Camping Out With the Giant

Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass. And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders. And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him. And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye 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. When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid. . .And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. - I Samuel 17:1-11, 16

Picture the scene, if you will. Two great armies. Israel on one hill; the Philistines on the other. In the valley between stands a giant. Mean. Tough. And, ugly, I would assume, but the Bible doesn’t say one way or another. What the Scriptures do make evident, however, is that Goliath was a bully. He was bigger than everyone else, and he knew it. So, acting on behalf of his nation, he sets forth a challenge: Israel could send out their best champion to fight Goliath. If Israel’s champion won, they would be the victors and vice versa. Challenge extended.

As for Israel, they were shaking in their boots, and as far as I can tell, they didn’t respond to the giant’s challenge at all. Instead, they camped out where they were on the hillside for forty days. Forty days while Goliath came out day and night to taunt them. Why didn’t they fight back? Why were they so content to camp out under a constant barrage of attack and insult?

Why are we? Negative thoughts attack us day and night, but we often fail to fight back. Maybe it’s too hard. Perhaps we’re afraid it won’t make a difference. Maybe we’re lazy. But the fact is, the battle will never be over, and we’ll never win the victory until we’re willing to step up and face the giant head-on.

Friends, it’s time to stop camping out with the giant. We can’t wish it away or ignore it. We must face it as David did in the power of the Lord. Only then will we finally see our giants fall.