“David said to the Philistine, “‘You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, who you have defied.”
– 1 Samuel 17:45
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you have a figurative giant in your life? If you have a figurative giant in your life, what does your figurative giant look like? If you have a figurative giant in your life, how is your figurative giant finding ways to control your life? Goliath lived on planet Earth 3,000 years ago. Goliath was a literal giant. Samuel in 1 Samuel 17 scribed that Goliath was nine feet tall, that he wore a bronze armor that weighed around 150 pounds, that he carried a weaver’s rod size spear that had an iron point that weighed about 20 pounds, that he had hanging on his back a bronze javelin and that he had a personal shield carrier walk in front of him. Goliath was a professional Philistine soldier. Goliath relied on his size, his armor and his weapons to intimidate opposition army guys from trying to kill him. Goliath totally believed that he was indestructible. Do you have a hero in your life? If you have a hero in your life, who is your hero? If you have a hero in your life, how is your hero influencing your life? What does a hero have to do or be for you to be your hero? David was a hero. David was a young Israelite people group guy. David’s dad – Jesse, lived in the town of Bethlehem. Jesse was from Judah tribal clan. David was the youngest of eight boys. David was – per Samuel, a handsome, ruddy faced kid. David was duty bound by his dad to take care of his sheep. When a lion and then a bear tried to kill his dad’s sheep, David killed both the lion and the bear using his bare hands. David’s weapon of choice was a sling that he used to fling smooth river stones with pinpoint accuracy. While Goliath was acting out as a bully for his own self-aggrandizement, David was singing the psalm songs that he scribed to edify God. While Goliath was using the Valley of Elah as his stage to bellow out challenges to a terrified Israelite people group army, David was using quiet pastures as his stage to sing to God the psalm songs of praise and thanks that he scribed about Him. Goliath’s spectators – the Israelite people group’s army guys, were petrified by Goliath’s defiance. The hero’s audience – Jesse’s sheep, were accepting of David’s protection.
The Goliath/David saga led to a face to face confrontation when David – after David’s dad sent him to the Israelite people group’s army’s frontline to leave with his three oldest sons who had volunteered to join the Israelite people group’s army to help Saul – who had been appointed by God to be at this time king over the guys and gals who lived in the land of Judah, fight the Philistine people group’s army, a bushel basket or so of grain that had been roasted and ten loaves of bread plus ten cheeses for the commander of his sons’ unit, overheard Goliath doing his daily menacing, blithering war whoops. Goliath’s blustery kowtowing of the Israelite people group’s army did not fly with David. David told the guys who would listen to him that if no one else wanted to do it, that he would kill the giant, cut off his head, leave his corpse for the birds of the air and the beasts of the field to eat and . . . when David got the opportunity to call Goliath’s bluff, verse 45 says, “David said to the Philistine, “‘You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, who you have defied.” Even though David absolutely, totally trusted in God, David took proactive action to kill Goliath. Even though David – using his pet sling that could propel a smooth river stone up to 100 miles an hour, was able to plant a smooth river stone smack dab in the middle of Goliath’s forehead killing the evil monster, David still first chose five smooth river stones from a nearby stream – putting them in his shepherd’s bag, before heading out to face the Philistine giant. Goliath counted on his own size and strength to eradicate who he thought was just a puny, punk kid while David counted on God to be his strength and shield to cut down a harrying, harassing ogre. God’s might and protection will always win if . . .
Why do you think that David chose five smooth river stones to put in his shepherd’s bag when it took only a single smooth stone to . . . one of your grandpaa’s favorite personal teachings is on how to deal with giants. Your grandpaa believes that every single Christ-follower guy, gal and kid has at least five figurative giants who are doing all that they can do to cause testimony and life damage. A giant can be a lack of self-esteem. A giant can be an illness. A giant can be an upcoming important test. A giant can be being financially overextended. A giant can be a stressful relationship. When your grandpaa is the project leader for a short term ministry team, your grandpaa uses this study the same day or the next day after the team arrives in its host country. A giant for a kid – or for a guy or gal, who is on a short term ministry team that is in another country, can be an unsettled, uneasy feeling of being away from family and/or friends and the comforts of home or an unnerving sense of fear because of being caught up in all the unknowns of a society that has very different cultural norms and mores or a sensory overload of seeing so many new sights, hearing so many new sounds and smelling so many new smells. Your grandpaa believes that the only way that a personal life giant can be overcome is through asking another kid – or a guy or gal, to deliberately use his or her customized sling that God has specifically designed for him or her to hit – using an unconditional, unmerited acceptance, affirmation and approval stone, your insidious, menacing life giant right between its eyes.
1 Samuel 17 (1113)