point in this morning’s reading as David tells Saul that he will take on Goliath.  After a half-hearted attempt at talking David out of it, Saul agrees to let David wear the king’s armor and sword into battle.  Too large for David, he sheds the armor and the sword and wears his shepherd’s clothing, carrying five smooth stones and his sling into battle.

So what’s the difference?  Why could this, probably teenage, boy come and be willing to do what all the men of Israel had been unwilling to do?

Max Lucado, in his book, Facing Your Giants, says it all has to do with their focus.  The men of Israel were looking at Goliath—David was looking at God.  All Israel’s army could see was a giant of a man…all David could see was the God who spoke all of creation into being—the God’s whose voice called stars and planets into existence and whose breath gives life to every person on the face of the earth.  In looking at Goliath, Saul’s soldiers forgot…in looking at God, David remembered.

My brothers and sisters, we encounter Goliaths in our lives each and every day.

We call our Goliath’s by other names:

Cancer or Disease.

Grief.

Addiction.

Broken Relationships.

Family Conflict.

Depression.

Debt.

Abandonment.

Sin.

Death.

We have all encountered one or more of these giants in our lives.  For many of us, myself included, we see these giants and see them as undefeatable.  They loom before us and we quake and tremor, and try to hide.  All we see is a giant of a problem and no hope at all.  The truth of the matter is, my friends, as long as our eyes are focused on that problem, then we are right, there is no hope, no way to overcome that which is coming against us.

If all we see is cancer or some other disease in our lives…it will eat our lives away…

If all we see is grief…it will keep us full of sorrow.…

If all we see is our addiction we will keep lighting up, keep pouring another glass, keep injecting another needle, taken another pill…

If all we see is broken relationships…then we will remain painfully alone…

If all we see is family conflict…then our lives will stay full of strife…

If all we see is debt…we will owe more and more…

If all we see is abandonment…then we will always feel left behind…

If all we see is our sin…we will remain unforgiven…

If all we see is death…then all we have is death…

However, my friends…we have another option…we have the option of turning away from the giant looming in front of us, and turning to God.  God is greater than anything we could ever encounter…there is not a Goliath in existence that is bigger or greater than our God.

As we focus in on God, those giants grow smaller and smaller…they become manageable…they become defeatable.  We look to God and remember everything that He has pulled us through.  We remember the healings that have taken place in the lives of God’s people and in our own lives…

We look not on Goliath, but on a God who heals…

We look not on Goliath, but on a God who offers hope…

We look not on Goliath, but on a God who gives freedom…

We look not on Goliath, but on a God who restores…

We look not on Goliath, but on the God who is the Prince of Peace…

We look not on Goliath, but on a God who fills us with Joy…

We look not on Goliath, but on a God who gives us grace abundant…

We look not on Goliath, but on a God who offers us companionship…

We look not on Goliath, but on a God who pours out forgiveness…

We look not on Goliath, but on the God who has defeated humanity’s greatest enemy, and given us life…

With our eyes focused upon God, we can stand up to any troll…any giant any Goliath …any bully, and know that we are not relying upon our own strength, but on the strength and reliability of Almighty God…then we can place a stone in our sling, let it fly, and know that Goliath will fall…

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…Amen.