Rev. David Holwick B King David, #2
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
January 12, 2014
1 Samuel 17:40-50
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I. The classic Bible story.
A. The one story everyone remembers from their Sunday School days.
Well, maybe not everyone.
When Mike Huckabee - former Baptist preacher, former governor
of Arkansas, was running for president, he used many
allusions to the Bible. Perhaps too many.
After Huckabee won several primaries on Super Tuesday, he
told his supporters:
“Sometimes, one small smooth stone is even more effective than
a whole lot of armor.”
NPR reporters quizzed some of Huckabee’s supporters about what
this meant.
“Maybe something to do with the war,” guessed Dan Booth, who
was visiting from Alabama.
“He’s talking about peace, the resolution of peace?” ventured
his friend Mike Allen.
#34993
1)But you are good Baptists and you know the story.
b) The little kid slays a big bad giant.
a) We usually leave out the gruesome details (beheading).
2) It has been a gold mine of application for preachers.
a) What are the giants in your life you need to slay?
b) I have preached it this way several times.
B. It is deeper than you think.
1) It is about much more than a little boy and a big ogre.
2) God's honor is at stake, and he won't be shown up.
3) What could you do if God was on your side?
II. It always helps to have some background.
A. Two invading nations.
1) Around 1400 BC, the twelve tribes of Israel invaded
Palestine from the east.
2) About the same time, another group invaded Palestine from
the Mediterranean Sea on the west - the Philistines.
a) Today the word "Philistine" describes someone who is
uncouth and socially unacceptable.
1> They did have some rude religious practices and
they were idolaters.
2> However, they were technologically advanced: they
had iron while the Jews only had bronze.
b) The Philistines set up five city-states on the coast
and prospered.
1> The book of Joshua says the invading Israelites
overran the Philistine territory but the
Philistines conquered it back.
2> The tribe of Dan was supposed to settle there, but
got bounced up to the top of Israel.
3> The Philistines were tough!
B. In the time of King Saul, the Philistines had the upper hand.
1) They were pushing farther into Jewish territory.
2) Their army was angling for a knockout blow.
a) To speed things up, they offered a contest of champions.
b) The Philistines had 9-foot-tall Goliath, and the Jews
could come up with anyone they wanted.
1> This is what you call intimidating.
2> It worked - the Jews ran whenever he confronted them.
C. Goliath gets an impressive introduction.
1) He is very tall and very strong.
a) He has 125 pounds of armor from top to bottom.
b) His spearhead alone weighed 15 pounds.
2) But as we know from last week's passage, appearances don't
matter much to God.
a) Goliath had fancy armor but a hollow heart.
3) More striking is his attitude of defiance.
a) He defies the Jewish army and he defies the God of
Israel.
b) The term comes up six times in the episode so you
should pay close attention to it.
1> God's honor is on the line.
III. A young Jew's faith.
A. Only David sees it like God sees it.
1) Goliath is not invincible - he is uncircumcised. 17:26
a) Goliath is just a loud-mouthed pagan.
2) The other Jews focus on the giant but David focuses on God.
B. David's God is a living God.
1) For many people, God is an intellectual concept or a
comforting thought.
2) There is not much substance to their faith.
3) You think about God at funerals but that is about it.
C. Do you have a living God?
Pastor Scott Walker tells of a conversation he had with
his friend, Don Walker, a seminary professor.
A few years ago, Don's twenty-year-old son was killed in a
car accident.
In dealing with his grief, Don said, "Scott, you and I have
studied the Bible for years.
We've taught it and preached it.
But I've got to tell you, I don't think I really knew what
it's all about until now.
And what I've discovered is that this thing we call faith
is real.
It will hold you up and get you through."
#27981
IV. David had some skill as well as faith.
A. Very few people saw this in him.
1) His own brother, Eliab, calls him a twerp. 17:28
2) Eliab seems to have as much contempt for David as Goliath.
B. David reviewed his background as a shepherd.
1) We tend to image it as an idyllic life, lounging on green
grass by cool waters as the sheep nibble nearby. Ps 23
2) The patriarch Jacob's experience was more accurate.
Genesis 31:39-40...
"I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts;
I bore the loss myself.
And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen
by day or night.
This was my situation: The heat consumed me in the
daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from
my eyes."
3) David says his experience taught him how to defend and how
to attack.
a) Striking down enemies was part of the job.
b) David was a worthy instrument for God's power.
C. In the real world, little guys can win.
Malcolm Gladwell wrote an interesting article in New Yorker
magazine a few years ago based on David and Goliath.
He says David's victory over Goliath is held to be an anomaly.
It was not - Davids win all the time.
The political scientist Ivan Arregun-Toft looked at every war
fought in the past 200 years between strong and weak
combatants.
By "strong" he meant where one side was at least ten times
more powerful in weapons and troops and economic resources.
The Goliaths, he found, won in 71.5 per cent of the time.
That sounds like a lot, but it means the little guys won
almost a third of the time.
In the Biblical story of David and Goliath, David initially
put on a coat of mail and a brass helmet and girded himself
with a sword.
He prepared to wage a conventional battle of swords against
Goliath.
But then he stopped.
"I cannot go in these because I am not used to them," he said.
So he picked up those five smooth stones.
What happened, Arregun-Toft wondered, when the underdogs
likewise acknowledged their weakness and chose an
unconventional strategy?
He went back and re-analyzed his data.
In those cases, David's winning percentage went from 28.5 to
63.6.
When underdogs choose not to play by Goliath's rules, they win,
Arregun-Toft concluded, "EVEN WHEN EVERYTHING WE THINK WE
KNOW ABOUT POWER SAYS THEY SHOULDN'T."
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V. God came through for him.
A. In the original Hebrew, God's role is emphasized.
Verse 37 reads:
"The Lord who delivered me from the lion and the bear --
HE will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."
1) David does not claim to have outstanding skill or
audaciousness - he has a great God.
a) David has memory: God has done it in the past.
b) He has logic: God can do it again.
2) Both of these stand behind David's faith.
B. Words matter more than the action.
1) David's speech (17:45-47a) is twice as long as the combat.
a) In the Hebrew, the speech is 63 words and the combat
only gets 36 words.
b) The theology matters.
1> Compare that with modern blockbuster movies.
2> Their action scenes go on and on - it is easier to
do this than come up with intelligent dialog.
2) David's speech doesn't lack pithiness.
a) He can threaten just as good as Goliath.
1> He's going to whack off his head.
2> He's going to feed them to the birds.
b) Yet it is not me, but God, who will do it. 17:45
C. The combat is swift and brutal.
1) David was small but not a wimp - slingshots can achieve
100 to 150 miles an hour.
2) He killed Goliath with his shot, then gave him the
coup de grace with the giant’s own sword.
VI. God can use the weak to do his powerful will.
A. We worship power but God prefers to use the little people.
1) Note how David is treated:
a) Brother Eliab - You're a pain. v. 28
b) King Saul - You're too green. v. 33
c) Goliath - You're too puny. v. 42
2) David refuses to be a little Goliath.
a) They tried loading him up with armor but it was
ludicrous.
b) He knew you don't need the biggest weapon but the
real God.
B. How big is your God?
1) David knew his God was big enough.
2) Do you have confidence in God's power to give you victory?
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
#27981 “Faith Is Real,” Scott Walker, Daily Guideposts 2001, p. 205;
quoted in Dynamic Preaching, June 21, 2004.
#35849 “How David Beats Goliath,” Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker
Magazine, May 11, 2009.
#34993 “Understanding the Gospel According To Huckabee,” Barbara Bradley
Hagerty, National Public Radio; Program: All Things Considered,
February 8, 2008.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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[*] The title comes from a study book by Charles Swindoll.
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