For the last few weeks, I've watched
some dear friends and family really struggle with Goliath life circumstances.
Their monsters of uncertainty are just as loud, obnoxious and downright scary
as the old character himself. I got to thinking, as big and as nasty as the Philistine
giant was, David didn't do anything extraordinary to deal with his
“problem.” He simply used the tools he
had and 5 small stones from the river bed to take down the enemy just like he
always did. This is good news for us!
Goliath taunted God’s people for 40 days.
Forty days is a lifetime to be reminded that something else or somebody
is in control of your life. I've read somewhere that the number 40 in the bible
is generally connected with the word “trial”-remember the 40 days in the
wilderness? That wasn't too fun either. Doesn't it feel that way sometimes when
we’re in the middle of a crisis? The Israelites were living out the same dismal
life as my buddies are facing; hopeless and with a
Chernobyl size mushroom cloud that will plume
any second, if intervention doesn't come quickly. Here’s how the word says it in 1 Sam 17:4-11
“Then Goliath, a Philistine champion from
Gath,
came out of the Philistine ranks to face the forces of
Israel. He was
over nine feet tall!
He wore
a bronze helmet, and his bronze coat of mail (
a long defensive garment made of
interlinked metal rings) weighed 125 pounds.
He also wore bronze leg armor, and he
carried a bronze javelin on his shoulder.
The shaft of his spear was as heavy and thick
as a weaver’s beam, tipped with an iron spearhead that weighed 15 pounds. His
armor bearer walked ahead of him carrying a shield. Goliath stood and mocked the Israelites. “Why
are you all coming out to fight?” he called. “I am the Philistine champion, but
you are only the servants of Saul. Choose one man to come down here and fight
me!
If he kills me, then we
will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves!
I defy the armies of
Israel today!
Send me a man who will fight me!”
When
Saul and the Israelites heard this, they were terrified and deeply shaken.”
Doesn’t it look like this Goliath has every
advantage? He had walls of protection in the form of armor covering almost
every square inch of his skin that made him seem insurmountable. Sometimes our giants seem as impossible as
this character.
So how about the David, the guy that supposed
to be “the us” in the story? Haven’t we usually seen the painted picture of
a scrappy, thin weakling kid portraying David in our mind? It feels
great to depict him this way because if that story is true, it requires nothing from us but to sit back and watch God
work when we find ourselves in harms way. I always thought that was kind of the
message of this story. I’ve had to rethink it here this week and I’d like to
put a different spin on our theology about the saga of David and Goliath.
David was not the little sister in Hunger
Games, the chosen tribute that had to die for the cause. (Funny, because isn't
that the way we feel when we face our giants) David was more like the older
sister in Hunger Games – Pick me! Pick me! Look at verse 32 “Don’t
worry about this Philistine,” David told Saul. “I’ll go fight him!”
Have you ever
looked at your giant that way? If you did, then something was happening in you,
much like it did inside of David. Usually,
we let our perception obscure us to something more amazing at work. Maybe
standing before a giant requires more from us – a godly perspective for starts.
There’s a hidden truth here: Overcomers
understand that the genuine ways to win battles are sometimes concealed by our
own misconceptions. Changing our limited perception to God’s perception can
alter the entire outcome of the battle.
So what
other misconceptions have we believed about this story? Poor little David, all he had was just a
sling and 5 small stones. Let me tell you how lethal David’s weapons were. The sling that David had was most likely a
leather pouch with two long cords attached to it. Rocks were hurled about from
it. This wasn’t one of those little kids’
toys you see at K-mart. Ballistic calculations tell us that the stopping power
fired out of David’s sling was equal to the stopping power of a 45 caliber
handgun! David was locked and loaded and
was greatly skilled. He had to be confident
going in since he was allowing himself just five tries to nail the only
vulnerable part of enemy that was exposed – right between the eyeballs! Of course we know the story; David hit him
right in the perfect spot the first time!
“As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out
to meet him. Reaching into his shepherd’s bag and
taking out a stone, he hurled it with his sling and hit the Philistine in the
forehead. The stone sank in, and Goliath stumbled and fell face down on the ground.”
Okay so let’s talk about the big scary monster for a minute. We do know
that Goliath was freakishly large; some have even speculated that he may have
had a disease of gigantism. The condition of gigantism is almost always due to
a tumor on the pituitary glands, I have a good friend with this disease and he
has been through a lot. It can affect
vision and makes you feel horrible. Guess
where your pituitary glands are located?
-Right behind the two eyes where the stone sunk in. God literally allowed that stone to hit the
target of the monster that made him so big! I believe God wants to hit the giants in our
lives right where it makes them seem so big! Right on your monster’s pituitary glands!
Finally
Goliath falls face down. The Israelites
had won the World Series and the roar had to be tremendous. Their champion had won! I think the Philistine folks were doing the
“Uh Oh dance” when then saw his fatal pose. Face down is the ultimate cry of surrender -submission
to the one who is greater. However, David wasn't finished with him yet; he knew
that Goliath needed to be silenced forever. Ever wonder how many monsters have we given CPR
to? This monster had to be completely dead like
our own demons. I get the dead part,
but why in world did his head have to come off seems a little gross. I think
God has a thing about heads, funny as it seems.
He talks a lot about us stepping on the enemies’ head in several
passages. I've got a clue. Guess where all
your senses are located? - that‘s right, in your head or your face to be
specific. Your senses are your
information communicators to the brain. With Goliath’s head cut off, he could
no longer listen to plot and plan against David: the enemy’s mouth was shut and
he could no longer taunt or defile God, the enemy’s smell and taste was terminated
and he could no longer hunt him down or taste victory, the enemy’s eyes could
no longer fix in on its prey. The enemy could no longer touch God’s chosen one
which includes us! The monster was truly
dead.
One last thought about this great passage, I find it interesting that when
God looked down at David, he told David to just use what he normally used and
his own natural talent - Nothing special, just his sling, 5 smooth rocks, his
shepherd’s bag and a staff. The sling
would be normally used to ward off enemies or keep the sheep going in the right
direction. his shepherd’s bag held his food supply and nourishment, while his staff was used to
round up sheep into a flock, guide the sheep by applying pressure to the one in
front and to help pull out a wayward sheep out of a bad situation.
What’s our take away when we are faced with our giants? While we are in close communion with God, we
should look at what we normally use and ask God, ‘’what is my natural talent that
you can use? What are my 5 small stones?
(I’d like the point out here that the number 5 in the bible is the number for
grace) Additionally, remember that David
put into the five stones into the bag that usually carried his nourishment. Here’s
the math, Grace = Nourishment! When we
go into battle are we taking our nourishment with us, like these stones of
grace: love, the word of God, prayer, worship and wisdom of Godly friends? Isn't it an awesome thought how the bag that
carried sustenance, became the bag that carried the fatal blow to the enemy?
Here’s a closing thought, Have you ever wondered why David took a staff
into a battle? How in the world would
help him in the heat of the battle? It’s just another thing to carry. Did he
forget because of nerves? Not a
chance! I think David knew exactly what
he was doing. That staff carried the
stuff of dreams and promise in his life.
It was his everyday symbol of direction, leadership and rescue. He took it into battle because he knew that
God would do the same with Goliath. So,
that’s my last question? Are we taking
our staff with us when we standing front of our monster?
I no
longer see the saga of David and Goliath as the story of the weakling boy and
the giant. It is a story of a regular
guy like you and me walking in a godly perspective that is capable and
confident who does what he always does- gets rid of the enemy. Facing a Goliath? You will be more than alright.
