HOW TO KILL A GIANT
1Samuel 17

Most people run from giants, hide from giants, peek around the corner to check for giants. Indeed, the whole army of Israel ran from Goliath and trembled (1 Samuel 17:4). David, however, was made of different cloth. He sought out the giant, confronted him, and killed him.

In life we meet giants we cannot escape. There is tragedy, severe illness, and death. Challenges also present opportunities if we can muster the courage and wit to tackle and overcome them. This week's lesson deals with the old familiar story of David and Goliath. I'm going to review this in a different way and see if we can apply it to the challenges of our lives today or tomorrow.

First, let's look at a couple of things often overlooked. Most of the children's books and pictures show David as a little kid with almost a toy slingshot. But I don't think that's the way it went down. The Bible seldom mentions what anybody looked like – very seldom. But it tells us that Saul stood head and shoulders above anyone else in Israel. So tell me: why did Saul offer his huge armor to a little boy? Answer: he didn't. David was not by then a little boy. The word translated “youth” may include little boys all the way up to young adulthood. Saul offered David his armor because it was the only set big enough to fit him! David did not take it off because it didn't fit; he took it off because he wasn't used to it. Also note David said he jumped on bears and lions like Tarzan and killed them. Hardly a deed a little boy could do.

Second, David selected five smooth stones for his sling. The slingshot was a standard military weapon of that day. Elsewhere in the David story we find 40 left handed slingmen who were deadly accurate. When archaeologists have dug up sling balls, they are the size of billiard balls. Now picture a young man built like a high school linebacker whirling that loaded sling around his head at tremendous speed before letting it free on its track to Goliath's forehead.

Now let's look at several things David did and we can do when giants arise in the land.

1 – Go looking for them! Of course, some of life's giants ambush you. But from time to time the Spirit gives us assignments. (“Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is...!) Sometimes he does it by stirring our concern. We see a problem or a need and think, “Somebody ought to do something about that.” Could it be that's the Lord's way of challenging YOU to be the one to do something? William Carey in 19th century England became concerned because no one was evangelizing pagans overseas. He finally committed himself publicly with the words, “If you'll hold the rope, I will go down into the well.”

They have become cliches. Get out of your comfort zone. Less talk and more action. Aim high. We love the sound, and coaches have drummed those words and others like them into millions of America's athletes. But the heroes of our faith understood another saying by William Carey: Expect great things from God; attempt great things FOR God! David certainly did.

And you?

2 - He practiced on bears and lions! Not sure we Christians today have even gone deer hunting. Have you aimed at anything bigger than a bird or a squirrel?

I can imagine David when he WAS a little boy getting his first sling shot. His daddy or an older brother showed him how to use it. He would go out in the back yard and fling rocks at trees and maybe sherds from broken pots around the house. Then maybe he did start hunting small game. When he became big enough and mature enough to be trusted with the sheep, he probably helped his father or brothers at first. Later he could be trusted by himself. Perhaps one day he saw a bear stalking one of the sheep. “Not on my watch, you don't!” he thought and let fly a rock that stunned the animal. Jumping on its back, he cut its throat or even strangled it. Goliath wasn't his first rodeo, nor his last either!

3 – He was courageous in his faith. He stood up for himself in the trash talking and gave as good as he got! Goliath not only had more experience, he had a second warrior with him, his shield carrier. It was going to be two against one. And the giant looked down on him scornfully. He made fun of David as a little boy coming after him with a stick (the shepherd's staff). He would feed the kid to the birds and wild animals. David kept coming.

4 – He depended on the Lord. And David's response was, “You come to me with a sword and a spear and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD God of Hosts whose army you have defied. He will deliver you into my hand and I will strike you down and cut off your head.” At that point the writer inserts a note to the effect David had no sword at the moment he talked about severing Goliath's head. He was to use the Philistines own sword after dispatching him. By the way, later in life he would recover that sword to use as his own.

Pay special attention to David's comment that the Lord would win the battle for him. One day I realized something about that: ANY MAN IN GOD'S ARMY COULD HAVE CONQUERED GOLIATH HAD HE GONE IN FAITH!  Sure, credit David for his skill with the sling and his courage in stepping out on faith, but don't miss that he gave credit ahead of time to the Lord.

So when life throws a giant in your path, remember David. The One who delivered him can deliver you. Go forward in faith, accepting the wisdom and strength that only comes from Him.

And be alert to calls from God to go fight a giant. Remember those things around us about which you remark, “someone should do something about that.” Maybe God would send you to do just that. Perhaps at least some of the people you are concerned about are among those God wants to send you to help. Look around. People are incredibly lost and needy in many ways. You can help some. God will show you who and how!