This past week we faced a giant.  A 12,276 foot giant.  We set out to climb Mt. Adams, a snow-capped peak in Washington.  This giant proved to be formidable.  It wasn’t going to let summiting it be easy.  For the last 3000 feet of the climb, there would be no visibility.  For the last 2000 feet, there was a driving snow storm.  A powerful, howling force wanting to keep us from conquering this giant.  Were we scared?  Absolutely.  We were facing a giant.  One which, if we faced it alone, would conquer us.

We all have giants that we face.  Unlike climbing a mountain, most of those giants aren’t ones we choose to face.  The giants we face today may be unemployment, abandonment, sexual abuse, depression, bills, grades, whiskey, pornography, a career, a mistake, or a future.  There are answers for our real life giant struggles in God’s Word.  He gives us reasons we can face our giants without hiding, running away, or cowering in fear.  Like the story of David and his giant.

The slender, ruddy boy knelt down by the brook.  His hand reaches into the water.  He is searching for rocks.  Stones.  Smooth stones.  The kind that stack neatly in a shepherd’s pouch, rest flush against a shepherd’s sling.  Flat rocks that balance heavy on the palm and missile with great force into the head of a lion, a bear, or in this case, a giant.

Goliath towers above him.  Nine feet, nine inches tall.  Wearing 125 pounds of armor.  Snarling like the main contender at a WWF Championship Fight.  He wears a size 20 collar, a size 10 ½ hat, and a 56-inch belt.  His biceps burst, thigh muscles ripple, and boasts boom through the canyon: “This day I defy the ranks of Israel!  Give me a man and let us fight each other.”  (17:10).  Who wants to go mano a mano with me?  Give me your best shot!

What odds did David have against his giant?  Better odds than you give yourself against yours?  Your Goliath doesn’t carry a sword or shield; he brandishes blades of unemployment, abandonment, sexual abuse, or depression.  Your giant doesn’t parade up and down the hills of Elah; he prances through your office, your bedroom, your classroom.  He brings you bills you can’t pay, grades you can’t make, people you can’t please, whiskey you can’t resist, pornography you can’t refuse, a career you can’t escape, a past you can’t shake, and a future you can’t face.

How long has he stalked you?  Goliath’s family was an ancient foe of the Israelites.  Joshua drove them out of the Promised Land 300 years earlier.  Saul’s soldiers saw Goliath and mumbled, “Not again!  My dad fought his dad.  My granddad fought his granddad.”

Have you groaned similar words?  “I’m becoming a workaholic, just like my father.”  “Divorce streaks through our family like a contagious disease.”  “Alcoholism has been in the family for years.”  “My mom couldn’t keep a friend either.  Is this ever going to stop?”  When Saul and his men heard the Philistine’s challenge, they were terrified.

With all the giants we must face, where is our focus?  You know your Goliath.  You recognize his walk and wince at his talk.  You’ve seen your giant.  You’ve heard his voice.  But is he all you see?  Is he all you hear?  David saw and heard more.  David’s first discussion, although it was about Goliath, was focused on the Lord.  “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he defy the armies of the living God?” (17:26)  David begins by discussing God.  The soldiers mentioned nothing about Him.  The brothers never spoke his name.  But David’s first reaction to the menacing giant is to raise the subject of the living God!  He does the same with King Saul.  No chit-chat about battle strategy or questions about the odds.  Just a God-given announcement: “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.” (17:37)

No one else discusses God.  David discusses no one else but God!  This isn’t just “David versus Goliath.”  This is “God-focus versus Giant-focus.”  David sees what others don’t and refuses to see what others do.  All eyes except David’s focus on the enormous giant making threats at them.  That’s all they can see.  All they can think about.  They obsess about Goliath.

David obsesses about God.  He does see the giant.  He just sees God more so.  Listen to David’s battle cry: “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” (17:45)  David sees God’s army, and so he confidently runs toward his battle with Goliath.

David’s brothers cover their eyes, both in fear and embarrassment.  Saul sighs as the young boy races toward certain death.  Goliath throws back his head in laughter, just enough to shift his helmet and expose a square inch of forehead.  David spots the target and seizes the moment.  His sling begins swirling.  And then there’s silence as the stone hurdles through the air.  It rips into Goliath’s skull, whose eyes cross and legs buckle.  He crumples to the ground and dies.  David runs over and yanks Goliath’s sword from its sheath and severs his head in victory.

You could say that David knew how to “get a-head” of his giant.  When was the last time you did the same?  How long since you ran toward your challenge?  We tend to retreat, duck behind a desk of work, or crawl into a nightclub of distraction or a bed of forbidden love.  For a moment, a day, or a year, we feel safe, insulated, anesthetized, but then the work runs out, the liquor wears off, or the lover leaves, and we hear Goliath again.  Taunting us.  Making us afraid.

Friends, instead of running or cowering in fear, try rushing your giant with a faith-focus on God!  Amplify God and minimize Goliath!  Have a David-like resolve to trust in God!  “Giant of divorce, you are not entering my home!”  “Giant of depression, it may take a lifetime, but you won’t conquer me!”  “Giant of alcohol, bigotry, child abuse, insecurity, guilt… you’re going down!”  When was the last time you loaded your sling and took a swing at your giant?

If David did it so can you.  You have to wonder what God saw in David.  The guy fell as often as he stood.  Stumbled as often as he conquered.  He stared down Goliath, yet ogled at Bathsheba.  Defied God mockers in the valley, yet joined them in the wilderness.  A model citizen one day.  Chumming with the mafia the next.  He could lead armies but couldn’t manage a family.  Raging David.  Weeping David.  Bloodthirsty.  God-hungry.  Eight wives.  One God.

But Acts 13:22 reminds us God said that “David was a man after God’s own heart.”  A man after God’s own heart?  That God saw him as such gives hope to us all!  David’s life doesn’t look very impressive to the perfect person.  Sinless souls find David’s story disappointing.  But the rest of us find it reassuring!  We ride the same roller coaster.  We alternate between successes and failures.  Strong faith and weak.  Sinfulness and faithfulness.  In David’s good moments, no one was better.  In his bad moments, no one was worse.  The heart God loved was not a perfect one!  We can be reassured by David’s story.  Giants lurk in our neighbourhoods.  Rejection.  Failure.  Revenge.  Remorse.  Guilt.  Giants.  We must face them.  But we don’t face them alone.

The battle is the Lord’s!  God defeated our giants for us!  Starting with the giant of guilt!  He defeated it through Christ!  So like David did, we need to focus first, and most, on God.  When David did, the giants fell.  The times he didn’t, David fell.  Focus on God, not giants!

Notice the only thing David said about Goliath in our text:  “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” He said it twice.  That’s it!  He had no further questions about Goliath.  No inquiries about Goliath’s skill, age, social standing, or IQ.  David didn’t ask about the weight of the sword or the size of the spear.

But he did give much thought to God!  David makes nine references to the Lord in our text!  God-thoughts outnumber Goliath-thoughts nine to two!  How does this ratio compare with yours?  Do you ponder God’s grace four times as much as you ponder your guilt?  Is your list of blessings four times as long as your list of complaints?  Is your mental file of hope four times as thick as your mental file of dread?  Are you four times as likely to describe the strength of God as you are the demands of your day?  Friends, focus on God!  He has defeated your enemy!  He has forgiven you for your failures!  Focus on Him!  Not them!

I think that’s a lesson that hit home with me last week, climbing that mountain.  In the middle of that storm near the top, we learned the importance of prayer.  The importance of focusing on God.  Focus on God’s strength, and not your own.  Then take one step at a time.  If we would have focused on the top of the mountain and how far away it was, or focused on the storm and the danger of hypothermia, we would have retreated in fear and failure.  We needed to focus on God.  Like David did.  Like you do.

Focus on giants – you stumble.  Focus on God – your giants tumble!  Lift your eyes to God, you giant-slayers!  The God who made a miracle out of David stands ready to make one out of you!   Amen.

This sermon adapted from Max Lucado’s book: “Facing Your Giants.”