Conquering Heroes (1 Samuel 17:32-49)
One of the hardest days of my life was when I stepped down from the pulpit in Roanoke, Virginia. Things happened at a time when my health was deteriorating rapidly. On good days, I used a cane, but I was using a walker most days and I was in a great deal of pain. Going on disability made me feel like a failure; I had a doctoral degree, but I was sitting at home drawing a check.
However, I was swimming every day, and I happened to take a chair yoga class. I noticed that with the yoga I could move a little more freely. Then, the pandemic came along, and the gym was closed. I did yoga and some aerobics inside, but I really wanted to be outside in the sunshine. So I bought a bike and started riding. I noticed that as I rode my health improved significantly. The Lord then opened a door of opportunity for me to begin preaching again, and here I am. God took what seemed like an impossible situation, and working with me, he delivered me.
How many times has God delivered you? Maybe you were stuck in a loveless marriage and you didn’t know how you were going to survive, but you and your spouse did your work and God did his and he delivered you. Maybe you were facing upheaval at work—maybe you were in the hotseat or the company was downsizing or you just had to find something else—you did your work and God did his and he delivered you. Maybe you went to the doctor and received a dreadful diagnosis; however, you did your work and God did his and he delivered you. Maybe you were having difficulty with your children in one way or another; you did your work and God did his and he delivered you.
In this morning’s text, God delivered David from the hand of an uncircumcised Philistine. King Saul knew that God wasn’t going to deliver David, and Goliath, using the names of his gods, knew he would have victory. But David knew God would deliver him. This morning, we wish to learn one simple truth: “God delivers.”
Scripture (1 Samuel 17:32-49)
According to the measurements the text gives, Goliath stood over nine feet tall; giants of that size are well attested from this time period in literature outside of Scripture. And, it was quite common for battles to be decided by a contest like Goliath proposed—a champion from each side would meet, and the winner of that fight won the battle for his army.
verses 32-37:
David promised Saul that he would fight Goliath, but Saul didn’t have David’s faith. Think about that: The king of God’s people didn’t have faith in God to deliver him and the rest of Israel from that uncircumcised Philistine.
David knew God would deliver him, for he had rescued his sheep when a lion or bear attacked. Lions similar to the African lion and bears that are a paler version of grizzly bears once roamed the Middle East. God had delivered David from ferocious animals, and David knew that God would deliver him from the “hand of this Philistine.”
verses 38-39:
David had the best armor anyone could ever have—the living God—but Saul, in his lack of faith, tried to fit David with armor.
verse 40:
In Israel, shepherds used slings to protect their flock, but some other nations did use them in warfare. A skilled shepherd or warrior could put a stone in his sling, twirl the sling over his head, and then let the stone go at speeds of 100-150 miles per hour.
verses 41-44:
Goliath would have been stationary with his shield-bearer before him. Goliath disdained David, for the Israelites hadn’t sent out a worthy hero to fight him. Goliath said, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” Dogs were disdained in the ancient world. And one of the effects of being very, very tall is often poor eyesight, so Goliath may well have mistaken David’s sling for a stick.
verses 45-49:
David told Goliath that while the giant came toward him wrapped in armor, David came before him wrapped in the mighty power of God and that God would deliver Goliath into his hand.
David took a stone, placed it in his sling, and hit Goliath in the forehead. Goliath fell face down on the ground before being decapitated by David. The text isn’t clear on whether the stone or the decapitation killed Goliath, but what’s important is that God delivered Goliath into David’s hand.
Application
“God delivers.” God still delivers. No, you won’t kill a giant with a stone in your pouch. However, Paul knew God still delivers: “On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again” (2 Cor 1:10). On God you can set your hope that he will deliver you. Let’s answer this question this morning: From what will God deliver you?
One: God will deliver you from Sin.
God will deliver you from Sin. Everyone sins: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). Sin builds a wall between you and God: “Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear” (Is 59:2).
However, God delivers you from Sin. “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:3). “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21). If you are in Christ, God has delivered you from Sin!
Two: God will deliver you from Snare.
God will deliver you from the Snare of temptation. Everyone is tempted: Jesus himself was tempted; if Satan tempted the incarnate Son of God, he will certainly tempt you. “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man” (1 Cor 10:13). You know that truth not only because the word of God says so but also because you know the experience of temptation yourself.
Yet, God will deliver you from every temptation: “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure” (1 Cor 10:13). Because God delivers, you can go to God’s throne and find help when you are tempted: “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:16).
Three: God will deliver you from Sleep.
God will deliver you from the Sleep of death. Unless the Lord Jesus comes first, every one of you will die. When David was about to die, he said to Solomon, “I am about to go the way of all the earth” (1 Ki 2:2); David could use that euphemism, for death is indeed “the way of all the earth.” “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Heb 9:27).
However, God will deliver you from death. “The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise” (1 Thess 4:16). “Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor 15:20-22). If the Lord doesn’t return in your lifetime, you will sleep in the dust of the earth, and you shall rise at that last trumpet, be clothed with immortality, and live forever with God.
“God delivers.” Do you need God to deliver you this morning as we stand and sing?
This sermon was originally preached by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., at Church of Christ Deer Park in Deer Park, Texas.