And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you” –1 Samuel 17:37.
We ought not to be unmindful of the way by which the Lord our God has led us, for if we are, we shall lose much. Some saints have very short memories. It has been well said that we write our benefits in dust and our injuries in marble, and it is equally true that we generally inscribe our afflictions upon brass, while the records of the deliverances of God are written in water. It ought not so to be. If our memories were more tenacious of the merciful visitations of our God, our faith would often be strengthened in times of trial. –Charles Spurgeon.
David was well accustomed to slaying giants. Scripture tells us long before he stood and faced Goliath, young David had slain lions and bears with only a club and his own two hands, saving his father’s precious lambs and goats from certain death. I’ll remind you here that not all giants go down this same way, however. Some can be taken out in an instant, while others, as we’ll soon find out, may take years to defeat. I heard a man of God speak about this recently, and it stuck to me.
But David said to Saul, ‘“Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose against me, I seized him by his beard [jaw] and struck him and killed him” –1 Samuel 17:34-36.
After King Saul heard all that David had said, he granted young David permission to slay that giant Goliath—even though David was not a soldier, had no combat experience, no weapons of warfare to call his own. So Saul attempted to arm David for the battle himself, dressing him in his tunic, placing a coat of armor on him, a helmet of bronze on his head, and a sword David might fasten to his side. But David removed it all. He could not slay this giant wearing someone else’s armor. Let the one who has ears hear what the Spirit is saying here. As it was with Moses, so it was with David and will be for you and me as well. We must use what’s in our hands to slay the giants standing before us.
“…I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. 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” –1 Samuel 17:39-40.
When David, clothed in the Spirit of God, armed with His power and favor, walked out to face Goliath, it took him all of five minutes, and one stone flung with surgical precision, to slay him. Some giants in your life will go down that easily. God, your willingness, and courage will make a quick work of them. 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. As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 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” –1 Samuel 17:45; 48-49.
From actual lions and bears to a very real giant from Gath—to say nothing of those ever-present giants of rejection, slander, and slight that lived and lurked under his father’s roof, David, thus far, had seemingly slain them all. See David’s own father, for reasons the Bible doesn’t specify, had to be pressed into producing David so that the prophet Samuel might see him and know that He was the one the Lord had chosen to replace Saul as King. “Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these.” So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.” Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives” –1 Samuel 16:10-11. Also, one can’t help but hear the caustic disdain in Eliab’s derisive rebuke of his brother. “When Eliab, David’s eldest 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.” “Now what have I done?” said David. “Can’t I even speak?” –2 Samuel 17: 28-29.
These giants, a test. Preparations for the greater betrayal yet to come.
I’ll pause here for a moment to say this—repeat it actually: All trials have a purpose. And what is that purpose? To fortify you and to build a deep sense of perseverance. And what is perseverance? Perseverance is faith when facing difficulties and delays. And any true child of God will face both difficulties and delays—as well as unexpected things that come up out of seemingly nowhere! –Bishop Jonathon Ziegler. The Apostle Peter says it this way in 2 Peter 1:5-8: “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
As David was bringing the severed head of Goliath back to Jerusalem, Saul asked Abner, his commander, who this ruddy boy was that was hoisting up this giant’s head in victory? Whose son, is he? So, with the giant’s head still in-hand, Abner brought David before King Saul, (to whom it is said, David felt loyal respect). “Whose son are you, young man?” Saul asked him. David said, “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem” –1Samuel 17:58. And our chapter ends here, yet David has miles to go to before he’ll defeat—rather, the Lord will deliver him from, the giant that stands before him now. I’ll insert an aside here. If you’ve ever read 1 Samuel 16:17-23, you might be a bit confused by Saul’s questioning of who David is? After all, David had been playing his lyre to ease the headaches that would trouble Saul whenever the evil spirit came over him. David had also been Saul’s armor-bearer. Yet Saul had taken no notice of David prior to this moment. That all changed in chapter 17 because of the promises Saul had made to whoever would kill Goliath. Now, Saul saw David.
And in Chapter Eighteen, Saul tells David he will not be going back to his father, Jesse. Instead, Saul keeps David as his armor-bearer. In this chapter, we learn that no matter what tasks Saul gives David, he excels at them all. We also learn that David and Saul’s son, Jonathan, become like brothers—their bond that close. And It’s in this chapter too that we first witness another giant rear its ugly head. Jealously. On their way back to Jerusalem, probably at or near its gates, Saul becomes enraged when he hears his people singing greater praises about David then himself. Saul knew the Lord had removed His hand from him. He also knew that the Lord was with David. Fear and jealously had seized Saul’s hear, murderous seeds took root in it. “Saul was very angry; this refrain displeased him greatly. “They have credited David with tens of thousands,” he thought, “but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?” And from that time on Saul kept a close eye on David” –1 Samuel 18: 8-9.
This Eighteenth Chapter is laden with verses of Saul’s treachery, betrayal, and his plot to murder David, but time doesn’t permit I cover all of that. I will say this, however, it took some 15 years for David to finally be free of the murderous rage, fear, and jealously that had once gripped Saul’s heart. Yet David mourned greatly when Saul finally fell. Read the First Chapter of 2 Samuel and you’ll witness the depth of David’s grief. I can relate to that. Anyone who has been betrayed by a friend, a brother or sister, a husband or wife, can. Yet there is no rejoicing when we see them fall.
As I said at the start, some giants go down in an instant, others may take years to fall. Some we rejoice over, others, oddly, we mourn at their falling. Through each trial David had faced, each giant he had defeated, he kept his eyes fixed firmly on the Lord. Whether emblematic or literally giants—his emotional giants too, David took his battles, his sins, and failures as well—to God in prayer. David’s trust and confidence weren’t in Himself, in his giftedness or abilities, it was in the Lord—always. David knew without question all that he was, was able to do and accomplish, was from God. Our opening Scripture, proof positive. “And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine…” 1 Samuel 17:37. David was a mighty, wise, warrior king who carried within him the heart of a humble shepherd boy. He was a man after God’s own heart. We would do well to follow David’s lead the next time we are called upon by God to slay a giant. Because as anyone who has been walking with the Lord for a season will attest—it’s only a matter of when—not if, a giant will show up in the land. “Then the people asked for a king, and God gave them forty years under Saul son of Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin. After removing Saul, He raised up David as their king and testified about him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after My own heart; he will carry out My will in its entirety.’ From the descendants of this man, God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as He promised…” –Acts 13:21-23.
Friend, if you don’t know this God who is faithful to help His children in their hour of need, who sent a Savior to for us all, won’t you ask Him into your life, your heart, now? Won’t you admit you have need of Him to defeat the giants that you’re facing?
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