On To Victory #2 (Based on David vs. Goliath)

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Text: 1 Samuel 17:24-33

Good morning again to all those who have been called by God to be victorious in the battle of life through Jesus Christ!
This is the theme we began talking about last week and will continue with this week, God is telling us to not surrender in the fight of life but to press on to victory!
We saw last week that in the great moment of David's life, he told the world that the battle belonged to God and because it does, whoever is on the Lord's side will be more than a conqueror!

All of us at one time or another including today and tomorrow are thrown into the midst of some severe battles that threaten our feeling of security in God and idea that we can be champions. We fight battles of different kinds and under different circumstances, but they are battles. Whether it is a battle of sin, doubt or physical suffering, it is a war that is being waged.

In fact, it seems that for the person trying to find the peace of God in the world, strife is his constant companion.
"I like the words of John Jay, one-time chief justice of the United States Supreme Court: 'God is great, and therefor he will be sought; He is good, and therefore He will be found…In prosperity, He tries our gratitude; in mediocrity, our contentment; in mis-fortune, our submission; in darkness, our faith; under temptation, our steadfastness, and at all times our obedience and trust in Him. God governs the world, and we have only to do our duty wisely and leave the issue to Him."1

But, the question we asked last week is our question, how can we not just survive the fight, but be more than a conqueror?
It is so hard to believe that with all the stuff we have to face that we are going to win. We try to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but soon discover that the light is the headlight of a train coming straight at us.
Yet, only a boy named David shows us that we are indeed more than conquerors through Him that loves us.
Let's begin again by reading a few passages:
Psalms 13, John 16:19-22, 2 Timothy 4:16-18, 1 Samuel 17:24-33

As we saw last week in the greatest battle ever of the Old Testament, the opposition of God cannot stand against the faithful child of His!
As Goliath fell before David, God is reminding us on a daily basis that if we have the heart of trust we will see Him deliver the knock-out punch of our own personal giants!
How do we know?
Because in the greatest battle ever of the New Testament, the ultimate giant was knocked out and will never rise again!
The battle belongs to God and the soul who places his trust in Him will not lose the day, but stand triumphant when the dust settles.

This week we are going to begin looking at the different stages of this battle and witness how David took on the great enemy that struck fear in the hearts of all men he faced and became the greatest hero in Israel!

Keep your Bibles at our text of 1 Samuel 17:24-33.
  1. Understanding that victory is possible! (vs.24-27)
    In this passage is found one of my favourite statements of faith that any man has ever spoken!
    The first thing we are going to notice today is the difference attitude or faith makes!
    Remember that Goliath has consumed Israel for 40 days, morning and evening. What does Israel do?
    The men see Goliath and run for fear. Now, by simply running out of fear, they do nothing to diminish the threat of the giant.
    For us, we are not going to be victors in the fight if we give in to our fears and surrender!
    Now, the warriors of Israel, the men of flesh & muscle run. Why?
    There is no way we can defeat this guy!
    If only we had a Samson among us today, then we would see who would run. (vs.24,25)
    But, notice David here. The man with the heart!
    What a heart it was.
    God, give me a heart like David who learns to rely on You more than the weapons of the flesh.
    Goliath will be killed! Who is this shrimp to be cursing God?
    We don't need Samson; we've got Yahweh!
    So, David instructs us to have the faith that we can win the fight!
    Victory is possible. My friends, the moment we start to believe that we can win with God, we're going to win with God!
    Matthew 17:20- faith the size of a grain of mustard seed!
    Jeremiah 1:8- do not be afraid of their faces, I am with you!
    "as a Christian there are no hopeless situations, only those who grow hopeless about situations."2

    Listen, when we get to this point we soon go from believing that victory is not just possible, but probable!
    Now, there is a difference between the athlete who says, "we definitely are going to win." Yet there is still a chance at losing. However, for the child of God, there is no chance of defeat!
    Revelation 17:14!
    David says, who is this Goliath when we've got God Almighty? We've got the One who parted the Red Sea, the One who opened the womb of our barren ancestress, Sarah and gave her a son, the One who created everything with life and the One who will surely give the giant into our hands!
    My friends, the same is true with us today!
    Victory is possible in the hands of God!
    "God knows the enemies I'm fighting. And he cares. More than just caring, the good news is that, in all my battles, God is on my side!"3
  2. Keep on believing when others don't believe in you! (vs.28-33)
    Poor David!
    Nobody believes he can win. Nobody believes that there is a God in heaven who cares what happens to His children!
    There's one thing we already have seen in the story of David;
    God doesn't look on the appearance but the heart. (1 Sam.16:7)
    Notice the four discouragements's given here:
    1. why are you here?
      The first question, is a question of being out of place.
    2. With whom have you left those few sheep?
      You are really a nobody, a shepherd, a little one at that.
    3. You are full of pride and youthful wickedness!
      You don't have faith, but mischief. You're not courageous, but foolish.
    4. You are but a youth!
      You are no match for this giant! You don't belong on the same battlefield as him.
    How can you fight the enemy, when your supposed friends tear your confidence down?
    Has that ever happened to you?
    Do you ever get prepared to take on the giants of life, and someone gives you the good word of warning beforehand?
    You know what I'm talking about, the "better be careful's" or, "remember the last time you tried", or, "do you think you're any better than."
    Oh, how the warnings of friends can actually be the weapon of Satan!
    Then, all of a sudden when people cast enough doubt on us, we can decide to start to doubt ourselves. More importantly we can forget that there is indeed a God in heaven concerned with what happens with His children.
    Neil Anderson in one of his books stated "by giving in to the system's false judgment, this person can only look forward to more and more rejection….Therefore any success or acceptance which comes his way will be questioned or doubted on the basis of what he already believes about himself."4

    We soon can begin to believe it ourselves and really, we're not going to finish on the winning side.
    "You have become acquainted with disappointments, broken dreams, and disillusionment. Crisis seems to be your closest companion. Like a ten-pound sledge, your heartache has been pounding you dangerously near desperation.…You are nodding in agreement, but probably not smiling. Life has become terribly unfunny."5

    How and why was David different?
    How did David keep going when everybody else believed he couldn't?
    2 things:
    1. - there is a need,
    2. - turned from him.
    David remembered there was still a battle to be won despite Eliab's or Saul's warnings! (vs.29,30,32)
    David had fought this his whole life , but he remembered what Saul & Eliab forgot!6
    Vs.47- the battle is the Lord's.
    It's important to note that David didn't end up fighting Eliab or Saul, but turning from them. So often, we forget the real battle and turn on each other because it is an easier fight, but not the right fight.
    Paul told Timothy in 1 Tim.4:12- let no one despise your youth. Let no one disrespect you to the point that you quit the fight.
    David did the same. David basically said, you might not think I can win, but I think God can win so I'll stick with that.
    Will it work out for us the same way?
    Yes.
    How do we know?
    Luke 23:35-37- there were the same voices of naysayers in Jesus' day, but he still won despite the claims he couldn't.
    The unexpected can happen when someone has the heart that God wants.
    The year 1809 was special for the world though the world did not see it. All the world saw was Napoleon threatening to take over the world and at the time was marching through Austria. Did you know however that in that year, brought into the world were William Gladstone in Liverpool, Alfred Tennyson in Lincolnshire, Oliver Wendell Holmes in Cambridge, Mass., Edgar Allen Poe in Boston, Charles Robert Darwin & Robert Charles Winthrop & way over in Hardin County, Kentucky an illiterate laborer and his wife named their newborn son Abraham Lincoln. The world only saw Napoleon as having any meaning, but things changed.7

    In Israel that day, the world saw Goliath as having any meaning, but a nobody would change that, a little boy named David whom nobody believed in, but he believed in God.
    My friends, even though others don't believe in you, you can still choose to believe in the God who says, I love you, I'm here for you and I won't let anything overtake you.
The battle belongs to God and no matter who you are or what others believe, God reminds us through Jesus that everyday we are more than conquerors.
Listen to His voice as He whispers through the faith of David that we are to press on cause victory is just around the corner!
Nobody believed that salvation would come to Zaccheus's house, nobody believed that a tax collector named Matthew would write the longest saving message of the Messiah, nobody believed that a persecutor of Christians would become their greatest preacher and nobody believed that a carpenter's son would be the one who took on all the forces of hell in a winner take all fight and leave them destroyed.
1 Corinthians 16:13.
Do you long to be a victor at the end of the day?
Then lean on Jesus and be like David and understand that with God, victory is found. Let's stand and sing.


1. Batsell Barrett Baxter, When Life Tumbles In (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1974) p.42
2. Randy Becton, EVERYDAY STRENGTH A Cancer Patient's Guide To Spiritual Survival (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House Co., 1989) p.32
3. F. Lagard Smith, Meeting God in Holy Places (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1997) p.150
4. Neil T. Anderson, Victory Over The Darkness (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1990) p.212,213
5. Charles R. Swindoll, Encourage Me (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1982) p.8,9
6. Remember when it came time to pick the king (1 Samuel 16), David wasn't even called in.
7. Adapted from Charles R. Swindoll, David: a man of passion & purity: profiles in character (Dallas, TX: Word Publishing, Inc., 1997) p.24,25

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