"Five Stones for My Child"
1 Samuel 17
A sermon for 6/19/22 – Father’s Day
Pastor John Bright
1 Samuel 17 “40 Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine.”
Pause right there. Those words I just read; they were “Breathed by God”! God wants you to hear His Word right now! So, what is your response? Do you want to transformed by that Word or do you want to be informed about the words? You have to choose.
The best definition of Father’s Day I ever heard came from a child that explained it’s just like Mother’s Day, you just don’t spend as much money to buy a present. 😊 Besides a day when millions of cards are given, it marks a day to honor the men in our lives. Why do we bother? I think it’s because of all that fathers give their children. These are the children that must go out into the world to face their giants – just like young David in 1 Samuel 17.
This is another one those stories I heard all along when I was growing up. It was in my story Bible. We talked about it in the youth group. All along, I had the idea that David picked up five little rocks. That’s what we used when we made slingshots with tree branches. So, what if that’s not what David used that day long ago? Actually, people around the world still use slings made of long leather straps with a pouch at the end. Here’s some info I found about their use as weapons in the ancient world: “Surprisingly, a good slinger hurled a stone as far and accurately as a good archer. Roman military texts recommended archery target practice at about 200 yards. Slingers are known to hurl their projectiles even farther, as much as 440 yards - a quarter of a mile. As for accuracy, one ancient writer noted that the best slingers “would wound not merely the heads of their enemies, but any part of the face at which they might have aimed.” Experiments demonstrate that stones leave a sling in excess of 60 miles per hour.”
https://christiananswers.net/q-abr/abr-slingsforkids.html
Children around the world today learn to hunt with a sling using small stones, but as they grow and hunt larger animals, their stones get bigger - approaching the size of a baseball or tennis ball. This is how David told of his past victories – “34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, 35 I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it.” I believe he went after lions and bears and giants (oh, my) with a bag of baseball-sized stones that would be deadly.
When my children were young, I offered them each five things, like the stones David carried onto the field of battle. I want to encourage all the men here that still have influence over your kids or grandkids to offer these again and again.
Men, teach your children to be prepared.
“17 Then Jesse said to his son David, “Take now for your brothers an ephah of this dried grain and these ten loaves, and run to your brothers at the camp. 18 And carry these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and see how your brothers fare, and bring back news of them.” 19 Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.”
Like so many things that come along in the lives of our children, David finds himself in the Valley of Elah - seemingly by chance. His father, Jesse, had sent him with supplies for Saul’s army. When he arrived, he saw the Philistine’s champion, Goliath, taunting the Israelites. These men were cowering in fear. I believe this is right where God wanted David to be that day, but nobody, especially David, could have known.
Fathers can’t teach their children how to handle every situation they will confront in life. I doubt Jesse ever had a long talk with David about the birds and the giants. 😊 Yet we find out that David is prepared. As adults, your children will have to be prepared to face anything that comes along. They will face life and death. They will face joy and pain. They will face triumph and defeat.
Men, teach your children to love God more than money.
“26 Then David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
Young David hears the men of the army describing the all rewards that have been promised to the one who can defeat Goliath. King Saul had promised wealth, the hand of his daughter, and exemption from taxes for the family of the victor. David is shocked that these men would need any incentive to fight. The honor of his God is at stake and that should be enough.
In today’s church, more mothers bring their children to church. Fathers are most often not with the family. Men have a sacred responsibility to teach their children what it means to serve God. Too many examples for the children come from a father who works hard to put food on the table and then wants to relax and watch sports on Sunday. Men, don’t ever forget, God is the one that provides the job and the paycheck and the food and the television… even the children are a gift from God.
Men, teach them this so that they will always remember as Proverbs 22:6 tells us:
“Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.”
Men, teach your children that folks will see things differently.
“28 Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger was aroused against David, and he said, “Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.”
David is challenged by his older brother and others when he tells them that they should forget the reward and think only of serving God. They think he is conceited. They think he is making fun of them.
We don’t always see things the same as others. For example, something can come up at a church meeting and there will be different opinions. If you have more than one kid, they have different ways of seeing the same situation – one older brother was questioned by his father as to what started the fight with his younger brother. The older boy explained, “It all started when Johnny hit me back.” 😊
Our children should learn to listen to the opinions of others and advocate for their own positions. They should also have strong Christian convictions. In Ephesians 4, the Apostle Paul, described Christian maturity in this way – “14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—…”
Men, teach your children to be themselves.
“38 So Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. 39 David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.” So David took them off.”
David is summoned before the King and finally convinces Saul to allow him a chance to meet Goliath in battle. Saul proceeds to dress the boy in adult-sized armor and gives him a big ol’ sword. David has to refuse them. Instead, David goes to the river bed and chooses five smooth stones. (Remember – these are the size of baseballs.) David is going to face the giant as himself, as a shepherd.
We will always become like those around us – in little ways and in big ways. Parents can often tell who a child has been playing with by the words and behaviors their child brings home. All of us have tried to become like someone else. Maybe you did this to fit in or to be more popular. This can be humorous or disastrous.
I remember back in college how many friends I lost when they joined fraternities or sororities. It’s not that they were forbidden to socialize with other students, but they changed so much to fit in that they were no longer happy to be around those who were different. Look, I wasn’t completely against those organizations. I ended up joining a fraternity of misfits that were the “Animal House” of the campus. They wanted me to be myself. You know, it’s somewhat common for me to come to a new congregation and have folks tell me I would be more quickly accepted if I did it this way or that way. I always say the same thing – “That’s not me!”
I believe that children who learn to be themselves will do much better in school, at their work, and in their relationships. People will want to be around them because they are genuine and true to what they believe. Fathers can teach this.
Men, allow your children succeed or fail on their own.
“48 So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 49 Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. 50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it.”
David walked onto the field of battle with no one holding his hand. A young boy faced the champion of the Philistines all alone. He reached into his pouch and killed the giant with one stone.
One more thing about my college days – the folks who seemed to have the hardest time were the folks who had never been given any freedom as children and teenagers. These were the ones that got into the most trouble and flunked out most the first year. They had been sheltered and helped along. When my children graduated, they each had the whole summer to be free – no more curfews, no more telling us where they were going. I wanted them to have the chance to stumble and even fall with a bit of a safety net. One of them had a job and spent all night playing video games with friends before having to go to work the next morning. That night Lynn and I were told how hard it was getting through the day with no sleep and that it wasn’t going to happen again. We never said anything – just a little “good idea” - but we were soooo happy it happened then and not far from home. We learn strange things when we study the Bible – bad stuff is going to happen and we all with have trouble – Romans 5 “3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Listen to James 1:2 “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,…”
It might sound cruel, but I believe that children learn much more from one failure than from ten successes. They learn when they have to admit the fault was theirs. They learn that when they wait until the last minute to do something you WILL NOT bail them out. Give your child as much responsibility as they can handle as soon as they ask for it. Let them learn to get up and dust themselves off after they fall. They have a whole lifetime of falls ahead of them.
As David went into battle with a giant, you send your children into a giant of a world. It happens when they leave on the school bus. It happens when they go off to college. It happens when they get a job. It happens when they get married. It happens when they bring a little baby home from the hospital. Fathers will not be able to fight all their battles for them, but you can give them these five stones to take with them.
All men can teach the children to be prepared and to love God more than money. All men can teach the children that others will see it differently and to be themselves. All men can allow the children to fail and succeed on their own. Give them these five stones and give them a pouch in which to carry them. That pouch is your love. Amen.
