The Beauty in Facing Giants

This story of David facing the giant Goliath is not a new story, in fact, I’d say it’s a story we have heard since we were children. It’s a story we are familiar with. I would even go as far as to say we are so familiar with this story that the story has simply just become a story!

You often hear this story referred to when we are facing the Giants in our own lives and how there is nothing we can’t overcome with the help of the Lord! Would you agree with that? Yet, though this story is familiar, it is still relevant today:

• We still need to be reminded that we will face obstacles
• We still need to be reminded that we will face battles in this life.
• We still need to be reminded that we will face trials in this life.
• We still need to be reminded that we will face some giants in this life.

And just because we have conquered a giant today doesn’t mean we won’t face another tomorrow! But I will tell you upfront that you and I will slay our giants the same David slew his giant – David said, “I come to thee in the name of the LORD!”

Now here is my challenge with this message: there is a reason that Goliath is mentioned here in this passage, and there is a reason David is mentioned in this passage.  Now David was the first king to be anointed by God, though He was the second King of Israel, he was God’s first “anointed” king of Israel. Now God chose David, but the people chose Saul.

But here is the trouble I have.  It seems to me, that we, as God’s people often speak very negatively about the trials and the giants that show up in our lives. You’re probably thinking to yourself, “Why wouldn’t we speak negatively when these trials show up in our lives?” What I’m trying to tell you is sometimes, there’s a reason giants show up in our lives.  And I will even go as far as to say that had this giant not shown up in David’s life, David’s life would have turned out much differently – we would be reading a different story.

One certainty that I have learned in this journey of life is that we are going to have trials, we are going to face giants. Sometimes the giants we face are giants we’ve brought upon ourselves, but sometimes those giants were brought into our lives to teach us something. And with that thought in mind, I want to show you a few things in this passage that I believe show us the Beauty of Facing Giants:

GIANTS REVEAL YOUR FAITH

II Samuel 17:26, 36 and 45, every time the giant is mentioned, the children of Israel are ALWAYS scared of him. But every time David mentions Goliath, it sparks his faith. Israel is in fear of the giant while David is energized by his faith in God.

• So I’m going to ask you right up front, when you face a trial, are you afraid, or does it ignite your faith?
• When you face a giant, are you afraid of what the outcomes are going to be? Or does it ignite your faith in God?

Folks, sometimes you don’t know what’s inside a person until Goliath shows up. Up to this point, we only see David as a lowly and meek shepherd boy on the back side of a mountain tending to the flocks. But when this giant shows up, David’s faith in God shows out! But we would have never known of David’s faith had he not faced this giant in his life!

Some of you will never know the faith that is in you until you face the giants in your life!

I mentioned to some of you Wednesday night about my lunch with Jenni. Now Jenni (and Josh) were both brought up in a pastor’s home. Though I know they are both saved at an early age, and though I have seen Jenni do some incredible things for God in her life, our conversation on Wednesday went to a whole different level. Jenni has been battling cancer now for 5 years, and I mean a long, difficult 5 years. Now that she has Stage 4 HER2 Negative, every time she goes for a check-up, we don’t know what to expect. Just last month we heard that she was in deep remission, and now this week we get word that there is a spot on her lungs they are concerned about.

So, at an appointment on Wednesday at the Cancer Center at Prism, Jenni ran into some old friends of hers and she learned that an old friend of hers has Stage 4 Cancer has only been given 1-5 years to live. As he and his wife were very distraught, Jenni said them, “Don’t lose your hope, medicine can make a lot of advances in 1-5 years.” She told me this story, and asked for our church to pray for them. But then Jenni said this, “Dad, 5 years ago, had I been diagnosed with HER2 Negative instead of Breast Cancer, I probably wouldn’t be here, as they did not have the treatment plan then that they have now.”

So here is my little girl, facing a giant in her life, realizing how God has worked through her situation, and while facing yet another Giant, encouraging others not to give up! Why? Because she’s already seen what God can do!

Folks, I’m just saying that there are times in your life you will not know that faith that is in you until you face some giants!

Do you realize, though Goliath was a giant of a man, and he was covered with armor, and had a big weapon, he never used them. The only weapon he used was his mouth.  He intimidated the nation of Israel with his mouth. David said, “All I see is an uncircumcised Philistine.”

David was able to say that because there was something planted inside of him while he was on the back side of the mountain tending to the flocks that he couldn’t see until he faced his giant!

Giants Reveal Your Faith

GIANTS ALSO REVEAL YOUR FIGHT

Verses 38 – 41, Saul tries to equip David with armor. So, here comes David from the backside of the mountain and he’s bringing everyone a grilled cheese sandwich (now that I planted that seed, some of you are going to go home this afternoon with a grilled cheese sandwich on your brain). But here’s David, bringing out lunch and he hears this Philistine cursing his God. So David responds, “Who is this Philistine that he would defy the armies of the Living God?”

And when David had convinced Saul let him go fight this giant, notice verse 38, “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.”  Let me show you something interesting about this verse. 

In verse 5, speaking about Goliath, the Bible says, “And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail;”

You notice any similarities here? Saul tried to arm David with the enemies weapons! He wanted David to use the weapons of the enemy to fight the enemy!

Now listen to what David said . . . now remember, Giants will reveal your faith, but they will also reveal your fight.  David said, “I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.”

David was saying, “I’m not going to fight this giant with his weapons.  They haven’t proved anything. All I hear is this giant’s big mouth! But what I will do is stick with what I already know has worked for me.”

So David, “took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.”

“I’ll stick with my staff, and I’ll stick with my sling, because they worked for me on the backside of the mountain against a lion and a bear, so I’m going to stick with what I know!”

David was saying, “My strength is not in my staff, or in my sling. You come at me with your sword and your spear and your armor, but I’m coming at you in the name of the LORD!”

You know why we are having such a hard time defeating the world? Because we are trying to use the world’s weapons and the world’s methods – and they are just not working.

What we as the church need to do is stick with what’s already worked.  If it ain’t broke don’t try to fix it or change it. We need to fight our giants with the Spirit and the Power of God!

David was saying, “Every battle that is behind me has prepared me for the battle in front of me!”

And just like David, you and I need to take the battles from our past and used them to defeat the Goliath in front of us!

Not only did the Giant Reveal His Faith and His Fight:

THE GIANT REVEALED HIS FUTURE

All that David had was a staff, a sling, and 5 smooth stones. That staff was a shepherd’s staff and it was a sign of authority that he had over the sheep. And by Goliath showing up, it just revealed what had been happening inside David the whole time he was on the back side of that mountain.  

While David was in the field tending the herd, God was preparing David.  I Samuel 16:12, we find out how God feels about David when He anointed him. But in chapter 17, we find out how David feels about God!

Though David had been anointed, he went right back to the pasture to tend the herd until the time when he would face Goliath. Have you ever asked yourself what was God doing with David then? When David was all alone on the back side of the mountain, when David was sitting alone with his harp and singing psalms to God, when he was alone facing the lion and the bear – what was God doing with David?

Well, I believe that what man was neglecting, God was perfecting! God was preparing David to face his Goliath! God was preparing David for his future.  Look at chapter 18 and verse 2, “And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father’s house.”

Let me give you the setting here.  David has slew the giant, he takes the head of that to King Saul, because David always knew how to “Get A Head.” So David brings this victory to King Saul, and understand, this was a victory for the entire nation of Israel. And from this day forward, David would never return home again.  He would never tend to the herd again. From this point forward, David would begin his path to become the anointed King of Israel. 

But the only way he got there was by facing his giant! This was not the only victory David would win in his life, but it was this victory over Goliath that would propel David as God’s anointed to the place God wanted him to be.

God has a perfect plan and a perfect design for each of our lives, but sometimes it will take facing a Goliath to get us there. That is The Beauty in Facing Giants.