I was a small child,and David was one of my heroes. I loved the story of how little David killed that big ol’ giant.

My dad had given me a neat bowie knife that he had made of a piece of sharpened steel and a bone handle. I would take that knife into the woods behind my house and cut just the right y-shaped branch. I would peel the bark off of it and attach a large rubber band and make a slingshot. I would pretend that I was David and a large tree in my back yard was the giant. I didn’t realize that that wasn’t the type of slingshot David had. The one he had was a strip of leather in which he placed a small stone. He swung it over his head,releasing it at just the right moment. There were other,more important aspects of the story of David and Goliath that I didn’t understand as well.

Turn with me to 1 Samuel 17 as we read this favorite passage from the Old Testament.

“Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh,which belongs to Judah,and encamped between Socoh and Azekah,in Ephes-dammim. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered,and encamped in the Valley of Elah,and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines. And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side,and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side,with a valley between them. And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath,whose height was six cubits and a span. He had a helmet of bronze on his head,and he was armed with a coat of mail,and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. And he had bronze armor on his legs,and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam,and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And his shield-bearer went before him. He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel,“Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine,and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves,and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me,then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him,then you shall be our servants and serve us.” And the Philistine said,“I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man,that we may fight together.” When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine,they were dismayed and greatly afraid.”

(1 Samuel 17:1–11 ESV)

God places us in “Impossible” Situations.

So here we see King Saul and his army ready to do battle with the Philistines. They may have felt pretty good about the coming battle. Have you ever felt pretty good about things and all of he sudden,out of nowhere,something comes that just ruins any chance of a good experience? Imagine you’ve won the last battle with the Philistines and you know this will be a hard fought battle,but you’re pretty confident. Then – out comes – Goliath. Can you see their jaws dropping?

There is a little bit of debate over the height of Goliath. The traditional text reads 6 cubits and a span,which would be almost 10 feet. There have been some other texts found that say 4 cubits and a span or nearly 7 feet tall. The average height of an ancient Israelite was 5 ½ feet. I can tell you as a guy that’s not much taller than that,a seven-foot man is still a giant to someone of short stature. So whether Goliath was 7 foot or 10 foot tall (and I believe he was 10 foot),he was a giant – an intimidating figure.

So Goliath comes out and makes his challenge. Instead of an all out battle,he wants to fight one on one with the best the Israelites have. Sometimes I think that’s what we should do. Can you imagine President Obama going head to head with Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? Then again,maybe that’s not such a good idea.

Anyway,Goliath challenges the best Israelite to step forward. Then – silence. Can you imagine them looking at each other? No one says a word for fear that it will be taken as an acceptance of the challenge. Even Saul,who stood head and shoulders above his subjects,was “dismayed and greatly afraid.” This is a pretty dark place – a low place- for the Israelites.

Have you ever noticed that the best part of a story usually comes after the darkest part?

How many people have you known who have had to hit rock bottom before they allowed God to do something in their life? Has that happened to you? You know,sometimes,you bring it on yourself. You may be doing wrong and keep doing wrong,hoping that somehow life will just get better. Or it could be that you just like bad things more than you dislike the consequences. Sometimes,though,you think you’re doing things right,you’re trying so hard and you just don’t understand why God lets you get so low. It’s a struggle. You wonder where God is.

In the late 1980’s two teenage Christian girls from the Henan Province in China were called by the Lord to share the Gospel in a remote province. The Tu and Mongolian ethnic minorities who lived there were unreached

These girls had no financial support,no return tickets home and knew no one there.

They tried to share the Gospel but the local women drove them out of their homes. They were forced to sleep wherever they could find shelter – under bushes or in farm sheds – you get the idea. They had nowhere to stay,they were hungry,and no one would listen to the reason they were there – the life changing Gospel.

Talk about a low place. They had such high hopes but their mission seemed to be a total failure and they were starving. Barring a miracle from God,they would have died.

Winter came and one day,the girls heard about a cave that the locals avoided,because they thought it was inhabited by demons. The girls saw this as God’s provision and moved in. They spent many hours praying with tears in their eyes for the Lord to help them. One night they fell asleep praying and awoke the next morning to find that mushrooms had grown right outside the entrance to the cave. They picked them and boiled them,thanking God for his provision.

For about a year,the mushroom returned every morning. Like Bubba on Forest Gump eating shrimp,they ate boiled mushrooms,fried mushrooms,steamed mushrooms…

Gradually,the people began to accept the girls. They led many local women to Christ until they had a small fellowship of believers. One of the girls finally got a job as a dishwasher at a restaurant. The day she started work — the mushrooms stopped appearing outside the cave.

Talk about God providing. At their lowest point,God stepped in and rescued these girls. 1

People Discourage Godly Wisdom and Encourage Human Wisdom.

So,why does God let you get to such low points? Why does he allow things to seem helpless before He steps in and rescues you? For one thing,people are hardheaded – stubborn. Often,you just don’t listen to Him until He cuts you down to size – until He brings you to your knees in prayer. Sometimes,though — there are many voices competing with His.

Let’s continue reading from Samuel.

“Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah,named Jesse,who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years. The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn,and next to him Abinadab,and the third Shammah. David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul,but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand,morning and evening. And Jesse said to David his son,“Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain,and these ten loaves,and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers. Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well,and bring some token from them.” Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah,fighting with the Philistines. And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went,as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line,shouting the war cry. And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle,army against army. And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers. As he talked with them,behold,the champion,the Philistine of Gath,Goliath by name,came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him. All the men of Israel,when they saw the man,fled from him and were much afraid. And the men of Israel said,“Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father’s house free in Israel.” And David said to the men who stood by him,“What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine,that he should defy the armies of the living God?” And the people answered him in the same way,“So shall it be done to the man who kills him.” Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab’s anger was kindled against David,and he said,“Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart,for you have come down to see the battle.” And David said,“What have I done now? Was it not but a word?” And he turned away from him toward another,and spoke in the same way,and the people answered him again as before. When the words that David spoke were heard,they repeated them before Saul,and he sent for him. And David said to Saul,“Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” And Saul said to David,“You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him,for you are but a youth,and he has been a man of war from his youth.” But David said to Saul,“Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion,or a bear,and took a lamb from the flock,I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me,I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears,and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them,for he has defied the armies of the living God.” And David said,“The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David,“Go,and the LORD be with you!” Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail,and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go,for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul,“I cannot go with these,for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand,and he approached the Philistine. And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David,with his shield-bearer in front of him. And when the Philistine looked and saw David,he disdained him,for he was but a youth,ruddy and handsome in 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. The Philistine said to David,“Come to me,and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” ”

(1 Samuel 17:12–44 ESV)

David apparently is the only one to recognize this is a God issue. He recognizes that the giant is defying “the armies of the living God.” David realizes that the battle with the Philistines is God’s battle,not mans.

No one else gets that. That’s one reason they are terrified. They don’t realize this is all in Gods hands. In fact,David’s brothers begin to taunt him. “Why are you here? You’re a bad shepherd. You left the sheep alone just to come down here to watch the battle,” they say.

And he went to other soldiers and asked them “Who’s going to kill this Philistine? Why is everyone so afraid of him? We have God and He doesn’t.” And each one he asked,taunted him.

David found NO support- not from his brothers,not from the other soldiers. They were ready to roll over and hand victory to Goliath and the Philistines. And that could have been the end of it. David could have listened to those voices. But he didn’t.

King Saul had heard what David was saying and called for him;and David went. He told Saul of his plan to kill the giant. Saul laughed. “You can’t fight that giant. You’re just a kid and Goliath has been a soldier since he was a kid.” David could have listened to the king’s voice. But he didn’t.

He explained that this was God’s battle:“God has protected me and allowed me to kill lions and bears and he’ll let me kill this giant.” And — Saul relented. We don’t know if Saul believed he could win or not. Maybe Saul just saw the determination in David’s eyes…heard it in his voice. Saul relented and let him go. We know,though,that he didn’t really get it. Saul didn’t really understand.

He tried to place his armor on David. I visualize a little boy wearing his father’s clothes. They just swallow him up. He could barely move. David said that he hadn’t “tested” the armor.  It says,“So David put them off.” (1 Sam 17:39ESV) Once again,David did not listen to the voice of human reason,trying to convince him to do things the way everyone else would do it. David was determined to do things God’s way. “Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand,and he approached the Philistine.” (1 Sam 17:40 ESV)

The giant looks at him,in his youth and makes fun. “‘Am I a dog,that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ‘Come to me,and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field’” (1 Sam 17:43-44 ESV)

I love the way the Casting Crowns song,“The Voice of Truth” ,puts it

But the giant’s calling out my name and he laughs at me

Reminding me of all the times I’ve tried before and failed

The giant keeps on telling me

Time and time again “boy,you’ll never win!

“You’ll never win”

Isn’t that the way it goes? How many times have you felt God telling you something only to have the idea shot-down by friends and family? Some of you may have faced that with our decision to follow Christ. There are those who are threatened by someone “thinking outside the box.” There are those whose aim in life is to put down good ideas. Don’t- listen to those voices.

If you’re not one of His children,He may be calling you to Himself,but again the voices around you are saying no. No,don’t give in to God. It’s much more fun to do it your way,they say. It’s too hard,they say. Please,quit listening to those voices. Listen to God’s voice,calling you – leading you to Him. This is your creator calling to you.

If you are one of His children,God is calling you to do something extraordinary. He is telling you to help the poor,the widows,and the orphans and to share the Good News.

You know,He commands us to do that in His Word. It’s not “if” he’s calling you,it’s “how” He’s calling you. It’s not “if” he’s calling you,it’s “how” He’s calling you. He may have given you a vision of how to do that in this community. He may have laid on your heart a burden to witness to a lost friend. There are all kinds of specific things He may be asking you to do. Are you going to listen to God’s voice or the myriad of voices telling you that you can’t do it?

Or… maybe He hasn’t told you any of these things – because- you’re not listening to Him at all. Maybe… you haven’t been brought to your lowest place yet. Listen to Him- before that’s necessary.

So,one,God places you in “impossible” situations,and two,people will discourage Godly wisdom and encourage worldly wisdom. Finally,God will provide a redeemer.

God Will Provide a Redeemer.

Let’s read the rest of the story.

“Then David said to the Philistine,“You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin,but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts,the God of the armies of Israel,whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand,and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth,that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD’s,and he will give you into our hand.” When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David,David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead,and he fell on his face to the ground. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone,and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead,they fled. And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron,so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines,and they plundered their camp. And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem,but he put his armor in his tent.”

(1 Samuel 17:45–54 ESV)

The Israelites were in their valley of the shadow of death,yet they did fear evil. Conventional wisdom said that no one could go up against the giant. All was lost. Out of nowhere,David came to redeem them. He was the most unexpected of all. No one would have been surprised if one of the soldiers had come forward to fight. But God had other plans. If one of the soldiers had come forward,he could have taken all of the credit for victory. But,not David. It was against all odds that David could defeat that giant. We’ve heard it called a God thing. No way it could be anything but God.

Now,isn’t it that way with Christ? You’re in a low place. Your life is full of sin. The world tells you the way to deal is through alcohol,or drugs,or pornography,or unethical business practices,or psychiatrists. Out of nowhere came Jesus to redeem you – from the lineage of whom? David. He was the least expected to be the Messiah – born of all places in an animal stall. The first people to pay tribute to Him were shepherds. Those shepherds sure seem to have a special place in God’s heart,don’t they?

So just when you think there’s no way out of your troubles,there’s Jesus. He’s offering to redeem you,just like David for Israel did so long ago.

I’m not saying that by following Him,all your troubles go away. There are many examples of Christians suffering in the New Testament. But Jesus says,“Take my yoke upon you,and learn from me,for I am gentle and lowly in heart,and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy,and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:29–30 ESV)

When you follow Jesus,you get a new view on life. You understand what James meant when he said that we “are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” (James 4:14 ESV) Your time here is limited. You need to use it listening to and following your shepherd’s voice.

Steve Furtick,in his book “Sun Stand Still” describes a game he plays with his son at the beach. They go out into the surf just far enough that the still water is at his son’s chest. When a wave comes,he raises his son up out of the water by both arms. The closer to getting covered,the closer to getting water up his nose,the better. The boy screams at the top of his lungs,“I’m the wave jumper!” but the truth is Daddy is the wave jumper. His son is probably more like the “hand holder.” His son’s task is to keep reaching upward and trust that his father will lift him high above it.

Furtick says that this “illustrates one of the most common patterns in Scripture:As the big waves roll toward us,God promises to do the heavy lifting. He only requires that we have the faith to wade in as deep as he leads and keep reaching up to him.” 2

Will you do that? Will you trust God that even though you may be at a low place,in a seemingly impossible situation,even though others may be discouraging you,will you trust that God is the “wave jumper?” raise your hands to Him and say,I trust you,lift me out of this,and give Him all the glory?

footnotes

1 Hattaway,Paul. Back to Jerusalem:Three Chinese House Church Leaders Share Their Vision to Complete the Great Commission. Carlisle:Piquant,2003. (p.88-89)

2 Furtick,Steven. Sun Stand Still:What happens When You Dare to Ask God for the

Impossible. Colorado Springs,Colo.:Multnomah Books,2010. (p. 62-63)