In the Valley with a Giant
In The Valley • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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1 Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Sokoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Sokoh and Azekah. 2 Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. 3 The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them.
With the valley between them
4 A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span. 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels; 6 on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. 7 His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him.
height was six cubits and a span of almost 10 feet.
five thousand shekels. 125 pounds.
six hundred shekels. Fifteen pounds
Now the only thing bigger than this man and his battle gear is his mouth. He is taunting and scoffing and trash talking, the Israelites.
8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.”
10 Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” 11 On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.
On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.
Q- Vs. 11: Who are you listening to? If you listen to the enemy, you're going to end up dismayed and afraid.
Scripture calls him the accuser of the brethren, calls him the father of lies. If you listen to those accusations, if you listen to those lies, it is a losing battle. You've got to turn it off. You've got to turn it off and tune it out. And listen, you have to do the same thing with doubters, and haters, and naysayers. And while you're at it, want to do it with that inner critic who taunts you like Goliath inside as well.
Q- Who is the loudest voice in your life?
It's got to be the still small voice of the Holy Spirit, if you're going to make it out of the valley with a giant.
Now fun fact, David had a daily Bible reading plan. He didn't have a New Testament. But according to Deuteronomy 17, explicit instructions given for the kings of Israel, they were to do three things.
• One, make a copy of the Torah in their own handwriting.
• Two, keep it on their person at all times. Now, he's not King yet, but it would not surprise me if David had a copy of his personal Torah on his person, as he went out into that battlefield with Goliath.
• And three, the king was commanded to read from it all the days of his life.
Now I'm not asking you to do one or two, you don't have to make your own personal copy. And you can just use YouVersion if you want. But would you download a daily Bible reading plan?
If you're gonna defeat the giants in your life, you might want to do what David did. And this is where his confidence came from and it's not a self confidence, it's a holy confidence. It's a confidence that is anchored in the Word of God that is anchored in the promises of God that is anchored to God's character.
12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul’s time he was very old.
eight sons
14 David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.
David was the youngest. - Least important.
16 For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.
17 Now Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. 18 Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance from them. 19 They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.”
Vs. 17: Is this the first recorded Uber Eats?
See how your brothers are - Bring back some assurance
20 Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other.
22 David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were. 23 As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. 24 Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.
And so David makes this delivery and overhears Goliath taunting the Israelites and he's not dismayed or afraid. He's flat out ticked off. Now, lots of subplots right here, but he is what I love. David doesn't see a nine foot problem he sees a nine foot opportunity.
In WWII in Bastogne, Belgium in December 1944 American troops were surrounded by German troops. The German field commander demands immediate surrender. And so the American general Anthony McAuliffe calls his troops together and says, "Men, we are surrounded by the enemy. We have the greatest opportunity ever presented in army. We can attack in any direction."
I love this. If you're looking for an excuse you will always find one if you're looking for an opportunity, you will always find one.
25 Now the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his family from taxes in Israel.”
No more taxes for his family.
26 David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” 27 They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.”
Who is this - Armies of the living God?
uncircumcised - Not in a relationship with God. Not protected.
28 When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.” 29 “Now what have I done?” said David. “Can’t I even speak?”
You came to watch the battle
Whenever you step out by faith to fight the enemy, there’s always somebody around to discourage you, and often it begins in your own home.
No little brother you can’t speak to this because you don’t understand. Your a little shepherd boy we are soldiers.
Chris - reenlistment (Don’t go, Uncle you will never understand)
30 He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before. 31 What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him.
Wait someone is not afraid? I am Israels champion and I am afraid.
32 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” 33 Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”
Let no one lose heart
You are not able to go out / you are only a young man
David shares his resume and what God has helped him accomplish.
34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.
37 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.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”
The Lord who rescued me / will rescue me from the hand of the Phil
Frederick Douglass was an American social reformer, abolitionist: a person who wants to stop or abolish slavery, orator, writer, statesman, and Minister. After escaping from slavery in Maryland.
"One and God make a majority". - Frederick Douglass
David connects the dots between the lion and the bear and the giant. When you pass a test, it becomes part of your testimony. And testimony is prophecy. What do I mean? If God did it before he can do it again.
38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. “I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off.
I cannot go in these
Now it's funny because the bible tells us that Saul is head and shoulders taller than anybody else in Israel.
When my girls were little they would wear some of my old sheets at bed time as night gowns. Not school clothes.
Faith is connecting the dots between God's faithfulness in the past and bringing it to bear on our present tense circumstances.
Q - When was a time in your life when God made a way out of a valley when there seemed to be no way. How has that helped you when you faced the next valley that you were in?
40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.
Malcolm Gladwell In his book, 'David and Goliath', he cites a fascinating study by Eitan Hirsch, a ballistics expert with the Israeli Defense Forces. According to Hirsch, in average size stone hurled by an expert slinger could travel the length of a football field in three seconds flat. At that velocity, its stopping power was the same as a 45 caliber handgun. Now listen, Goliath's sword is the size of a weavers beam. Scripture says that the tip of his spear was 600 shekels or 15 pounds. That is incredibly impressive. But Goliath, he brought a knife to a gunfight.
A couple more fun facts. First of all, the stones in the Valley of Elah are no ordinary stones. According to geologists, they are comprised of barium sulfate, which means they would be twice as dense as normal rocks.
Second fun fact. If medieval tapestries are accurate, then ancient slingshot shooters would actually hunt birds with their slingshot. How crazy is that? Experienced slingers like David would have been able to hit a target from 200 yards away. So we think David is the underdog. No, Goliath is a sitting duck, and he's a pretty big target.
Here's the bottom line. Goliath's strength was his weakness, and David's weakness was his strength.
25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
The foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom. The weakness of God is stronger than human strength."
God chose the foolish things, the weak things, the lowly things, the despised things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are.
David's victory was not improbable it was inevitably.
41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him.
43 He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!”
45 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, whom you have defied.
You come against me with - javelin
I come against you - Lord Almighty
46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 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.”
All of those gathered - is the Lord’s
One of my favorite Jordan moments, the Bulls are playing the Cleveland Cavaliers and Jordan drops 69 points on the Cleveland Cavaliers and then this role player Stacey King comes off the bench, hits one free throw to score one point. So after the game, the reporter is asking him, "Hey, how are you going to remember this epic game? And I love what Stacey King said. He said, "I will always remember this is the game that Michael Jordan and I combined for 70 points." Listen, we give David a lot of credit right here. But David wins this victory because God is on his side.
48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.
As the Phil - to meet him.
If you want to get out of the valley with a giant you cannot run from it you have to run to.
David doesn't wait for the battle to come to him. David charges, the giant.
I just think there has to come a moment where enough is enough.
And today is the day where you stand on the promises of God.
And that's what David does. This day. The Lord will deliver you into my hand.
Right now wherever you are this day the Lord will deliver. He can do it. He's done it before he can do it again.
49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.
The force of the shot spun him around.
50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him. 51 David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran.
52 Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.
The Lord using David a faithful boy inspired the men who were once scared.
I know giants are big. I know giants are scary. And the truth is you need giants in your life.
You know why, because it takes a Goliath to discover a David. The valley is where we discover who we are, where we discover who God is. Your problem may be bigger than you, but it's not bigger than God.
If you have been facing your giant all by yourself. And have not accepted the Lord as your Savior.
2 For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.
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