They shook with fear every time he came out to challenge them. And who could blame them? How would you like to face a nine-foot giant in a duel to the death? This giant carried a spear whose brass tip alone weighed 18 lbs. That’s as heavy as eight hymnals. Even if you could pick up eight hymnals with one hand, would you be able to throw them any distance with accuracy? This giant must have been able to, for he was no oaf, prone to trip over his own feet. He had been a soldier since youth. The fact that he had survived into adulthood must have meant he was athletic enough to dodge spears and arrows hurled his way. That’s impressive when you consider how, as the biggest target on the field of battle, he must have attracted such deadly missiles.
Have you ever had to face anyone as scary as the Philistine giant Goliath? Actually there is an enemy that we all face who is bigger and stronger than Goliath. Here’s how the book of Revelation describes him. “Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads…‘woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short’” (Revelation 12:3, 12).
Although Satan is not literally an enormous red dragon with seven heads, he is immensely powerful and filled with hatred towards you. He can’t stand the thought that you will end up in heaven while he will have to forever suffer in hell for his rebellion against God. So he will try to break your faith in the one true God to drag you down to hell with him. Satan will throw various temptations your way hoping to distract you from Jesus. Or he will make your life miserable through financial ruin and sickness as he did in the case of Job, hoping you will give up on God. It’s these kinds of “giants” in particular that we want to focus our attention on this morning. Does your heart melt with fear when you think about what would happen should you get cancer, or should your parents suddenly die leaving you and your siblings on your own?
King Saul and his soldiers melted with fear when the giant Goliath bellowed out his daily taunts. But then a teenaged shepherd named David stepped forward and proclaimed: “Do not lose heart.” Sure, that was easy for David to say. He had just stopped in to deliver some food for his brothers who were soldiers. At the end of the day he could return to the safety of his home and his daddy far away from Goliath. What did David know about courage? Plenty as it turned out. David would not just offer words of courage, he would demonstrate courage when he took on and defeated the giant Goliath. Wouldn’t you like to have such courage when facing your giants? You can. Just remember, as David did, that the Lord fights for you, and that the Lord fights through you.
Just so we’re all on the same page, let me remind you that the story of David and Goliath is not a fairytale. It’s a battle that really happened about 3,000 years ago in Israel. We believe this because the Bible is the inspired Word of God. You can trust what you read in the Bible, no matter how fanciful it may sound, because God has promised never to lie to us.
So picture the scene with me. On one hill the Philistine army was stationed while on the opposite hill were the Israelites led by King Saul. Instead of attacking, the Philistines daily sent out their champion Goliath to challenge and taunt the Israelites. We’re told that no Israelite wanted to take on Goliath but shook with fear when they saw and heard him, even King Saul.
So David, the teenaged shepherd, must have come off as one cocky kid when he offered to fight Goliath. If he wasn’t being cocky, then he was at least totally clueless. How could a boy take on a seasoned warrior and giant like Goliath? Wouldn’t that be like a teenager today thinking he could play in the rough and tough NHL and score goals? Actually, there have been teens who have done just that. Wayne Gretzky, for example, scored 51 goals in his first year in the NHL as an 18/19-year-old.
So perhaps David wasn’t clueless when he offered to take on Goliath. Perhaps he was just confident in his abilities because he was the Wayne Gretzky of the slingshot world! No. David wasn’t eager to fight Goliath because he had confidence in his own abilities. His confidence was in the Lord. He knew that the Lord would fight for him when he took on Goliath. Because, as he explained to King Saul, when lion and bear had attacked while he was tending his father’s sheep, David had not only been able to rescue the sheep, he had also grabbed the wild animal by its hair and killed it when it turned on him. David concluded that just as the Lord had been with him then, he was certain his Lord would fight for him when he faced Goliath. After all, by defying and belittling the Israelites, Goliath had defied God himself.
Can we be confident too that the Lord will fight for us when we face our giants? Good Shepherd Sunday gives such assurance. Think again of the psalm appointed for this Sunday, Psalm 23. What did David confess? He said: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4).
But how do we know that these words also apply to us? I mean David could confess them because he seemed to have a special in with God. Do we? Yes! Think of what Jesus said in John 10:11. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” When Jesus gave up his life on the cross, he did that for all people to forgive sins and rescue sinners from a certain and eternal future in hell. If he fought for us to the point of giving up his own life, will there be anything else we need that he won’t also give to us? Will he suddenly abandon us when we’re facing chemo, or another lonely night without family, or when we wrestle with thoughts of hurting ourselves? Friends, as far as God is concerned, you’re not like a cheap plastic toy one might get with a Happy Meal. Should you lose one of those toys it’s not a big deal. It was a freebie anyway. But that isn’t the way God thinks about you. You’re not a “freebie” that he acquired by accident. No, God intentionally purchased you at great cost when he shed his Son’s blood on the cross. So do not lose heart when you’re facing a giant. Your Lord will fight for you, even as he fought for David when he faced bear, lion, and Goliath.
David’s fight with Goliath, however, reminds us that not only does the Lord fight for us, he also fights through us. It wasn’t like God sent an army of angels to wrestle Goliath to the ground while David looked on. No, David had to collect his five smooth stones and face Goliath on the battlefield. Yet it was God working through David to win the victory.
Don’t you think that’s a good point to remember as this congregation takes on a sizable debt and as it develops a new three-year ministry plan? When I forget that my Lord is fighting for and through me it’s easy to panic and think: “What are we getting ourselves into? Who are we kidding? A congregation our size can’t do what we’re proposing!” And yes, there will be those who try to discourage us. The greatest opposition David faced was not from Goliath, but from his own brother and his own king who were skeptical of David’s abilities. But David’s confidence was not in himself, and neither is our confidence. The Lord fights for us and will fight through us. He’s done that in the past. Just consider how he moved the founding members of this congregation to spend $97,000 to purchase land and build a parsonage and a church. In today’s dollars that would be about a little over a half a million dollars. The per-communicant debt for those early members was about the same as the debt we’re taking on. Won’t God continue to bless us as he blessed those early members?
And we have some awesome tools at our disposal. Though God’s Word and the Sacraments may seem insignificant to the world, as did David’s slingshot to Goliath, God uses the means of grace to win victories. Take a look at how God’s Word changed your life. Think of how it convinced you of the truth when the world and Satan told you otherwise. Think of the comfort it has brought you through difficult times and the hope it gives you for the future. What can stand in our way when we faithfully use God’s Word?
And don’t think you’re too young to use and share God’s Word. In fact it may be your example and your enthusiasm for Jesus that fires up the rest of the congregation. Isn’t that the kind of impact the young David had on his king and on the seasoned soldiers? So, dear young people, keep using your talents in worship, keep participating in Bible class, and keep speaking up at congregational and at voters’ meetings. You really are an encouragement to the rest of us.
David experienced a great victory that day when through him God toppled Goliath. But that wouldn’t be the last giant David would face was it? There would be many other battles David would have to fight like when King Saul repeatedly try to kill him, and when his own son rebelled against him. There would also be his own sins and failures David would have to face. How did David manage? Read the psalms he wrote and you’ll see that he managed only by continually going back to God’s promises to be reminded that the Lord continued to fight for him and through him. We need that constant reminder too because it’s the only truth that will give us courage to face our giants, and by God’s power, to overcome them. Amen.
SERMON NOTES
The book of Revelation describes Satan as an enormous red dragon. What’s the point of comparison?
Fill in the blanks. The true story of David and Goliath took place __________ years ago while _________ was king of Israel.
David was confident that he could take on and defeat the giant Goliath because he knew the Lord would fight for him. List three Bible passages that give you that confidence to face your giants. (The sermon listed two. You’ll need to come up with at least one more on your own.)
The sermon stated that God doesn’t think of us as freebies, like the cheap plastic toys you get with a Happy Meal. So what does God think of us? How do you know?
The Lord not only fights for us but through us. Why is that important to remember as a congregation? As an individual Christian?
