THE GOLIATHS THAT FRIGHTEN AND INTIMIDATE US
1 Samuel 17:4-10, And there went out a champion [that’s an okay rendering of the text, but I’ll come back to it in just a moment] out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. [That’s 9’ 9” tall; and as high as 11’ 10” tall depending on which cubit is being used.] (5) And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; [This coat of mail was made of overlapping sheets of metal. If you can envision the scales on a fish, this is what the coat of mail was like.] and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass. [That’s about 200 lbs!] (6) And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, [The greaves were two long, fitted sheets of metal that protected the thighs and legs down to the ankles.] and a target of brass between his shoulders. [The target of brass was a javelin that he carried on his back, much the way an archer would carry his quiver.] (7) And the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; [The wooden shaft of Goliath’s spear was as thick as that found on a weaver’s loom.] and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: [That’s between 17 and 18 lbs.] and one bearing a shield went before him.
(8) And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? [Going back to verse 4, we read that Goliath was a champion. The word in the Hebrew means the middle man or man in between. The middle man stands in the middle of two opposing armies as a combatant and representative of his army. He was the army’s best soldier, hence, their champion. Anyways, the war between the armies is fought by a single duel or fight between the middle man of each army. Whichever man wins the fight, his army wins the battle.] choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. (9) If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us. (10) And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.
Goliath was the world’s original Incredible Hulk, just a lot taller. The mere sight of him struck fear in the hearts of the Israelites. They were instantly paralyzed with fear that they had absolutely no courage to fight.
So what is your Goliath? What strikes your heart with total fear and dread? What robs you of all the courage and faith you’ve got? Cancer? A nicotine habit that you just can’t kick? A porn problem that just won’t let you go? Can’t get rid of the bottle no matter how hard you try? Is it unforgiveness? Resentment? Anger? An unfaithful husband? A whore of a wife? Children who refuse to have anything to do with God? Death?
What battles can’t be won? What victories can’t be gotten? What obstacles can’t be overcome? What trials can’t be endured? What temptations can’t be resisted? What promises are just too good to be true? What prayers just can’t be answered? These are your Goliath.
Unless you kill him, he’ll end up killing you. So what’s it going be? You can kill him, as David shows us you can. But in order to do that you’re going to have to fight him. But before you fight him you’ve got to fight the fear that’s within you. And this brings me to the fourth thing that I’d like for you to see in the text of Scripture today. IN ORDER TO FIGHT YOU’VE GOT TO GET RID OF THE FEAR THAT KEEPS YOU FROM FIGHTING.
Coming Up On My Next Blog, Part 3. A look at the disastrous consequences of letting fear keep us entrenched in the foxholes.
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