Part 12: David & Goliath

We’re going to be reading this morning verses 45, 46, and 47. When you get there, if you’re able, would you stand with me in the honor and the reverence of the reading of God’s word?

1st Samuel 17 verse 45. And now hear the word of the Lord.

David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the Lord of Armies, the God of the ranks of Israel. You have defied him. Today, the Lord will hand you over to me. Today I’ll strike you down, remove your head, and give the corpses of the Philistine camp to the birds of the sky and the wild creatures of the earth. Then all the world will know that Israel has a God. And this whole assembly will know that it is not by the sword or spear that the Lord saves. For the battle is the Lord’s. He will hand you over to us.”

May the Lord add his blessing to the reading, the preaching, and your hearing to understand his holy word. May our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ forever be praised. And all of God’s people say, “Amen.” Amen. You may be seated.

David and Goliath. What a great Bible story. But before we step out onto the battlefield with David and Goliath, we need to remember some things. We need to remember who David was and who he would later become. Because the story is more than just a Sunday school tale. It’s the hinge between two extraordinary realities. Number one is David’s unlikely anointing by Samuel the prophet, and number two the unlikely kingship of David later in life.

When we meet David in scripture, he’s no one special in the eyes of the world. He is the youngest son of Jesse. And he’s so young, in fact, that when the prophet Samuel arrives looking for the next king of Israel, David wasn’t even invited to the gathering. His father assumed there’s no way that boy will be king. You have thought that and maybe even said that about others. Not about being a king, but about being something.

It’s been said about some great preachers even. That boy will never be a preacher. You just don’t know what God’s going to do. Amen.

Yet, while every likely candidate, all of David’s brothers, taller, stronger, older, passed before the prophet Samuel, the Lord kept whispering, “Not him. Not him. Not that one either.”

Finally, they brought in David from the fields, the shepherd boy who smelled like sheep and manure, and he carried nothing kingly about him except that God had already seen his heart. And God said about the little shepherd boy, “Arise, anoint him, for this is the one.”

And from that moment, David lived between two worlds: the world that just saw a boy and the God who had already called him a king. Between those bookends—anointing by Samuel on one side and the throne on the other—stands this moment in 1st Samuel 17. The battlefield becomes the place where God begins to reveal publicly what he has already declared privately.

The story sits right in the middle of David’s journey from forgotten, overlooked shepherd to beloved king. And this morning, we stand in that valley with him because this is not just David’s story. This is the story of a God who prepares nobodies. Who prepares? Got any nobodies here this morning? Friends, if you don’t know you’re nobody, you’re wrong. We’re all nobodies. I mean, right?

But that we serve a God who prepares nobodies for great callings. A God who sees what others miss. A God who shapes courage in hidden places long before it shows up in public battles. And a God who delivers his people in ways that make it unmistakable that the victory belongs to him alone.

And so this morning, let’s step into the valley of Eli and watch how the Lord shows himself to be faithful. We do what we’ve done all in this entire series. We begin with number one, retelling this story, the story of David and Goliath.

The armies of Israel and the armies of the Philistines were camped on opposite hills with a great valley between them, a natural arena, the kind that turns every footstep into an echo and every heartbeat into a drum. And for 40 days, every morning and every evening, the same sight appeared: a giant of a man, Goliath of Gath, stepping down into the valley like he owned the place.

He was massive, close to 10 ft tall, with armor so heavy most men couldn’t even lift it. And weapons—always weapons—they looked more like small trees than tools of war. And day after day he comes into the valley and shouts the same challenge: choose a man to fight me. Winner takes all.

But no one moved. Not a soldier, not a commander, not a lieutenant, not a sergeant, not even Saul the king.

And into this scene walked a young shepherd boy, David. Not a soldier, not a warrior, just a teenager delivering bread and cheese to his older brothers on the battlefield. And he arrived the very moment that Goliath had stepped forward again on that day, bellowing his challenge.

And David heard it, and he heard it once. Only once did David hear this. And immediately something stirred in him that hadn’t stirred in any of his soldiers who had heard it for 40 days straight. He looked around at Israel’s fighting men. And David looks around at their polished armor and their sharpened blades. Yet none of them would step forward.

And David asked a simple question. A simple question. But it sounded like a rebuke to those who were around him. David said, “Who is this man who defies the armies of the living God of Israel? Who does he think he is?”

His brothers heard him and instead of pride in their little brother, they responded with irritation, with jealousy, with accusation. They mocked him. They questioned him. They belittled him.

But David didn’t fire back. He didn’t argue. He simply kept on asking the right question to the right people until the word finally reached the right person, the king. Saul called for him, probably expecting a seasoned warrior. And instead, here comes a shepherd boy smelling like the fields.

But when David told the king he would fight the giant, Saul must have stared at him with disbelief. This is the best we’ve got.

But David wasn’t boasting. He had the receipts. As the young people say, if you don’t understand that phrase, ask one of the teenagers. They’ll explain it to you. David came bearing the receipts. He simply was describing what God had already done in his life: how a lion once attacked his flock, how a bear had done the same, and how God had given him strength to defeat the lion and the bear.

And so Saul agreed to let him try, but only if David wore the royal armor. They strapped it on him—helmet, coat, sword—but it didn’t feel right. It wasn’t made for him. It wasn’t who he was.

And David had the courage to say so. He laid aside the heavy armor. He walked out just as himself and picked up five smooth stones from a nearby stream. He walked alone into the valley while the giant approached, sneering, cursing, mocking the very sight of him.

To Goliath, David looked like an insult, but to Israel, he looked like a miracle waiting to happen. David didn’t back down. He didn’t stall. He didn’t tremble. He declared with a clear voice that the battle belonged to God. And then he ran. Not walked. David ran toward the giant. Stone in hand, sling whirling overhead. One throw, one stone, one strike to the forehead, and the giant fell. The ground shook and the boy no one believed in proved something. Something every generation needs to hear again and again: the power of God is greater than the size of any giant.

Retelling the story of David and Goliath. And I hope that you do make the story something that is down deep in your heart, something you can recall. But I want us also to, as we have in all of these sermons, not just remember the story, but remember number two, remember the truths. Here would be a great place for you to take notes. And there’s space on the back of your bulletin for you to do so.

Truth number one: God prepares you today for battles that you cannot yet see.

Before David stood in the valley, before that giant Goliath, he stood in the wilderness all alone before a lion and a bear. What looked like just lonely chores, what looked like something he was assigned because he was the youngest son, in that moment alone in the wilderness, God was using it as holy training. Training for what would come next.

What felt ordinary, God was using as preparation. Listen to me. What looks ordinary, God was using as preparation for what was coming next. Before you ever face your Goliath, God is shaping your courage in places no one else sees.

Folks, it is the truth that hidden battles—battles you’re fighting, battles that you have fought, battles that nobody else saw—hidden battles are never wasted battles.

Truth number two: people may overlook you. People may underestimate you. People may out of hand dismiss you. But God never does.

David was the brother nobody invited. He was the son nobody expected. He was the soldier nobody chose. But God delights in choosing what others ignore. Your worth is never measured by who notices you. It is measured by who calls you. And the one who calls you sees strength in you that no human eye can measure. Amen.

Everybody else may overlook you, but God doesn’t.

Truth number three: you cannot win the battles God gives you while wearing someone else’s armor.

Saul meant well. He did. He wanted David to be fully prepared. He wanted David to go out totally equipped. But Saul’s armor was not made for David. It didn’t fit him. It wasn’t made for David. It wasn’t meant for David.

Oh, there’s truth here. And David had the courage to say, “I can’t do this this way.” It takes courage when others are trying to fit you with their armor to say, “This doesn’t fit me.”

There will always be voices pressuring you to copy, to imitate, and to conform. Young people, listen to me. There are myriad—y’all don’t know what myriad means—there are hundreds of voices out there who are trying to shape you and conform you and get you to imitate them in ways that God has not designed for you to fight life’s battles. You can’t fight them with other people’s armor. It takes the armor God has made for you.

The calling on your life, God’s calling on your life, will come with the equipment that God has tailor made for your battles. Borrowed armor will always be a burden, but godshaped equipment will always be enough. Amen.

Truth number four: take your deep breath. I really mean that because you’re going to think you’re on one side of this truth and you may be the person on the other side of this truth. Hold on.

Sometimes the loudest discouragement comes from the people who should be your loudest supporters. David’s older brothers mocked him. They belittled him. They questioned his motives.

You know this to be true. The ones who are closest to you are the ones that can wound you the most deeply. Amen.

And so right now, if I have prepared this sermon properly, you’re thinking to yourself of some times when people who were very close to you stabbed you in the back, or some people that loved you, thought loved you deeply, let you down. You’re thinking of that right now, aren’t you? Good.

But I also want you to think about times when somebody who loved you needed your encouragement and instead of your encouragement, you offered ridicule. You were the one doing the stabbing in the back.

But folks, the calling of God will always be stronger than the criticism of men. You need to hear that again. The calling of God will always be stronger than the criticism of men.

Your courage may be ridiculed. Your obedience to God may be misunderstood. Your passion, your boldness may be treated like silliness. But do not let their voices drown out God’s voice. Obedience is costly, but silence would cost even more. God’s calling is stronger than man’s criticism.

Truth number five: victory comes when your eyes stay fixed on the strength of your God and not the size of your giant.

The soldiers, all of Israel’s armies, saw Goliath and they trembled. David wasn’t looking at the size of the giant. David saw God and his strength, and instead of trembling in his boots, he ran to the battle. He did not focus on the height of a giant but on the faithfulness of his God.

Folks, giants grow larger when we stare at them. Giants grow larger when we focus on them, but they shrink when we remember the one who stands above them. Every high thing must come down. Every stronghold shall be broken. Fear looks at the problem. Faith looks to the Lord.

And the battle is won, folks. Listen. The battle is won not when the giant falls, but the battle is already won when our gaze turns away from what we fear to the face of the living God.

Remembering the truths. But we got to do more than remember them. We’ve got to respond to them. So let’s respond in faith to these biblical truths.

In truth one, we said God uses our past battles to prepare for future ones. In the New Testament, in Romans, we read that “and we know that in all things”—say all things—“in all things, God works.” Does he say all things are good? No. Not all things are good, but in all things, God works for the good of those that love him, who are called according to his purpose. God does use the past battles to prepare you for the future ones.

So, how can you respond with faith? Here’s something just simple you can do. Take 10 minutes—not nine, not 11, 10 minutes—this week. Write down, you’re not going to remember this. You need to be writing it down. Write down two or three lions or bears. Lions and tigers and bears. Oh my. Lions and tigers and bears. Oh my.

Write down just a couple lions and bears that you’ve already faced in the past and that by God’s strength you overcame them in the past. Then pray, “Lord, show me what you taught me in those moments back then and how you’re preparing me now for what is to come.” Amen.

That’s how you practice remembering God’s track record. That’s how you stop from fearing the next challenge, is by remembering what God’s already done in the past. Amen.

Truth number two, we said that people may overlook you, but God sees you fully and God calls you purposely. People may overlook, despise, ridicule, but the Bible tells us, 1 Corinthians chapter 1, 27-28, “but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world.”

And why should we be surprised at this, friends? If you read your Bible, and I pray God you read your Bible. Just read the Bible stories and you see this is how God has always operated. God has always gone to the underdog. God has always gone to the overlooked. God has always gone to the underestimated. That’s who God always goes to. Amen. Why should it surprise us?

So when you feel underestimated this week at work or in your own home, in your family or in your own mind, stop for a moment and pray, “Father, help me see myself the way you see me.”

Then take one step of quiet obedience in the area that you feel too small, in the area that you’re afraid. Send that message. Make that phone call. Raise your hand and volunteer. Start that task that you have been avoiding and putting off for months. Take that one step of faithful obedience and slay that giant of fear. Amen.

In truth number three, we said that you cannot win spiritual battles with someone else’s armor.

I love my life verse. Ephesians chapter 2:10. “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works that God prepared in advance for us to do.” For us to do personalized, individualized specific things for us to do.

So identify right now, think about this. Identify one way that you’ve been trying to fit into someone else’s expectations. And maybe they’re good, maybe they’re bad. I’m not judging the other person’s expectations. I’m not saying the other person’s expectations are wrong for them. I’m saying the other person’s expectations may be wrong for you, your parenting, or you look at somebody else’s spiritual walk, or you look at somebody else’s gifting and it’s different than yours, and your calling is different than theirs.

And maybe you’ve been trying to fit into their mold. Maybe it’s out of a good place, a good intention. Maybe it’s out of admiration. Maybe it’s out of respect and honor. Maybe it’s out of just the fact you look up to somebody.

It’s Ricky, it’s been 20 years yesterday that Adrien Rogers died. And I went to that funeral with Dr. Malcolm Lewis and it was just this glorious thing. But I could remember being a young preacher and some want to be Billy Graham. I wanted to be Adrien Rogers. But God didn’t want me to be Adrien Rogers. God wanted me to be Kurt Pace. Amen.

So identify right now some ways that you’ve been trying to fit into somebody else’s mold that’s not the mold God has for you. Some practical things that you can do to make a deliberate shift—a deliberate shift in this.

Declutter your commitments. Say no to pressure. Say no to pressure. Say no to pressure. Say no to pressure. Y’all heard me say that.

Okay, I’m going to count to three and I want y’all to tell that to me. Ready? One, two, three. I’ll do my best. Okay.

Step back into the gifts God has specifically given you. Here’s what I’m having to learn. God has gifted me. In fact, God’s gifts—God has gifted me in some ways that indicate what my ministry should be. And I can get so wrapped up in things that I’m not gifted in, doing a mediocre job, a mediocre job at things, and then not having the time or emotional energy to do the real things that I’m called to do. Amen.

Step back into the gifts God has specifically given you. Pray, “Jesus, help me walk in the good works you prepared, you prepared in advance for me, not somebody else.”

We said in truth number four that your courage may be mocked even by those who are closest to you. Jesus said, “If the world hates you, understand it hated me first.” Don’t be surprised at these things Jesus said.

So, how can we practically respond? We can commit this week to obey Jesus, to obey Jesus even when it’s awkward. Teenagers, listen to me. I’m on into middle age and it’s been a long time since I rode that school bus and it’s been a long time since I was in that locker room. It’s been a long time since I was on that basketball court or on that football field. It’s been a long time and I’m glad I’m not in those places anymore.

And listen to me now. I’m talking to you. You need to listen. And I understand that in those situations, it can be awkward to obey Jesus. Do it anyway. Do it anyway.

Commit this week to obey Jesus when it’s awkward. Commit this week to obey Jesus when it’s inconvenient—when it cramps your style or when it messes up your plans, when it’s inconvenient, still obey Jesus.

Commit this week to obey Jesus even when it’s misunderstood, when nobody else understands what it is God’s asked you to do, when nobody else understands what God, the path God has led you on, and they don’t understand it and they don’t like it and they may ridicule it and they may mock it and they may think it’s silly, but you do what God is showing you to do. You obey Jesus.

Man’s criticism will never be as strong as God’s calling. Amen.

So, here’s how you do it. Offer to pray. Just some practical things. Offer to pray this week for somebody out loud. At work, somebody’s having a tough time. They’re telling you about it. This is going to happen to somebody this week. You’re at work and somebody’s telling you about a tough time. You say, “Come here. Come here.” Go over to the corner and put your arm on them and say, “Lord Jesus,” and begin to intercede for them right there.

Not—don’t say, “I’m gonna pray for you.” Don’t do that. Just take them right then. Go pray for them right then. Do it. It’s going to happen. God’s going to open that door for you this week. Offer to pray for someone out loud.

Number two, stand for truth graciously in a conversation. A conversation that you’re in begins going one way and you know it ought not be going that way, and you stand for truth. Do it graciously. Do it winsomely. Do it kindly, but you stop that direction it’s going. Right? In that gossip, that lewdness, that thing that may be true, but everything true don’t have to be told. Amen.

How do you practically apply this? Choose forgiveness. Choose forgiveness when others expect retaliation, and saying yes to a ministry step even if someone else dismisses it. We got to move quickly. Pray, “Lord, make me faithful even when faithfulness is not applauded.”

Truth number five, we said victory comes when we focus on the strength and faithfulness of God, not the size of the giants. Hebrews chapter 12, fix your eyes on Jesus, not everything else around you. Fix your eyes on Jesus.

This week, take one fear in your life this week. Take one giant in your life this week. Take one looming problem in your life. Name it. Name it in prayer. Then every time that worry resurfaces this week, redirect your thoughts by declaring out loud, “Jesus, you are stronger than this.”

Replace the mental rehearsing of the giant. If you look at the giant, the giant gets bigger. Replace the mental rehearsing of a giant with spiritual refocusing on Jesus Christ.

We spent this morning standing beside David in the Valley of Eli, watching a young man face a giant with nothing but a sling and a handful of stones and a heart convinced of God’s faithfulness. And yes, make no mistake, God is calling you to win some mighty battles. And God is calling you to slay some fearsome giants. And God is calling you to stand firm when the rest of the world shakes in fear, to live boldly when others are shrinking back, and to trust him when the enemy roars.

But hear me. Hear this with all the love I can speak into your life. If you’ve checked out, give me four more minutes and we’ll be done. But get this.

Before God calls you to your battles, God calls you to himself. Before God calls you to courage, God calls you to Christ. Before God calls you to slay your giants, he calls you to bow your heart.

Long before David faced Goliath, he belonged to the Lord. The victory in the battle in the valley with Goliath was a result of the relationship David had with God that started way back in the pasture out there with the sheep.

And the same is true for you. Listen to me. If you try to live with David’s courage without belonging to David’s God, you will face the impossible giants with insufficient strength. But when you come to God through his son Jesus Christ, he gives you a life that is anchored and assured before you ever pick up a single stone.

In John chapter 6, if you’ll bring that up, Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him.” And in chapter 6:37, he said, “Everyone the father gives to me will come to me, and the one who comes to me, I will never cast out.”

Do you hear the tenderness in that? The father is drawing. Jesus is welcoming. Before God sends you into any battlefield, he’s inviting you to his table.

You don’t start the life of faith by fighting for God. You start the life of faith by coming to Jesus, receiving the life, receiving the forgiveness, receiving the salvation he freely offers.

So yes, God will give you strength for the giants you face. Yes, God will prepare you for the battles that look impossible. Yes, God will lead you to victories that display his glory.

But friends, victory begins with your surrender. Courage begins with your calling. And the battlefield begins with the bread of life, Jesus Christ.

So today, if you hear God drawing you, if you feel him tugging, listen, listen, listen, listen. If you feel him tugging on your heart, awakening something inside, don’t ignore it. That’s the father inviting you to Jesus Christ. That’s the son Jesus saying, “Come to me. I will never cast you out.”

Before David ever ran towards Goliath, God was already drawing David to himself. And before you ever run toward any giant, God is drawing you today with grace, mercy, and eternal life through his son Jesus Christ.