Defeating Giants

 

                                                                        

Key Passage: 1 Samuel 17 (David and Goliath)

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1. Introduction

All of us face giants in life. They can be:

• family problems

• financial crises

• diseases

• emotional struggles

• fear of the future

• temptations and spiritual battles

These giants try to:

• frighten us

• paralyze us

• steal our faith

• make us doubt God’s promises

David faced a literal giant — Goliath — but his story teaches us how to face the spiritual and emotional giants that rise against us today.

“For the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”
— 1 Samuel 17:47

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2. Who was Goliath? — A picture of our problems

Goliath was:

• physically huge

• experienced in battle

• self-confident

• threatening

• mocking the people of God

Our giants often look the same way:
they seem bigger than us and repeat words of defeat, trying to convince us that there is no solution.

David did not look at the size of the giant — he looked at the greatness of his God.

“You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts.”
— 1 Samuel 17:45

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3. David’s five stones — Spiritual weapons to defeat giants

David chose five smooth stones from the brook (1 Samuel 17:40).
They can symbolize spiritual weapons God places in our hands.

🪨 1st Stone – Faith

Faith allows you to see victory before it happens.

• Faith is not denying the problem

• Faith is believing that God is greater than the problem

“Without faith it is impossible to please God.” — Hebrews 11:6
“All things are possible to him who believes.” — Mark 9:23

David believed:

• God delivered him from the lion and the bear

• God would also deliver him from Goliath (1 Sam 17:37)

🪨 2nd Stone – Courage

Courage is not the absence of fear — it is acting despite fear.

“Fear not, for I am with you.” — Isaiah 41:10

Courage helps us:

• face difficult conversations

• make important decisions

• break with sin

• fight for change

🪨 3rd Stone – Determination

Determination is refusing to give up.

David was:

• criticized by his brothers

• underestimated by Saul

• mocked by Goliath

Yet he did not turn back.

“Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:58

🪨 4th Stone – Trust that God will give the victory

David did not trust Saul’s armor or his own strength — only God.

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will trust in the name of the Lord our God.”
— Psalm 20:7

When our trust is in God:

• anxiety weakens

• fear loses power

• hope is renewed

🪨 5th Stone – Strength

Not human strength — the strength that comes from the Lord.

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
— Philippians 4:13

God gives us strength to:

• endure trials

• keep praying

• keep believing

• start again if needed

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4. David used stones and faith — not a sword

David defeated Goliath with what God had already placed in his hands.

Lessons:

👉 You don’t need to be like others
👉 God uses you as you are
👉 What you already have becomes powerful in God’s hands

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5. Other people who faced giants and won

✦ Abraham — the giant of impossibility

Promise of a child in old age
→ Romans 4:18–21

✦ Joseph — the giant of injustice and rejection

Sold by his brothers, imprisoned unfairly
→ Genesis 37–50

✦ Moses — the giant of fear and incapacity

Felt unable to speak
→ Exodus 3–4

✦ Daniel — the giant of persecution

Lion’s den
→ Daniel 6

✦ Esther — the giant of risk and death

Risked her life for her people
→ Esther 4:16

✦ Paul — the giant of trials and suffering

Persecutions, prisons, shipwrecks
→ 2 Corinthians 11:23–28

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
— 2 Timothy 4:7

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6. Conclusion

Giants will continue to rise.
The difference is not the size of the giant, but who fights for us.

✔ God is still in control
✔ God is not surprised by your problems
✔ The same God of David fights for you today

“Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”
— 1 John 4:4

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🙏 Let's pray

Lord our God and Father,
we thank You because You are the same God who gave David victory over Goliath. We confess that we also face giants in our lives: problems, fears, sicknesses, worries, and inner battles. Today we declare that we do not fight alone, because the battle belongs to the Lord.

Give us faith to believe, courage to face our challenges, determination to keep going, full trust that You will give us victory, and strength that comes from Your Spirit. Help us look less at the size of our problems and more at the greatness of our God.

We place our giants before You and declare by faith that victory comes from the Lord. In Jesus’ name, amen.