Singer Johnny Cash says religion has kept him inspired during his 36-year career. "I make my daily commitment to God. And so long as I keep the commitment, the day goes really good," said Cash. "If I try to break it and run everything myself, I usually mess it up." The 59- year-old country singer was addicted to drugs in the 1960s and was jailed several times. Cash says he overcame his addiction by renewing his faith. He tells how a shoeshine man taught him a lesson for living back in 1956. "I was expecting a fast, snappy job like the young folks do, and he was going real slow, and I said, 'You don't seem to be doing too much snapping.' He said, 'That's the problem with the world today--there's too much snapping and not enough shining.'"
1 Sam 17:40-50 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. 41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him. 43 He said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 "Come here," he said, "and I'll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!" 45 David said to the Philistine, "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. 46 This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands." 48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49 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. 50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone;
I. When Facing Giants, We are often Under Qualified.
a. Goliath
1 Sam 17:4-7 A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall.
i. Goliath was a giant!
ii. He was raised as a child to go into battle.
iii. He was a warrior.
I remember Andre the giant from watching wrestling as a child. The biggest meanest dude in town!
b. David
1 Sam 17: 12 – 15 Now David was the son of … Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, … 13 Jesse's three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war: … 14 David was the youngest. … 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father's sheep at Bethlehem.
i. David was a shepherd.
ii. He was used to leading harmless sheep.
iii. His older brothers were used to fighting (warriors … probably not) but not David.
iv. David was the most under qualified warrior that they could find!
v. Common sense says he could never win a battle against a giant.
A woman who was called to jury duty told the presiding judge that she was not qualified to serve because she did not believe in capital punishment. The judge said, "You don't understand, madam. This is a civil case involving a man who spent five thousand dollars of his wife's money on gambling and other women." To which the woman replied eagerly, "I'll be happy to serve, your honor, and I've changed my mind about capital punishment."
c. When we examine the prospect of the future, we find ourselves woefully under qualified to tackle the challenges. However, we only have two options… give up or push ahead.
d. Gideon –
Judg 6:15 "But Lord," Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."
Samuel - 1 Sam 9:21 Saul answered, "But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin?
Paul - 1 Cor 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle,
II. When Facing Giants, We are often Under Equipped.
a. Goliath
i. The Message –
1 Sam 17:4-7 A giant nearly ten feet tall stepped out from the Philistine line into the open, Goliath from Gath. 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and was dressed in armor — 126 pounds of it! 6 He wore bronze shin guards and carried a bronze sword. 7 His spear was like a fence rail — the spear tip alone weighed over fifteen pounds. His shield bearer walked ahead of him.
ii. Goliath came prepared to do battle!
b. David
i. The Message
1 Sam 17:38-40 Then Saul outfitted David as a soldier in armor. He put his bronze helmet on his head and belted his sword on him over the armor. 39 David tried to walk but he could hardly budge. David told Saul, "I can't even move with all this stuff on me. I'm not used to this." And he took it all off. 40 Then David took his shepherd's staff, selected five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the pocket of his shepherd's pack, and with his sling in his hand approached Goliath.
c. God gave us a Great Commission
Matt 28:19-20 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
d. We are woefully under equipped to win the World!
An office worker in a San Francisco company applied through channels for a job with a government agency in Washington. While he was waiting for a reply, the head of the agency heard about him from a mutual friend in California and hired him for the job. Several months later, while the man was working in Washington, a letter was forwarded to him from his old address in San Francisco. It contained his original application for the job he now held, together with a letter from the agency regretfully turning him down because he was not equipped for the position. Looking more closely at the letter, the man found that he had signed it himself.
III. When Facing Giants, We are often Inexperienced.
a. Goliath
i. V.4 A champion named Goliath
ii. 11 On hearing the Philistine's words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.
iii. 24 When the Israelites saw the man, they all ran from him in great fear.
b. David
i. 14 David was the youngest.
ii. 20 Early in the morning David left the flock with a shepherd,
iii. 33 Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth."
Eugene Peterson tells how he saw a family of birds teaching their young to fly. Three young swallows were perched on a dead branch that stretched out over a lake. "One adult swallow got alongside the chicks and started shoving them out toward the end of the branch--pushing, pushing, pushing. Finally one fell off. Somewhere between the branch and the water four feet below, the wings started working, and the fledgling was off on his own. Then the second one. "The third was not to be bullied. At the last possible moment his grip on the branch loosened just enough so that he swung downward, then tightened again, bulldog tenacious. The parent was without sentiment. He pecked at the desperately clinging talons until it was more painful for the poor chick to hang on than risk the insecurities of flying. The grip was released, and the inexperienced wings began pumping. The mature swallow knew what the chick did not--that it would fly--that there was no danger in making it do what it was perfectly designed to do. "Birds have feet and can walk. Birds have talons and can grasp a branch securely. They can walk; they can cling. But flying is their characteristic action, and not until they fly are they living at their best, gracefully and beautifully.
IV. When Facing Giants, You have to know the secret!
37 The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."
45-47 David said to the Philistine, "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. 46 This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands."
a. Did you see it yet?
b. One more example …
c. Matt 14:15-17 15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food." 16 Jesus replied, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat." 17 "We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish," they answered.
d. Here is the secret …
e. WHAT YOU HAVE … PLUS GOD … EQUALS MORE THAN ENOUGH!
f. In our human reasoning … there is no way a little boy can defeat a warrior giant! … but with God everything is possible.
g. In our human reasoning … there is no way a little country church can win the world … But with God all things are possible!
h.What we have … plus God … is more than enough!
A man told the story … In a small town in the Midwest where I spent six years of my early youth, there lived a mentally retarded adult named Myron. It was during Depression years and there was no place for Myron to be "kept" but at home. He lived there with his mother and they survived on the work that Myron did as a gardener. He had a proverbial "green thumb," and the places where he did the gardening were easy to identify. The lawns, shrubs, hedges, flowers--all showed care, skill, and loving attention. Myron also did "volunteer" work. He cut grass, raked leaves, and planted flowers in what would otherwise have been unsightly vacant lots. He was probably best known for his "oil can." He always carried a small can of lubricating oil in his hip pocket. A squeaky door or hinge or gate always got a "free" dose from Myron's oil can. Never a Sunday went by that Myron was not in church with his mother. Myron died a few years after I left town to attend college. It was not easy to arrange, but I went back for the funeral. I was not prepared for what I saw. It seemed that everyone in town had decided to attend the funeral and there were scores of others, like myself, who had traveled from distant places to be there. Without consciously attempting to do so, Myron had patterned for us the kind of life that really matters. No, he had not achieved fame, fortune, or honor. But he had been a worker, an optimist, an "easer of tensions" and a faithful churchman. He was a man who "overcame" a handicap that he didn't even know he had.
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