(Audio Version)
Introduction
Introduction
Have you ever
stood on the threshold of something new or painful or difficult in your life
and wondered if you were up to the challenge of dealing with it or enduring it
or overcoming it? I don’t consider myself to be terribly courageous but there
are some days when I feel unstoppable at anything I put my mind and hands to
and other days when getting out of bed without saying or doing something stupid
is the only thing that resembles success for that day. Maybe this happens to
you as well. You did so well in your classes last semester but this semester
you are struggling more than you have at any other time and you begin to wonder
if you’re cut out for college. You’re certain that you’re following God’s call
for your life but the obstacles seem insurmountable. You’re great at your job
and everyone thinks you’re perfect at what you do. Then you receive a promotion
that is well deserved and suddenly all the people who thought you could do no
wrong question whether or not you can do anything right. You love your spouse
more than anything and you seem to relate and communicate at a level reserved
for only the most blessed relationships. Then, with the passage of time you no
longer relate or communicate at any level except at a destructive level and
every day seems like a battle to try and get back to the way things used to be.
It would seem that we all go through periods in our lives when we feel like
life’s warriors and conquerors and periods when we’d prefer to lock ourselves
in a closet and hope life doesn’t find us until next week sometime. Why do you
suppose this happens to us? Well, it’s probably a combination of a number of
things: Stress, fatigue, or maybe something we ate last night. Most likely,
though, it is because we fall into the trap of relying exclusively on our own
frail strength, distorted wisdom, and foolish guile to accomplish life’s tasks
or overcome life’s obstacles. I know that sounds strange—how else would we
accomplish life’s task except through our own strength, wisdom, and guile? What
if you knew, with relative certainty, that your actions were according to God’s
will? What if you were confident that you were acting in obedience to God? Wouldn’t
your strength, wisdom, and guile take on a different dimension; a divine
dimension? Who, then, would be responsible for the outcome of your sincere
efforts—you or God? How do we get to the point where we can say that no matter
the outcome, we are acting according to God’s will and trust that He will use
our efforts to accomplish His purpose? What would it take to have such courage
and confidence that God will work in us and through us to accomplish His specific
task? What if I told you that all it takes is Five Smooth Stones and God can accomplish anything he wants through
you? King David learned this lesson very early, even before he was king and
received the promised perpetuity of his throne.
Subject Text
1 Samuel 17:38-52
38Then Saul dressed
David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a
bronze helmet on his head. 39David fastened on his sword over the tunic and
tried walking around, because he was not used to them. “I cannot go in these,”
he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. 40Then
he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put
them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand,
approached the Philistine. 41Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42He looked David
over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he
despised him. 43He said to David, “Am I a dog,
that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
44“Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!” 45David said to the
Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin,
but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God
of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46This day the
LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut
off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine
army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47All
those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear
that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s,
and he will give all of you into our hands.” 48As the Philistine moved closer
to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49Reaching
into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on
the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the
ground. 50So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and
a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed
him. 51David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and
drew it from the scabbard. After he killed him, he cut off his
head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero
was dead, they turned and ran. 52Then the men of Israel and Judah surged
forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath and to
the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and
Ekron.
Context
Text Analysis
Once David
convinces Saul that he is confident and capable of beating Goliath, Saul
outfits David in his own battle gear in vv. 38-39. The only problem was that
David wasn’t a soldier and wasn’t accustomed to wearing any armor let alone
being fully armored from head to toe. “In ancient epic literature the arming of
the warrior for battle is a major ritual, and armor itself is considered an
extension of the character and prowess of the warrior.”[1] David, however, was like a
fish out of water wearing all that armor and decided it served as more of a
disadvantage than an advantage, so he removed all of Saul’s battle armor.
We are
presented with quite a contrast to Goliath in v. 40 when David equips himself
for battle with his shepherd’s staff, a rock-throwing sling, and Five Smooth Stones he gathered
from a nearby creek that he places in his shepherd’s pouch—hardly the tools of
a seasoned warrior. What do you see when you compare these two contrasting
images? On one side, we have a nine foot, grizzled, warrior wearing more than 125
pounds of bronze armor with a bronze javelin strapped on his back and carrying
a spear with a thick shaft tipped with an iron point weighing 15 pounds alone.
He is the challenger who is arrogantly sticking out his chest implying that he
cannot be beaten; that Israel has no warrior that can match him in size,
strength or battle prowess; he needs no help; he is self-reliant. On the other
side, we have a young David. The only thing we know about him is that he was
handsome and “ruddy.” Which, in this case, probably means he was tanned. So if
good looks and a nice tan were a deadly weapon then he’d be set. But alas,
battles aren’t fought with good looks or a great tan, they’re fought with real
weapons so what does David bring to the fight? A shepherd’s staff, a sling, and
Five Smooth Stones. Oh and a God
with a reputation of making mountains tremble and seas part. David needs help; but
he is God-reliant. “So here’s David, stripped down to his own simple garments,
and armed with his own simple shepherd weapons—his sling and his staff—ready to
do battle…The beautiful thing about this story is it’s perfect example of how
God operates. He magnifies HIS name when we are weak. We don’t have to be
eloquent or strong or handsome. We don’t have to be beautiful or brilliant or
have all the answers to be blessed of God. He honors our faith. All He asks is
that we trust Him, that we stand before Him in integrity and faith, and He’ll
win the battle. God is just waiting for His moment, waiting for us to trust Him
so He can empower us to battle our giants. Remember, Goliath is still a
giant—still an imposing presence. David had all the odds against him. There
wasn’t a guy in the Philistine camp—or probably the Israelite camp either—who
would have bet on David. But David didn’t need their backing. He needed
God—none other.”[2]
With his
simple shepherding weapons in hand, David approaches the warrior giant. I find
it interesting that empires could care less about the relative strength of
their opponents. Their objective is conquest and the weaker the opposing
nation, the better. Weaker nations require fewer resources to conquer and
thereby reserving precious resources for the more formidable nations. Honor in
conquest is somewhat irrelevant—nation-building is the objective. The attitude
of warriors on the battlefield is less about conquest and more about being the
best by beating the best. For a warrior, there is no “honor” in destroying a
weaker opponent, only brutality. And while some warriors revel in the
brutality, the most ruthless pursue honor in battle and that is only possible
by beating the best. We can see this playing out in vv. 41-44 as David and
Goliath face-off in battle. Goliath is insulted! Where’s the honor in killing
someone half his size? Great! Before, Goliath was just arrogant, boisterous and
obnoxious, but now he’s angry too. Now he’s not only going to beat David, he’s
planning on making a statement by killing him and feeding his dead body to the
buzzards. Goliath intends to send a message in response to the perceived
insult. However, David has a secret weapon at his disposal—the Creator of the
universe! And God intends to send a message as well through this unassuming and
relatively unarmed shepherd. “After waiting for forty days, Goliath is
disappointed and disgusted when he sees the youthful, unarmed David coming
toward him. How much glory is there in killing a defenseless youth? David
listens to Goliath’s curses and then acknowledges that his main weapon is ‘the
name of the Lord Almighty.’ Because of David’s apparent weakness, the glory for
the victory will go to the Lord, and this could be a testimony to the whole
world…David believes that the battle is the Lord’s and that victory does not
depend on who has the best weapons or the most soldiers. Just as parting the
Red Sea terrified the nations, so the death of Goliath will demonstrate the
power of Israel’s God.”[3]
For 40-days
the Israelites have had to listen to Goliath bloviate and pound his chest as he
hurled insults at them without opposition or response. But now it’s David’s
turn to say a few things to Goliath in vv. 45-47. Note the difference in the
discourse between the two. Goliath wanted everyone to fear him and what he would do
to them and how he would be
victorious and how he would conquer Israel’s
army. David wanted everyone to fear God
and what God would do for him and how
God would be victorious and conquer
the Philistines through him. “At the heart of warfare in the Hebrew Bible is
the belief that Yahweh was a ‘warrior,’ or literally a ‘man of war’ ([Heb.] ’îš milḥāmâ, Exod 15:3, se also Isa
42:13). God is present with the Israelite army during the war, and he is the
one who provides the victory because ‘the battle ([Heb.] hammilḥāmâ) is the LORD’s.’ He is ‘mighty in battle’ ([Heb.] gibbôr milḥāmâ, Ps 24:8). Indeed, the
Pentateuch [the first five books of the Bible] cites a work provocatively
titled ‘The Book of the Wars of the Lord’ ([Heb.] sēper milḥamōt
yhwh; Num 21:14). Even though this work is not extant, much of the Hebrew
Bible narrates wars in which Yahweh fought on behalf of Israel.”[4] Goliath was self-reliant
while David was God-reliant. Goliath put his faith in himself, in his fighting
skills, in his armor, and in his weapons. David put his faith in God knowing
that it is by and through God’s strength that he and Israel would be victorious
and saved. If Goliath was offended and angry before, how do you suppose David’s
threat sounded in his ears? Goliath threatened to kill David and feed his body
to the birds but David ups the ante by telling Goliath that he will not only
kill him but then chop off his head! Not only will Goliath be food for the
birds and wild animals but so will the dead bodies of all the fallen Philistine
soldiers after Israel routes them. I’m guessing if Goliath wasn’t already
adequately fueled and on fire for a fight, David’s response to Goliath’s
challenge fanned the flames into a raging inferno.
The fight
was on in vv. 48-50! Goliath made his approach toward David and David countered
by running toward Goliath and as he ran, he loaded one of the smooth stones
into his sling and launched it at Goliath. One stone was all it took. In a
matter of seconds, Goliath’s massive size, military expertise, defensive armor,
and formidable weaponry crashed to the ground in a heap as the stone from
David’s sling found its mark and sunk into Goliath’s forehead. For 40-days
Goliath and the Philistines were supremely confident and now that Goliath’s
challenge had finally been met by what clearly seemed like a weaker opponent in
David, Goliath is face down in the dirt with a rock embedded in his skull
without having even attempted a single fighting thrust! I’m sure everyone
expected the battle to be short and swift but this—there is no way either side
expected this outcome! Come on! Everyone loves an underdog but sometimes
rooting for the underdog is simply a fleeting wish when the underdog is so
hopelessly overmatched like David was against Goliath. Careful! Did I just trap
you into thinking that David was the underdog in this fight? Be honest! I caught
some of you didn’t I? You see David wasn’t the underdog was he? Think about it—who
was Goliath’s opponent? That’s right—Goliath wasn’t preparing to engage in a
battle with David, he was setting foot in the ring with God fighting through
David! Nevertheless, you can bet that both the Israelites and the Philistines
were in shock and trying to understand what just happened. “Goliath is not
prepared for battle with David. Even if he knows how effective a simple sling
and stone can be, he must have underestimated David’s marksmanship. No doubt,
this young shepherd boy is unlike any other warrior Goliath has ever seen. But
superior strength and military resources are useless against the representative
of Yahweh. The contest is over before it begins. David kills Goliath with one
of his choices stones. Since he does the job ‘without a sword in his hand,’
Yahweh has been true to his word: He saved ‘not by sword or spear.’”[5]
In my
lesson last week, I told you that when God acts, He doesn’t just dabble in
fixes or nibble around the edges of a solution. When God acts, He makes a
statement that is unmistakable and David’s battle with Goliath was no different
as we see in vv. 51-52. The message of killing Goliath wasn’t loud enough so
David ran to where Goliath was lying face down in the dirt, drew Goliath’s
sword from its sheath and cut Goliath’s head off with it. Now that’s a
statement! And the Philistines heard it loud and clear because, either in their
fear or in confusion, they forgot the surrender terms established by Goliath
and ran for Gath and Ekron; two of the five cities in the Philistine
confederation of cities. I’m guessing that surrender would have been a better
option for the Philistines because the armies of Israel chased them all the way
to the gates of the two cities all the while littering the roadside with dead
Philistine soldiers. Think about this for a minute. Less than an hour before
these events, the great and mighty armies of the Lord were cowering in their
tents! It would be a mistake to think that it was because of one skillfully
placed stone delivered by the hand of a handsome shepherd with a nice tan that
the entire Philistine army was on the run. Think about it, they weren’t losing
the fight, they didn’t even engage in the fight! They ran the minute they
recognized they were overmatched. Not by a simple shepherd but by a God so
mighty that He could use anyone or anything to accomplish His purpose—even a simple
shepherd armed with just Five Smooth
Stones.
Application
When my
girls were small, like most little kids I know, they loved polished rocks.
Well, in one of my weaker moments (my wife will tell you that I had lots of
those), I agreed to buy them a rock tumbler. The girls thought it was the
greatest idea in the world because they could have as many polished rocks as
they wanted whenever they wanted them. For those of you who know what a rock
tumbler is, I can hear you groaning. I’ll give you the short instructional
version of a rock tumbler. I suppose it can come in any size but this one was
small enough to sit on my work bench with about a one quart size drum. You
place a handful of ordinary rocks in the drum along with some water and the
stage-one abrasive material that comes with the tumbler kit. You place the drum
on the tumbling machine and it rotates slowly, constantly mixing and churning
the rocks, water, and abrasive. After a number of days, you drain the water,
add fresh water, and add the next stage of abrasive. Ultimately it was a five
step process that took weeks! If you don’t have kids of your own, I’m going to
give you a word of warning to store away for future reference—never, never,
never undertake anything for your young children that will take weeks to
accomplish! Let me tell you how the story ended for us. After about a week, and
hearing ‘Daddy are the rocks done yet?’ for the millionth time, the rock
tumbler went into the trash and dad went to the store and bought them each a
bag of polished rocks for $5! Ok so that little lesson in parenting was a gift
from me to you. So what’s my point in sharing this illustration? Well, we often
rely on our own strength to accomplish something that God is prepared to help
us with. David didn’t first have to polish the stones he put in his satchel,
God’s creation already prepared them for him. In the same way, God has provided
stones for us to accomplish the tasks and overcome challenges in our lives. Let
me share with you the Five Smooth Stones
God has provided.
Stone #1—Prayer
For prayer
warriors, this stone stays nicely polished because of its constant use.
However, for many believers, prayer is an afterthought—something they intend to
do more of one day. But prayer is our lifeline to God. It’s what connects our
hearts with His. Prayer is the thing that says, ‘I need and want you in my life
God. I can’t do life without you.’ Prayer is our way of telling God that what
He wants for us is what we want for ourselves. There are many forms of
prayer—prayers about being forsaken by God; prayers of surrender; prayers of
tears; prayers of personal examination; prayers for personal transformation;
etc. More simply, however, when we pray, we are “Like children before a loving
father, we open our hearts and make our requests. We do not try to sort things
out, the good from the bad. We simply and unpretentiously share our concerns
and make our petitions. We tell God, for example, how frustrated we are with
the co-worker at the office or the neighbor down the street. We ask for food,
favorable weather, and good health.”[6] Prayer is the language of
our hearts crying out to the One who sustains us daily and loves us
unconditionally.
Stone #2—Silence
& Solitude
Can you
think of anything more antithetical to our present day culture than either
silence or solitude? We are bombarded daily with noise and visual stimulation
in virtually all aspects of our lives during all times of our lives. Most of us
are regularly around people and when we’re alone we keep our minds occupied
with the sounds of music or images from the television or computer screen. As a
result, we never make ourselves available to hear God’s voice. More accurately,
we never allow ourselves to hear God’s voice. We find that we are neither
content to be alone nor are we comfortable surrounded by people. Silence and
solitude are essential if we are serious about our relationship with God and
with people because without mastering silence we cannot hear God’s voice and
without mastering the art of being alone, we will never learn how to engage
with people as God expects. “Without silence there is no solitude. Though
silence sometimes involves the absence of speech, it always involves the act of
listening. Simply to refrain from talking, without a heart listening to God, is
not silence. ‘A day filled with noise and voices can be a day of silence, if
the noises become for us the echo of the presence of God, if the voices are,
for us, messages and solicitations of God. When we speak of ourselves and are
filled with ourselves, we leave silence behind. When we repeat the intimate
words of God that he has left within us, our silence remains intact.’”[7] (For a more information on
the practice of Silence & Solitude, see my two part series on the practice
of Silence & Solitude at: http://seredinski.blogspot.com/2012/01/silence-and-solitude-pt-1.html
and http://seredinski.blogspot.com/2012/02/silence-and-solitude-pt-2-conclusion.html).
Stone #3—Humility
& Submission
In the
context of our lesson, it’s hard to understand how humility and submission can
be a good thing for a warrior. But Goliath lost his head due to his arrogance
and self-reliance and David became the giant-slayer; he recognized that victory
would come by God’s hand alone and therefore submitted his cause to the
sovereignty of God because David was God-reliant. We fall into this trap
ourselves everyday when we face the trials and struggles of our lives as though
every outcome depends on our own strength; our own wisdom; our own effort. However,
this is unnecessary if we are willing to humble ourselves and submit ourselves
to God’s will for our lives instead of limping along living according to our
own will. (For more about a life of humble submission to God you can read an
earlier lesson titled “A Life Humbly Submitted To God” at: http://seredinski.blogspot.com/2012/01/life-humbly-submitted-to-god.html).
Stone #4—Scripture
What do you
suppose the world would be like if we had access to life’s Owner’s manual?
Wait! We do have access to the Owner’s manual—it’s called the Bible! The sin
and destruction that surrounds us in our world should be no surprise when we
realize that the Bible is the most purchased and least read book of all time.
We have available the manual that can give us life and many simply place in on
the self as decoration or to impress guests. But the Bible is so much more. The
Bible contains the words to not only living but to eternal life! The Bible is
God’s gift to all of us because “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful
for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the
man [and woman] of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Tim
3:16-17).” When we make Scripture reading and memorization part of our daily
lives, we will begin to understand the world and our lives from God’s
perspective; we will have to tools at our disposal to live our lives according
God’s divine plan for us.
Stone #5—Faith
If we could
only have one stone in our arsenal of stones, it should be this one. David had
good looks and a great tan; he had a staff, a sling, and he had a handful of
rocks; he had an army behind him (albeit not the most courageous army); but the
most important weapon he had was faith in God. Without faith that God would
provide, protect, and save him, he never would have been able to confront a
nine-foot tall giant, skilled in hand-to-hand combat, covered in bronze armor,
and armed to the teeth with a real
warrior’s weapons. Faith is the thing that set David apart from Goliath.
Goliath had faith in himself, his skill, his experience and his weapons—all
very important when engaging in a battle. David had faith in God—the most
important thing when facing any battle. Remember faith is the only weapon that
any of us need when we face the greatest giant of our lives—death. Through
faith in Jesus Christ, death is no longer a feared enemy because Jesus
conquered death when He rose from the dead. Faith that God can and will
accomplish His will in and through us is ultimately the only weapon we need.
We are confronted
with giants every day of our lives at school, at work, and at home. Some of us
battle giants within ourselves as well every day—substance abuse, addiction,
self-hatred, depression, anxiety, cancer, MS, paralysis, or some other malady
that taunts us and threatens to destroy us. Let me encourage you to do
something today, tomorrow and everyday for the rest of your life—face the giant
or giants in your life, and with Five
Smooth Stones in your arsenal tell your giant that “today the battle
belongs to the Lord!”
[1]
Leland Ryken, James C. Wilhoit, Tremper Longman III, gen. eds., Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, (Downers
Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998), p. 77.
[2]
Charles R. Swindoll, David—A Man of
Passion & Destiny, (Dallas, TX: Word Publishing, 1997), p. 45.
[3]
Walter A. Elwell, ed., Baker Commentary
on the Bible, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1989), p. 205.
[4]
Wllem A. VanGemeren, New International
Dictionary of Old Testament Theology & Exegesis, Vol. 2, (Grand Rapids,
MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1997), p. 786.
[5]
Bill T. Arnold, 1 & 2 Samuel—The
NIV Application Commentary, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003), p. 257.
[6]
Richard J. Foster, Prayer—Finding the
Heart’s True Home, (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1992), p. 9.
[7]
Richard J. Foster, Celebration of
Discipline—The Path to Spiritual Growth, (New York, NY: HarperCollins
Publishers, 1998), p. 98.
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