A Real Battle, A Real God
Let’s ask some serious questions:
- Do bad things happen to good people?
- Do Christians ever get sick?
- Were there any Christian’s-followers who died of Covid?
- If you do everything right, are you promised an easy, pain free, struggle free, life?
- If you raise your children well, are you guaranteed they will never walk away from God?
- Does Jesus guarantee that your business will always succeed, your children will always be healthy, you will never suffer loss, and your relationships will always endure?
A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span.
-1 Samuel 17:4
Champion: Hebrew word means: “the man between.”
He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels; on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him.
-1 Samuel 17:5-7
Here is the mistake we in the west make when approaching this text. We say…
- Goliath represents our fears or the giants or the storms that try to crush us.
- David represents an inspiring example of how we should handle our fears.
No! No! No! In the Hebrew mindset, David and Goliath represent:
- two alternative approaches to heroism and dealing with our fears.
- two separate approaches concerning how to deal with the storms that are coming or that are here right now.
First: The Goliath Approach.
He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. He said to David, ‘Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?’ And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ’Come here,’ he said, ‘and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!’
-1 Samuel 17:42-43
So How does Goliath deal with his fears?
- He builds his self-esteem by focusing on his assets.
- Through the power of positive thinking, he banishes his fears.
- He boosts his self-esteem with self-talk.
This has always been the world’s way.
What are the problems with this approach?
When you attempt to banish your fears by telling yourself that you cannot lose you become out of touch with reality!
“Goliath Courage” is:
- High self-esteem based on religious superiority.
- Banish all your fears through positive confession.
- Visualize success—praising God for His victory or healing before it comes.
1. Evangelism is almost dead.
Those on the outside see that what they claim to be true is simply not true.
2. This kind of positive confession is nothing more than Goliath courage.
As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him. David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran.
-1 Samuel 17:48-51
All of Goliath’s self-talk and visualization causes him to lose touch with reality that David could kill him!
Real Courage: What we need is not something to help us banish our fears but something to help us do the right thing in spite of our fears!
If I perish, I perish!
-Esther 4:16b
Convincing yourself that these things will never happen to you sets you up for disappointment and abandonment.
So what then is true courage?
If you think you are David in the story, that will lead you to a spiritualized version of Goliath courage.
Who then should we identify with in the story?
Not Goliath. Not David.
The Israelites - God’s people.
God does not give a frightened people an example.
Instead he gives them a Champion! A Savior!
He does not deal with their fears through inspiration and emulation.
He deals with their fears through substitution and imputation.
To be a Champion is a legal thing! The closest we have to this kind of thing in the west is a legal advocate.
Archigos: Champion!
David, Moses, and even Noah point to the real Champion! Jesus Christ
How is Jesus our Champion?
- He stood in the middle, between God and Us.
- He is our advocate—our legal representative.
- Everything He accomplished has been imputed and accredited to our account.
David saved his people at the risk of his life.
Jesus saved his people at the cost of his life!
What is your greatest fear?
Those are indeed real issues but there is no finality to them.
Ultimately—they have all been defeated!
Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
-Psalm 30:5a (ESV)
What is the ultimate loss? Life itself. But in Jesus, your greatest nightmare has been removed.
- You will experience perpetual wonder.
- In beauty, breath and life, with good health all the days of your life—eternal!
So now we know what real courage is: Fix your eyes on Jesus!
…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
-Hebrews 12:2
How do you know everything's going to be okay?
Because Jesus Christ is your champion. He took everything you deserve and now you know God will never leave you.
He saw a white star twinkle for a while, the beauty of it smote his heart, and then, like a shaft clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the evil shadow was only a small and passing thing. There was light and high beauty forever beyond its reach. His time in the tower had actually been defiance rather than hope, because then he was thinking of himself. Now, for a moment, his own fate, and even Frodo’s, ceased to trouble him, and he fell into a deep untroubled sleep.
-J.R.R. Tolkein
Jesus entered the ring with Sin, death, sickness, pain, suffering, and loss. But after three rounds, our Champion emerged—once and for all victorious!
Make a Decision