1 Samuel 17:40-51

Dave and Becky Isley bought me this book last year. It’s one of Max Lucado’s latest books, Facing Your Giants. As you might guess from the title and cover, it is a look at the life of David. In the book, Lucado points us to God’s answers for our real life giant struggles. Actually, the title is half of the battle. We must face the giant. No hiding, no running away, no cowering in fear.

The obvious Biblical starting point is the story of a boy and his battle with the giant. The story begins while David is still very young. This part should speak especially to our young people.

I. The Odds Are Against You.

Picture this: a slender, beardless boy kneels by the brook. Mud moistens his knee. Bubbling water cools his hand. He is searching for rocks. Stones. Smooth stones. The kind that stack neatly in a shepherd’s pouch. Usually this young boy used these stones for hunting. No gun or bow and arrow for this young hunter he used a slingshot. Eat your heart out Steve Boyer!

Goliath towers above them all: nine feet, nine inches tall in his stocking feet (I wonder if this reporter was a little generous with that measurement but regardless I think we get the point—he was BIGGG! And not only was he huge but he was also well protected, wearing 125 pounds of armor, and snarling like the main contender at a World Wide Wrestling Federation championship night or American Gladiators. He wears a size 20 collar (that cannot be found at Wal-mart—not even Men’s Warehouse but only special orders online), a 10 1/2 hat, and a 56-inch belt. His biceps burst, thigh muscles ripple, and boasts belch through the canyon. Step aside Shaquil O’Neal! "This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other" (1 Sam. 17:10). Who will say, "Give me your best shot"? Everyone took a step—backwards!

And here is the most interesting part of all—David’s way of looking at this entire scenario. What odds did David have against his giant? Better odds perhaps than you give yourself against yours. Your Goliath doesn’t carry sword or shield; he brandishes blades of unemployment, a downward economy, abandonment, sexual abuse, or depression. Your giant doesn’t parade up and down the hills of Elah as did Goliath (or even the Lloyd Expressway); he prances through your office, your bedroom, your classroom, or the thoughts in your mind. He brings bills you can’t pay, grades you can’t make, people you can’t please, whiskey you can’t resist, pornography you can’t refuse, a career you can’t escape, a past you can’t shake, and a future you can’t face.
This is the giants that we face today, right?

How long has this giant stalked you? Goliath’s family was an ancient (or long-time) foe of the Israelites. Joshua drove them out of the Promised Land three hundred years earlier. Saul’s soldiers saw Goliath and mumbled, "Not again. My dad fought his dad. My granddad fought his granddad." And you know what they say about each generation being a little bigger than the one before.

You’ve groaned similar words. "I’m becoming a workaholic, just like my father." "My family hasn’t got a great track record when it comes to marriage." "My mother couldn’t manage money either." "Depression runs in my family." Is this ever going to stop? When Saul and his men heard the Philistines’ challenge, they were terrified (1Sam. 17:11).

Having an overwhelming giant at his heels David could relate—but here is where David had something that maybe you and I need: a focus. Where is our focus? Where is our focus when the giant is on our heels? Where is our focus when we are ready to cave in? Where is our focus when our odds look worse than dismal? This is where his faith came into play and it is where ours needs to as well.

II. Do You See God?

You know Goliath. Or at least you know YOUR Goliath. That giant that is seeking to get the best of you or maybe already has; you know him. You recognize his walk and wince at his talk. You’ve seen your Godzilla. The question is, is he all you see? You know his voice – but is it all you hear? David saw and heard more. David’s first discussion, although it was about Goliath, was on the Lord. "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he defies the armies of the living God?" (1Sam. 17:26) David shows up discussing God. The soldiers mentioned nothing about him, the brothers never spoke his name, but David takes one step center stage and raises the subject of the living God. He does the same with King Saul: no chitchat about the battle or questions about the odds. Just a God-birthed announcement: "The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine" (1 Sam 17:37).

No one else discusses God. His brothers or the rest of the army of men say nothing about God. On the other hand, David discusses no one else but God. A subplot appears in the story. More than "David versus Goliath," this is "God-focus versus giant–focus." David sees what others don’t and refuses to see what other do. All eyes, except David’s, fall on the brutal, hate-breathing hulk. All compasses, sans David’s, are set on the polestar of the Philistine. All journals, but David’s, describe day after day in the land of the Neanderthal. The people know his taunts, demands, size, and strut. They have majored in Goliath.

David majors in God. He sees the giant, mind you; he just sees God more so. Most of us are like the average college student that majors in UNDECIDED. Look carefully at David’s battle cry: "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel" (1Sam. 17:45) O, for the faith of David to see past our giants and to see only god. That is what we need, isn’t it? We need to see God first and foremost in our life and it would diminish the size of any giant that we might be facing.

David sees the armies of God—all of the support and power that comes from his knowledge and relationship with God. And because he does, "David hurries and runs toward the army to meet the Philistine" (1Sam. 17:48). You hear that, he doesn’t retreat! He runs right toward the giant that everyone else fears. What a boy! No, what a God!

III. The Battle Is The Lord’s

David’s brothers cover their eyes, both in fear and embarrassment as their little bro is about to make a holy fool of himself. Saul sighs as the young Hebrew races to certain death. "Nice knowing you, David!" Goliath throws back his head in laughter, just enough to shift his helmet and expose a square inch of forehead flesh. David spots the target and seizes the moment. "Carpe Diem!" David seizes a God moment—a holy foot-in-the-door moment, an opening that nobody else saw. The sound of the swirling sling is the only sound in the valley. Bam! (would say Emeril Logasse.) The stone torpedoes into the skull; Goliath’s eyes cross and legs buckle. Lucky shot? Just like a scene from Roadrunner. David took a Godly aim at his fears and his giant! Goliath crumples to the ground and dies. David runs over and yanks Goliath’s sword form its sheath, shish-kebabs the Philistine, and cuts off his head. Ouch! That had to hurt.

When was the last time you went head on with your giant? How long since you ran toward your challenge rather than run from it? We tend to retreat, duck behind a desk of work or crawl into a nightclub of distraction or a bed of forbidden love. For a moment, a day, or a year, we feel safe, insulated, anesthetized, but then the work runs out, the liquor wears off, or the lover leaves, and we hear Goliath again. "I will destroy you," says the giant!

Why not try a different tactic? Rush your giant with a God-empowered soul. Amplify God and minimize Goliath. Download some of heaven’s unsquashable resolve. "Giant of Divorce you are not entering my home!" "Giant of depression I will not let you get the best of me!" "It may take a lifetime, but you won’t conquer me. Giant of alcohol, bigotry, child abuse, insecurity…you’re going DOWN." How long since you loaded your sling and took a swing at your giant?

I have often wondered what God ever saw in David? The guy fell as often as he stood, stumbled as often as he conquered. He stared down Goliath, yet fell for Bathsheba; defied God mockers in the valley, yet joined them in the wilderness. An Eagle Scout one day. Chumming with the Mafia the next. He could lead armies but couldn’t manage his own family. Raging David. Weeping David. Bloodthirsty. God-hungry. Eight wives. One God.

Acts 13:22 reminds us that God said that "David was a man after God’s own heart." A man after God’s own heart? That God saw him as such gives hope to us all. David’s life has little to offer the unstained saint. Straight arrows find David’s story disappointing. The rest of us find it reassuring. We ride the same roller coaster. We alternate between swan dives and belly flops, soufflés and burnt toast. In David’s good moments, no one was better. In his bad moments, no one was worse. The heart God loved was a checkered one. We need David’s story. Giants lurk in our neighborhoods. Rejection. Failure. Revenge. Remorse. Giants. We must face them. Yet we need not face them alone.

Focus first, and most, on God. The times David did, giants fell. The days he didn’t, David did.

IV. Focus on God Not GIANTS

David made only two observations about Goliath in 1 Samuel 17. One statement to Saul about Goliath (v.36). And one to Goliath’s face: "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?" (v.26). That is it. Two Goliath-related comments (and tacky ones at that) and no questions. No inquiries about Goliath’s skill, age, social standing, or IQ. David asks nothing about the weight of the sword of the size of the spear.

But he gives much thought to God. As we read David’s words again, I count "9 references to the Lord. 2 references to Goliath." God-thoughts outnumber Goliath-thoughts nine to two. How does this ratio compare with yours? Do you ponder God’s grace four times as much as you ponder your guilt? Is your list of blessings four times as long as your list of complaints? Is your mental file of hope four times as thick as your mental file of dread? Are you four times as likely to describe the strength of God as you are the demands of your day?

The whole matter may be summed up with the following couplet:
Focus on giants – you stumble.
Focus on God – your giants tumble.
Lift your eyes, giant slayer. The God who made a miracle out of David stands ready to make one out of you.