When I was young, I was a huge fan of the Walt Disney version of Zorro. I loved the idea of a person who would dress up in a costume, ride a beautiful horse, and cross swords triumphantly with the forces of injustice and oppression—though I would have defined those forces merely as “the bad guys” in those days. I loved it. Outwitting “the bad guys” and sometimes, even carving a “Z” for “zorro” or “fox” on the very fronts of their uniforms. And I also loved the fact that whenever “the bad guys” would try to find Zorro, they would run into his secret identity, ineffective and naïve Don Diego de la Vega.
Please bear with me. This does have relevance to our text for today. When I became a little older, I used to listen to old radio shows. One of the stations I could pick up at night was a station out of San Francisco that would broadcast two old radio shows every night after I was supposed to be in bed. Well, I went to bed and listened to tales of Hopalong Cassidy, Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, Orson Welles with Tales from the Black Museum, and the Scarlet Pimpernel. After I heard the adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel on the radio, I found the book in the library. What derring-do! Once again, a hero who was able to cross swords with anyone pretended to be an ineffective dandy in order to have a secret identity where he could challenge “the bad guys.” This time, though, the hero dressed up in lots of different costumes and had a whole team of helpers. The new French government, so quickly giving aristocrats to “Madame Guillotine,” were helpless when the Pimpernel decided to rescue their victims.
In the doggerel of the original book,
“They seek him here; they seek them there!
Those Frenchies seek him everywhere.
Is he in heaven or is he in hell?
That demmed elusive Pimpernel.”
And yes, though it was spelled as pronounced in polite society of the time, that is a bad word that the poem puts in the mouth of the French citizens.
Both of these heroes had a secret identity, much like Clark Kent’s in the Superman stories, where they seemed to be ineffective, unthreatening, and totally unsuited to the task. But as the readers (or viewers), we knew a secret. We knew that they were going to be the solution. We knew that no matter how powerful “the bad guys” were, our secret hero was going to win. Now, the story of David in I Samuel 17 is a lot like those stories. If we’d never heard or read the story before, we’d wonder how anyone could beat the giant, how anything could happen to Israel except going into slavery to the Philistines.
I always liked this passage for much the same reason as I liked Zorro and the Scarlet Pimpernel, but it was when I saw a Broadway musical called “The Scarlet Pimpernel” that the messages of both the fictional story of the Pimpernel and the true story of David became merged forever in my mind. In the musical, the Pimpernel rallies his troops before a big operation by singing a song called “Into the Fire.” The song starts like this:
“David walked into the valley
With a stone clutched in his hand
He was only a boy
But he knew someone must take a stand
There will always be a valley
Always mountains one must scale
There will always be perilous waters
Which someone must sail.”
In the lyrics I just quoted, although they unfortunately emphasize David as a boy instead of as the teenager or young man he was, the words tie the ancient text together with the challenge that the heroes faced. More than that, the lyric says that there are always challenges or obstacles that we must face. Do you ever feel overwhelmed? Do you ever think that everything is stacked against you? Do you ever think there is no way out? Do you ever feel like life is full of “no win” situations? That’s the way everyone on Israel’s side of the battlefield in the Valley of Elah felt—everyone except for David.
Let’s read the first eleven verses of the chapter together, and let’s give them a title as though they formed the first chapter of a book. Let’s call this chapter, “An Incredible Challenge.” The chapter sets the scene with a giant. The giant is so big that we can’t imagine him. A cubit is roughly 18 inches. At six cubits and a span, we’d have to put Goliath at over 9 feet tall and approaching 10 feet. If Yao Ming, the center for the Houston Rockets is 7’ 6” and Shaq is 7’ 1”, Goliath must have had more than two feet on them. And he wasn’t as skinny as a stick! His armor weighed in at 150 pounds and his spearhead alone was 19 pounds. He was frightening, but he was facing God’s own and he didn’t realize that God specializes in overcoming what seems IMPOSSIBLE.
Now, some of us today don’t face nine foot plus opponents, but we do face giants of financial difficulties, emotional fears and worries, habits that need to be broken, and opportunities that need to be seized. They all seem overwhelming. They all seem almost impossible, but that isn’t the end of God’s message for us.
So, let’s look at verses 12-19. I call these verses, “An Insignificant Messenger.” Indeed, the passage sets us up with no expectations. David is described as the youngest son in a society that valued the eldest son much higher (v. 14). He’s also described as a shepherd (v. 14). In the ancient world, even though the rulers often described themselves as shepherds for the nations, they didn’t go out into the pastures and deal with the stench and the problems themselves. That task was left for lower class workmen. In I Samuel 16:23, we’ve already been told that he is a musician—quite a secret identity for a giant killer! In fact, speaking of secret identities, I Samuel 16:13 tells us that the priest Samuel had already anointed David as king and that the Spirit of the Lord was mightily upon him. Yes, God had already chosen him, but this was a chance to respond positively to God’s will.
Now, anytime we’re tempted to think that we’re incapable of winning the victory that God has set before us, anytime we think that we’re inadequate to God’s calling, we need to remember all the things that were working against David. He was too young, too low in social class, and too “artsy” to be able to accomplish God’s mission. He was merely a delivery boy sent with grain and bread for his more accomplished and mature brothers and cheese (maybe as a bribe?) for his brothers’ commanders. Yet, he was the one God chose to bring down the giant. And if God can choose a David to face Goliath, God can choose you and me to face the giants in our lives.
Then, we have verses 20-27. I call this portion, “An Inconceivable Reward.” Verse 25 tells us that King Saul (even though we already know he’s a “lame duck” monarch) promises great riches to the one defeating Goliath. The same verse promises the hand of one of Saul’s daughter. In other words, the hero gets a princess. We understand that from fairy tales, movies, and video games alike—the winner gets the princess. Of course, the irony here is that we already know that the princess from the “lame duck” royal lineage is going to get the unannounced king. Finally, the same verse tells us that the king would declare the victor’s family to be a “free family,” free of royal obligation with regard to military service and taxation. That’s one huge tax deduction!
Of course, our rewards with regard to defeating our giants last even longer and mean even more. In addition to the fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, and self-discipline), we can also claim those promises to the seven churches that were given in Revelation (freedom from fear of death, hidden resources, freedom, and a new identity, authority, forgiveness, and the permanent presence of God in our lives). And the huge difference between us and David is that our promises, our inconceivable reward doesn’t come from a “lame duck” king; they come from the Eternal King.
The next few verses (28-30) remind us that, for every action (both physically and spiritually), there is an equal and opposite reaction. No sooner does David express an interest in the reward than he receives “An Insolent Accusation.” Verse 28 represents three questions that are continually directed at people of faith.
1) What’s your REAL motive?
2) Aren’t you neglecting your job?
3) Aren’t you just looking for a show?
And the saddest part of these questions is where they originated. These are David’s own siblings who are questioning his motives, his faithfulness, and his attitude in the same way that we are sometimes betrayed and hindered by our own brothers and sisters in Christ, the very ones we are closest to and trust the most. Wow! Does that hurt! But David sees beyond the accusation. When he responds to his brothers, he asks what could possibly be wrong with his speech. Essentially, he’s implying that his speech must have accused them. Rest assured, when people accuse you, it’s often what we call psychological transference. They’re attacking you because they feel guilty.
The “takeaway” here is that we are sure to face accusations and innuendo whenever we try to act genuinely and positively in faith. Yet, we need to realize that the reason for the hostility we are encountering may have nothing to do with us and everything to do with where our accusers are. Our faith may have convicted them.
Like David, we shouldn’t base our faith on the opinions of others, but on our relationship to God. In verses 31-40, David expresses “An Indomitable Faith.” David volunteers to face the Philistine at the same time everyone else in Israel’s army is hiding back at the camp in fear. As the late Adrian Rogers said, “Everyone else was saying that Goliath was too big to hit, but David was saying, ‘He’s too big to miss.’”
But the expression of faith here is more important than David merely having the vision that Goliath COULD be defeated. When Saul responds to David’s expression of faith by complaining that David didn’t have the strength, stamina or training to face the giant (verse 33), David responded that he was ready to face the giant because he had already killed lions and bears with God’s help (verse 34). David changed the subject. Saul was worried about David’s lack of qualifications and David was focused on God’s total faithfulness and power.
The late Manley Beasley defined faith as a “reason at rest with God.” To me, that’s powerful, but it hits me even harder when I remember that he went on to say, “Faith is dependency upon God and this God-dependency only begins when self-dependency ends.” And what do we see David saying? He says that the same God whose help he has already experienced in smaller ways will be with him when he faces bigger things. And, later in the passage, David tells Goliath that he faces him “in the name of the Lord.”
Not once does David hinge the expectation of victory on his prowess or his resources. He reiterates in verse 37 that God would protect him. And when Saul offered the royal armor, David protested that he wasn’t trained in the armor and shouldn’t take the risk of using unfamiliar tools. It reminds me of that Disney movie where the mother of a rival figure skater buys a new pair of skates for the rival on the day of the finals, knowing that it takes a long time to break in a pair of skates and get them competition ready.
You see, a lot of times we depend on human “armor” instead of God’s protection. We depend our idea of financial security against financial giants, our idea of medicine and good health against physical giants, our ideas of success, satisfaction, or sanity versus those mental and emotional giants. But those won’t prepare us enough to face the toughest opposition—only God’s presence and power can do that. If we expect to win against the giants God allows us to face, we need to train in God’s style with God’s resources and not depend on resources provided with questionable motives.
What do I mean by questionable motives? You see, the first time I saw that Disney movie about the skates, I was taken in by the mother’s magnanimous gift to the rival skater. What a wonderful gift! But it turns out that the mother was a former Olympic skater. She knew that the gift of the skates would cause the hero of the movie to fall in the finals. Now, the Bible doesn’t ascribe any questionable motives to Saul, but I see two very possible human motives. First, he could have offered his armor to David because he felt guilty for not facing the giant himself. By giving the armor to David, he could claim to have done everything he could to assure victory. And there are many folks today who will give to a cause where they aren’t willing to serve, or who will pledge to something just so they don’t have to deal with it.
Of course, since leaders usually wore the best and most distinctive armor on the field, I have an even less charitable suggestion about why Saul wanted to give David that armor. My second possibility is that Saul felt that if he loaned David his armor, some of the credit (in the unlikely event of David’s victory) would rub off on him. Like a modern manager, he figured he’d look good at his direct report’s expense. Regardless of whether Saul had questionable motives, though, we need to beware of human answers when God promises us victory via His resources.
Then, we get to the meat of the passage. I called verses 40-51, “An Invulnerable Strategy.” Early on, the giant mocks David, pointing out that he is an experienced warrior, not a mongrel dog to be conquered with sticks and stones. He indicates that David is too inexperienced, too soft, too insignificant to be facing this champion of the Philistines. And you know what? David was too inexperienced to be facing this champion, but God plus one equals a force that can’t be reckoned with.
In fact, that’s exactly the way David faces the ridicule! He turns the subject to God instead of taking it personally. He asserts that he will win the victory because he’ll win under God’s authority (the name of the Lord) and because he’s doing God’s will. So, whenever people make fun of the way we look, the way we talk, our lack of education, our lack of talents, our lack of skills, our social level, or our intellect, let’s remember that faith isn’t about us and the victory doesn’t depend upon us—VICTORY is the Lord’s.
Just as David faced the giant in the NAME of the Lord, let’s remember that we have a great promise about praying in Jesus’ name, let’s remember that God hasn’t given us a blank check on the Bank of Heaven, but He HAS given us a power of attorney to do His will. When God’s enemies accuse us of being spiritually bankrupt, let’s remember God’s great spiritual reserves!
So, we have David with five stones (one for each champion of the five cities of Philistia?). These aren’t just little rocks like we used to skip across the water, either. Imagine rocks the size of baseballs that would rise from the sling (released underhand) like a rising softball! These little missiles of death would appear almost out of nowhere. And I always imagine, like the late Dr. W. B. Timberlake used to tell me (I seem to be quoting a lot of old pastors who’ve preceded me, today), that Goliath was still laughing at David when the slingstone hit him between the eyes. Dr. Tim used to suggest that the giant’s helmet would have protected most of his forehead, but if his head was tilted back in laughter, he would have been totally vulnerable.
Neither Dr. Tim nor I know if that’s certain, but it certainly rings true to our experience. God’s enemies, whether a human giant named Goliath, a supernatural entity named Satan, or those habits, feelings, and circumstances we need to conquer, always overplay their hand. God’s enemies are always overconfident, but the great news is that their overconfidence leads to “An Inestimable Victory” (verses 52-53).
What do we see happen after the giant is struck down? David uses the giant’s own weapon to finish the coup-de-grace and then, behead him, while Israel’s army finally gets the courage to pursue the Philistines and, at least for a while, to finish the job. If we are faithful to God’s challenge, God’s call to face the giants in our lives, these victories will lead to others.
Let me close with the closing the stanza of that song from the Broadway musical. I’ve changed one preposition to make it match this message better. We began with the lines that stated that David went into the valley where he knew that someone must take a stand. Now, it gets personal.
“Someone has to face the valley,
Rush in! We have to rally and win, boys!
When the world is saying not to
With* God, you know you’ve got to march on, boys.
Never hold back your step for a moment
Look alive! Oh, your courage will grow
Yes it’s higher and higher and into the fire we go!
Into fire! Onward, ho!”
