Good morning! It’s David vs Goliath. It’s the multi-national corporation vs the family business. It’s the Government vs a small community organisation. It’s the world champion boxer vs the new unknown contender. We see this story all the time in the news, in sports and even movies.

My family has a favorite David Vs Goliath story. A story we have watched together many times, a story we quote and laugh about all the time. It’s called “The Castle”. [clip 1min 02sec]

The Castle is a wonderful Australian story of a family fighting the Government to keep their home which is being taken from them though compulsory acquisition to extend the local airport. It is an unexpected story of powerless people standing up to the Government and receiving a miracle. The miracle comes in the form of a Queens Council Barrister who befriends the father Darryl Kerrigan and offers pro-bono to represent their case to the Supreme Court.

Yet, it isn’t the miracle that alone defeats the Government, the miracle occurs alongside a beautiful story of faith. The Kerrigan family love each other, even their son who is in prison. They have built a life together of thankfulness in all their simple joys. They are loyal and generous to their neighbours. And they show a faithful perseverance to defend these things. They take a step of faith to stand up to the Government and because of this they are open to receiving a miracle.

We may not have to face up to the Government like the Kerrigan’s, or literal giants like David, but it is likely we will face our own giants in life, things that feel overwhelming like anxiety, failures or loneliness. In this morning’s reading we listened to the David and Goliath story. Together let’s be like David and figuratively “pick up five smooth stones from the riverbank”; we will do this by picking out from the story five moments of faith which helped David to beat Goliath.

The first stone we will pick up together represents COURAGE. We know that the Philistines gathered together at Sokoh in Judah. The tribe of Judah was surrounded by the hostile nations of Moab, Edom, Amalek and Philistia. The Philistines had been fighting the Israelites for many years and we know that the towns near Gath, including the stronghold of Ekron to the north and Sokoh, which were originally allocated to Judah by Joshua, were now areas controlled by their enemy. Not only had Judah been living surrounded by enemies and lost land to them, but according to the book of Kings (1 Kings 4:10) their kings like Solomon and Saul drew supplies heavily from their area. The taunting from the Philistines “are you not the servants of Saul?”, must have stung. David walks into the camp and recognises that the men see no value in fighting for a King who treats them so poorly, and even the possibility of great wealth at defeating Goliath is not enough to convince even one warrior to step forward. We also see that David’s oldest brother reacts to David’s presence with an attack, attempting to stop David. Yet with Courage David ignores his eldest brother, he ignores the fear that had built up in the warriors, and he takes a step of faith and tells King Saul “I will go!”, “I will fight Goliath”!

The second stone we will pick up together represents CONFIDENCE. Here before the young David is the taller than life King Saul. Saul had a reputation for a quick temper and evil spirit, and he tells David, “You are not able to go out against the Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth”.  Instead of backing down and accepting the King’s instruction we see David take a second step of faith and attempt to convince the King that he is wrong. According to David the King is wrong for two reasons, firstly with God’s help David has killed Lions and Bears, and two, this is God’s fight, it is not just David that Saul would be sending to fight Goliath but the Lord as well. David’s confidence in God is convincing and Saul responds to David “Go, and the Lord be with you”.

The third stone we will pick up together represents PREPARATION. Firstly, David needed to prepare for an attack from a fearsome arsenal of weapons. Goliath was wearing over 80kg of armor, he had javelins and a sword. His shield was bought into battle by a shield bearer giving him mobile cover to throw javelins from behind. And lastly, Goliath had a spear around 6ft long with a spearhead nearly 10kg. This is a 10kg plate I have bought from home to give you an idea of the shear damage the spear head could do. If you are wandering I this type of spear existed in ancient times I researched this and found that it did but wasn’t a weapon wielded like Goliath in mobile battle but rather a static defensive weapon that warriors would place in the ground to slow down a charging enemy. David on the other hand is offered Saul’s rich assortment of armour and weapons, which David rejects. David chooses to go with the weapons he is accustomed to, a staff and a slingshot. The staff did little but anger Goliath who shouts, “Am I a Dog, that you come at me with sticks?”. The slingshot on the other hand was a weapon regularly used to great effect in ancient warfare, much like the longbow of medieval England. I can attest to their power and accuracy with a recent experience of using slingshots at Redbanks property in Nugent. As a child I spent hours creating slingshots and launching cherry plums over the roof of my family house. Those hours of practice kicked in and I got a perfect score slinging ball bearings at targets from 20m away, placing my name on the all-time leader board!  Preparation is key and David was wise to choose a weapon that he knew well. David takes a step of faith by not using the weapons and armour offered and by only picking up 5 pieces of ammunition. David’s preparation shows that he wishes God to use the skills and gifts he has to achieve the miracle and does not wish to trust in his own strength.

The fourth stone we will pick up together represents TRUST. Ancient battles were regularly won only when the other side broke and ran. To achieve this, armies would do their best to make their enemies fear them through imposing feats of strength, scary banners, loud drums and horns, and warrior cries and taunts. We see the Philistines doing this successfully for 40 days causing the Israelites to leave the battlefield again and again to regroup. It is likely that the Philistines had been pushing the Israelites back further and further and establishing greater claims on their land in and around Sokoh. Yet David does not back down in fear to the taunts and curses of Goliath, instead stepping forward in trust in God and rebuking Goliath. This fourth moment of faith is made all the more amazing because of how small David must have appeared on the battlefield in comparison to Goliath. The tallest recorded person in modern history was Robert Wadlow of the United States (1918–1940), who was 272 cm (8 ft 11 in). The early copies of 1 Samuel record Goliath as being 9ft 9inch tall (nearly 3m). Let’s see how tall that is (show on measuring tape). To be able to rebuke Goliath while standing in his shadow that caused a whole army to be fearful is a moment of perfect faith and trust in God to save in the face of impossible odds. David tells Goliath that “it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves” and because of the way God will deliver David it will show “the whole world” that there is a God.

The fifth stone we will pick up together represents VICTORY. This final moment of faith illustrates David’s attitude to Victory. David rushes at Goliath knowing that through God the battle has already been won. The bible describes that as Goliath moved closer to attack David, “David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him”. There was no fear or hesitation in David after felling the giant either, as he stood on the battlefield within close distance to the Philistine battle lines David did not retreat but pulled out Goliath’s sword and took off his head. The Philistines fled in fear at the sight and the Israelites pursued their army all the way to Ekron.

Through these five moments of faith we see David step forward in Courage, ignore the fear of others and offer to take on Goliath; we see David show Confidence enough to convince the King to send him; we see David Prepare wisely for the battle knowing his limits and relying on God; we see David Trust God in the shadow of impossible odds; and lastly we see David claim Victory and stand fearless in the midst of the battle.

Does this story inspire you today? Have you got a giant that you are battling at the moment in your life? David’s story shows us that when we turn our battles over to God, we will have the victory over the giants in our life. With God’s help you can have courage to step forward, have confidence that God will help you, prepare with humility for the battle ahead, trust in God and not your own ability, and stand firm in the knowledge of God’s victory in your life and desire to bring miraculous deliverance from the giants that you fight.  [Prayer]