On To Victory #4 (Based on David vs. Goliath)

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Text: 1 Samuel 17:38-40,47,50

It's great to be gathered today at the West Side Church of Christ. Because of what occurred in the land of Israel some 2000 years ago, those who are children of God have been made more than conquerors in life.

However, at times as we have noted, it is hard to believe that we are really going to win. We're too weak, too sinful, too scarred by past fights, too confused, too unsure, too overcome and sometimes just too tired to think we are really more than conquerors.

We have been noticing the voice of God through the faith of David and He speaks to us a different message. He reminds us that even though we are weak, He is exceedingly strong and if we will have the heart of faith like David, we will see the giant fall down!

David's remarkable rise to stardom should not overshadow the fact that in the chapter previous God had already let him know that he was to be the king of Israel because his heart was the stuff that champions are made of.
So, a giant challenges Israel and even defies God and David decides enough is enough and its time to win the battle God wants you to win.

Three keys so far that unlock the mystery to David's win are this:
  1. he understood that with God on your side, victory is possible.
  2. He decided to keep on believing in God, despite all others not believing in him. &
  3. he knew to draw on the strength of past victories and not dwell on the sting of past defeats.
Before getting into key number 4, let's read some passages together:
Ephesians 6:10-17, 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 & 1 Samuel 17:38-40,47,50

The fourth key to David's victory over Goliath is this:
he used the weapons that best suited him for the fight.
I want to point something out here at the beginning:
David would not have won, had he not used a sling this day!

Let's look at this for a moment and see why David's victory was contingent on the choice he made:
  1. Saul clothes David with Saul's clothes!
    Now, Saul is just the picture of consistency in this story isn't he! The tallest man in Israel, the king of Israel, the supposed leader of Israel and he does everything but lead!
    First, instead of taking up the challenge, he offers rewards for the one who does! (vs.25)
    Second, when David shows the faith, Saul should have had, he offers the Lord's assistance to him! (vs.37)
    And now, when David takes the leap of faith that can cost him everything, not just his life, but his chance at glory, Saul offers him his clothes!
    Think about what Saul is willing to give to David:
    his daughter, his taxes, his Lord and his clothes.
    What is the message for the supposed shepherd of Israel?
    It should be your body on the line!
  2. David has a hard time operating Saul's clothes and a sword!
    Here is an important point:
    There is Goliath, a man of war, armed like a tank, used to swinging a sword in battle and here comes David who can't even walk with one!
    Who is going to win this fight?
    Now, faith does not override foolishness at times, and David couldn't fight with this! The faith that says I'm going to be all right is one thing, it's a different thing to say it while walking down a railroad track and not moving from it!
  3. David shakes them off and goes for his sling and five smooth stones!
    Why?
    I have not tested these, but I have tested my sling!
    Now, what makes you more comfortable to use:
    tools you have become accustomed to, or tools you have never used?
    David does the smart, logical thing in this fight!
    If he is going to win, it's not going to be by matching muscle with Goliath!
  4. David beats Goliath not by a sword, but with only a sling. Vs.50!
To the untrained eye, it must have seemed like quite a mismatch!
In reality it was, but not the way that most people have viewed it.
When David decided to choose that sling, there was no chance for Goliath to beat him!
Listen, if we choose our weapons wisely, there is no chance for our opponents to defeat us!
First of all, David had to be agile in this fight, and with the burdensome armour of Saul off, with only a sling he could be!
Secondly, with the sling in his hand David did not have to get very close to Goliath!
This was a smart choice. You can only swing or throw a sword so far, but a sling you can use from a far way off!
Thirdly, a sling is deadly accurate!
One man was wondering through Palestine one summer and noticed a young boy keeping sheep with a sling. He asked him if he could hit a fig tree some sixty yards away. Not only did the boy hit the tree but also the stone hit it so hard that it stuck more than an inch into the trunk of the tree.1
So when you stop and think about it, Goliath didn't stand a chance against the boy with faith!
David was sure that the one who defied God could not win, and that with a wise choice of weapon, he finished the job!
When you stop and think about it, only those who were ignorant, thought David's weapons were useless!

What about us today?
How can we use this key in our struggles of life?
I want to say, we must use this key. If we are going to be the champions of God like David, we must be careful about the weapons we choose.

David's choice of weapons was both practical and spiritual!
The same is true with us!
  1. We can't be other people in the fight, we must be us!
    David couldn't be Goliath, Saul or even Samson; he had to be David!
    As he stumbled with another man's weaponry, so will we. As one man wrote, "He would be David in the conflict and nobody else."2
    In the same way, in our battles we have to be us! Now, we can and should ask for godly counsel when troubled by a giant. There is nothing wrong with that and it is beneficial. However, they are their own people and what might have worked for them, might not work for you. One of the things we need to remember is this:
    you can still be you and God can work mightily through you. You don't have to be like the quote "spiritual giants" around you. You can't always fight the way others do. We are all unique individuals and therefore different. Now, there is one danger we must avoid, we can't be simply us when us is wrong!
    This leads to point number two but in our battles we can't be us if it's an excuse to not do what is right!
    I get angry in my fights, because that is just me. Or, I am a worrywart, so I don't act properly!
    Don't use you as an excuse, but use you to fight the good fight!
    There may be nothing wrong with your anger, fear, concern or even hurt as long as it doesn't stop you from acting the way God wants you to act!
  2. We must use the weapons of faith and not the weapons of flesh or the world!
    Unfortunately, many times we face our giants of life and immediately we like Saul try to use worldly weapons!
    To battle the giant of whether our needs will be met, we seek assurance from building up our personal wealth.
    To fight the giant of not being good enough, we try the weapons of being better than others, good looking, stronger whatever it is.
    To fight the giant of loss of health or status or life itself, we seek the fountain of youth.
    There are many more, however the problem is all these weapons have never been tested as being able to win!
    Wealth corrodes (Matthew 6:19), someone comes around who can top us, looks change, might fails (Isaiah 40:30) and young people grow old!
    Then, I see another set of weapons that frighten me more. Too often I have resorted to this brand and it scares me, because I think I am defeating my opponent when I'm actually joining him!
    These are the weapons of revenge, bitterness, grudges, competition, deception, hitting below the belt, somehow using my force to win my fight!
    What is the problem with these?
    They all have been tested, but they always fall!
    We soon start stumbling under their heavy load!
    What do we use instead?
    We have to begin doing certain things, or at least continuing to do it:
    training ourselves in the right weaponry!
    David was trained in the only weapon that would win him the day. When we face the battles we will face, it will then be easier to find ourselves using the weapons that are best suited to win!
Listen, if we choose these weapons, we can't lose! We can't fight like the world, and we can't fight when we're worldly, because we can't win then!
Ephesians 6:10-17- listen to the weapons that we are to use to be victors in the game of life:
  1. waist girded with truth!
    John 8:32- when we know the truth, the innermost parts of us cannot be touched!
  2. Chest with righteousness!
    Do what is right and our hearts are guarded. Don't jump in and do what's wrong to get ahead, you leave yourself defenseless! Matthew 5:8!
  3. feet with gospel of peace!
    As David had to be agile on the battlefield so do we, loosen up your footing with the gospel of Jesus Christ! Romans 1:16
  4. shield of faith!
    When the weapons of the enemy come at us, our faith shields us! What we have come to believe and know through our faith guards against the attacks of Satan. "You're not good enough" "You're weak" "God has abandoned you" "You're going to lose" Faith tells us differently.
  5. Our head with salvation!
    When doubts arise in our heads, remember Calvary and the fact that you are in fact a saved child of God.
  6. Our weapon, the Bible. What force do we use against the foe?
    The word of God. It is our only attack weapon, it is sufficient! Psalms 19:7-11.
Marshall Keeble is a man who had to fight many battles. Racism was not absent in our home camp and he felt it. It is said that in one of his meetings a man walked up to him with a roll of coins in his hand and socked him right in the mouth. Brother Keeble refused to engage in worldly warfare and kept on preaching and many souls were saved because of him.
I don't know a member of the Lord's church today who would openly criticize brother Keeble.
Use the right weapons and in the end you are going to win.

Next week we are going to look at key number 5-
how to measure up the giants we face.

But in closing let's read 2 Corinthians 6:3-10.
David's heart of faith led him from making the mistake of fighting like the men of the world and chose to remain David in the fight, a young boy, a young boy without much experience, but a young boy who knew his God. May we be the same.
Let's stand and sing…

1. Taken from Lynn Anderson, Finding the Heart to Go On (San Bernardino, CA: Here's Life Publishers, Inc., 1991) p.41
2. The Pulpit Commentary Volume 4, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, edited by H.D.M. Spence & Joseph S. Exell (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950) p.329

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