The Giant

 DEVOTION

1^ST SAMUEL

THE GIANT

1 Sam 17:1-16

17:1 Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Socoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah. 2 Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. 3 The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them. 4 A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall. 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels; 6 on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. 7 His spear shaft was like a weaver's rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him. 8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, "Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us." 10 Then the Philistine said, "This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other." 11 On hearing the Philistine's words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified. 12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul's time he was old and well advanced in years. 13 Jesse's three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab; the second, Abinadab; and the third, Shammah. 14 David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father's sheep at Bethlehem. 16 For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.

NIV

We know how this story ends, we have read it,  we have conversed about it, and we have heard sermons about David and Goliath. However, we are not yet at the arrival of David on the scene, and at this point, all of Israel is terrified at the sight of this nine-foot giant of a man, a warrior that not a single Israelite in their right mind would even attempt to battle him one-on-one. Before we get too deep into the narrative, we should consider the metaphorical Goliaths that we could face. There may be things in life we have to go through that could be Goliaths.  There are larger-than-life events which could be terrifying, but we can face them because of our faith in God. Goliath came out day after day and taunted the Israelites. How could they not be afraid of this giant, whose armor weighed over a hundred and twenty-five pounds, and with a sword that was 15 pounds? Jesus said that if we say to this mountain, this giant in our life, go and throw yourselves into the sea, it will be done. We do not need to live in fear of anything in this world, or even of the evil in the spiritual realm, for we stand clothed in the armor of God, which far outweighs any other armor in any realm. We know David just used his sling, and one smooth stone, but we have no sling and no stones, but we do have God's armor and no matter how large of a giant in life we should face, we can take our stand and stand firm in the faith we have in Jesus, for he has already won the victory. We may have to battle some diseases, or ailments,  some long-term, and even age itself, with the weakening of our bodies. But we can still take our stand, for we have been clothed in God’s armor, which we have uncovered; each piece describes Jesus; therefore, we are clothed in Jesus, and nothing can stand in our way or overcome us. We, with Jesus, can face the giant.