5.15.11 "The Slingshot Heard 'Round the World"

"The Slingshot Heard 'Round the World"

1 Samuel 17:1-18:4
John 8:21-30
Psalm 111:1-10
Proverbs 15:11

I Samuel 17 has to be a favorite chapter for many people. We've heard innumerable references to it, and many sermons. Each time you read it, you can find new morsels of truth in the story of this boy after God's own heart. I think we relate to it so well because every single one of us face giants of some shape or size. We often find ourselves paralyzed and intimidated. I believe that the Lord would have us learn not only from the details of the story, but from the character of the hero.

Here's what it takes to be a giant killer:

1. Be a servant - Serve faithfully where you're at with all your heart.

"David was the youngest son, and was on Saul's staff on a part-time basis. He went back and forth to Bethlehem to help his father with the sheep... One day Jesse said to David, 'Take this bushel of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread to your brothers. Give this cheese to their captain and see how the boys are getting along; and bring us back a letter from them!... So David left the sheep with another shepherd and took off early the next morning with the gifts." (I Sam 17:14-20)

You have to remember that we're now in chapter 17. It was chapter 16 that David was anointed. For many of us, our reaction is, "Hey, I've been anointed king! Send someone else to deliver pizza to the brothers!" Not David. He would go back & forth from playing the harp for Saul to tending the sheep. We cannot overlook that David's heart is being prepared in all of this. It's this faithfulness that prepares him to lead a nation. He was even faithful to make sure that someone was taking care of the sheep back home.

What kind of tasks do you see before you that seem "beneath" you? Do you feel "over-qualified" for something you're asked to do, or some task that's placed at your hand? You must serve faithfully. It prepares you to kill giants.

2. Don't get discouraged - recognize discouragement as the enemy.

"When Saul and the Israeli army heard this, they were dismayed and frightened... As [David] was talking with them, he saw Goliath the giant step out... As soon as they saw him the Israeli army began to run away in fright. 'Have you seen the giant?' The soldiers were asking.... But when David's oldest brother, Eliab, heard David talking like that, he was angry. 'What are you doing around here anyway?' he demanded. 'What about the sheep you're supposed to be taking care of? I know what a cocky brat you are; you just want to see the battle!'... 'Don't worry about a thing,' David told him. 'I'll take care of this Philistine!' 'Don't be ridiculous!' Saul replied. 'How can a kid like you fight with a man like him? You are only a boy and he has been in the army since he was boy..." (vs. 11,23-25,28,32-33)

After all of that negative influence, most of us would give up. We would become paralyzed by fear & discouragement like everyone else. We too often allow discouragement to live with us, rather than seeing it as a weapon of the enemy. We need to battle it with the same intensity we would the giant. Instead, we invite discouragement to sit down with us. We feed it. We make it our friend. And then pretty soon we have plenty of excuses about why it shouldn't be my job to kill the giant. "I can't do it." "I'm not good enough."

3. It's not about you! - Realize who you are in Christ and fight on those terms.

"David talked to some others standing there to verify the report. 'What will a man get for killing this Philistine and ending his insults to Israel?' he asked them. 'who is this heathen Philistine, anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?'... 'I have done this to both lions and bears, and I'll do it to this Philistine too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! The Lord who saved me... will save me from this Philistine!'... David shouted in reply, 'You come to me with a sword and a spear, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of the armies of heaven and of Israel - the very God whom you have defied. Today the Lord will conquer you... and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel!" (vs. 26,36-37,45-46)

So many times we think about how the giant effects us. We don't even consider that the giant is out to tarnish the name of God. I am God's representative. He has called me. He has a plan, and I have purpose. We are commissioned to be giant killers. The world around us is needing us to step up and sling some stones. They need to see that the name of the Lord is great!

We must get that fact that it's about God's reputation, and not ours. Sometimes we go out to fight a giant armed with an offended spirit. "How dare you do this to me!" Contrast that with David's offense: "How dare you do this to the name of the Lord!"

It wasn't HUGE steps that David took to beat the giant, it was a series of small, faithful steps. That is within the grasp of each one of us. My giant looks different than yours, and ours looks different than David's, but the scriptural principles apply to all of us!

We've all got 5 smooth stones: D, R, E, A, M... Now, get out there & slay the giant!



Through the Power of the Spirit,
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Pastor Greg Lathe

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