What to do with the Goliaths in your life!
I don’t know about you, but I have had my share of Goliaths in my life. Some not so bad, but some were horrible. Actually, the story about David and Goliath in the Bible has a lot to say to us today. Will we study it and get insight as to how to act, what to do, and how to go about taking down the Goliath’s in our own life. We can learn a lot from the pages of the Bible and the Story of David and Goliath is no exception. Just be open to learn the truth and then how to apply the story to your own life.
Even non-Christians growing up usually heard the story of David and Goliath. The young man who took down the giant and the fact that eventually David became King. It is quite a story. It is said that this Goliath was a giant and that he was like 9 feet tall. That is tall to me who is short for sure. But this giant was not only tall he was huge and strong to boot.
The king, at the time, his name was Saul and he was king of Israel. He was in battle with the Philistines who Goliath belonged. Goliath would taunt King Saul and the men day after day. He wore this great and heavy armor each day when he went out and called out to the army of Israel.
“Choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.” “If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us. “… I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.”
Well how did the people of Israel feel about the giant Goliath? Fear! Yeah, I’d even say great fear. He was huge and it didn’t look like anyone was going to go out and fight him. King Saul had no giant in his army. Who would go and fight the giant? No one came forward from the army.
The story continues: Now back home while all of this was going on, Jesse, David’s father, asked his young son to take some food to his three brothers in the army. When he arrived at the battleground, Goliath came out again, issuing the same challenge, which David heard. There was fear throughout the army of Israel. David, who was no more than a boy, said to the king basically “King, why are you so afraid of this giant? I will go and fight him.” Think about that for a moment. A little shepherd boy not a warrior in Saul’s army said that he would go fight the giant. Can you even imagine how that sounded to Saul and the men? Saul replied, “Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he [is] a man of war [trained] from his youth” (1 Sam. 17:33). This did not deter David. He had faith, honor, and knew God. To David it was a done deal. He could do it. He could fight the enemy by the faith he had.
What do we arm our self with?
Think about the conversation between Saul and David…this young boy who stood up and told the king that he would fight Goliath. David somehow persuaded Saul to let him try. I don’t know about you but the challenge was…if you win we will be your slaves, and if I win then you will be our slave. Would you put a young kid out there that could possibly cause you to be a slave? I doubt it! He told the king of how he had fought with a lion and a bear to save his father’s sheep and concluded by saying that the Lord would deliver him out of the hand of the Philistine. Do you ever wonder what exactly Saul was thinking at this time? Do you wonder if Saul even believed David’s story of killing a lion and a bear? You do know that kids make things up to make themselves look bigger and older. However, no one else had come forward to fight the giant but this young boy and he said he would take on the giant. Saul finally tells David, “Go, and the Lord be with thee.” I doubt if Saul ever even thought that this boy could win the battle. Saul then placed armor on David until the boy could barely walk. David said to the king, “I cannot wear this,” and he took the armor off. That shows how small this young man must have been. He could not even hold the armor up on his body it was just to heavy and to constrictive.
So what does David the shepherd boy do? He “took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had … ; and his sling was in his hand” I can just see Saul staring at the young man and all his men with him watching this young boy go down into the valley to face the Giant Goliath. That must have been a scene for sure. The boy had no armor, no great weapons of the day. He went down to meet Goliath with only a sling and five stones, and without any armor other than the armor of faith. Was David in fear of his life? No! He had faith in His God He knew how many times in his young life that God had come to his rescue. He would have had to faith to be so little and walk out to meet the giant in the valley knowing the stakes at hand.
Well, Goliath was fully armed and ready. Can you even imagine what he really thought with this young man coming out to him like he did. No armor and just a sling shot in his hand. Must have been a real sight. Maybe Goliath even thought this is some kind of joke.
“And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. “And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves?” And Goliath swore at David, saying, “Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.” Then David spoke these great words: “Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. “This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel
What do you think that giant Goliath was thinking? What would you be thinking if you saw the same situation? David had great faith more than most of us have, and the giant…thought for sure he would win against this young boy. In fact, That was mighty brave talk for a boy who stood against a nine-foot giant.
In anger Goliath came at him. Then David, running toward the giant, “put his hand in his bag, and took a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth” All it took was one little stone from the brook and the giant went down. It is not the size of the enemy we face in our life…or the many giants we will face…it is our faith with God in the picture that can take down our giants.
What about the giants in our own life? There are Goliaths all around us, hulking giants with evil intent to destroy. Just look at the news for five minutes and you will see the evil giants out there. These are not nine-foot-tall men most likely, but they are people, politicians, liars, cheats, corrupt individuals, crooks, distractors, and just plain evil people that want to take over your country and destroy your way of life. The thing is many fall for their garbage. They are people who can’t tell the truth. The lie so much and people who don’t know God fall for their garbage. They are people who really are enslaved to the wrong things.
There is pornography, sex trafficking, drugs, and so many things that invite the lost to follow. It has become a giant industry, producing magazines, films, and other materials. It is available on the Internet and, if you allow, it will intrude into your home via your television. It is designed to take your money and lead you toward activities that utterly destroy. It is prostitution and every sex sin imaginable. It is fake news that spews lies and more lies. It is politicians who open their mouth right from the pit of hell and declare it is true. It is evil politicians that ruin people and their reputations to justify their lies.
The giants who are behind these efforts are daunting and skillful. They have gained vast experience in the war they are carrying on. The have jobs that we the people are over yet they insert their evil into the lives of people. They would like to ensnare you. They have ensnared millions of people. They pay people to go out and hurt others. They turn their back on justice and are so corrupt that innocent people don’t have a chance. They spread their lies to get people to do evil things, destroy cities, kill people, and all the rest while they sit in their high and mighty jobs and mansions….and declare they know what is best for us. They don’t. The devil owns them. Their very being has turned evil and they really have no clue what will happen to them. They might say there is no God….but they will meet Him one day and this sight won’t be pretty. They will bow their knees and declare Jesus is Lord. Then they will take their place in eternity…and they cannot blame God for where they end up at for each and everyone of them had a choice. Thing is they chose wrong.
We need not fear because, we as God’s kids, have the slingshot of truth in our hands. You have been counseled and taught and advised. You have the stones of virtue and honor and integrity to use against these enemies who would like to conquer you. You can say to the whole lot of them as David said to Goliath, “Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.”
Victory is ours when Jesus is our Lord and Savior. You have His power within you to sustain you. You have the right to call upon God to protect you. Do not let the Goliaths frighten you. Stand your ground and hold your place, and you will be triumphant. God didn’t say we would make it through life with no trials, tests, or temptations…He did say that He would be with us. We can lean on Him all the time. We can trust Him. So, whenever the Goliaths show up you tell them you have God on your side. They might cause some havoc, but they can’t steal your soul when you are a child of God.
The devil is real….but God is bigger, better, and in Him we can do all things. The devil might toss things in our direction to cause us grief…but you and I need to hang onto Jesus and never let go. Surrender to Jesus…give Him your all. God is never late and God knows what He is doing. He was with David when we walked out into that valley to fight Goliath…and God is with you when you walk out into your valleys of life. Trust the one who died to save you. He is worthy of all praise.