Doing Battle with Goliath

DOING BATTLE WITH GOLIATH
I SAMUEL 17: 40-51


40 Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.41 And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42 And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. 43 And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” 45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand.”48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David.
In the name of Jesus:
The story of David and Goliath is probably the most well known Bible story among children today. Children in Sunday school reenact the drama of a little shepherd boy slaying the big, bad, Goliath with a smooth rock plucked from a riverbed. But what are we to make of it? Certainly, we believe that this story is true, for the Bible, God’s Book, doesn’t lie. David killed the Giant Goliath. But, what’s the point? Should we look to the Bible as a handbook, or answer book, as it were, where we can come up with principles by which we can slay the giants, so to speak? Is this a story, which instructs us on how we can be victorious in our lives, like David was against Goliath, against overwhelming odds? To treat the Bible in this way cheapens it into a bunch of moralistic stories. No, the story of David and Goliath is actually a story of how God works, and how He continues to work for us today.
The issue is whom will you rely on? That was the question facing David before his battle with Goliath. Humanly speaking, if we are to do battle with anything or anyone more powerful than we are, we want to be as prepared as we can be, as much as is humanly possible. If you are going to battle you want the best equipment. You can’t beat a giant with a peashooter, can you?
So thought King Saul and the wise counselors of the day! When David came forth to do battle with Goliath, it is interesting to see how the wise ones of the age thought the battle should be fought. Note what Samuel records: “33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” 38 Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, 39 and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off.”
Saul thought as many think today, that whenever someone is going to do battle with a Goliath, you have to be prepared as best you can be, as humanly possible. So if you do your best, and provide for yourself the best equipment that money can buy, well, then you will be successful. The underlying belief is that you place your trust in earthly things. Use your intellect, the things around you, that which seems to be able to get the job done, place your faith in the tangible, and that will qualify you for success. And so today, conventional wisdom inside and outside of the Church would have you believe that the answers to the problems you face are within your grasp and control. You are the master of your own destiny, and if you do your best, things will work out. But do they? Will they? There is no guarantee.
The greatest giant that you face in your life is death. Your own death and the death of your loved ones. Death is the elephant in the room, so to speak, that no one really wants to think about or address. Again, conventional wisdom would have us believe that one solution to this Giant called death is denial. Deny death’s inevitability for as long as you can seems to work, for a time, but there is this thing called, death, that always seemingly gets our attention. Death comes suddenly, unrepentantly, you can try to put it out of sight out of mind, but it is always there.
You can try to live healthier, but you will still die. You can attempt to get the best medical treatment that money can buy, but you will still die. Live life like a hermit, so that you can take out many variables, which may cause death, such as an auto accident, but death is still there. Live to an old age, but you can’t live long enough because you will still die. No matter how you try to outfit your life to deal with the Goliath called death, it is always there.
Death is the symptom of a bigger issue, the issue of sin. The Bible says that the soul that sins most certainly will die. You can deny that you are a sinner, but you will still die. Death is a nasty truth, as is sin. God, who created all, calls every creature to live in accordance with His Will. Love God first and foremost, trust in Him above all things; show love to God by loving others as you do yourself. It seems so simple, but in reality, none of us can do what God demands.
Look at King Saul. He places his trust in human things to defeat Goliath. He outfits David so that he will trust in human “things” but David tries it and finds it lacking. So too, when push comes to shove and we find ourselves in a bind, how do we react? Like King Saul when we think how can I get out of this mess? Like Saul when we say surely there is something I haven’t tried that will work? Do we look for human answers when we face the Goliath of sin and death? Or will we learn from David, who trusted not in self, nor the wisdom of the age, but solely in God?
It is instructive to note that David didn’t turn nor trust in the human element. His Help and Hope were in the Name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. This is shown where David: 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 36 Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand.”48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him.”
What was David’s secret? He trusted in the Lord! The rock was the means by which the Lord gave to David the victory. But David trusted, not in himself, nor anything else other than the Lord. Sadly, today we look at the things we can trust in, rather than the Lord and the means that He uses. When it comes time to battle the Goliath called sin, Satan, and death, will you trust in self, or in God?
The Bible records that this is the reason why God sent His Son, Jesus, into this world. Jesus came to do battle with sin, Satan, and death. Tempted as we are tempted, Jesus never sinned. He trusted in God and His Word. Jesus lived His life not for His own glory, but so that you might receive God’s glory. Christ denied Himself and trusted in God so that you might have help in your time of need. Just look at what Jesus did and how He faced Satan’s arrows and temptations. Jesus simply loved God above all else and sought to serve Him. For when Jesus did when confronted with Satan’s temptations, He trusted in God and His Word. Jesus did battle with our Goliath, Satan, by using the Word of God. When tempted, Jesus said: ““‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Jesus ultimately did battle with the Goliath of sin, Satan, and death by going to the cross. There Jesus took on your sin and mine, there He tasted death for all who have sinned, there He shed His blood for the forgiveness of all sin, and on Easter Jesus triumphed over Satan and the grave by rising again to life!
God has saved you from sin, Satan and death. Just as David used simple means as a rock to slay the giant, so too God gives simple yet powerful Help. For by the cross of Christ God has saved you. Christ on the cross is the power of God and the wisdom of God. To the worldly and the so-called wise ones of our generation, the cross is foolishness. But there on the cross we see God’s love and power, for while we were yet sinners, Christ died, and then rose again to defeat sin, Satan, and death for all who believe. The word of that cross is foolishness to many but to us who are saved it is the power and wisdom of God! Through the simple means of the cross and empty tomb God has cut off Satan’s head and gives victory to all who believe.
But how can we believe? God even gives you faith! For in the waters of Baptism, which now save you, God bestows faith. Today He speaks His forgiveness and feeds your faith in Christ so that you might know and evermore believe that yours in the overwhelming victory by God’s grace through faith in Christ.
So how do you face your giants? By simply trusting in Christ and turning to Him. When you are faced with giants in your life, do not despair. The Lord God has saved you! Jesus stands in your place to do battle against the Goliath, Satan. He bore the brunt of God’s wrath so that you might have life and help in your time of need. In Christ you are victorious over the Devil. And God blesses you with His Word and Sacraments so that you might be strengthened in your daily fight against the Evil One. So do not receive the grace of God in vain, rather, go to Christ for He is your ever present Help in times of trouble! “14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Amen