What You Need To Slay Your Giant
Pastor Don Carpenter
Five Smooth Stones (Sermon Kit) / 1 Samuel 17:32–40
We’ve probably all heard the expression, “This is going to separate the men from the boys!” Those words are said when about something that involves danger and risk. Things that take courage and a willingness to sacrifice. Things that are grueling and gut-wrenching. Things that require maturity and perseverance, not just boyish enthusiasm and energy.
David may have been the smallest boy in the camp that day, but he was the biggest man on the battlefield. Why? Because he had superior armor and weapons? No… Because he faced his challenge with faith. And he had long before learned the lesson… that… The challenge before you is never as great as the power behind you.
I am excited you decided to join us once again for the third week of our sermon series, “5 Smooth Stones.”Throughout this series we’ve focused on the story of David and Goliath.
It’s a well-known story, but one we have spent time unpacking and learning more from. Today, we land in the part of the story that mentions these 5 smooth stones that David uses to slay Goliath (spoiler alert). There is an important, overarching concept that we must learn today: God wants to use what you have.
It’s tempting to look at other people’s lives whether in person or even on social media, and wish you had what they had. It’s enticing to believe that if you had a better paying job, or a different zip code, or a bigger house that you would finally be able to serve God in the ways that both you and HE want.
This condition is not a unique one, and something that many of us understand all too well. As we’ll learn today from our passage, this is a human condition that goes back hundreds and thousands of years
2 Peter 1:3 (KJV)
According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
The Bible makes it clear that God has given all of His people different gifts. The Holy Spirit helps us see and learn what these gifts are, and how God is trying to use them in our lives, and in the world as a whole.
How differently this story would have gone if David would have spent his time envying those around him in the Israelite army, or even the physical strength of Goliath. Instead, David was focused on what he had. In this case, it was 5 smooth stones and a sling.
Our reading this morning was from 1 Samuel 17:32-40. There’s a lot going on in this passage. But there are three specific things I want us to highlight this morning in regard to the call upon David’s life to fight Goliath. I believe each of these things are crucial in our own lives as we seek to understand the call, the will, and the giftedness that God has given each and everyone here today. Let us discover together what you need to slay your Giant.
Focus that blocks out the distractions
1 Samuel 17:32–33 KJV
And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.
And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.
• Others were afraid – fail = collapse
• Others were sure of David’s failure
• Others are confident that the enemy will win
Faith is not in itself a meritorious act; the merit is in the One toward Whom it is directed. Faith is a redirecting of our sight, a getting out of the focus of our own vision and getting God into focus.
A. W. Tozer
At the beginning of this passage, David declares that he will indeed go and fight Goliath. But as soon as he says this, Saul responds with these words: “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”Sounds like a voice that would hold you back, right?
Last week we talked about those who will try to hold us back and look down upon us. There are many in our lives that, regardless of what we do, will try to keep us from where we need to go. This will often come in the form of doubt. Similar to what 1 Timothy says, as we referenced last week, Saul seemed to be looking down on David because of his youth. And so what is David supposed to do with all of this? His brother won’t have it, others simply ignore him, and Saul doesn’t think he has any chance at success.
But to David, this is all just “white noise” in the midst of God’s clear call and command.
You see, in a spiritual sense, there will be many voices around you begging for airtime in your life. If you aren’t careful, you can get bogged down and overwhelmed by them. This is why it is so important that we “learn to discern” God’s voice from others.
We have to learn how to sort through the different voices in our life, with the help of the Holy Spirit. This requires us to ask certain questions of the voices we hear. For example, you could ask questions like, “Does this voice actually care about me? Is this a Godly voice? Does this voice hold wisdom?” It’s questions like these that help us discern which voices to ultimately listen to and trust.
In David’s life and story, it is clear from the next verse that he was able to shake off the words from Saul and others to stay focused on what God was inviting him into.
Confidence that comes when past victories are remembered.
1 Samuel 17:34–37 KJV
And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:
And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.
Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.
• The threat came after one in my care
• I faced it head on
• I delivered the sheep
• I was then threatened personally
• I caught him by the beard and killed him
• Goliath will be like that
• Because he defied the armies of the living God
Joshua 4:24 KJV
That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever.
2 Kings 19:19 KJV
Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only.
2 Chronicles 20:15 KJV
And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
Psalm 124:8 KJV
Our help is in the name of the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.
Warren Wiersbe makes the following observation regarding this passage:
It’s unfortunate that this dramatic account is considered primarily a children’s story or the basis for an allegory about defeating the “giants” in our lives. While there are many applications of a Bible passage, there is only one basic interpretation, and the interpretation here is that David did what he did for the glory of God. David came to the contest in the name of the Lord, the God of the armies of Israel, and he wanted Goliath, the Philistine army, and all the earth to know that the true and living God was Israel’s God (v. 46). Goliath had ridiculed Israel’s God and blasphemed His name, but David was about to set the record straight. David saw this as a contest between the true God of Israel and the false gods of the Philistines1
1 Wiersbe, W. W. (2001). Be successful (p. 94). Victor/Cook Communications.
• Like David protected his sheep, the Good Shepherd will protect His sheep.
John 17:11–12 KJV
And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
Hebrews 11:34 KJV
Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
Weapons that are your own and not another’s.
1 Samuel 17:38–40 KJV
And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail.
And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.
And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.
• Saul gave David his armour.
• Saul didn’t trust that armour enough to use it himself.
• Assayed = fell short
• Proved = tested
• Five smooth stones
Some people believe that David chose five smooth stones so that if he missed his first shot, he could use one or all of the others. David did not intend to miss, friend. Then why did he select five stones? The answer is found in 2 Samuel 21:22: “These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.” Goliath had four sons, and David was sure they would come out when he killed their father. This is why David picked up five stones. That was the number he needed.1
1 McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: History of Israel (1 and 2 Samuel) (electronic ed., Vol. 12, p. 99). Thomas Nelson.
• Placed in a shepherd’s bag – one he used often
• The sling was in his hand and ready.
• He came at the Philistine
“The line you succeed in will be of your own finding. The Davids in life do not slay the Goliaths of difficulty and temptation in another s armor, even though it be the kings, but with their own self-made weapons, though they be nothing more formidable than a sling and a stone.”
What if God is trying to help you see the miraculous things He can do in and through your life when you simply bring him the ordinary, everyday stuff you have to offer?
David put aside all the extra stuff Saul gave him and grabbed 5 stones and his sling. He added that to the faith he had developed over time serving God and his family in the wilderness and he walked out to battle Goliath. Through all the white noise, through the doubt, through the fear and into victory.
And all he had was all that God had already given him, and THAT is what was needed to slay a Giant.
Exported from Logos Bible Software, 1:09 PM November 16, 2022.