David and the Dwarf, Part 3

Today, Chuck Swindoll draws insight from the classic story of David and Goliath. You don't have to be beautiful and brilliant and have all of the answers to be blessed of God.

You don't have to be eloquent and strong and handsome. He magnifies His name when we are weak. He honors your faith.

All He asks of you is that you trust Him, that you stand before Him in integrity and faith, and He'll pick up the pieces. It's possibly the most highly recognized story in the Bible. The showdown between an unlikely shepherd boy and a nine-foot Philistine has fascinated readers for generations. In fact, just the names David and Goliath creates a mental picture.

A boy with a handful of stones up against a man with weapons of war. Well, today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll presents another message in his biographical series on David. In this study, we'll be drawing practical lessons from the battle between David and the dwarf. Let's pick up the study in 1 Samuel 17, beginning at verse 8. He stood, that's Goliath, and shouted to the ranks of Israel and said, Why do you come out to draw up in battle array? Am I not the Philistine and you servants of Saul?

Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me. Okay? Look, he's coming up. He's on Israel territory. And David says, What's he doing on our side? He's an enemy. You see, in 40 days time, if you tolerate a Goliath, he'll take over your territory. He'll move in your camp. He'll in fact take your thoughts that normally ought to be on God and he'll put them on himself. You can't tolerate a Goliath. You kill the giants. And so Saul calls him in.

Look at it. Verse 31. So when the words of David were told to Saul, he sent for him and David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail on account of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine. Saul said to David, You're not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him. You're but a youth while he's been a warrior from his youth.

Remember 16.7? God is not impressed with the externals. He looks on the heart.

Man is impressed with the externals. He doesn't see the heart. Saul looked at David and said, You don't have the size for it.

You're just a little tyke. Look at that giant. I imagine about now David was blinking and thinking, What giant? The only giant in my life is God.

That's a dwarf over there, Saul. God doesn't fight on the basis of size and intelligence. God is omnipotent. And if he's on my side, omnipotent can't lose. Saul hadn't learned that.

You're not able to go up against the Philistine. And then he describes how in the past God proved himself faithful when he slew this bear and this lion. And he says in verse 37, The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from this Philistine. David says, You know why I can fight that giant, Saul? The God who gave me power over a lion and a bear will give me power over that giant. Hey, just let me at him.

Unintimidated. He was all ready to go and Saul said, Now, wait a minute, David, we got to fix you up for battle. Verse 38. It says 38 says that he he put his bronze helmet on his head. He clothed him with his armor. David girded his sword over his armor. Can't you see David? Give me that sword. It's so big he can't even hold that thing on him.

And look at what it says in 39. David girded his sword over his armor and tried to walk. And David says, Saul, I can't fight like this. He says, I can't go with these. I haven't tested them.

David took them off. Hey, you know what? What works for you will not necessarily work for someone else. Stop trying to fit the specific clothing that works for you on someone else.

God doesn't operate like that. He provides unique principles and techniques for unique people. That's why your advice is not necessarily what that other person needs. Because you know that other person. What works for you works for you because you are like you are. But that other person isn't like you.

There's only one you. We're always trying to put our armor on someone else. And that's not the way they do battle. I have a bone to pick with teaching guys how to preach. You know, you preach this way because Blackwood preached that way. Or because McCartney preached this way.

Or because great C.I. Scofield preached this way. Or, you know, a dozen others. Hey, if you're called to preach, be you. It took me four years to get graduate school education and almost 40 years to get over it.

Get into seminary, get it done, and get over it for the Lord's sake. And declare the truth as you have been built to declare it. Not like someone else. That's his armor and it works for him.

Boy, that was a great breakthrough in my life when I suddenly discovered I could be me. And God would use it. And so David says, I haven't tested these. And so David took them off. Here's David right stripped down to his Bermuda shorts or Israeli shorts. I don't know what he's got on. He's got his sling and he's got his staff and he's ready to do battle.

No armor at all. And Saul is going. You can't fight like that.

Yes, I can, man. That's the way I handled it. Saul's up there in the tent praying for him. Verse 40.

Took his stick in his hand, chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook. It gets good right now. Here's this little guy down there looking for pebbles. You know, the whole army on both sides is saying, what manner of man is that down there? That little 90 pound weakling.

You can't be serious. The beautiful thing about this story is that that's how God operates. He magnifies his name when we are weak.

You don't have to be eloquent and strong and handsome. You don't have to be beautiful and brilliant and have all of the answers to be blessed of God. He honors your faith. All he asks of you is that you trust him. That you stand before him in integrity and faith and he'll pick up the pieces. David's picking up the pebbles and God is just waiting for his moment.

Isn't that a great thought? There's his man. All odds against him. There's not a guy in the Philistine camp that would bet on David. And David, after picking up the stones, starts his move.

I won't even interrupt it. Let me read several verses. He picked up five stones from the brook, put them in the shepherd's bag, which he had even in his pouch. His sling was in his hand and he approached the Philistine. The Philistine came on and approached David with the shield bearer in front of him. When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth and ruddy with a handsome appearance. And the Philistine said to David, Am I a dog that you come to me with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. Philistine said to David, Come to me and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field. Then David said to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword and a spear and a javelin.

I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. By the way, it reminds me of the words of John Knox when he stood before Mary. It was said that Mary feared the words of John Knox more than the entire armies of her land. He called her a Jezebel, and he said, I come and stand before you in the power of the living God.

And she was intimidated by young, unintimidated John Knox. You have taunted the God of the armies of Israel. Verse 46. This day, boy, talk about faith. This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands and I will strike you down and remove your head from you.

That's a rather literal rendering of what he planned to do. Won't last long, Goliath. Be ready. Take your last breath. Cut your head off so fast you won't know it until you sneeze. Just like that. Unintimidated. Man, that's important.

David stood before this massive creature, unintimidated. That's our battle when we face the giants. They intimidate us. We get tongue-tied. Our thoughts get confused. We forget how to pray.

We forget who we represent. And standing there with our knees knocking, I wonder what God must think. My power is available. There's no one on this earth greater than I.

You trust me. David's eyes were looking up, fixed on God. Verse 47. That all the assembly may know the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear.

Got your pencil ready? The battle is the Lord's. There it is.

That's the secret of David's life. The battle is the Lord's. You trying to do your own battle? Trying to fight it your way? Trying to outsmart the enemy? Outfox him?

You can't. But God can. And he's saying to you, you do it my way and I'll honor you. You do it your way and you're doomed to fail. The battle is the Lord's. By the way, David lived by a very simple principle.

Nothing to prove, nothing to lose. He didn't try to impress anybody in the army of Israel. He didn't try to impress his brothers.

He didn't even try to impress God. He just put a stone in the sling. And he was on his way.

Maybe he wasn't left-handed. On his way up the hill. And there was Goliath. And look at this.

Goliath didn't think as much of David as to put his helmet piece down. It was up. Mistake number one. Also that final mistake.

Look at the stone. And then it happened. Verse 48.

Love that. Then it happened. When the Philistine rose and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. He put his hand in the bag, took from it a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead and the stone sank into his forehead so that he fell on his face to the ground.

Just like that. Eyes came out all over the camp of the Philistines. That little guy and our champion. And he's on his feet and our champion is down. And that's not all. It says, verse 450, that David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone.

Isn't that significant? All he had was a sling and a stone and here's Goliath with all his 200 pound armor and helmet. Boom.

That was all there was to it. And David didn't even have his own sword so in order to cut his head off he had to borrow Goliath's sword. Can I borrow your sword, son? I'll get your head cut off. Thanks. Cuts it right off.

Verse 51, stood over the Philistine, took his sword, drew it from the sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. Period. End of the story. That's all there is.

That's the way God operates. No big band. There's David. You don't need all that jazz. That's all there is to it.

Got any more giants? Hey, you know what? The Philistines didn't wait around to hear any questions. It says that they ran. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. That rhymes. Interesting, isn't it? The men of Israel and Judah rose and shouted and pursued the Philistines. Yeah, let's go. And so you see this Israelis come down and back up the other side and the Philistines are taking off. And look at the other side. The sons of the Israel returned from chasing the Philistines and plundered their camps.

Don't miss this. 54, David took the Philistines head, brought it to Jerusalem. That must have been neat. Walking along with the head.

Great big head. But notice what he did with the weapons. He put his weapons in his tent. Ever seen that? You know, it must have been like a trophy.

That's all I can figure out. He drags his big spear into his tent and he leans it up against the wall. And every night he went to bed on his sleeping bag.

He saw that big old spear and that sword as a reminder of what God had done. Like a trophy. Ever won a trophy?

Man. You know, you guard it like crazy. You drag it all over the world after you win a trophy.

You just hang on to it. You don't want anybody to take them away. David brought that weapon in, those weapons and set them in the tent. Who knows what he kept with him throughout his life when he became king. Maybe he had a weapon room. He had a trophy case. The battle is the Lord's where he kept the memories of God's victories. Where do you keep the memories? You pass over victories?

What a shame. God doesn't waste victories. He doesn't have a lot of fanfare but when he pulls something off that only he can do, he says don't you forget that. Now I want to address you that have the giants in your life. I want to share with you four principles that live on to this very day.

Maybe you better write them on the back. There's not enough room in that tiny space at the bottom. Number one, facing giants is an intimidating experience. Don't kid yourself. We can have a lot of fun with this story of David and Goliath but I'll tell you down underneath it must have been, humanly speaking, intimidating to look at that brute who even in the eyes of faith was still that tall. And David said my God is greater than he.

That's the second principle. Doing battle is a lonely experience. The first one, facing giants is an intimidating experience. Doing battle is a lonely experience. No one else can fight for you. Your Goliath is your Goliath. For someone else you'll say ah don't worry about that but to you it's a Goliath. Ever had somebody say you shouldn't worry about that? It does a lot of good doesn't it? Wonderful counsel.

Say friend I want to tell you about what's bothering me and you tell them and they say you shouldn't feel like that. I want to punch out their lights because to you it is a Goliath. Hey let's learn something very important. What is a Goliath to a person is a Goliath. Whether it is to you or not is immaterial. A giant is a giant seen from that person's eyes and it's lonely to face that giant. Nobody else can do battle for you, not even a counselor, not even a pastor, not even a friend. It's lonely.

It's designed to be that way. Men grow up on the battlefield. They grow up when they start shooting back and that's how you grow. Third, trusting God is a stabilizing experience. David got that sling and got that stone in it and didn't miss the mark. I'm interested to discover that he didn't have the jitters when he went into battle.

He was experienced, stabilized. Trusting God is a stabilizing experience. When you have spent time on your knees before the giant and then you face the giant, it's remarkable how stable you can be. But if you try to go in the flesh, you cannot get it done. Hands down you'll lose.

Fourth, winning victories is a memorable experience. What finally wound up was the real truth of the matter and that is Goliath was the dwarf and David was really the giant. I don't really know what God is saying to each one here tonight. I'm probably saying one thing to one person and something altogether different to someone else.

But I have a feeling there's not a person here that isn't facing some kind of intimidating worry or giant. It may relate to your job. It may relate to your roommate. It may relate to your school or school work.

It may be a person, perhaps a mate, your own partner in life. Perhaps it is some fear that is lurking around the corner just sucking your energy and draining your faith. And God's saying to you, you've come back to the valley and all I ask of you is five smooth stones and a sling of faith. I'll take over. You don't have to wear somebody else's armor. You don't have to do it like somebody else says it. You just trust me and I'll strip you down to nothing but faith and then I'll do a victory where I'll get the glory.

You trust me. Let's bow in prayer. It's kind of quiet for a moment.

Been a busy day for me and for all of you. You don't really know what is across the valley on Monday or Tuesday. Maybe it's not a mile across there. It might be a week.

It might be a month, two months. Maybe you can't get a handle on what that giant is but it's there sort of haunting you. That alone is a giant.

It's uncertain about exactly what that is that's gnawing away. But tonight you've heard that God is able. He would never mock us giving us the story of David as if to say now that can never happen to you.

No, it's given for us to apply. I want you to turn over in your mind that giant, that worry. I want you to look at that in comparison to the Lord God himself. And tonight I want you to say by faith, the battle is yours, Lord. It is your battle.

I lean on you tonight. I give you all my weapons, all my skills, and I stand before you trusting you. Perhaps it is out of love for us, Father, more than anything else that causes you to bring us to an end of our own strength.

Perhaps you see in us the need to trust you. And your love is so great you will not let us live another day without turning over our arms to you, our fears, our worries, even our confusion. We willingly give you our care, knowing that you care for us. And we ask that nothing become more significant to us than you, our Father. Become our everything in the Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday of this week on into the balance of it. We lean, we lean on you in Jesus' name. Amen. For the past few programs, Chuck Swindoll has described the celebrated battle between David and Goliath.

It's recorded in 1 Samuel chapter 17. At an Insight for Living, it's our prayer that Chuck's depiction of this showdown has given you courage to trust God and to lean on Him. We'll hear a closing comment from Chuck in just a moment, so please keep listening. And to learn more about this ministry, be sure to visit us online at insightworld.org. But right now, I'm pleased to remind you that Chuck wrote a biography that parallels this teaching series on David. It's available right now by giving us a call or visiting our online store. If you happen to live near Frisco, Texas, you can also stop by our book shop on the corner of Parkwood and Lebanon. The biography includes 24 chapters that feature the kind of teaching you enjoyed today, and it's nearly 300 pages in length. To purchase Chuck's biography on David, call us.

If you're listening in the United States, call 800-772-8888 or go online to insight.org slash offer at Insight for Living. We're pleased to receive notes, letters and phone calls from friends who tell us how this program has been helpful. You might be encouraged to hear this one that came from a schoolteacher in West Virginia. She said, Although I was raised in the church by godly parents that have been saved since I was seven and still attend church, there have been many times that I've fallen so short of God's best. However, through Insight for Living, my relationship with Christ has grown by leaps and bounds.

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Or you can give online at Insight.org slash donate. What happened after Goliath was defeated? I'm Bill Meyer.

Join us when Chuck Swindoll describes the aftermath of a giant killing, Thursday on Insight for Living. The preceding message, David and the Dwarf, was copyrighted in 1977, 1988, 1997, and 2009. And the sound recording was copyrighted in 2009 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.