Ah, Lord God!
You are the one who made the heavens and the earth
by your great power and by your outstretched arm.
There is nothing that is too difficult for you.
You show mercy to thousands,
but you repay the guilt of the fathers into the laps of their children after them.
Great and powerful God, the Lord of Armies is your name!
You give sound guidance, and your deeds are mighty.
Your eyes are open to all the ways of mankind.
You reward everyone according to what he has done,
according to what his deeds deserve.
(Jeremiah 32:17-19 EHV)
You probably remember the story of a young shepherd boy, David, who used a sling and five stones to take down the giant Goliath. Have you reread the story lately? If not, I encourage you to go to 1 Samuel 17 and connect with it again. There’s actually a lot of layers to the story, but I want to focus on why David believed he was capable of bringing down the giant.
If you remember, the Philistine army was camped on a mountain across a valley from the Israelites, both waiting to battle each other. The giant Philistine Goliath was almost ten feet tall, very strong, and outfitted with probably 100 pounds of armor and weaponry. One day he came out with a challenge to the Israelites. And then he continued to taunt them for forty days.
Goliath stood and shouted to the battle lines of Israel, saying to them, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not the Philistine and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and have him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will become your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall become our servants and serve us.” Again the Philistine said, “I defy the battle lines of Israel this day; give me a man so that we may fight together.” When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.” (1 Samuel 17:8-11 AMP)
Lovely. An afraid army.
One day David brought food to his brothers in the Israelite army and heard Goliath’s daily harassment. He was surprised at the soldiers’ responses and asked, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes the disgrace [of his taunting] from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he has taunted and defied the armies of the living God?” (1 Samuel 17:26 AMP) David then offered to King Saul to fight Goliath. Saul didn’t want this small young man to fight the giant, but David responded,
“Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and attacked it and rescued the lamb from its mouth; and when it rose up against me, I seized it by its whiskers and struck and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted and defied the armies of the living God.” David said, “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17:34-37 AMP)
Read that last part again.
“The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”
Why in the world did a small young man agree to fight a ten foot tall experienced warrior giant?
He had seen God work in his life. In the natural he had seen God give him the grace, knowledge, strength, and favor to kill not only a bear but a lion. Because he believed so deeply in his God, he knew this giant was going down. A ten foot tall, burly, overconfident, gnarly warrior was no match for one small, smooth stone guided by the God of the Universe, the Lord of Armies. David knew that the lines of this song were true:
You can do anything
You’re great, you’re mighty*
What is the giant you are facing today in your life? Physical health struggles? Prodigal children or grandchildren? Financial angst? Relationship estrangement? Fear? Worry? Anxiety? Something else? Do you believe that God is great and mighty and can do anything? Then, remember what he has already done for you. Remember how in the past seasons he has rescued you from your own “bears” and “lions.” God is more than able to take down your “giant” of today.
All I need is a memory of a victory
Like a stone in a sling, like every time that you fought for me*
Remember that victory! Remember when God fought for you and helped defeat your struggles.
First came the bear, then came the lion
Now comes the giant
Down goes the giant*
Remember God’s power in your life and then pick up your own stone to slay your giant! God will guide it – just as he has guided you.
The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress! (Psalm 46:11 NIV)
Lord Almighty, God of Angel Armies, Our Fortress and our Shield,
Today we come to you asking for victory over the “giants” in our lives. Help us remember the ways in which your faithfulness, provision, healing, grace, mercy, and power have worked in our lives in the past. Give us such strength of faith and belief that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are able to defeat the giants we struggle with today. Give us wisdom to know what “stone” to pick up to fling at the giant – how to pray, how to declare, how to move in such a way that “giant” goes down. You are our refuge and strength, our helper in times of trouble. We do not and will not fear the “giants” of this world, or the trembling and shaking of this earth. We will trust in the name, power, and love of the Lord our God. We ask all this in the strong name of Jesus Christ our Lord, AMEN.
God is our refuge and strength,
a helper who can always be found in times of trouble.
That is why we will not fear when the earth dissolves
and when the mountains tumble into the heart of the sea. (Psalm 46:1-2 EHV)
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
But we will remember and trust in the name of the Lord our God. (Psalm 20:7 NIV)
*”Giant” by Mercy Culture Worship (c) 2023