BIG IDEA:
DAVID’S VICTORY OVER GOLIATH PROVIDES A MODEL FOR SUCCESSFUL SPIRITUAL WARFARE
INTRODUCTION:
In what ways are our spiritual problems and adversaries like Goliath?
1) Our problems loom large ( Goliath about 9’6″) — seem impossible to us (:4-7)
2) We often struggle daily with same problem
Goliath challenged the Israelites for 40 days (:16)
3) Struggles can taunt us: How can you be a Christian …
“Defied God” — to vilify someone’s character, reputation,
honor; say sharp things against; taunt (:10,23,25,26,36,43,45)
4) We can end up feeling defeated and servants of sin — dominated by fear (:11,24)
We need to be actively fighting the spiritual battles instead of sitting on the sidelines expecting someone else to fight our battles. Battles are an opportunity to trust the Lord to work mightily on our behalf.
I. PREPARATION FOR WARFARE
(Note: You can be sure the enemy is prepared for battle)
A. Empowered by the Spirit of the Lord
David recognized that he was God’s anointed and under His protection;
Conviction that his life had purpose and meaning
B. Experienced in Childlike Faith (:34-37)
cf. incidents with lion and bear
Faith in past events gives courage to trust the power of God to meet the crises of the present
C. Faithful to Authority
1. His relationship to his father — obeying all of the little, everyday instructions (:15,17-22); Jesse probably had imp. role in training David and preparing him for greatness
important to be faithful in little if you want to be entrusted with much
2. His relationship to King Saul — called himself “your servant”
(:32,34,58)
D. Confident in God’s Blessing — expected God to do great things for him and through him — God had not explicitly promised victory, but David was confident based on the character of God and his relat. with God.
E. Skillful and Disciplined in developing his abilities — cf.his prowess with the sling (cf. our need to be experts with the Sword of the Spirit). In the exercise of his shepherd’s calling;
he may have become so skilled in the use of the sling, that, like the Benjaminites mentioned in Judges 20:16, he could sling a a hair’s breadth, and not miss.
II. TARGETING STRATEGIC BATTLES
Only fight battles that the Lord has a stake in winning; make sure our battles are important to the Lord. Examine our priorities. How will victory in this battle glorify our God? In what area is Satan marshalling his forces to try to defy God and destroy God’s program? The lines between the people of God and God’s enemies were clearly drawn (:1-3)–no gray area here–
“the battle is the Lord’s” (:47)
III. RESOURCES FOR WARFARE
A. The Wrong Kind of Resources
1. Our own might and weapons (:42 outwardly, David was not impressive when compared to Goliath; :47)
2. Untested, unproved resources (:38-39) — the world’s resources and methodology can just weigh us down
B. The Right Kind of Resources
1. Slingshot and 5 smooth stones (:4a; 1 Cor. 1:27-28)
2. Meditation and Memorization of Word of God; prayer and praise and worship (study the Psalms; e.g. Ps.1)
3. The Character of God
“the Living God” (:36)
“the name of the Lord Almighty …” (:45)
“there is a God in Israel” (:46) — faithful, omnipotent, covenant God
The world makes fun of the “simple” resources of the believer and would have us trust in the wrong type of resources
IV. MOTIVATION FOR SPIRITUAL WARFARE
A. Zealous for God’s honor (:26)
B. Legitimate desire for God-ordained rewards (:25-30)
cf. our promised eternal rewards
C. Simple obedience as a servant of God — We have no other option
V. DISCOURAGEMENTS / HINDRANCES TO WARFARE
A. Unwise, unbelieving counsel from the very ones that should be encouraging us
B. Enemy tries to belittle us and instill fear and doubt
(:8) they were more than just “servants of Saul” — they were the armies of the living God
C. We need to learn how to transform our weaknesses into opportunities for God to show His amazing power (:47)
D. Fear of Failure — But isn’t it greater failure not to have fought?
VI. VISION FOR VICTORY
A. Single-minded Focus on Victory (:37,46)
B. Extent of Victory (:50-54)
C. Rewards / Benefits of Victory
1. Personal (:54-55) led to recognition and greater oppty.
God used this dramatic heroic encounter to prepare the people for David’s leadership
2. Encouragement to others (:32,52)