(1 Samuel) How to Kill a Giant — David Guzik

David Faces Goliath With Courage

We've been making our way through this wonderful book of 1 Samuel on Sunday mornings, and lastly, we saw this great confrontation between David and Goliath and how David had the courage to suggest that somebody should fight this enemy of God's people.

And so now the story continues on. We'll just pick it up right here at verse 31. And when the words which David spoke were heard, they reported them to Saul and he sent for him. Then David said to Saul, let no man's heart fail because of him.

Your servants will go and fight with this Philistine. You see, David, we saw this last week had spoken boldly against Goliath. Other people looked at Goliath and they saw a big man. David looked at Goliath and saw an enemy of God and an enemy of the people of God.

I mean, the armies of the Philistines and the armies of the Israelites were opposing each other, centering around a place that's called today and back then as well, the Valley of Elah. You can go to the Valley of Elah today and see the same layout of the land as it was in the days of David.

You'll see large rolling hills and the army of Israel was assembled on one large hill. The army of the Philistines assembled on another one and in between them in the valley would be the place where they would do battle.

And every day the armies of each opposing nation would stand and assemble and get ready to fight one another. But before the battle could begin, a man named Goliath, the huge man, a man some nine feet tall would arise and walk in front of the battle ranks of the Israeli army.

And he'd say, let's forget this business of battling nation against nation. I'm one man. You send out one man and the winner of their nation will win. Excuse me. Well, the children of Israel were terrified at this, terribly frightened at the prospect of sending forth one man to fight against Goliath.

So in the midst of their fear, they chose not to do anything. They turned their tail and ran. They slunk back, back to their army camp every day. And this went on for 40 days. David came on an errand from his father, visiting his brothers.

And when he came into the army camp, he heard about this whole situation. David was incensed. Look at his response here in verse 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? I want you to notice something here. David did not say in verse 26, I'm going to fight Goliath. He didn't say he was going to kill Goliath.

His statement was simply somebody should do something about this. Now, that's not amazingly bold. Doesn't take a lot of courage to say somebody should do something about this. But even that was so courageous among the people of Israel at the time that it came to the attention of the king.

I guess I'm trying to say is that David didn't show a lot of backbone, but he showed a lot more than anybody else had. So they brought him the king. They bring David before King Saul and they say, well, this man says somebody should do something about Goliath.

Saul says, well, say on. What do you propose to do? And David says in verse 32. Then David said to Saul, let no man's heart fail because of your servant will go and fight with this Philistine. I find this fascinating.

Saul's been waiting to hear these words for some 40 days. Here, someone say, I will go and fight this Philistine. But when Saul hears it now, it seems like a cruel joke. One of those good news, bad news kind of situations.

The good news is somebody is willing to go fight Goliath. The bad news is it's a teenage kid who's never been at war before. So what good is this? This is humiliating. It's embarrassing. We'll send David out and anybody would get killed.

We all know where we send out against Goliath is going to get killed. But at least send out a guy who's going to give a good showing and die a noble death. Not some kid is going to scream and yell as Goliath is cutting him to pieces.

David's words to Saul almost make the matter worse. You see what David says in verse 32. This is great. Let no man's heart fail because of him. That's like saying, all right, everybody, calm down. I've got the situation under control here.

Just leave it to me. Nobody needs to be afraid. I'm here. Now, it would sound arrogant, seems ridiculous coming from this teenage boy. Would it seem like youthful pride and overconfidence in the extreme?

But it wasn't because David was really trusting in God. So what does David say? He says, I will go and fight the Philistine. Now, again, these are bold words. Do you understand the huge step it is between saying somebody should do something about this and saying, I will do something about this?

That's what David was saying. Now, I'll do it. Well, look at Saul's response here. Saul said to David, you're not able to go against this Philistine to fight him. You're but a youth and he is a man of war from his youth.

Saul Sees Only the Natural Advantages

Well, there's two reasons why he can't do it. First of all, he's too experienced and you're just a kid. You're just a youth. Saul thought David was disqualified because his young age, his size, didn't experience.

This shows that Saul was looking at the battle purely in natural, outward terms. That's all Saul saw the battle as. One man against another. You ever watch boxing on television? Sometimes I watch it. Before the fight, they always have the tail of the tape.

They show the two combatants in the boxing match, you know, combatant one, combatant two. And here's one guy, you know, he's so tall and the other guy is this tall. He weighs so much and he weighs so much.

He's he's got a reach of so long. He's got to reach. His chest is this size, his arms are this size. And look, he's supposed to tell something from the tail of the tape. Well, look, this guy's got 20 pounds on the other guy.

He must be able to hit a lot harder. Well, look, this other guy, he's got a reach six inch longer than the other guy. So, whoop him! Six inches away, he can stand further and just hit him in the jaw. And he can't hit him because his reach isn't that long.

You're supposed to be able to tell something about the fight from the tail of the tape. Friends, if you know boxing, you know that the tail of the tape doesn't show the match a lot of times, does it? Well, it's the same way with this battle.

Saul was just looking at the tail of the tape. Well, here's Goliath. He's so big. He's so experienced. Here's David. He's so small. He's so inexperienced. The battle's over. Goliath's going to kill him.

But no, you see, what Saul wasn't looking at was the tail of God's tape. The outward tail of the tape said that there was no way David could win. The tail of God's tape said that there was no way that David could lose, even though he was but a youth.

A lot of times, young people hear that, don't they? You can't do anything. You're just a youth. You're just a kid. You don't know anything. Well, friends, God can really use you, even if you're just a youth.

God can. But might I say that it's up to you? God's not going to use you just because you're young. That doesn't give you any special privilege status before God's sight. But if you'll receive the kind of advice that the Apostle Paul gave to Timothy in 1st Timothy 4, where he said, let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word and conduct and love and spirit and faith and purity.

Paul was telling Timothy, live in such a way so that no one would have occasion to despise your youth. God can use you when you're young, but you have to be serious about him and serious about your Christian life.

God Prepares David Through Smaller Battles

So David says, well, I know I'm just a youth, but look at verse thirty four. David said to Saul, your servant used to keep his father's sheep and when a lion or bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, 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 it and killed it. Your servant has killed both lion and bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.

Moreover, David said, the Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear, he will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine. Saul said to David, go and the Lord be with you. Well, you almost get the sense of Saul there at the end of verse thirty seven, right?

Good luck, buddy. God bless you on your way. But David had confidence and it was not a foolish, presumptuous confidence. David knew something. He knew that God's power had been real in his life before.

You get the feeling that for Saul, God was just a theory, an idea, a big name written in the sky for David. God was a person and God had seen the Lord had done miraculous things in David's life before and he'd do it in David's life.

Now, David says one time when I was a shepherd and a lion came and snatched a sheep, I went out after that lion. I used a stone and put it in my sling and I hit the lion in the head with the stone. Then I came and grabbed that lion by the throat and thrust a dagger into its heart.

I did the same thing with a bear. Friends, that was a miraculous work. A boy doesn't take on a bear or a lion without a miraculous empowering from God. Last night at our evening service, when I was sharing this, a guy came up to me after surgery and said that how he used to go hunting for bears in northern California.

He said, you just can't believe what awesome, powerful creatures bears are, how they send out dogs after the bears to sort of entrap them. And if a bear got a hold of a dog and swatted him with his paw, the dog would be cut to ribbons just because of the razor sharp claws on that bear.

David went after the bear and he went after the lion and David knew what it's like to have God work in his life. I want you to understand that this trusting God in an impossible situation, it didn't start in David's life with Goliath.

God was working in his life long before that. And that's always God's pattern of preparation in our life. We often say, well, I'll just skip over the lion. I'll just skip over the bear. Send me straight to Goliath, Lord.

Send me there. I'll take on Goliath when the time's right. But God says, no, I'll bring smaller, significant challenges in your way, along the way. And then I want you to trust me in those and I'll give you more and then I'll give you more.

David wasn't bragging. He was simply declaring what God had done in his life before. And now he's standing for a song that I've seen God do it in my life before. I can say that God will do it now. And that lion, when that bear came against David, David didn't have stamina.

Now, Lord, am I called right now to battle against this bear? Lord, what's your will in my life with this lion? Lord, won't you show me right now, David? No, he was a shepherd. That was a sheep. It was time to kill the lion.

It was time to kill the bear. David went out with a holy daring and did what God wanted him to do. And then he says, you know what? Just as much as I saw the dead carcass of that lion, the dead carcass of that bear.

Look at what David says in verse thirty six. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear. And this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing that he's defied the armies of the living God.

David just keeps getting bolder and bolder as the story goes on. First, he says somebody should fight that Philistine. Anybody could say that, right? Then he says, I'll fight that Philistine. Well, that's a big step up in boldness.

Now, now he's not talking about fighting him. He's saying killing him. I'm going to kill that Philistine. David says, well, I just hope to go out and make a noble showing for God. No, this is he's going down.

The Lord has delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear. He will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine. David didn't know it, but when he was a shepherd, God was preparing him to fight Goliath.

God was working that in his life. When we're in a time of preparation, we usually have no idea what God is preparing us for. And then I think maybe the Lord wants me to be a lion tamer. Maybe that's it.

I don't know. That wasn't it. God had a plan, a destiny for him that David knew nothing about. But he started to be faithful right where he was so that God could use him. David knows. David knows. Did you see that in verse thirty seven?

He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. David had no doubt. This wasn't a presumption. This wasn't a guess. This wasn't a well, I'll do the best I can. Sometimes we have to say that. But David had an assurance in his heart from God that he would deliver him.

And do you believe that in your own life, that God will deliver you? He's promised. You think of delivering of somebody taking a package to a destination. God has promised to take his people home to their heavenly destination.

He will deliver you your package. He's going to deliver you. He who has begun a good work and you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. God may deliver you from trials. God may deliver you in the midst of trials, but God will deliver you.

David had that assurance, and so can we. Saul isn't as confident. You really get that sense at the end of verse thirty seven. Go and the Lord be with you. God bless you, mister. We'll send a letter home to your family.

Trusting God's Armor Instead of Human Strength

Tell me how brave you were. Verse thirty eight, so Saul clothed David with his armor and he put a bronze helmet on his hand. So also clothed him with a coat of mail and David fastened his sword to his armor and he tried to walk free and not tested them.

David said to Saul, I cannot walk with these right, not tested them. So David took them off. Friends, what we have here is just another example of what was real to David and what was real to Saul. God was real to David.

He wasn't real to Saul. You know, it was real to Saul. The armor was real to Saul. We're going to go fight Goliath. May as well make a good showing of it. Go out looking like a hero. Let's go fix you with some of my armor.

Come on, David. Come to my tent. We'll put my breastplate on you. We'll put my helmet on you. But it doesn't fit David. First of all, it doesn't fit him physically. Saul was a big man. David wasn't a very big man.

He was a young man at this point. We don't know how old David was. Estimates anywhere from 15 to 22, 23. We don't know exactly. David's a fairly young man at this point. Not exceptional in size like Saul was.

So put the breastplate on it. David can't move his arms around right because the breastplates and put the helmet on. It keeps falling over his eyes. This doesn't fit me. I can't work with this. But Saul says you have to have it, don't you?

That's the only way you can win this battle. David says no. So the armor may be real to you. But God is more real to me even than this armor. I'll go out there with the armor God provides. You see, it wasn't just that the armor didn't fit David physically.

It also didn't fit him spiritually. Armor, military technology, human wisdom that would not win this battle. The Lord God of Israel was going to win this battle. So David says, listen, Saul, you've got a bronze helmet.

I'll go out with the helmet of salvation that the Bible says I have. You've got a breastplate made of bronze, but I'll use the breastplate of righteousness. Saul had a sword, but David says I'll go out with the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.

I think there's two important applications for us here. First of all, remember that the armor that David had spiritually, that armor could have been Saul's armor. Also, that armor was available to Saul.

Why didn't Saul go forth in the confidence that the Lord had for him? Because Saul was unwilling to. We also see that oftentimes people try to fight with another person's armor, don't they? There's a lot of times you think that, you know, God made a mistake when he made one of you, that he really wanted to make two of somebody else and none of you, but he didn't.

God made one of you and one of you and one of you. He made you all as an individual. He doesn't want you to wear another person's armor. God has a race for you to run, a course for you to finish. He's called you to a particular call, a particular destiny.

He doesn't want you to wear another person's armor. Maybe you tried to be just like somebody else in your life, in your ministry. You're imitating them too much, not just learning what you can learn from them, but sort of slavishly following them.

God doesn't want that for your life. He's made you for a specific calling and a purpose. Don't try to wear another person's armor. And again, I also consider here that the spiritual armor that we can have in God, the trust and the confidence and the things that flow from that, if you notice here, what did David say about this armor?

If you notice here in verse thirty nine, he says he 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. I think a lot of people would sadly say that about the spiritual armor that they can wear in God.

I don't know how to use this breastplate of righteousness, helmet of salvation, sword of the word of God. What's that? I can't wear these. I haven't tested them. There's other people who try to wear both.

Well, I wear Saul's armor and the armor of God. I'll put them both on. Right. That's double protection, isn't it? No. Look at what David had to do with the end of verse thirty nine. It says. So David took them off.

He had to renounce Saul's armor. He had to vow. I will not fight with man's armor. I will trust in the Lord and his armor instead. Oftentimes we kind of want a safe middle ground, don't we? Where we try to wear both kinds of armor.

But God wants us to trust in him and in him alone. So what does David do instead? Look at it here at verse 40. Then he took his staff in his hand and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the book, Brooke, and put them in a shepherd's bag and a pouch, which he had in a sling, which was in his hand.

And he drew near to the Philistine. David goes and he renounces Saul's armor. He goes out as an unarmed man, except for the tools that he would carry every day as a shepherd. Lord, you've used these things in my life before.

I trust you'll use them again. I don't need a new plan. I don't need a spectacular plan. I'll just do what you've done in my life before. Here's my shepherd's staff. Here's my bag. Here's my sling. Let's go.

As he's walking by, he sees a brook flowing through the Valley of the Law. You can go to the Valley of the Law today and see that same brook. You can see the wash where there's these smooth stones. By the way, there's a little tourist tip here.

You ever get visitors and go to the Valley of the Law, take some rocks home with you, pick up a few, put them in your luggage, take them home, give them to people as souvenirs, save some money that way.

They don't mind you taking rocks. They got a lot of rocks in Israel. They don't mind you taking some. Then you can say, you know, this could have been the rock that killed Goliath. I don't know. It was in the Valley of the Law.

Put a little red paint or ketchup on it and say, well, this could have been the one. I don't know. I'm not saying it is, but it could have been. Make that story. Now, when you go there, you see there's this brook and David went down and he picked up five stones.

Why five? He only needed one. I don't know. You can make all kind of speculation. Could I say he took five? Because the Bible tells us in 1st Samuel, chapter 21, that Goliath had four brothers and maybe David said, well, you know, I get one.

Maybe the other ones come after me. I'll play it safe. I'll take five stones. Of course, there's an old, charming, but purely legendary rabbinical story that says that as David went to the brook to look for the stones, that the stones got a voice and called out to David from the stream and said, by us, you shall overcome the giant.

So they all I need to pick those ones. And so they picked those five stones. So David grabbed him, put him in the pouch. And if you notice, it's just remarkable. It says at the end of verse 40, and he drew near the Philistine.

That's where it matters, doesn't it? David could have said the bold words, he could have renounced Saul's army, he could have trusted in God's armor, he could have gathered the shepherd's tools. But if he never went into battle, what would it matter?

Ultimately, David had the faith not just to talk, not just to renounce, not just to prepare, but to actually draw near the Philistine. That's real faith. These have sidelined faith preparation. Faith.

David's Boldness Rests in the Lord of Hosts

Let's work hard on it. Let's work all these things. David had battle tested faith and he would walk in and face the battle. And so let's go look what happens in verse 41. So the Philistine came and began drawing near to David and the man who bore the shield went before him.

Oh, this isn't fair. Not only does Goliath have the size advantage and the weapon advantage, he's got another guy out there with him carrying his shield. And Goliath looks around. Look at it says there in verse 41.

It says the Philistine came, began drawing near to David and the man who bore the shield went before him. Verse 42. And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him. I like that. He looked about and saw David.

It's like he had to look around to find him. Where is this? I hear this voice. Where is this guy? Oh, that you. Oh, look, at least send me a tough man. Don't send me a message in verse 42, for he was but a youth, ruddy and good looking.

But David, David didn't have a mean face, didn't have that countenance of intimidation and you know, I'm tough, I'm mean, I guarantee you would never have a photograph of David, of course. I guarantee you, David did not have a mean face.

You don't sing the Psalms of praise and worship to God like David did. You don't have the kind of relationship that David had with God. And you don't have that and have a mean face. David had kind of a sweet looking face, I bet people like what this.

What are you making fun of me? You bring him. Am I a look at verse 43. The Philistine said to David, am I a dog that you come out to me with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his God. So you get that picture here.

Here's Goliath. Now, not only is he ready for battle, but he's mad. I've been insulted. And his voice booms, Goliath's a big man. He's got a big voice. You know, it's that, you know, amped up James Earl Jones kind of voice, you know, booming across.

What am I, a dog that you come at me with sticks? It's echoing off of the hills, striking terror in the hearts of the Israeli army. They're afraid of this man. It says there at the end of verse 43, the Philistine cursed David by his God.

And the Philistine said to David, come to me and I'll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the air. Beasts of the field. Come, come to me, little boy. I'll rip you apart. I think maybe the most telling statement is at the end of verse 43, it says he cursed David by his God.

Shouldn't have done that, Goliath. You could say a lot of things. Don't do that. Don't start saying, you know, our Philistine gods, they can whoop your Israelite gods, your Israelite gods and nothing.

What is this Yahweh? Who is he? Our Philistine gods are way better. Shouldn't have done that. You just lost it there, Goliath. Your mouth got you in all kinds of trouble. Remember way back in 1st Samuel, chapter five, when the Ark of the Covenant was taken into the table, the temple of one of the Philistine gods, Dagon.

This God that was a big statue, half man, half fish. And all the Philistine priests were all excited. Yes, our God is better than the God of the Israelites. Yes, we've triumphed. There's the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord.

They put it in there. Our God, Dagon, has triumphed over them. They come to the temple the next morning. Where's the God Dagon? Fall on his face before the Ark of the Lord. They set him up. They do it again.

Fall on his face again. You know what's going to happen to Goliath? Falling on his face before the Lord. Well, let's see here. Verse 45, then David said to the Philistine. You come to me with the sword, with the spear, not the javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you've defied.

This day, the Lord will deliver you into my hand and I will strike you down and take your head from you. And this day, I'll give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth.

And all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then the assembly shall know that the Lord does not say with sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord's and he will give you into our hands.

Wow. Now, if I was filming this, I know just how I would direct this, OK? OK, you have Goliath and his booming, deep voice, big man, big voice, echoing. Then you have David. I paint David as a teenager, 16, 17 years old.

I'd say kind of late adolescence here. His voice hasn't fully changed yet. He's got that cracking thing going on and he practically has to scream to make himself heard. And he looks at Goliath and he screams with his voice cracking.

You come to me with the sword, the spear, the javelin. And all the Philistine army just laughs. They hear this voice. Israelite army, they're mortified. They're, oh, man, you know, they're thinking. Why did Saul, it's bad enough the kid's going to get killed.

He's humiliating us. Just go out there, take it like a man, kid. You know, it's just embarrassing. David was dead on, right? Just listen, Saul, you are a Goliath. You've got a lot of fancy weapons. You've got the shield, the spear, the javelin.

Doesn't matter. I've got a better weapon. I come in the name of the Lord of hosts. I come as a representative of the Lord of hosts. The God who has heavenly armies at his command. I'm a sent man. I'm a man on a mission from God.

And this day, the Lord's going to deliver you into my hand. Prince David just keeps getting bolder and bolder. It's one thing to say somebody should fight Goliath. It's another thing to say, I'll fight Goliath.

It's another thing to tell King Saul, I'm going to kill Goliath. But when you go to Goliath and look at him in the eye and say, I'm going to kill you, that's bold. I remember watching boxing matches from up there.

I won't even tell you the name of the boxer because he's a man of disrepute. But I remember watching boxing matches, this boxer would walk into the ring and how he would look at that other boxer. He'd look at him and he would look so tough and so mean.

I would be afraid just watching the television. And you would look at this man's opponent in the ring. This is before a single punch was thrown when the referee was bringing two boxers together. And you'd see that man's opponent, he'd start melting before the gaze of this other boxer.

It's like, man, this is scary. Goliath was like that frightening boxer. And he used to stare down and frighten all the other opponents and they use fear and intimidation. David said, I'm not taking this.

You know what you say? You're going to kill me. You say you're going to kill me and feed me to the birds and the bees in the field. I'll tell you what, not only am I going to kill you, I'm going to feed your army to the birds of the air and the bees of the field.

I like the nice touch he adds in there. He says, I'm going to cut your head off. That's why I'm not just going to kill you. Take your head down for me. A nice, emphatic touch there from David. But, you know, David was careful to say the Lord will deliver you into my hand.

David was bold, but he was bold not in himself, but in God. He knew that the battle belonged to the Lord. If you notice here that he says in verse forty six at the end of the verse, he says that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

Friends, remember something. I don't want to. David wins this battle. I don't want to spoil the story for anybody here, but he wins and he becomes very famous from this battle. But he didn't battle this.

He didn't go into this battle for fame. He went into it for the glory and the honor of God. He wanted all the earth to know that there was a God in Israel. But look at what he says in verse forty seven.

He says, then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear for the battle is Lord. David says, listen, not only does all the earth need to know that there's a God in Israel, Israel needs to know that there's a God in Israel.

They seem to have forgotten it. They are not bold. They're not trusting. David was a man for whom God was real. He knew that there was a God in Israel and God was more real to him than Goliath was in front of him.

Faith Acts on God's Victory

Let's do it. The assembly shall know that the battle belongs to the Lord and he'll give you into our hands. Verse forty eight. And it was so when the Philistine arose and came near and drew near to meet David, that David hastened and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine friends.

I love that verse. You know why? What a scene here. Goliath's enraged at David's boldness. He's furious now. And so he drew near quickly to kill David. I'm going to pick that kid up. I'm going to rip him limb from limb.

David didn't run away. David didn't hide. David didn't panic. And you know what else he didn't do? David didn't drop to his knees and pray. OK, Lord, you said you'd kill Goliath. Now, I guess now's the time for you to do it.

Lord, just a lightning bolt from heaven. Earthquake. Open up the ground in front of them. Send a couple of lions out from nowhere. I don't care, Lord. Just whatever you want to do, Lord. You just know David knew God's going to win this battle, but he's going to use me to do it.

So what did David do? He ran to meet Goliath. You're running at me. I'm going to run at you. David knew that the battle belonged to the Lord. But when Goliath ran at him, he didn't just look up into heaven and say, well, Lord, now it's time for you to do it.

He knew that it was the Lord's battle, the Lord's victory, but that there was something for him to do in the battle. Many Christians struggle at this exact point. They spend their whole lives asking the question, well, is God supposed to do it or am I supposed to do it?

I don't want to get in God's way. Maybe I'm not supposed to do anything, Lord. Just whatever you want to do. Is God going to do it or am I going to do it? And the answer is yes. God's going to do it and you're going to do it.

You're supposed to trust in God and rely on him and trust in God as if the work is all his. And you get out and you go and work as if the work is all yours. And that's how the work of God is done. You trust God, you rely on him, and then you get to work and work as hard as you can.