What are you Looking at? Part 2

I would like to ask you to give me some creative license, because the story we will be discussing is a very familiar one. Yet it is pivotal story in the history of the nation of Israel and a powerful testimony to what God can do. Again we will see that what appears before our eyes is not the most important thing to consider, for there is so much more to life than what we think we see.

We will pick up this story knowing that Saul has been anointed King over Israel and has been battling against the Philistines for some time now. We also know that Saul had been disobedient to God, and so God has rejected him as king and anointed another, a redneck farm boy from the town of Bethlehem named David. However, Saul still held the position even if he no longer had the anointing. So he was still the king, and David was still the boy, the runt of a litter of eight. Now it is unclear if Saul was aware that David had been anointed king, and it seems rather unlikely for Saul had actually invited David into his home because he found David’s musical skill quite relaxing. Nonetheless, at this point in the story, the Philistines are blocking a major route in the valley just west of the Judean foothills and are prepared to do battle with Saul and his army.

Now one of the practices of warfare during this time was a test of divine power. Of course these tests were usually associated with how the deities had blessed the armies with superior strength and so each army would send out their best man as a representative of the strength of their God. The Philistines had a monster of a man. We might consider him a giant. Some people even claim that the Bible has exaggerated this account, but there has actually been archaeological evidence that there was a tribe of people that fit this description. Of course we know the description of Goliath. He was over nine and a half feet tall! Considering the fact that the average Israelite is about 5’4”, Goliath was almost twice the height of his average competitor and who knows how many pounds heavier. Goliath’s armor itself weighed 125 pounds which may have been more than most of the Israelite army weighed! Of course he was extremely well armed with powerful weapons and had a man walking in front of him to carry his shield.

So he calls out to the Israelite army to challenge them, and particularly to challenge their King. It was assumed that the King had some divine connection in the Old Testament world, and Saul had been God’s anointed, so he challenged them. He said, and I am paraphrasing, “Do you want a piece of me? Why have you come out here to fight? I am a Philistine and I have the gods of the Philistine supporting me, who do you have? Saul? Yeah right. If you think you can handle me, then give me your best shot. Send your best guy over here to take me down. If he can do it, great, you win and we will be your slaves. But that ain’t gonna happen. If you try, and I beat him, you lose and you will be our slaves. Come on I dare you. Give your best shot you bunch of lilly-livered chickens.” It was something like that anyway.

Of course when Saul and the army heard this, they were lilly livered chickens. They were shaking and quaking. Nobody was ready to volunteer for this assignment. They knew what they saw, a man that was much greater than themselves. They took one look and knew they were defeated. What were they looking at?

Of course, Saul was the king, and partly the way he became king was because he literally head and shoulders above everyone else. He was probably the biggest guy in the army, and he was probably the one everyone expected would take the challenge. After all, he was the one with the most to lose, it was his kingdom. Yet he remained silent. For forty days Goliath made this challenge and no one from the Israelite camp was prepared to stand up and fight.

Then came David. Of course he only came as a courier, bringing food from the village, about a days travel away because three of his oldest brothers were in the army. When he got to the frontlines, all the warriors were lined up for battle so David went up to see his brothers, and as he was talking with them, out came Goliath to issue his challenge. David was enraged that some “uncircumcised Philistine” would spew such vitriol towards the armies of the Living God. He was furious. Word got to Saul that someone was actually not terrified but enraged by this giant so Saul wanted to talk to him. The conversation probably went something like this.
“Listen King, we can’t let that heathen Philistine talk like this about us and our God. You don’t need to let him bother you or anyone else anymore, for I will take care of him.”

“Boy… You must be crazy! Did you even see the guy? You are just a runt, but this guy is a giant! He’s probably more than twice your size. He eats meals bigger than you! He is a first class warrior and you are just a redneck farm boy who can play a guitar! You better get back to your fields”

“I may be a farm boy, but that just means I can handle myself. I’ve killed lions and bears with my bare hands. When they have come to take one of my flock, I have chased them down and killed them, while rescuing my sheep. And that is what I will do to this overgrown bully. He is nothing more than a big ugly bear that has dared to talk bad about the living God. If God could save me from those wild animals with treacherous claws and lightning reflexes, he can certainly deliver me from this giant oaf.”

“Well, alright then, if you’re sure. May The Lord Be with You”

Notice, when David first came to Saul, what was Saul looking at? He just saw that redneck farm boy. He didn’t see the man of passion for God, the man after God’s own heart who was willing to stand up to whoever, and whatever whenever he needed to defend the honor of God.

Yet when David looked at Goliath, what was he looking at? Didn’t he see this giant of a man? Didn’t he see this behemoth who had every one afraid? No, he saw someone who lacked the power of God and therefore had nothing more than big bones and a big mouth.

There is something else I want us to see here though. It’s what I call faith conditioning. When David was preparing to go up against Goliath, it wasn’t when he was on the battlefields. It wasn’t when he got to the frontlines that he began his training for this fight. His training was in his everyday life. His training was on the hills of Judea with his sheep and with His God. His training was when he was faced with obstacles in his everyday journey, obstacles such as lions and bears, and who knows what else. Obstacles that gave him an opportunity to learn to trust in God. Notice when he reports to Saul, he declares that God was the one who had saved him and protected him from the lion and the bear, so he knew God would protect him now. Was this foolish faith? No this was conditioned faith.

God had shown him through many other circumstances, “just trust in me David, and I will deliver you.” You see David knew that even though he had accomplished those tasks, he hadn’t done it himself. It wasn’t because he was so strong, or so fast, or so agile, but that God had been with him. He knew that without God, it may be near impossible, but that with God, nothing was impossible. His faith had been conditioned for such a time as this.

What does that mean to us? How is your faith walk going? Are you struggling a bit? Sometimes I do. But although we may only notice the struggle when we are face to face with a giant, the real struggle starts when we are face to face with our everyday lives. We lose the battle because we have not been in training. We need to be conditioning our faith each day so that when the times of trial come we will be prepared to say, “whatever gets thrown my way, God and I can handle.” We will be able to say this because we will have experience with God having handled so many other things. We will be able to say, “There is nothing to this other than a higher degree of difficulty, but God has proven himself so that nothing is too difficult for him. Therefore, with God in me, nothing is too difficult for me!” That is what faith conditioning is all about as David shows us.

He also shows us that we do not need to try to be somebody else. It doesn’t work. You see Saul tried to give David his armor and weapons to help him to fight this battle. After all, Saul wasn’t using them, the chicken. Anyway, David tried them on, but he could hardly move. He wasn’t Saul, he was David. He didn’t have the experiences Saul had, he had the experiences that David had. And that is what equipped him for the battle, not trying to fill someone elses shoes. So he took his weapon of choice, the sling shot with five baseball sized stones and went to face Goliath.

Now I was going to paraphrase this part as well, but instead, let’s just listen to what the Bible records. [41] The Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. [42] When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was only a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. [43] 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 wild animals of the field."

AS I speculate at what was running through Goliath’s mind I think, he wasn’t even sure if he should take this serious! How could this be a challenge. This little boy armed with just a slingshot comes at me with my spear and sword, my armor, my shield and my might. This isn’t even fair. What are they thinking. If they wanted to give up, why drag this boy into it! I’ve eaten bigger meals than this kid.

[45] But David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with sword and spear and 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 very 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 Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, [47] and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not save by sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord's and he will give you into our hand."

David’s reply to Goliath’s rant was like, “Yeah right! You may have all those fancy weapons, but they mean nothing, because you lack the power of God! You have been mocking him, but today you will know that he is real! And those birds you want to feed will be feasting on your body and the bodies of your friends because God is going to prove himself today. And he doesn’t need your fancy weapons! All he needs is a redneck who is willing to listen!”

[48] When the Philistine drew nearer to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. [49] David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead; the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.

David didn’t hesitate, he didn’t cower, he didn’t retreat, he simply ran up to face this beliggerant God –mocker and fired his guided missile with full assurance. He hit what may have been the only vulnerable spot on Goliath, getting the shot past the sheild bearer and the armor to land right on his forehead. God didn’t need an army, he needed one boy who was willing to stand up for him.

Is that you? Does God still have giants who are mocking him and claiming he doesn’t exist? Are there still people who try to defame him and try to discard his relevance? Then God needs someone willing to stand up for him. He is not looking for an army that will dress for battle, but for a soldier who is willing to fight. There is a big difference. He is looking for someone who knows that he is real and is not afraid of the enemy. Someone who realizes that the battle is not against flesh and blood but against the powers and principalities of darkness in this world. And there are battles waging. And God will be victorious. You see I know how the story ends, but he is looking for people who are willing to stand up and be used by God to face the enemy without fear and trepidation. Someone who is willing to not see as the world sees, with these earthly eyes, but to see as God sees. To see that the Battle is the Lord’s.

If that is you, then the time is now. Join the battle and step up to serve God today.