From His Heart

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Today on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve, we'll begin our walk through the land of the Giants.

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Goliath is the giant of all giants in the Bible. He is 9ft 9 inches tall. He is massive, and he represents for us the devil.

But he also represents that thing in your life that the devil uses in your life to defeat you time and time and time again. How can we walk in victory? How can we beat this super sized problem?

That's what we're going to look at today as we go through the wonderful story of David and Goliath.

Speaker 1

We live in the land of giants. Giant fears, giant temptations, and giant sins. Well, what are we to do with these supersized opponents? And how can we find victory in the spiritual battles these giants pose for us?

This is From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve. And today Pastor Jeff begins an uplifting series called Land of the Giants. In it, we'll learn to face the Goliaths in our life and in our faith. If you miss any of the powerful lessons we'll have this month on other topics like anger, shame, guilt, insecurity, worry, and more, you can listen again at fromhisheart.org once they've aired.

Today's first message lays the groundwork to help us understand what Pastor Jeff means by the title the Land of the Giants. Open your Bible to First Samuel, chapter 17. Here's Pastor Jeff with lesson one entitled Supersized.

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The Bible says in verse one of chapter 17, now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle, and they were gathered at Soco, which belongs to Judah. They shouldn't have been there because that's Judah's territory, but they had taken it over. They were gathered at Soco, which belongs to Judah, and they camped between Socoh and Azekah in a place called Ephes. Demon and Saul and the men of Israel were gathered and camped in the valley of Elah and drew up in battle array to encounter the Philistines. The Philistines stood on the mountain on one side while Israel stood on the mountain on the other side with the valley between them.

We want to look today at this story, and there are many things that we could say about it, but I want us to really focus in on five truths from this great passage of Scripture. Truth number one: we are in a battle. We are in a battle just like they were in a battle. Now, they were in a physical battle, and we are in a spiritual battle. So one day in Israel's history, they were led by King Saul into battle against the Philistines, the ever-present enemy of the Jewish people. The Philistines lived on the coast; they had five principal cities on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Israelites lived more inland, and they would always do battle. They were battling over land, territory, and power.

Here is one of the battles: you have a mountain ridge on one side and a little mountain ridge on the other side, with the valley in between. The Bible says they are gearing up for battle. They are getting into battle array. Now, battle array means you get into formation, look tough, and try to intimidate the guys on the other side. So you have the Philistines, who live on the coast, over here on this side, and then you have the Israelites coming on this side. The valley is in between. They get up, look across the valley, and stare at the enemy. What are they doing? They're getting ready to go to battle.

In any kind of battle, when you get ready to go, you have to get yourself pumped up and psyched up. This is a big deal. Israel is in a battle. They had a physical battle; we have a spiritual battle. The scripture says in First Corinthians, chapter 10, speaking of the Old Testament, that all these things happened as examples to us. We read this, and it's an example to us. You're in a battle; I'm in a battle. It's not a physical battle. We're not fighting the Philistines; we're fighting the devil and the demonic horde of the devil and the schemes of the devil. The Bible says in Ephesians 6:12, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." You have an enemy, or your adversary. The devil, Peter says, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. So we're in this battle, this spiritual battle with the devil and his demonic horde and the devices of the devil: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life.

So that's the first truth: we're in a battle. The second truth: we have a Goliath in our battle. Look at verse four. They are geared up for battle, trying to get all psyched up. I can just see several of the Israelites. One's punching the other and says, "You see that guy over there? You see that Philistine? I'm going to kill him in battle." The other guy goes, "Well, you see those two guys standing over there? They look kind of scared. I'm killing both those guys." Then all of a sudden, somebody jumps in, does the belly walk, and says, "I'm going to kill so many Philistines; I'm going to have Philistines running down my helmet. I'm going to get me a Philistine today."

Then verse four tells us that a champion came out from the armies of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span—nine feet, nine inches, give or take an inch or two. This is one big fellow. It's the mountain of a man coming off the mountain ridge, walking through the tall grass, standing in front of the Israelites in the middle of the valley. They see him, and all of a sudden, they don't feel so confident anymore. We have a Goliath in our battle. There is something in your life, something in my life that you deal with, that I deal with. It's different for different people. Some people deal with substance abuse, and their Goliath is alcohol or drugs. Some people deal with issues of lust, pornography, and sexual immorality, and that's their Goliath that stands in their way.

Other people deal with jealousy; they just can't seem to be in a relationship where they're not super jealous, and that steals from that relationship. Others deal with anger. So much anger in our world today destroys marriages because it destroys communication and romance. Whatever your Goliath might be, he stands there, imposing, and you are all fired up for the battle until you see him, and then you're like, "I'm not so sure about this." The Bible gives lots of time and space to this guy, Goliath. Goliath is big, strong, and intimidating. Your Goliath, whatever it might be, is big, strong, and intimidating.

Look at verse five; it says of Goliath that he had a bronze helmet on his head and was clothed with scale armor, which weighed 5,000 shekels of bronze. That's roughly 125 pounds. That's his bulletproof vest, so to speak. Our officers today wear bulletproof vests; they're heavy, but they don't weigh 125 pounds. Goliath isn't a 9-foot-9-inch skinny guy; he's a hoss of a fellow. Think of Andre the Giant. At about two and a half feet, that's how big Goliath is. He's wearing this heavy bulletproof vest, so to speak, to protect his heart, lungs, and vital organs.

It says in verse six that he also had bronze greaves on his legs and a bronze javelin slung between his shoulders. So he wears these bronze shin guards. That's what they are; greaves are shin guards. He's got shin guards; he's all armored up. He's like a catcher in baseball. You say, "Well, why is he doing that?" Well, when you're 9 feet 9 inches tall and you go out to battle, a lot of short guys try to kick you in the shins. There's nothing else to go for, so he's got these covered.

Then it says in verse seven that the shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam. A weaver's beam was about 10 feet long, so he's got a spear that is longer than he is tall. The head of that spear weighed 600 shekels of iron, which is about 15 pounds. His shield carrier also walked before him. This guy is some sight to see. I mean, the Philistines over here are feeling pretty good because they have this massive giant, this champion on their team. I mean, if you're playing basketball and you have a young Shaquille O'Neal, you're feeling pretty good. "We're gonna win; we got this big guy."

The Bible says in verse eight that he stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel and said to them, "Why do you come out to draw up in battle array? Am I not the Philistine? And you, 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 become your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall become our servants and serve us." The Philistines said, "I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight together."

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How would you respond in their situation? Or better yet, how do you respond when faced with your own supersized problems? Problems like anger, lust, guilt, insecurity, disability, discontentment, and worry. Stay with us. Pastor Jeff returns in just a bit with more on this first lesson from the series *Land of the Giants*.

If you love Jesus, you surely love sharing God's word and you love sharing it with those who are lost and hurting. So we're coming to you today with a special request at From His Heart. We're launching a new initiative with pray.com to have our daily radio programs and our weekly television broadcast translated into Spanish and Portuguese. It's mind-blowing to think about how many millions we'll be able to reach with this exciting mission project and how we can then respond effectively to those who listen and watch in the coming months and years. Actually, there are about three quarters of a billion people who speak those two languages.

Of course, as a listener-supported ministry from which Pastor Jeff receives no income, we believe God will touch the hearts of those who can help us with their prayers and gifts. Would you consider an investment this month to this Spanish and Portuguese population through From His Heart? When you do, we'll say thank you by sending you Pastor Jeff's series *Land of the Giants: How to Deal with Your Biggest Problems*.

We'll also send you the timely booklet *When You Don't Like Yourself*. To get yours, call 866-40-BIBLE (866-40-24253) or go online to fromhisheart.org. These resources will help you face the giants in your life with the truth of who God is and who you are in Him. It will also help us launch this giant of an outreach across America and around the world. Thank you for catching this vision and for helping us to take bold new steps in the mission God has called us to. Together we can reach the world with truth that never changes.

Request the series on CDs, DVDs, a USB flash drive, or MP3 download. To do that, call 866-40-BIBLE or go to fromhisheart.org. Now let's get back to part one of this timely first message in Pastor Jeff's *Land of the Giants* series. It's entitled *Supersized*.

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Now you gotta remember something about Goliath. The root of his name. Gala means to shame. It means to disgrace. It means to strip. And that's what he was doing to the Israelites. He was coming out there calling them out. "Come out and fight me, you cowards." And they were disgraced and shamed and stripped of all their courage when they saw that guy. He is big and strong and intimidating, and nobody wanted to go fight him.

See, Goliath is that thing in your life that takes the wind out of your sails. Takes the wind out of your sails. You were all geared up. Remember these guys over here saying, "I'm gonna kill a Philistine. I'm gonna get two Philistines. I'm gonna have all these Philistines running down my helmet." Then when they see Goliath, those guys, they were all fired up. Now they're not so fired up anymore. Now you hear one of them start to cough. "You know, I think I'm getting a sore throat. I better go back to the tent. I'm just not healthy, guys." And the other one's like, "You know, I got arthritis in my shoulder, and I think the weather has changed. Cause it's just not right. And I better go back to the tent." And one by one, they all started to bail out.

It says in verse 11 that when Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. They were dismayed. That word means shattered. They were shattered. All their confidence shattered. All their psyched-up resolve, shattered. Nobody can face that guy. Hey, we're in a battle. And there's a Goliath in our battle who takes the wind out of our sails. Because every time we turn around, he's yelling at us. He's making us afraid. He's eating our lunch spiritually.

Truth number three, we lose to Goliath because we believe his lies. Now after verse 11, where it says Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine and they were dismayed and greatly afraid, then the scene shifts to David. Little David, young David, probably 14, 15, 16 years old. I would say 16 years old, max. You had to be 20 years old or older to fight in the battle. David is the eighth son of his father, Jesse. David was the one in chapter 16 of 1st Samuel who was anointed king by Samuel, the prophet. Jesse, his dad, didn't even bring David to the feast. He knew that Samuel was coming to anoint one of his sons. He didn't even bring David. Why? Because he thought, there's no way that he's going to anoint the youngest. But that was the one God chose.

Samuel thought that God was going to choose Eliab, the oldest, because he looked like a king. He carried himself like a king. When he saw him, he said, "Surely the Lord's anointed is before him." And God says, "Don't look on the outward appearance. I've rejected him." God doesn't look. Man looks on the outward. But the Lord looks at the heart. He said, "I have chosen the youngest. I've chosen the one that Jesse didn't even bring to the feast, the one out there tending the sheep. That's the one I chose. Why? Because he's a man after my own heart."

I believe that David was maybe 12 or 13 when he was anointed king. And then here we are, and he's 14 or 15, and we run into him in 1st Samuel 17, going up against Goliath. So the Bible shifts gears back to David. He's taking care of his father's sheep. And his dad, Jesse, says to him, "David, I need you to go to the Valley of Elah. I need you to let me know what's going on at the battle. Man, my Internet's down. I'm not getting any reports." And so here he said, "David, you take this lunch pail, this picnic basket of cheese and sandwiches and bread and all this stuff, you take it to your brothers and you take it to the commanders, and then you bring back word of what's going on at the battle to me so I can be informed."

And so David did that. It says in verse 20, "So David arose early in the morning and left the flock with a keeper." He was taking care of his father's sheep, and he was going to make sure that that was still done. He left a flock with the keeper and took the supplies and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the circle of the camp while the army was going out in battle, shouting the war cry. They're all getting ready, and they're standing on the mountain ridge and they're looking tough. And then David shows up. It's about a 15-mile trip from Bethlehem to the Valley of Elah, so he had to leave early in the morning.

And it says in verse 21, "And Israel and the Philistines drew up in battle array, army against army." Then David left his baggage in the care of the baggage keeper and ran to the battle line and entered in order to greet his brothers. And as he was talking with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine from Gath named Goliath, was coming up from the army of the Philistines. And he spoke these same words, and David heard them. "I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight together." David heard the words. He had never heard anything like that before. He had never heard anyone give such a mocking, taunting challenge to God's people.

And it says in verse 24, "When all the men of Israel saw the man, they fled from him and were greatly afraid." And the men of Israel said, "Have you seen this man who is coming up? Surely he's coming up to defy Israel." You might want to put a note in your Bible right there and just write the word, "duh." You know, of course he's coming up to defy Israel, Einstein. And it will be that 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.

Then David spoke to the men who were standing by, saying, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach, the shame, the disgrace from Israel?" Now watch this. "For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should taunt the armies of the living God?" Did you catch that? It's different. It's different. Goliath had been saying for 40 days, morning and evening, 80 times. This is his 81st time. "I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight together." And Saul and the men of Israel said, "That's right. That's all we are. We're just the ranks of Israel."

And David heard those words and said, "Hey, wait a minute, wait a minute. Time out here. We're not the ranks of Israel. We are the army of the living God." That's a huge difference. A huge difference. "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine?" David said. "Hey, guys, this guy hadn't been to the doctor. He's the uncircumcised Philistine. He's not under the covenant. We're under the covenant of God. We are God's people. Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should taunt the armies of the living God?"

We lose to Goliath because we believe his lies. And the devil is a liar and the father of lies. And he'll bark out to you all sorts of lies. And so much of the time we just say, "Yeah, that's right. Yeah, that's right." Hey, you know what? When you fail to the champion Goliath over and over and over and over again, whether it's anger, whether it's lust, whether it's jealousy, whether it's bitterness, whatever it might be, then you start to believe the lie that God doesn't love me, that I can't be victorious, that the Christian life just doesn't work.

Cause it's not working for me. Maybe it works for other people, but it doesn't work for me, that I can't be forgiven, that I never, I can't be the person that God wants me to be. And I just start to believe the lies and believe the lies. The devil will just heap those lies upon you, just like he did through Goliath. For 40 days, morning and evening. We must remember who we are in Jesus Christ. And you gotta take his lies and claim the truth and say, "That's a lie, here's the truth, that's a lie, here's the truth." And the Lord says to us, "Listen, you need to remember who you are. You are my son, you are my daughter. So start living like it."

Speaker 1

If we will appropriate all that we've heard from scripture for ourselves today, it'll free us to be all that God wants us to be and do all that he calls us to do again. Today you heard part one of the message supersized from Pastor Jeff's series Land of the Giants, helping us navigate and overcome the giants of anger, lust, guilt, shame, insecurity, discontentment, and worry and more.

And this is our special gift for your support today. Call 866-40-BIBLE (866-40-24253) or go to promisheart.org, make that gift, and we'll send you the series Land of the Giants and the booklet When You Don't Like Yourself. God bless you.

Today we close with a verse that speaks to all of us. Psalm 28:7 says, "The Lord is my strength and my shield. In him my heart trusts, and I am helped. My heart exalts, and with my song I give thanks to him."

I'm Larry Knelbles, and I hope you'll be here on Tuesday for part two of this powerful lesson in the Land of the Giants series called Supersized. When Pastor Jeff prepares us for some dynamic messages to come this month here on From His Heart. Join us then when we'll open God's word and share real truth, real love, and real hope from His heart.

From His Heart is the listener-supported broadcast ministry of Dr. Jeff Shreve, speaking the truth in love to a lost and a hurting world. Remember that no matter what, God loves you, and he has a wonderful plan for your life. Find out more at fromhisheart.org.