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1 Samuel 17:2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and they
encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array against the Philistines.
1 Samuel 17:3 The Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and Israel
stood on a mountain on the other side, with a valley between them.
1 Samuel 17:4 And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named
Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
1 Samuel 17:10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give
me a man, that we may fight together.”
1 Samuel 17:11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine,
they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
1 Samuel 17:24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from
him and were dreadfully afraid.
Fear of failure can be a powerful giant to overcome.
I. THE GIANT-SIZE CHALLENGE.
1 Samuel 17:1 Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle,
and were gathered at Sochoh, which belongs to Judah; they encamped between
So-choh and A-zekah, in E-phes Damm-im.
1 Samuel 17:2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and they
encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array against the Philistines.
1 Samuel 17:3 The Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and Israel
stood on a mountain on the other side, with a valley between them.
1 Samuel 17:4 And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named
Goliath, from Gath,…
1 Samuel 17:8 Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to
them, “Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and
you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down
to me.
1 Samuel 17:9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants.
But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.”
1 Samuel 17:10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give
me a man, that we may fight together.”
1 Samuel 17:16 (GNBUK) Goliath challenged the Israelites every morning and
evening for forty days.
The Enemy Always Challenges God’s People.
Matthew 13:25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among
the wheat and went his way.
1 Samuel 17:29 And David said, …”Is there not a cause?”
1 Samuel 17:25 So the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come
up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel; and it shall be that the man who kills
him the king will enrich with great riches, will give him his daughter, and give his
father’s house exemption from taxes in Israel.”
II. THE TALE OF THE TAPE.
1. IN THIS CORNER IS THE CHAMPION GOLIATH.
1 Samuel 17:4 And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named
Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
1 Samuel 17: 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was armed with
a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze.
1 Samuel 17:6 And he had bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between
his shoulders.
1 Samuel 17:7 Now the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his iron
spearhead weighed six hundred shekels; and a shield-bearer went before him.
The word “champion” literally means “the man of the space between [two armies].”
He is a substitute, the “man of the space between” who battles on behalf
of his people.
He does what they cannot or should not do.
2. IN THIS CORNER IS THE SHEPHERD BOY DAVID.
1 Samuel 17:33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this
Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from
his youth.”
1 Samuel 17:28 Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men;
and Eliab’s anger was aroused against David, and he said, “Why did you come
down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness?
I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to
see the battle.”
People will try to talk you out of what God has talked you into.
III. THE REAL WEAPONS OF OUR WARFARE.
1 Samuel 17:38 So Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze
helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail.
1 Samuel 17:39 David fastened his sword to his armor and 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.” So David took them off.
1 Samuel 17:34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s
sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock,
1 Samuel 17:35 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 and
killed it.
1 Samuel 17:36 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.”
1 Samuel 17:37 Moreover 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 the Lord be with you!”
When our problems become bigger than the God we serve, we have a problem!
2 Corinthians 10:4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God …”
Nobody mentioned what God could do but David.
1 Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our
Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 2:14 “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ,…”
Lyrics from “Stand up, Stand up for Jesus”
From victory unto victory
His army shall he lead,
Till every foe is vanquished,
And Christ is Lord indeed.
IV. THE BATTLE IS THE LORD’S.
1 Samuel 17:47 Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save
with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our
hands.”
