Introduction:

Under-dog, Longshot, Unlikely, Doubtful, Improbable, Far Fetched, Pie in the Sky, Impossible

All these are words that describe the greatest comeback in NFL history — The year was December 2022 and the Indianapolis Colts dominating against the Minnesota Vikings. The score at Half-time was 33 – 0… For those who may not know how the NFL scores points, every time a team runs the football to their side of the field and across the line, it’s 6 points, and then they can get an extra point for kicking the ball through a field goal. The Colts had scored at least four touchdowns…  

With 30 minutes left, no one would have believed it was possible for the Vikings to pull off a comeback. If they did, it would be the greatest comeback in NFL history! But in that short 30 min period, the Minnesota Vikings scored an amazing 4 touchdowns, tying the game, sending it into overtime. The battle was intense — and with 3 seconds left on the clock Greg Joseph nails a 40 yard field goal that sealed history! The underdog, the Longshot, the Improbable, the Pie in the Sky game was won by the Vikings — Greatest Comeback in NFL History and only the second team since 1930 to have come back from a more than 30 point deficit.

Author Malcolm Gladwell who wrote “The Tipping Point”, and is a well cited political scientist who frequently writes for the New Yorker — wrote an article describing battles over the last 200 years and he discovered something quite fascinating which he included in his article. In every war where it is unequally matched, where you have a Giant against an Underdog — the stronger military wins the battle 75% of the time. A very predictable outcome! One we wouldn’t dispute. But he also found that when a weaker army recognizes its weakness and compensates for that weakness by taking a completely unconventional approach to the battle, the unconventional approach results in defeating the larger, stronger army — 63% of the time.

Giants can fall friends — Underdogs can win — The weak can find victory — Certain defeat can be reversed! And in perhaps the greatest underdog story of the Bible, certainly one of the most famous, we find the unlikely victory coming at the hands of a shepherd boy

Let me paint the story

Ever since the story of Samson, the Israelites have been plagued by the Philistines.

[1Sa 17:1 NKJV] 1 Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle, and were gathered at Sochoh, which [belongs] to Judah; they encamped between Sochoh and Azekah, in Ephes Dammim.

Sochoh is a town that lies right on the road in between Gath (A Major Philistine City), and the capital of Israel which is Jerusalem. The intentions of this Philistine army are clear — They plan to march to Israel’s capital and bring about the final fall of their ancient foe… Maybe they were still burning inside over what Samson had done to them long before, and it was time for full revenge? The King of Israel, hearing of the movements of the enemy army approaching the capital of Jerusalem does what any competent King and General over the army would do — He goes out to meet them and stop them in their advance towards Jerusalem.

And the most strategic place to stop the Philistines is Suchoh — the reason is that Suchoh not only lays along the road that leads to Jerusalem — but it is partly on a mountain pass… which if you are headed from Jerusalem to Gath (From Israel to Philistia) you would first come though the mountain or hills of Suchoh, then you would descend into a valley called the valley of Elah, and then you’d ascend the mountains or hills on the other side of the valley called Azekah. This is a strategic position because if Israel gets to the mountains of Sochoh they have a military advantage because they are higher up — meaning their arrows shoot further, it is easier to defend an elevated position, and they have the benefit of the narrower roads through the mountains — So Israel stations itself in the most strategic place.

But so does the Philistines — they are in the Mountains or hills of Azekah which also gives them a military advantage of height.

Essentially both armies are in a stalemate! And the solution, proposed by the Philistines was — Let’s bring our best warriors down to the valley — on level field, so neither has an unfair advantage and let’s let the warriors fight and decide this stalemate for us.

[1Sa 17:3-4 NKJV] 3 “The Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. 4 And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath…”

Now before we talk about Goliath — I want to let you know a little about Gath where Goliath was from. Gath was one of five ruling cities in Philistia, and was one of the last few strongholds that still contained the giants the Bible calls the Anikim. Archaeologists have discovered Gath — They call it Tel As-Safi — Not only is Gath mentioned in the Bible but as a great Philistine city it is confirmed by Egyptian inscriptions…  

In 2005, Archaeologists uncovered in the 9th century layer a shard of pottery with an inscription that has since come to be known as “The Goliath Shard” — The Pottery has two names on it “ALWT” and “WLT” Pronounced “Alwth” and “WLth”  — which are very similar to the name “Goliath” which has led Archaeologists to the conclusion that Goliath or names typical to that were used in Gath — matching the biblical record!

I want to hit home the idea that the stories you are reading in the Bible are not make-believe fiction — These are real towns being unearthed today, real people who lived and breathed like you and me, real armies and real victories that were won! The story of David and Goliath is not fiction, but a factual account of unequally matched battle.

Goliath — a real giant — towers on the scene…

[1Sa 17:4-7 NKJV] 4 And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height [was] six cubits and a span. 5 [He had] a bronze helmet on his head, and he [was] armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat [was] five thousand shekels of bronze. 6 And [he had] bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. 7 Now the staff of his spear [was] like a weaver’s beam, and his iron spearhead [weighed] six hundred shekels; and a shield-bearer went before him.

When we size up an enemy, we often look at the likelihood of winning the fight. Do they come with a gang of support, or are they all alone? Is our strength well matched or am I at a disadvantage? Are there any obvious weak points, or does he appear impenetrable? What are the risks of damage to my personal being?

When Israel sized up Goliath, there was a lot to fear: He was between 7-9ft tall, some say as tall as 12ft (Not an improbable height between 1918-1940 Robert Wadlow of the US stood at an astounding 8ft 11in — and he isn’t the only recorded man to be in the height range of Goliath… I counted 28 recorded people all over the world who had reached 8ft tall or taller. After his death 2019, Vietnam giant Ho Van Trung was measured at a whopping 9ft, his coffin was 10ft.)

So here is this giant, a massive man named Goliath (Which means “Exile”) and he carries a coat of armor weighing 125lbs, and the coverings on his body in the appearance of fish scales — each Brass scale carefully protecting that massive body…  The end of his spear weighed as much as an Olympic Shot put — which is 16lbs… Imagine carrying 16lbs on the end of a stick large enough to be a staff for a giant — the average bowling ball weighs about 16lbs — that’s like sticking a bowling ball on the end of your walking stick —  Mom’s the average infant car seat weighs 16lbs, how long can you carry that around — with a 125lb teenager on your back?…. Not only was he impressive in size, but it was terrifying to all who saw him how easily he carried such an enormous amount of weight, and how completely impenetrable was his armor.

But Goliath represented more than a human giant, an impenetrable wall to Israel. Goliath is symbolic of our great arch-enemy Satan, who seeks to stand as a wall, a defiant barrier in your path to heaven… And what does Goliath do?

[1Sa 17:10 NKJV] 10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day…”

The word “defy” means to reproach or taunt or blaspheme… To criticize, to tear down, to accuse… To destroy another’s reputation, to tear apart another’s character, to spread lies that will damage the person in the view of all…

We need to pause just now and recognize that it is the work of the enemy to criticize, tear down, reproach, and defy those who we do not agree with. Sometimes men and women, with Bibles under arm, will gather in church hallways or sit around kitchen tables and tear down the ministers of God or their own fellow Christians — all the while proclaiming themselves “watchmen on the walls”, but every time we choose to criticize or gossip or publicly defy or speak evil of others we are allowing the serpent, the enemy, the dragonish devil to slither his own words through our own lips:

[Jas 4:11 NKJV] 11 Do not speak evil of one another, brethren…

[Lev 19:18 NKJV] 18 ‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people…

[Eph 4:31 NKJV] 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you….

[1Pe 2:1 NKJV] 1 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,

Friends, the Bible makes it clear — there is a distinction between how Philistines talk and how the children of God talk… When we speak like Goliath, and tear down others we are but allowing the voice of Satan to work destruction through our own tongue. James the brother of

Jesus, had this to say:

[Jas 3:8-10 NKJV] 8 But no man can tame the tongue. [It is] an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.

And did David return cursing in return for cursing? Did David slander the giant, before he slew the giant?

1 Samuel 17:45-47 (NKJV) 45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 “This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47 “Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle [is] the LORD’s, and He will give you into our hands.”

David did not revile in return, instead his words to the giant were summarized in saying “The Lord Rebuke You” — Do you hear it in his reply? “I come in the name of the Lord”, “the Lord will deliver you into my hand” “The battle is the Lords” — the Lord rebuke you!

And you know, this was a practice that David carried forward throughout his entire life — Over and over when it was within the power of David to do harm to Saul’s person or his reputation, David refused the temptation. Once while he and his commander were sneaking through the camp of Israel, they found King Saul’s tent and the commander of David’s army suggested that they slay the king and that they would be able to do it quickly and silently and David said:

1 Samuel 26:9-11 (NKJV) 9 But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him; for who can stretch out his hand against the LORD’s anointed, and be guiltless?” 10 David said furthermore, “[As] the LORD lives, the LORD shall strike him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall go out to battle and perish. 11 “The LORD forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the LORD’s anointed. But please, take now the spear and the jug of water that [are] by his head, and let us go.”

Notice whose spirit David is reflecting, not the spirit of Satan but that of Christ — for even Jesus would not revile, accuse, or slander the devil:

Jude 1:9 (NKJV) Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

1 Peter 2:23 (NKJV) who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed [Himself] to Him who judges righteously;

I spent some time this week listening to other sermons about David and Goliath, thinking I may learn a few things from the perspective of others as I prepared for this Sabbath. I heard so many different takes on Goliath and the giants we face in life — Some said Goliath represented the giant of addiction, others said Goliath represents the nasty neighbor you have to face, others mentioned Goliath as financial troubles you have to overcome — Every obstacle or threat or problem that we face in life was a symbol of Goliath…. But when I read this story, I see a different giant much bigger than Goliath which had to be defeated — and I believe David learned to gain victory over this giant long before he met the Giant from Gath… A Giant called self, and pride, and Me…

You see if that Giant is alive inside of you — You have to revile in return if you are reviled! If Goliath is in your heart, you have to tear down others in order to build up self. Our inability to control our tongue reveals that the greatest giant we face is not the giants from outside, but the giant inside.

Often times we can handle the criticism of others. It is when the words of others amplify the voice of criticism inside that we begin to crumble. When we are reviled or persecuted or face hardship or struggles — these giants really only reveal what exists in our hearts — are we living to protect self and ego, or are we living to reflect Christ? Consider what Jesus said about times when you are reviled:

[Mat 5:11 NKJV] 11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.

[1Pe 4:14 NKJV] 14 If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed [are you], for the

Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.

Blessed when I am reviled? You know when I was young I used to get teased about my ears — I was told I had ears so big if I got caught in a windstorm I’d beat myself to death… Some of you have suffered through much more and much worse growing up, maybe you carry scars from what you’ve been through — How can this be a blessing? How can good come from someone else tearing me down?

When the same Spirit of Jesus, who would not revile in return when He was reviled, is manifested in your life, and through your life — The curses that were aimed at you, are turned into a blessing bringing glory to God and deepening the impression of his character on your own heart as you practice His patience and allow Him to live His life through you. It’s as if the stamp of Jesus is pressed deeper into the mold of your heart when others seek to press you with their words. We begin to learn to say, and to say it boldly.

[Heb 13:6 NKJV] 6 So we may boldly say: “The LORD [is] my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

David, as the youngest in his family learned to take the insults like water off a ducks back! We hear it, even as he comes to deliver food to his brothers:

1 Samuel 17:28-30 (NKJV) 28 Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger was aroused against David, and he said, “Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.” 29 And David said, “What have I done now? [Is there] not a cause?” 30 Then he turned from him toward another and said the same thing; and these people answered him as the first ones [did.]

Matthew Henry says this in his commentary on David’s comment to his brother: “[David] had right and reason on his side, and knew it, and therefore did not render railing for railing, but with a soft answer turned away his brother’s wrath. This conquest of his own passion was in some respects more honourable than his conquest of Goliath.”  

Proverbs 16:32 (NKJV) 32 [He that is] slow to anger [is] better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.

Now do you think this was the first time that Eliab as the older brother had reviled David the youngest? If you know anything about siblings you can picture their life together with ultra clarity. There’s no way that David lived his entire life up to that point without having to have faced the wrath of his older brother. Which means, that David had long before learned from the Lord how to respond with the Spirit of meekness and the kindness of Christ. The character David brought with him to battlefield was simply a revelation of a character he had developed in his home — the victory had already been won! The real giant, already defeated… The battle with Goliath simply revealed that victory for all to see.

And it wasn’t just a victory over words that David had learned — He also learned faith through private battles that prepared him to stand immovable in public battles…  

1 Samuel 17:34-37 (NKJV) 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, 35 “I went out after it and struck it, and delivered [the lamb] from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught [it] by its beard, and struck and killed it. 36 “Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 Moreover David said, “The LORD, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you!”

Now I’m sure David when faced with a Lion, may have been tempted to say “Why God, why me, why today?” — David could have run from the private battles rather than face them… What did he have to lose? A lamb? But that lamb was put under his trust to guard, and the amazing thing is that David turns into a Samson when he puts his trust in the Lord — I believe the Spirit of God that filled Samson, filled David, and he was able to “caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it”

Who was there to see the victory with the Lion… Who witnessed the victory over the bear?.

Friends, there are many battles we will face that we will never get public credit for — But God sees, and the private battles with the secret giants that God has placed before you to conquer in His name, through His Spirit, are the very battles needed to overcome before we can gain victory over the public Giants we will face later on!

Stephen Covey, author of Seven Habits of Highly Effective people says that the first three habits to success, not only proceed all the other habits, but are private victories won within that must be won before you can succeed: (1) Being Proactive (2) Starting With The End in Mind (3) Prioritizing the Important Over The Urgent

God allows these private struggles for your benefit! Are you wrestling with a Lion or Bear in your private life?

Romans 8:28 (NKJV And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to [His] purpose.

Whenever we are about to face any spiritual battle, Satan will raise up men and women who even supposedly are on our own team, maybe from our own family to oppose us in waging war, and criticizing our ability to win. Just look at how Satan raised up Peter to oppose Christ:

[Mat 16:22-23 NKJV] 22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” 23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”

The same happened with David — first his brother, then his king

[1Sa 17:33 NKJV] 33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you [are] a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.”

What should we do in these experiences when men oppose the leading of God? If we look at David’s response we see that David turned to God’s leading and victories given in his past, to give him faith, and courage, and perseverance, and determination to press forward in the present.

The next test was for David to wear the armor the of Saul — Now it’s not that it was bad armor, it was probably the finest, fit for a king… Saul finally acquiesced to David’s determination, but suggested his own solution for how David should defeat the giant — “Wear my armor”

But when David put on the armor, he found it awkward and ill-fitting… So David took it off, and decided to defeat the giant as he had defeated the lion and the bear… In his own shepherds clothes, with a sling and five smooth stones…

The lesson is that if Satan can not dissuade us to fight the giant, he will suggest alternate ways to fight the giant — But how God has given us victory in the past is how he will give us victory in the present… You don’t need to search up new ways to fight or new ways to win — the well worn path of how you were brought to Christ in the beginning is the well worn path of how you stay in Christ and win the victory to the end… Nothing can replace the simplicity of confession, repentance and simple faith in Christ.

The last item I want to point out is David on the battlefield

Runs toward Goliath, not away!

[1Sa 17:48 NKJV] 48 So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.

[Luk 9:62 NKJV] 62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

[Heb 10:38 NKJV] 38 Now the just shall live by faith; But if [anyone] draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”

Expect a victory, and act as if your victory is assured! Run towards the opportunity to conquer, believe that God will fight for you — This is what it means to have faith! Faith is more than believe, it is absolute trust demonstrated in action. Appeal:

Today God is calling us to private victories — There is a great controversy, Satan and his angels are waging war against Christ — someday that war will go public, we call it the Mark of the Beast — and when that war goes public it will be revealed to the world and to heavenly beings whether the victory in private had been won… Are you fighting the true Giant? Are you Trusting the one who