Giants - We seem to find them in our lives. They're the things that we feel are too big for us to handle.
God’s
people - the Israelites, faced literal giants. We read of David, the shepherd boy who fought the
giant. The scripture
tells us that Israel and the Philistines were at war. The Israelites were on one hill and the
Philistines on the opposite one with the valley between them.
From the Message version of 1 Samuel 17, we read -
“A giant, nearly ten feet tall
stepped out from the Philistine line into the open, Goliath from Gath! He had a bronze helmet on his head and was
dressed in armor—126 pounds of it! He wore bronze shin guards and carried a
bronze sword. His spear was like a fence rail—the spear tip alone weighed over
fifteen pounds.”
Wow!
That’s some Giant isn’t it? And the
Israelites were running scared.
Scripture says that Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel. He wanted one man to come down and fight
him. He said, “This day I defy the
armies of Israel!”
This went on and on. For 40 days
Goliath came out and defied God.
Finally, help came. But it came in the form of a little kid named
David. He was sent by his dad to check
on his brothers. When David arrived and
heard what the giant was saying, he became angry and said,
“. . . Who is this that defies the armies of the
living God?”
Without even thinking about it, David told the King that he would fight
the giant.
Saul didn’t think it was a good idea, but David persevered. He told Saul that he’d killed a lion and a
bear with his bare hands and this giant would be just like one of them . . . and he added the most important thing.
“because he (the giant) has defied the armies of the living God, the Lord who rescued me from the
paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of
this Philistine.”
You know what happened
then - David chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in a pouch,
and, with his sling and his staff in his hands, approached the Philistine giant. And as he approached, David said -
“This day the Lord will deliver you into
my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. . . and the whole
world will know that there is a
God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by
sword or spear that the Lord saves; for
the battle is the Lord’s,
and he will give all of you into our hands.”
So, young David did – He
killed the giant by slinging a stone – without the help of the army, without
the help of his brothers, and without the help of shield, sword and armor. He killed him with the help of our great
almighty God.
Do you have giants in
your land? What are your giants?
I see a giant as
something that we feel inadequate to handle. Our giants may be huge or small, but if they
intimidate us, and we don’t feel we can handle them – they’re still giants.
Here are a few examples.
How about worry? Are you battling the giant that stands there
and tells you that you need to worry about what’s going to happen to you because
of things you don’t understand? He’s a
really big giant – threatening you with all kinds of possibilities – dire
consequences.
Or maybe your giant is a
health problem. He’s a strong
giant. He pops up when you aren't looking, or he just keeps at you, to drag you down. He may attack you or your loved ones and he just goes on causing you
problems. You feel inadequate to do anything about him.
How about the giant of
loneliness? He whispers – generally he
doesn’t shout – he just gets behind you and whispers discouraging words. He’d like to keep you to himself – and he sure
doesn’t like it when you seek out other people for help.
Or maybe - your giant is
grief. That giant can ruin your
life. He will encourage your loneliness,
your illnesses, and your worry. Grief is
one of those things that we all face at one time or another, and truly it’s not
a bad thing until you let it grow and become a giant that controls your
life.
You’ve heard people say,
“I can’t help that I’m worried. But what
does God say?
First we need to look at
those giants in the way that David did.
David got angry with Goliath – Goliath was defying the almighty
God. He was making fun of God’s people –
When David got angry, he
determined to fight Goliath. He was not going to let
Goliath get away with his treatment of God and God’s people. To me that’s the best part of the story. He wanted to show that there was a Strong,
Mighty God in Israel.
You know how it is when
you feel something strongly. It hits you
right here, in your heart. I believe
that David felt the need to defend the name of the Almighty God, with such a
gut-wrenching zeal, that he was not afraid to face a giant.
Second – David understood that he required God’s
help - he knew he couldn’t handle the giant by himself. David said, “the Lord who rescued me from the paw of the
lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this
Philistine.” He didn’t ever say, “I can
do it myself.” He said God will protect me from this giant.
And next – David did
what he could. He armed himself with 5
stones. God expects us to trust in him
and rely on him, but then he does not expect us to just sit down and wait – we
need to be active in
our battle against
the giants.
How do we do that? It’s sometimes a hard question. But just as David put a stone in the sling,
we need to put God’s word in our hearts and our minds. God’s word, prayers, worship, and talking
with other Christians – those are ammunition against the giants. And with God’s wonderful help – we can
overcome our giants.
David won that
battle. He did it because he loved and
trusted God. He was not going to let the
giant defy God. He did it because he
understood he needed God’s help – that he couldn’t do it on his own. And he did it because he took the step of
faith and put that stone in the sling.
Jesus tells us that God
is there to help us. Do you know where
your help comes from? I hope you do,
because the scripture tells us in Psalm 121
“I lift up my eyes to the
mountains—
where
does my help come from?My help comes from the Lord, the
Maker of heaven and earth.”
I pray that, as I face
my battles, I will do so with dependence on the one who was there with David. I pray that those who see me will know in
whom I trust, and who is fighting the battle by my side. This is my view of the battle.
The battle rages. Giants roar, their strength's been glorified.
One giant is named
loneliness, another giant – pain.
The giant’s will and
mine collide -
a fight from which I’d choose
to hide,
but God is there right by my
side.
The battles rage, a
giant roars. His voice is loud and
shrill.
He stands and shouts of
loss and want. He tells me he will win.
My heart is full of
dread and chill.
Fear me! - Those awful words
ring still,
but fear is not God’s
will.
My God is fighting for
me now. He’s with me day and night.
My God, with mighty strength
abides. With peace, my heart God filled.
He keeps me strong, to fight
the fight.
He’ll squash the wrong
and right the right.
He’ll win, with all his
strength and might.
And the giant will be stilled.
Diane Gruchow 2014