Ah, good old King Saul – remember him - annointed by Judge Samuel to be Israel's first king? He's initially described as a man without equal in all of Israel. Standing a head taller than the largest of his men he's a formidable ruler, save for that time he was found hiding in baggage claim...! Awkward!
Now we find him shivering in his tent, not because he's cold but because across the Elah Valley, filling every nook and cranny of the opposing hillside, leers the entire Philistine army..., led by none other than their towering champion, the junk-talking general from Gath, the Great Goliath! He dwarfed Israel's tallest men! We've been naming gorillas and mammoth elphants after him ever since!
A giant of a man, Goliath towers above them all: 9 feet, 9 inches tall in his bare feet, wearing 125 pounds of armor, and snarling like the main contender at a World Wide Wrestling competition. He wears a a size-20 collar, a triple wide helmet and his bursting biceps make King Saul's look like droopy wet noodles. Like an NFL superstar his bravado echoes through the canyon: “I defy the armies of Israel! (spits) Send me a man who will fight with me!” (1 Samuel 17:10)
“Who will go mano e mano conmigo?” he taunts. “Bring out your best! Let us see what you're made of, huh! Give me your best shot...! Anyone – Anyone...?!”
King Saul asks for a volunteer to step forward. His men took at him, then at each other, and then in unison they each take a step...backwards. Each day its the same – until today.
Enter young David. He clocked out of sheep watching in time to hear Goliath defying not just Saul and his army, but the God of Israel as well. And so taking his staff and sling in hand and five smooth stones from a nearby brook, David steps on to the battlefield to face the giant.
Snickering fills the canyon. Goliath articulates what his conrads are all thinking: “What's this? What's with the pencil-necked kid? This is the best you can muster? Do I look like some pet pooch to babysit your little ones?” “Am I a dog that you come at me with a stick?” (1 Samuel 17:43)
It is quite the contrast. Skinny, scrawny David facing bulky, brutish Goliath. The toothpick vs. the towering redwood. The tricycle against the 18-wheeler. The toy poodle taking on the rottweiler. What odds would you've given David? Any better odds than you give yourself against you giant(s)?
Your goliath doesn't carry sword or shield; he brandishes blades of unemployment, sexual abuse or depression. Your giant doesn't parade up and down the hills of Elah; he prances through your work place, your classroom, your bedroom. He brings bills you can't pay, classes you can't handle, people you can't please, alcohol you can't resist, pornography you can't refuse, a past you can't shake, or a future you can't face. Yes, you know well the roar of Goliath.
David faced one who foghorned his challenges morning and night. “For forty days, twice a day, morning and evening, the Philistine giant strutted in front of the Israelite army.” (1 Sam. 17:16)
His family was an ancient foe of the Israelites. Joshua fought them three hundred years earlier, driving out all but the residents of three cities: Gaza, Gath & Ashdod. Guess where Goliath was raised. See the G on his jersey? Gath High School. Saul's soldiers wined, “Not again! My dad fought his dad. My grandpa fought his grandpa. This is getting old!”
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Perhaps you've groaned similar words. “I wound up divorced just like my parents.” “My kid and I are estranged, just as I was from my mother/father.” “I struggle with the addiction just like...”
Goliath: He prods you in the morning and torments you at night. He stalked your parents and now you. We're told that “When Saul and his troops heard the Philistine's challenge, they were terrified and lost all hope.” (1 Samuel 17:11) Ever been there, as well? It's a dark place.
And then there's this kid, David? “David asked the men standing near him, 'What will a man get for killing this Philistine and putting an end to his abuse of Israel? Who is this pagan Philistine that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?'” (1 Samuel 17:26)
The soldiers didn't mention him, nor did his brothers but as soon as David steps onto the stage he immediately raises the subject of the living God. He does the same with King Saul: “The Lord who saved me from the claws of the lion and the bear will save me from the hands of this Philistine!”
(1 Samuel 17:37)
He continues with Goliath himself. When the giant mocks David, the shepherd boy replies: “You come to me with sword, spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord Almighty – the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today the Lord will conquer you and I will cut off your head and give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! And everyone will know that the Lord does not need weapons to rescue his people. It is his battle, not ours. The Lord will give you all to us!”
(1 Samuel 17:45-47)
A vital subplot appears in the story. More than David vs. Goliath its a God-focus versus a giant-focus. All compasses, save David's are set on the polestar of the Philistine. The people know his taunts, demands, size and strut. They have majored in giant dynamics. David majors in God.
Oh, he sees the giant alright; he just sees God more. Listen again to his battle cry: “You come to me with sword, spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord Almighty – the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” (1 Samuel 17:45) Note the plural noun – 'armies' of Israel. Armies? Everyone else only sees one army of Israel. Not David. He sees the heavenly allies gathered for battle as well, their banners rippling in the wind.
David knows that God could assail the enemy with hail as he did for Moses, or collapse walls as he did for Joshua, or turn the enemy against itself as He did for Gideon. David sees the armies of God and because he does, David races forward to face off with the giant Goliath.
He spots his target and seizes the moment. The sound of swirling sling is the only sound in the valley. Ssshhhww. Ssshhhww... The stone torpedoes through the air and into the skull; Goliath's eyes cross and his legs buckle. By the time his mammoth body hits the ground he's breathed his last.
David runs over and pulling Goliath's sword from its sheath, shish-kebabs the Philistine, and cuts off his head. You could say.....that David knew how to...get a head of the giant. Sorry!
So how 'bout you? How long since you raced to face your challenger? We tend to retreat – to crawl into a distillery of distraction or hide behind a smile of denial. For the moment, a day, a year, we feel safe, insulated, medicated, but then his voice hisses anew: “This day I defy you!” (1 Sam. 17:10)
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He talks more trash than players in an NBA basketball game: 'You ain't got what it takes.' 'Your just like your loser father/mother.' 'You're all alone. No one understands and noone cares.' “You'll never be free of the fear of failure or the weight of the world that wears you down.'
That's your giant talking trash. His voice is sometimes indistinguishable from your own. Other times his voice is echoed in the voices of your past...or in the hurtful things that are said or done in the present. The Goliath before you wants to take you down in the Valley of Elah where he can sabatage your sleep, pilfer your peace and destroy your joy. His is the voice that taunts and teases and demeans.
Much of this I've shared, by the way, I borrowed from Max Lucado's book, Facing Your Giants....
Giants lurk in our families, at work, in school – even in our heads. Fear, failure, deception and rejection are but a few of the giants taunting us. Ignoring them or running from them will not bring an end to them. We must face them, yet we need not face them alone. Focus first, and foremost, on God. The times David did, giants fell. The days he didn't, David did.
Jesus' disciple Peter could relate. Remember that day he and the others got caught in a storm on the Sea of Galilee? They were afraid yet even still, when Peter realized it was Jesus out there walking on the water, he asked if he could join him. With his eyes on Jesus, Peter walked on water. “But when he looked around at the high waves, he was terrified and began to sink.” (Matthew 14:30)
When I was 6 I fell off a double-decker slide on my head. That explains a lot doesn't it? From that day on I had a tremendous fear of heights. And yet, years later I went on a steep mt. hike with my Dad and a few friends. When we reached the pinacle of the hike, a climb up a sheer cliff, to a rocky precipace, my knees gave out. My father encouraged me by telling me not to look down but to keep my eyes on him. I did, taking one baby step at a time until I stood jubilant at the top of the mountain...
Keeping my eyes on my father was key to my success. It kept from being distracted by the danger at hand and focused on someone who loved me and believed in me. David does no less.
Only twice does David refer to the giant but repeatedly, nine times in all, David speaks of God. God-thoughts outnumber giant-thoughts nine to two. How about you? Is your list of blessings 4 times as long as your list of complaints? Are you 4 times as likely to focus on God as you are what stresses you? David knows that if you focus on giants – you stumble. But if you focus on God – your giants tumble. The God who made a miracle out of David stands ready to make one out of you. Lift your eyes to He who gives strength and vision to defeat the giants of this world. Lift your eyes, giant-slayer.
As David himself put it: “I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. Many will see what He's done and be astounded!”
(Psalm 40:1-3)
And again: “I look up to the mountains - does my help come from there? My help comes from the Lord, who made the heavens and the earth! He will not let you stumble and fall...”
(Psalm 121:1-3)
Lift your eyes to He who gives strength and vision to defeat the giants of this world. Give God your ear by listening to his voice as he speaks in Scripture and as he speaks as you listen to that still quiet voice of His Spirit. Lift your eyes to Jesus, the son of the living God, and race to face your giant for God wants to make a miracle out of you, trusting in him, and making of you one of his mighty and trusting giant-slayers! He'll set your feet on solid ground and help you take Goliath down!