A Giant Lesson About Fear

Good afternoon, everyone! Good to see all of your smiling faces here today, and welcome to all of our visitors. Hope everyone had an enjoyable week. We're forging on into 2020. It is nice that the weather's not quite as cold as it could be. We have a lot of snow coming down.

Seems like I've been making a few trips back and forth to Minnesota lately. The last couple times I've been there seems to coincide with these snow and ice storms blowing through. So it's nice not to have to deal with that here. For those who like titles, I've titled this message a giant lesson about fear. One of the things that we struggle with as human beings, I think it's just part of the human condition, is fears and anxieties. Our minds have the ability to fixate on things that cause us concern and often blow them up into giant-sized proportions.

When we're little, maybe it's a little bit comical, most kids are in one way or another afraid of the dark. I think I know I was. In fact, I've been going back and forth, as I mentioned, to Minnesota. One of the things we've done is clean out my mom's house.

It brought back a lot of memories. When I was a little kid, for whatever reason, I was always afraid of the basement. I don't know if any of you had basements and if you were afraid of going down there, but it was like this combination of it being dark and having all these corners and stuff sticking out in different places that you wouldn't see.

I can remember as a kid, too, how if I'd have to go down, it was like the worst thing that my parents could ask me to do. Andy, I need you to go down to the basement and grab me a jar of whatever. I go down the basement, so I reach out ahead of me and turn the light on and reach around the next corner and turn on the light. Then, when I turned off the light downstairs, I'd run up the stairs.

I didn't like the darkness behind me in the basement. It's funny, even going back there in my 50s, I don't run up the stairs anymore. But it was interesting, the last time I was there, and I was in the basement turning the light off. That's the first thing that came to my mind after all those years, was being afraid of being in the basement.

These things can sit kind of deep inside of us, can't they? As we get older, our fears and anxieties can become a little more realistic. They're based off of things happening in our lives. We all, depending on the periods of life that we're going through, the things that are going on around us, with our families and the rest, can bring a lot of fear and anxiety on us. It doesn't help, of course, that there are a lot of legitimate things going on in the world today that can induce this fear if we're not careful.

Whether we're thinking about social situation, whether it's in our country or around the world, whether we're thinking of wars and attacks and things like have happened in this past week. If we're not careful, there are plenty of things that we can fixate on and become pretty fearful about. I'd like to take a step through a couple of stories today. The topic ties in because the stories actually happen to be about giants in the Bible.

I'd like to walk through a couple of these stories and think about some of the lessons that they teach us about our fears and how we handle our fears. Let's start in Numbers 13. We're not going to read the entirety of these passages, but the first story is in Numbers 13, and maybe not one that we remember right offhand, but I think as we get into the story, many of us will remember hearing this in the past.

Most biblical chronologies would tell us that this event that we're going to read about happened somewhere about a year and a quarter, a year and a half after the children of Israel left Egypt. As we can recall, in that first year leaving Egypt, first of all, they experienced all these miraculous plagues that happened in Egypt before they were freed. These are things that we think about during the spring holy days, whether it's the frogs coming up, the Nile River turning into blood, darkness falling upon the earth, all these the boils that broke out on people's bodies, and of course culminating in the death of the firstborn of Egypt.

All these incredible supernatural things that led to the children of Israel coming out of Egypt. And of course, that was followed by the Red Sea Crossing, something that, you know, if people remember Bible stories, that's probably one of the ones that they do remember, is the crossing of the Red Sea as they went through on dry land, and God delivered them miraculously from the army. And after that, when they were hungry and they needed food, there were quail that came.

They were able to catch the quail in their nets and eat them so much quail that they didn't even know what to do and really didn't even want it in the end because there was so much of it. And then on an ongoing basis, there was a manna that was given them supernaturally, showing up there every morning as they woke up and had that to eat. And then, of course, you need water in the desert, and water came from the rock.

God miraculously provided all of these things. I mention all these things as a backdrop because they stand in such stark contrast to the story that we're going to read as we look at Israel and their last step here in going into the Promised Land, or what was intended to be their entrance into the Promised Land. Let's start in Numbers 13 and verse 17, and we'll read a little bit about what happened. And again, in terms of setting, children of Israel are poised right outside of the Promised Land.

God's going to bring them into the land. Before they go in, he tells the tribes from the 12 tribes of Israel, Choose one person from each of your tribes, and we're going to send this set of 12 people, and they're going to scout out the land. And they were given some specific instructions in terms of what they were going to do there. And that's where we'll break in in Numbers 13, and we'll start in verse 17.

And so, they were given these specific instructions. You can notice the instructions were to look and make an assessment of what was there.

They weren't supposed to make any judgments about what they saw, but they were supposed to go through the land, very carefully scout out what it was that was there. They were supposed to know what's the current state there, what are the people like, what is their strength like, what is the produce like, what is the landscape like.

And so, they went and they did that. And the typical result, it was sort of the best of times and the worst of times, as they came back to give the report. Numbers 13, verse 26. And here it says, The spies departed, and they came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the wilderness of Peron at Kadesh. And they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. And there are stories there about how they took this bunch of grapes down from one of the grapevines, and it was large enough that they actually needed two of them with a stick between them holding it on their shoulders in order to carry this bunch of grapes.

And so, it really stands for how productive land was. And even now, when you visit Israel, one of the famous carvings that they make out of olive wood there in Israel are these pictures. And it's supposed to picture two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, they usually say, carrying these grapes on their stick. It's something that really has stuck in the psyche of the people there.

And so, in verse 27, they told him and said, We went to the land that you sent us, and it truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. So, showing these huge vines with grapes. Nevertheless, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large, and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. We'll get to them a little more in the future.

So, so far, so good. As the spies came back and gave their initial report, they're laying out exactly what they're asked to do. They were said, go to the land, see what the produce is like, see what the landscape is like, see what the people are like.

And that's exactly what they've done so far. So, so far, so good. But, as we can expect, this is about the point where the wheels start to fall off. And the spies start to go outside of what it was they were asked to do. They were asked to go and assess the land. They were not asked to make a judgment about whether Israel was fit or strong enough to occupy the land, or whether they'd be capable of striking down the people that were in the land.

And I think we know the account well enough to know that where these spies go next is the start to despair. And say, you know, things are so awful there, there's just no way that we're going to be able to do this. And let's look at this a little further. In the start of chapter 14, all the people start to come on glue. And you can almost feel this mob mentality that's coming over the children of Israel.

And you can think about the number of people that there must have been well into the thousands, if not more, and how the word would spread. Because you wouldn't have one group of people that would be able to stand there and hear over a loudspeaker everything that was going on. And you can imagine what probably happened was you had from all the tribes a certain number of people who were the representatives of the tribes that probably heard firsthand what was happening.

And then the word would start to ripple out as they would go back to their tribes, speak about what had happened, what the reports were from the spies. And you can just sort of feel this kind of turning of the wheel and this ground swell starting to happen as people started to hear, there's all these powerful people out there, there's no way we're going to do it. The people who went to land, they found some great things, but it's going to be awful, and there's no way we're going to be able to go in there.

And after all of the things that they had experienced in terms of God delivering them out of Egypt, here's what happened. Numbers 14 will start in verse 6. So this is after the spies, the 10 of the 12 spies had given their reports and talked about how there's no way we're going to be able to do this.

And in Numbers 14 verse 6, Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, they tore their clothes. They were the two who disagreed in their report with the other 10. And they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, The land we pass through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey.

Only don't rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread. Their protection is departed from them, and the Lord is with them. Do not fear them. And verse 10 to me is very telling, And all the congregation said to stone them with stones. So here you have these people who were brought out of Israel, in all of these miraculous circumstances, all of these things that they saw God do with them and for them for a year and a quarter, a year and a half.

And they came right to the threshold of the land that God had promised them. And as they started to hear the reports of the spies, the spies then went beyond what they were asked to do. And we didn't read that section in the beginning of verse 14, but they talk about how they saw giants and how they were grasshoppers. In fact, I did skip over a passage I was going to read. Let's go back to Numbers 13, because this lays it out more clearly, verses 31 through 33 of Numbers 13. This is where the men who spied out the land in verse 31, they said, We're not able to go up against the people, for they're stronger than we.

So this is, we saw how the initial instructions to the spies were, Go out and see what's there. It was not a matter of saying to the spies, Go out and tell us whether you think we can conquer these people. Because God had shown already, when you think that the army of Egypt was the most powerful army that could be mustered in the world at that point in time. And of course, there was no way that a bunch of slaves escaping across the desert was going to be able to prevail against that army.

But God struck down the army. And so, very specifically, the instruction of the spies was not, Go in there and see if Israel is strong enough as a group of people to defeat these folks. In verse 32, They gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out. They said, The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants. And the people who we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw giants, and here it mentions again the descendants of Anak. And we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.

And so what they're saying is that these people, they were just so huge, so monstrous, such mighty warriors. There was no way that we're going to be able to conquer them. And so what happened is this fear and this mob mentality started to roll across the children of Israel.

Is they forgot about everything that had happened before. They forgot what God had done for them before. And they simply saw the things that were in front of their eyes. They saw their own weakness, and they were gripped with fear. Fear to the point where the couple of people who stood up and reminded them of all the things that God had done for them, they wanted to put them to death. And they wanted to turn back and go back to Egypt, where they came from.

So this is the first story about fear. A few things that stick out from this story that we've already referred to. The first one, they moved quickly from assessing what was in the land to assessing God's ability to deliver them. And when they started to assess God's ability to deliver them, they didn't look at what God had done for them in the past. They simply saw the fact that they, compared to the people who were in the land, did not have the physical strength, and perhaps the number is certainly not the physical stature, to defeat them.

God had already said he would give them the land. That was the whole reason he brought them out of Egypt, wasn't it? And he made it very clear that he was bringing them to a promised land. They knew as a people that they were going back to the land that God had given Abraham. And so there wasn't a reason to doubt what it was that God had in mind for them as the objective. But at this point, they forgot all about that, and all they could see was the physical evidence in front of them that didn't look very good.

Giant people, strong cities, armies that they felt would defeat them no matter what happened. And so that fear wiped out their memory of everything that God had done for them. The Red Sea, the manna in the desert, the water coming from the rock. And that mob mentality, fed by fear, took over. And of course, the end result, as we know, was the entire generation of people there that was over the age of 20 was consigned to wandering in the desert for 40 years after Moses taught God out of destroying them entirely, because they were operating purely out of fear and completely forgot and left behind everything that God had shown them.

So that's one example, not terribly positive one, of fear and what it can do to people. And I'm sure if we look at our own lives, I know I can see different parts in my life where I operate out of fear, and I have operated out of fear.

And it causes us to do the same thing here, doesn't it? That's why these examples are here, because we can react in very much the same way. Let's look at another giant lesson about fear, and this one will be an even more familiar story to everyone, the story of David and Goliath. David and Goliath. And the first book of Samuel, the book of 1 Samuel, gives us another encounter here with a giant, though this one, as we know, turns out very differently.

This one starts in 1 Samuel 17, and we read a little bit about what's going on in Israel at the time. We'll start in verse 4 of 1 Samuel 17. A champion went out from the camp of the Philistines named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. Now, if you read, you'll see a lot of different controversy if you read about how tall was Goliath. Really, it'll range from somewhere to six and a half feet or so to actually like nine and a half feet. And it depends on translations of the Bible that you turn to and some of the manuscripts that you go to.

There seems to be some thought and consensus that it's probably more towards the six and a half feet, although he could be as much as over nine feet tall. So this guy was no small guy. And we have to remember, at this point in time, if you've ever been to visit places that we've built in medieval ages, you'll see the doorways are fairly small for modern heights. The typical Israelite, from what I've gathered and reading, was probably between five and five and a half feet tall at this time. So even if Goliath was at the lower end of these estimates of six and a half feet tall, you'd be thinking about somebody that was a full head taller, a full foot taller, than any average person that was around, maybe as much as several feet taller.

In verse five, he had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail. And the weight of the coat was 5,000 shekels of bronze. And he had bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his iron spear had weighed 600 shekels, and a shield-bearer went before him. And he stood out, and he cried to the armies of Israel, and he said to them, Why have you come out to line up for battle?

Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.

And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day, give me a man that we may fight together. And when Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. That's probably one of the bigger understatements of the Bible. When you think of, I mean, the visage that they put in front of you, not only this incredibly tall guy, but completely covered with this bronze armor, and looking like a human battle tank.

When you would look at it, there would be no way, as a human being of normal stature at that time, that you would think you would have any chance against this person. So very much the same situation as we saw the children of Israel as they were originally trying to enter the Promised Land. Seeing some of this incredibly huge stature, when you look at it from your eyes, there's no way that you're going to be able to win this type of battle.

And the outcome so far in the story is the same as we saw in the earlier account, right? Numbers, fear, and paralysis. Nobody wanted to go up against him. There's no way. And this wasn't exactly an unusual situation. I know sometimes it seems odd that just Goliath would be out there, but it wasn't unusual at this time for armies to send out a champion.

And rather than the entire army's clashing, the champion from one side and the champion from the other side would fight. And rather than having a mass battle, you would have a fight between the two, and whoever won that battle would be declared the winner, rather than everyone having the fight. And of course, if you've got a guy like Goliath on your side, you're going to be in favor of that kind of a set-up, aren't you? So, something we don't always realize, but in verse 16, what does it tell us about the time frame of this going on?

It tells us in verse 16 that this went on for 40 days. Now, it's something that I've read over in the past when I've read the account of David and Goliath. But if you can imagine, this wasn't just one day with this guy coming out, curling all kinds of insults, anything you can think of at the Israelites, daring somebody to come up and fight him. This was day after day after day for 40 days.

Imagine what that does to you psychologically as an army when you're there. You've got this huge person coming out every day and just ridiculing you. And the worst thing is, you know he's right. Because physically speaking, there's no way you're going to be able to do anything to stand up against him. Think of 40 days ago. What was going on 40 days ago? I mean, counted the days exactly, but 40 days ago was about Thanksgiving time, wasn't it?

Seems like ages ago, doesn't it? Back at the latter part of November, 40 days. That's how long Goliath kept showing up day after day after day, hurling insults. Continue to wear the Israelites down psychologically, convincing them that there was nothing they were going to be able to do. It's a fitting allegory, I think, for our fears, isn't it? Because when we're honest about it, some of the things that we fear, the things that we probably fear the most, can keep coming back like that, can't they? Like that giant that keeps showing up, daring us to fight. And we know, when we listen to the voice of that fear, whatever it might be, that there's no way we can do it.

And that's the only thing we can keep thinking of day after day after day, as those thoughts keep coming back and plaguing us. It's actually a very good example, I think, for the fears that we live with in our lives when those come along. But then David came along. Let's remember a few things about David, because I think this is an important part of the story as well.

So David had actually been anointed the king of Israel at this time. We don't always think about it in terms of chronology of this. And I've always, when I was a young kid, I remember, you know, I'd hear the stories about David being anointed and thinking about these things happening afterwards. And it seemed really odd. Why in the world would Saul, the king of Israel, tolerate David being around when he'd been ordained king?

I think the only logical answer is that this wasn't a public situation. Samuel came to the house of Jesse. He looked at the sons. He ultimately laid hands on David and anointed him king. But it wasn't like there was some grand announcement to the whole nation that this is your new king. He was basically there in the shadows.

He'd been anointed. But people in general did not know about it. Like the Israelites who were entering the land of Canaan, he also had experienced God's hand delivering him. And we'll read about that in a few minutes. And then, lastly, he really personified something that we read about off and on and throughout the whole Bible. And it's stated here in 1 Samuel 16, verse 7.

We don't have to turn there. I think you'll be familiar with the verse, which says that God does not see as man sees. He looks at the heart and not at the outward appearance. David is the very person that was said about. He personifies that outlook of God. But he doesn't look at what things look like outside, how we size things up physically. God looks at things differently according to his plan, when sizing up a person according to what's in the person's heart, not the appearance of that person.

And that's how he values it. Unlike the mob in ancient Israel, all of the fearful among the army of Israel, in this case, were not able to dissuade David from what he knew. And that was the power of God and God's ability to exercise that power. Even his own brother, who said, look, you're the runt of the family. Just deliver the bread you came to deliver and get back to the sheep where you belong.

This is for big boys. You don't belong here on the battlefront. And David said, no, that's not what it's about. This person is here. Goliath is here. He's impugning the name of God. And he needs to be dealt with. He had a level of courage backed by the track record he had with God. And we'll read on in verse 31 through 37, in terms of where this goes. Now, when the words that David spoke were heard, they, meaning his brothers and the others in Israel, reported them to Saul, and Saul sent for them.

In verse 32, then David said to Saul, let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with his Philistine. So, alone among the Israelites, he had a viewpoint. He was the one that God saw differently, not by physical stature.

And he'd learned that same lesson within himself, which was, it doesn't matter what you're seeing outwardly. If God is fighting for you, if you're fighting God's battle, he will let you sustain it. He will help you sustain it and deliver the battle. And Saul said to David in verse 33, you're not able to go against his Philistine to fight with him. You're a youth. He's a man of war from his youth. 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, I went out after it and I struck it.

I delivered the lamb from its mouth, and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and I struck and killed it. Your servant is 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. 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.

So, think about the contrast in this scene. We were back in the Book of Numbers. We had the children of Israel, we had ten out of the twelve spies, and they just could not remember what God had done for them, because they were so paralyzed by fear. They were seeing so clearly what was in front of their faces and the overwhelming physical strength of it, that they couldn't think about anything that God had done for them. In contrast, David alone, among all the armies of Israel, stood up and said, you know, I see what the rest of the army is thinking, I see how everyone else is afraid, but I have experienced directly the salvation of God, the deliverance of God, and the animals that I have fought.

And I know that this is the battle that God wants fought, and I know that he will allow me to win it. So, this is something where David, unlike the other Israelites in the other account, were able to stand up because of what they had experienced and what they knew about the power of God. And so, in verse 48 of 1 Samuel 17, So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. So he ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword, and drew it out of its sheath, and killed him, and cut off his head with it.

So this is not just victory, it is total and complete victory. And taking his own weapon, which had to be incredibly heavy when it was describing all the armor that he carried, you can almost see him struggling with two hands to pull this sword up and take Goliath's head off.

And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. Now the men of Israel and Judah rose and shouted and pursued the Philistines as far as the entrance of the valley and the gates of Echron, and the wounded of the Philistines fell along the road to Shoram, even as far as Gath and Echron. So God gave Israel, through David, complete deliverance. And we can see the contrast in these two accounts. We saw on the first account the Israelites couldn't even think of and focus on what God had done for them before, and the power and the strength of God in the face of the enemies.

David, on the other hand, couldn't be swayed away from the fact that God would deliver him. That was the one thing he focused on the entire time and would not let go of it. And fear in him could not erase the memory of God's deliverance in the past. The first place he went was, God has done these things for me. I've fought these other battles. God has delivered me through them. Why should this time be any different?

He resisted the mob mentality, and despite all of the fear that was going on around him, he clung to his faith in God. So faith can shield us from the faithlessness of the mobs that are around us. So let's take a pause now and look inside ourselves, because all this talk of giants and everything else that's going on, it's really an allegory, an analogy about fear. Like I said before, these fears that we have inside us can just turn into these monstrous giants, can't they?

And I want to say, going into this, I'm talking about fear and anxiety, generically speaking. Obviously, if we're dealing with things like clinical depression or serious problems with anxiety, we need to, in addition to praying to God, in addition to turning to his word, we also need to seek professional medical help for those things, because that's out there, and it's effective and it's useful. I'm talking about dealing with fears day-to-day in our lives that we face as normal, healthy human beings.

These stories are from a long time ago, but the principles are really strongly applicable to us. I'd like to spend a few minutes focusing on those. So let's think about, first, what our fears are. Now, if you look generically, and you look on the Internet, as I have a tendency to do, you'll find different lists of top ten and so forth. I found a January 2019 survey from a radio station, Q92.

I didn't have a chance to look at where Q92 were located. But it told me that the top ten fears that people had, number one, was not public speaking, as a lot of people say. Number one was actually snakes. 51% of people said they were afraid of some degree to snakes. You can tell from the reaction out there that it's probably true in this room as well. 38% of the people, and these don't add up to 100, so I'm only guessing that they let people choose multiple fears. Most of us have more than one, I think, if we're honest about it.

38% said they were afraid of heights. 23% said they were afraid of the dentist. It's a good thing we don't have a dentist in this congregation. We might take that personally.

21% reported they were afraid of confined spaces or had claustrophobia. 21% also said needles. I love this next one. 18% said clowns. Good thing we don't have circuses anymore. 17% said public speaking. That's one that always seems to come up. 15% said the dark. I can identify with that personally. 14% said flying. I assume that means flying in an airplane, not just being thrown through the air. And 5% said birds, which has a lot of question marks next to a missed list. I think we've got to think about that. Maybe some people watched too many Hitchcock movies when they were little kids or something.

But seriously speaking, we all do have fears and things that we genuinely struggle with. I was doing some other searching. I ran across a Christian blog that's written by a singer-songwriter named Haley Montgomery. She wrote a stream of consciousness of 30 of her fears, which I thought was instructive and I think probably resonates with more than one of us. I'll just read the first handful. She said the first fear that I will try and fail. That I will try but fail. Second, that my life will be insignificant and not matter or make an impact. Third, that my efforts are in vain and don't lead anywhere. Fourth, I will die in the desert and never make it to the promised land. Fifth, I will not make it to the finish line, in goals, dreams, projects, etc. Sixth, that life just feels like suffering and sadness. Seventh, I will never learn how to enjoy and celebrate goodness and I will miss it. Now, that's sad. It kind of brings tears to my eyes, actually, reading through that list. But if I'm honest about it, and if we're all honest about it, I think some of those fears probably resonate with each and every one of us, don't they? Because, you know, when we're sitting alone in that space and thinking, maybe when we're in a bad spot and somewhat fearful, I would guess that something along the lines of things that we just read there well up in our minds as well. No matter how confident we might seem, no matter what else it is that might be going on in our lives, we all do grapple with these fears. And when they come up, they can be like giants, those giants that keep coming along. I know, listening to the sermon that was given a couple weeks ago at the Winter Family Weekend by Tim Pebworth, he mentioned this syndrome called imposter syndrome, and it's something I can identify with, especially from when I was younger. It's this idea that of people being in a job or a position where they feel like they're kind of faking it, and somebody's going to find out that they don't really know what they're doing. Something you really hope that doctors don't have when they're about to operate on you. But, you know, I can identify with that, and I've struggled with that myself at different times in my career as I'm doing my job and thinking, wow, people are giving me all this responsibility, and they think I can really do this, and I know what I'm really like, and I'm not really so sure I can do it. We all kind of struggle with that sort of thing.

To be honest with you, I toss and turn at night, sometimes anxious about the next time I come up to give a sermon, whether I'll have anything meaningful to talk about. And I think we all struggle with those types of things that we deal with. I think the thing that I'd like to encourage everyone to do is think about what do you fear. And in fact, right now it's your turn. I'm not going to ask you to voice anything. I'm not going to ask you to raise hands. I'm just going to pause a minute and ask you, what do you fear?

Getting a little uncomfortable? The reason I do that is because, you know, when David was fighting Goliath, he knew who his enemy was. And we heard a similar theme in the sermon as well, right? Knowing what is it that we're fighting, what is it that's going to happen? And if we're going to fight fears and doubt, we're going to rely on the strength of God to do that. We also need to identify what it is that we're fighting. What is it that we're afraid of? What are the apprehensions, the anxieties that come along? What causes them so we can start to deal with those things at their roots?

And fears really are like giants, like I said. Like Goliath, they tend to come back again and again and again, and they keep visiting us. And they get to that point where they look so big that we don't think that there's any way we're going to get over them.

And they can stalk us like giants. Now, we're not going to stay in this place. We're going to move forward into a much more positive place. But I think, again, it's important for us, in a right and proper way, to think about and identify what are those things that we fear. What are those things that we struggle with? So we can pick up the tools that God has given us and that we can fight against those things.

And that we can conquer them exactly the way that David conquered Goliath. So let's look at a few lessons that we can go through today that come out of these two stories about giants. And how we can kill giants in our own lives. There are a few critical success factors, some things that David did successfully that the Israelites failed at that I think we can apply directly in our lives that can help us forward.

This is by no means an exhaustive list. This is a few, a handful of three items that I picked out as I was going through the stories. And I would encourage you to give these things some further thoughts. Look back at these stories. There's more that we can dig out of them in terms of how we, through the power of God, can approach and conquer our fears.

So the first one that I identified was seeing through God's eternal perspective. Seeing through God's eternal perspective. And I'd like to go back to this theme that I talked about briefly in 1 Samuel 16, verse 7. This idea when David was anointed by God, that God looks not as man does, but he looks on the heart. And that's actually a motif that weaves its way through this entire story. If we think about David, we think about Goliath, we think about Saul.

Okay? Because if we remember the history of when Saul became king of Israel, what can we remember about that? The people came to Samuel. Samuel, though he was a fantastic judge and prophet, his sons went off the reservation. And the people of Israel wanted to have nothing to do with the sons of Samuel, ruling over them in any way.

They wanted a king like the rest of the nations around them. And God, through Samuel, said, okay, I'm going to give you a king. Who did they choose as a king? Who did God name as a king for them? Somebody who looked in every way like the person that you would have rule over you.

The example for the description that's given to us of Saul was that he was a head taller than all the other Israelites around him. He was big and he was strong. He had that look, that look of leadership and confidence and strength about him. Of course, strength, especially military might, would be a key thing, wouldn't it? And so this whole story, as these characters weave together, has at its center Saul, somebody who looks like a king. But what does he show himself as? Do you remember there are several things that happened prior to this episode, as well as after, where Saul shows himself as not being courageous at all.

First of all, during his coronation, they find him hiding under a donkey cart. They've got to drag him out from under the cart, so he can go put a crown on his head or anoint him as king. We see other situations where he lost faith when Samuel was delayed in coming, went directly against what God said, in terms of offering and offering himself. And then we see this situation with Goliath, where Saul is apparently more or less MIA. He's there, but there's no evidence that he's doing anything to rally the troops, to remind people of God's power and strength, and to move forward with it.

And then you have David, who, if you recall, was at the end of a line of sons. So much so that when Samuel came to identify the next king, it was almost an afterthought that, oh yeah, I've got another kid. Who forgets their kid? I've actually talked to some friends who come from big families and have gotten left behind, like at a rest stop before. And I think it's left some emotional scars to tell you the truth.

But actually it's true, you know, with large families, I do know a person who was left behind, and their family had to loop back and get them at the gas station after they realized they'd left them behind.

But that's kind of how David was here, right? Because Samuel's there, he's looking, and of course Jesse, the father, I'm sure, was very proud. And he was thinking of his big strapping sons, and maybe the eldest, maybe the other one who's really big and strong. But not the forgotten little kid who's out there, you know, mining the sheep, because all the important stuff's going on here, so he's got to be out there taking care of, you know, the other things.

And so God was personifying and showing in a very physical, tangible way that he sees things differently from his eternal perspective, and weaves its way all the way then through to Goliath. Right? Because you've got Saul, the strongest, the tallest of the Israelites, the king. You've got David, who nobody really knows has been anointed as a king. Some shepherd boy who shows up to deliver loaves of bread, and comes out with his sling to slay that giant. And so God's showing in a very tangible way and wrapping all those thoughts together of how he sees things, and he does things very differently than what we see as human beings.

Turn with me, if you will, to 2 Corinthians 4. We'll read verses 16 through 18 of 2 Corinthians 4.

This talks about the same theme in slightly different words, 2 Corinthians 4 verses 16 through 18.

Here Paul writing to the Corinthians says, Therefore we don't lose heart. We're not afraid. We don't despair. We're not anxious. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. So we see as we feel ourselves getting older, getting more tired, the inward man, spiritual man, is being renewed day by day for our light affliction, which is but for a moment. See how Paul characterizes that, the things that are happening in our flesh? I'm just starting to tip the scales past middle age. A lot of you are on beyond that, so I can't say strongly about aches and pains just yet, because you'll probably tell me exactly what Paul says here. It's only a light affliction. It's only a flesh wound. Wait until you see what's coming.

But that's what Paul says. With all the things that he suffered through being beaten, some people think beaten to death and maybe even resurrected. He's beaten to the point of death where he's picked up. He calls this all a light affliction, this for a moment. It's working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we do not look at the things which are seen, but we look at the things that are not seen. For the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal. So Paul's delivering a message to us here spiritually about the giants that are in our lives. The things that we see around us, the tangible things that we can fear. And the fact that things that are eternal, the things that are from God, are so much bigger and stronger than any of those things. And those are the things that matter at the end. Turn with me, if you will, to Romans 8. I mentioned before, this is my favorite passage in the Bible, chapter in the Bible, Romans 8. We'll read verses 35 and 37. Romans 8 verses 35 and 37 carries on the same theme. Verse 35, Paul writes, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? All those giants will not separate us from the love of Christ. In verse 37, he says, Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. But through God, through Jesus Christ, we can have victory over all of these things that plague us, whatever they might be. So we have to remember that God sees things from an eternal perspective, not the way things look to us as human beings. And as he works out his plan, just as he showed with David and Goliath, what he sees from the eternal perspective is what's truly real at the end of the day. No matter how much those tangible things in front of our face might seem to be the most important thing that we can see. Secondly, never forget that God is with you. Now, this might seem fairly plain and straightforward, but we already saw how the children of Israel in the Book of Numbers, as they were getting ready to enter the Promised Land, they saw those giants in front of them. The last thing on their mind, for whatever reason, was all of the things that God had done for them, the fact that he was with them. And then you look at David, and the first thing on David's mind was that God was with him. That's something we have to keep in the forefronts of our minds. And it's only through God and his power that we can have this victory that we talk about. Turn with me, if you will, to Isaiah 41. Fantastic passage here, Isaiah 41, verses 10 through 13. And here through the prophet Isaiah, God's directly addressing Israel and talking about fear. Isaiah 41, verses 10 through 13. Let's think of all those giants that we might fight against. And what God says about them.

Verse 12.

How encouraging is that? How strengthening? You know, we've heard over the last number of weeks from Mr. Thomas about some of the basic spiritual fundamentals. We need to take God's word within us. We need to have some of these scriptures that we hide, we memorize, and we think about. And this is a fantastic passage, again, if we struggle with fear and the things that frighten us and the way that God says that he will help us and lead us through all of our fears. If you'll turn to Joshua 1, verse 9. I love this passage because Joshua, as some of you might remember, was one of the first, one of the two spies in Numbers that brought back a positive report, that said we should go into the land because God is more powerful, and the children of Israel wanted to stone him for it. And what is recorded in Joshua 1, verse 9, as God talks to Joshua when he's taking over as a leader of Israel, he tells Joshua, Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage, and don't be afraid. Don't be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Words that we need to keep in our minds as we face those giants, as we face those moments in our lives that seem so difficult and cause despair within us. Thirdly, and lastly, remember the blessings and deliverance that God has given you. Closely tied to the previous point in terms of remembering that God is with us, but there's more to it than that, isn't there? Because David knew that God was with him, but he also thought back to the specific things that God had done for him. He talked to Saul about how God had delivered him from the hands of the lion, from the bear, from the wild animal. And he thought back on those specific things that had happened in his life where he was able to see God's delivering hand. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 10. I think it's important for us to reflect back as we look at our spiritual walk over the course of time, and we can identify places where God has intervened in our lives and the lives of our families, and to recognize the specific things that he's done, and keep those things in the forefront of our minds. Because especially as we're dealing with those challenging situations, we have to remember not only that God's there with us, but what he's done for us in the way that he's shown his power in our lives. 1 Corinthians 10. We'll read verses 1 through 6.

More of a brethren, I don't want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea. They were baptized into Moses and the cloud and the sea, and they all ate that same spiritual food. They all drank that same spiritual drink, for they drank of the spiritual rock that followed him. And that rock was Christ. But with most of them, God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. And this is talking exactly about the passage and numbers that we were looking at. Now, these things became our examples to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they lusted. And again, what he points to here is the fact that the children of Israel, as they stood in that spot, needed to look back at the deliverance that God had given them, the things that he had done for them, the fact that they were passing through the Red Sea, taken out of Egypt, all of these things that God had done. Let's turn to Psalm 77. That passage there really directly addressed Israel going into the Promised Land. Psalm 77, of course, is written in the Psalms, many of which were written by David. In Psalm 77, verses 11 and 12, he talks about remembering the things that God had done for him.

This is something I'd suggest we should take into our lives. If we think about, you know, we know we should meditate and spend some time just thinking, but what should we think about? I think as odd as that might sound sometimes, it's not so easy. We'd probably sit there and think, well, what should I meditate about? I'm going to spend some time just thinking, what is it that I should turn over in my mind?

Well, here's an example that David lays out for. Psalm 77, 11 and 12. He says, I will remember the works of the Lord. Surely I will remember your wonders of old. I will meditate on all your work, and I'll talk of your deeds. So one of the things that David talked about, as he was sitting back and meditating, and as he showed when he was facing Goliath, it was right there in the forefront of his mind because he'd thought about it.

He thought about, what are the things that God has done for me? How is it that God has worked in my life? What are the wonders that he worked? What are his works and his deeds that he's done? As we're looking for things to spend time meditating about, it's not only a matter of taking a Bible verse or passage and thinking about it, which is absolutely profitable and a good thing, but I also suggest that sitting back and thinking about what is it that God has done for you.

I remember my parents at one point over the course of a year kept a list of all the blessings that they had received. They pulled it out at feast time and read through it with us. I don't remember any of the specifics, but it made an impression on me because they thought about, what are the things that God has done for us? Over the course of the year, they recorded those things so they could look back at them, or we could look back at those things in the family, and say, look at what God has done for us.

Specific examples, and we should think about that, not only focusing, it's good to focus on what do we fear and why do we fear it so we can fight it, but also focus on how has God delivered us from things and keeping those things at the front of our mind so we have that full faith and confidence in His power in our lives, whenever and as we need it. So, in conclusion, we spoke today about a giant lesson about fear.

And hopefully, as we've looked through these couple of stories of ancient Israel getting ready to enter the Promised Land and the giants that they faced, as we saw the story about David and him facing Goliath, we can see some useful and powerful lessons about how we approach the metaphorical giants that live in our lives, the fears that we face, the things that come our way that we have to deal with day after day. As we saw in the two stories, fear will tell us to run before the fight ever starts. Fear will tell us to run before the fight ever starts. I have cats. I don't know how many of you know cats very well, but all I have to do is sneeze, and one of my cats will just take off across the room, because that's the first instinct in a cat.

There's a loud noise, something drops, boom, they're gone, and then they find somewhere to hide. That's what fear is often like within us as well. We saw that in the stories that we read. The first thing we want to do is just run, and then we want to hide. God wants us, though, in our Christian lives to fight every day, and he promises us deliverance in those fights. So, as we reviewed and looked at these stories to succeed in the fight, go back to these stories and dig out the lessons that you see in them.

The three that I identified were, number one, review, renew that godly perspective daily, the perspective of looking by faith and not by sight, that God doesn't look at outward appearance, but he looks at what's in the heart, and he can deliver from anything.

Secondly, never forget that God is with you. He has promised never to leave you or me, and never to forsake us. And let's always keep that at the front of our minds. And lastly, let's remember and think actively on the deliverance that God has already given us, and the power he has to deliver us again as we face the next giant.