Keep Faith In Your Camp

A giant doesn’t just show up to fight you, it shows up to talk you into fear. We walk through 1 Samuel 17 and get painfully practical about the “Goliaths” we face today: addiction, anxiety, shame, broken habits, spiritual attacks, and the quiet lies that say you’re not enough. When Israel keeps staring at the size of the problem, they forget the size of their God, and they start running from battles they were meant to finish.

We also dig into the voices around you and the voices inside you. Goliath taunts for forty days, and that’s a picture of what happens when fear is left unchecked: it gets louder, and eventually it sounds normal. I talk about why you can’t live on other people’s faith, why naysayers can’t lead your decisions, and why some of the strongest discouragement can come from your own circle. If you’ve been trying to “hide” your giant in the back room of life, this message is a call to bring it into the light and deal with it.

Then we follow David’s mindset: he doesn’t rely on hype, he relies on history with God. The lion and the bear become his proof that God can deliver again, and his victory makes one point clear: the battle is the Lord’s. If you need Christian encouragement, stronger faith, and a grounded way to think about spiritual warfare, this is for you.

Listen, subscribe, and share Beyond Sunday with someone who’s carrying a heavy fight, then leave a review to help more people find it. What giant are you ready to stop giving time to?

Transcript

Welcome And Today’s Scripture

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Hey, hey, hey, what's going on, everybody? This is Pastor Lee Day and I pastor Christ Family Outreach Church in Amelia County, Virginia. I am your host of this podcast, Beyond Sunday, and I just want to say thank you very much for taking your time to tune in. If you got your Bibles, go ahead and get them open to 1 Samuel chapter 17. We're going to be talking about the giants in your life, whether they be physical things, spiritual things, mental things, emotional things. What are exactly the giants in your life doing? How do you handle them? How do you handle them? Are you trying to ignore them? Are you hoping that you could just take your giant and put it in the back bedroom of the house, lock the door tight so the family never knows about it? Are you hoping you could shove your giant down in the basement, hide it up in the attic? What are you doing with the giants in your life specifically? So we're going to be get going at 1 Samuel chapter 17. Going to read a few verses for you just right out the gate, and we'll come back and talk about it here. Because I really want to set the table about this giant named Goliath. So 1 Samuel chapter 17, beginning with the first verse, my friend says this. Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle, and they were gathered at Soko, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Soko and Azekah in Ephstamim. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered and encamped in the valley of Elah, and drew up in the line of battle against the Philistines. And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side with a valley between them. And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. According to the scripture, Goliath was nine feet tall, his coat of armor weighed one hundred and twenty-five pounds, and his spear weighed fifteen pounds. So I'm just gonna tell you, this was an extremely large man. But take note to what we learn next, because verse eight and moving on through the 11th verse says this, verse eight through eleven. He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine? And are you not 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, then 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 ranks 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 dismay and greatly afraid. So here we got Goliath, right? He's taunting the ranks of Israel. And the army of Israel, what do they do? They turn and run. The Bible says that they are dismayed and greatly afraid. We are talking about champions in their own right. We are talking about an army that has been blessed and favored and given the strength from the hand of God. And yet here they are, they're turning and running. I wonder what we run from in life just because of what we see physically or what we feel emotionally or where we're at mentally. I wonder what we run from in life forgetting the fact that we have been blessed by God, strengthened by the Holy Spirit of God inside of us. And yet rather than standing from a position of victory that we already have, by the way, we're not fighting for victory as Christians. We're fighting from the position of victory. Can someone out there say amen to that, my friends? But I wonder how many things we run from that we should not be running from. You see, the soldiers, they were looking at how large their problem in front of them was when they should have been looking at how big their God was. So I want to encourage you as you listen to this episode, don't get caught up looking at how big your Goliath is. Don't get caught up looking at how large your problem is. Rather, take note, get into the word of God, experience your heavenly father through worship and praise, and understand just how big your God is. Because Goliath actually, in a way, he actually helps David. And I want you to consider this. I mentioned this in a sermon just a week or so ago. Had there been no Goliath, okay, then David never would have made his way into the king's tent. Now think about that. So in a way, Goliath was David's promotion. Okay? Goliath was David's promotion. I wonder how much we've run from in our past, and actually the storm that we were running from is actually what God was going to use to advance us, to take us from faith to faith and glory to glory. Something else I want to bring up here. According to the text, Goliath taunted Israel. Now listen to me. Write this down if you're taking notes. You cannot listen to the naysayers in your life. Okay, make it personal. I cannot listen to the naysayers in my life. Okay. I want to encourage you, do not listen to the people or do not listen to the person that tells you that it cannot be done. I don't care how much you love them or how much they love you. Don't listen to the naysayer. Do not allow other people's lack of faith to be what causes you to give up. Okay? Don't allow their lack of faith to be what causes you not to walk across the valley and knock down the Goliath in your life today. Don't matter what your past is, don't matter what your friends say, don't matter what your family says. If they don't have the faith that you need to walk across that valley, then you can't listen to them. Not in that moment anyway. You can't listen to them. 1 Samuel 17, 12 says this. Now David was the son of an Iphrothite of Bethlehem in Judah named Jesse, who had eight sons. And in the days of Saul, the man was already old and advanced in years. The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle, and the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab, the firstborn, and next to him Abonadab, and the third Shema. And David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul, but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father sheep at Bethlehem. For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand morning and evening. You know, aren't you glad? I know I am. Aren't you glad that David didn't listen to the naysayers? He didn't listen to the entire army of Israel. He didn't listen to his brothers, as we're going to see here in a moment in the text. His brothers don't want him to go. David didn't listen to the naysayers. Goliath taunted Israel for 40 days. Why? Let me tell you why Goliath taunted Israel for 40 days. Here it is. Simply because no one had enough faith in the entire camp of Israel to say, here I am, God, use me to knock out this giant. The only reason, the only reason this taunting, this foolishness, this folly, this silliness went on for 40 days is because no one had enough faith up until that point to put an end to it. I wonder how many things we struggle with in life. And the only reason they continue to be a struggle for us is because we haven't stepped up in the mighty, powerful name and blood of Jesus Christ and rebuke that stuff out in the name of Jesus. Some things taunt us for way too long. Some things have grips on us for way too long. Not because they have the strength, power, might, authority, and ability, but simply because in the name of the blood of Jesus, we haven't told those things to get out of our life. Can someone say amen to that? Because that's all you got to do is in the name of Jesus tell it to get out and flee. And it has to go, by the way. You see, you need to keep, write this down. You need to keep the faith in your camp. I need to keep faith in my camp. We always gotta be ready and be willing to be used by God. Always be ready to volunteer for the work of the Lord. Always be ready to be obedient. I need you to hear this piece. Always be ready to be obedient so that when God says go, my friends, my brothers and sisters, you're ready to go. Look at the 17th verse. Watch what happens here. We're moving on quickly. We got a lot to cover right here. And the 17th verse says this. And Jesse said to David, his son, Take for your brothers and Epha of this parched grain and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to camp to your brothers, and take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand, see if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them. So, so so dad is gonna send his son David out to get a report to see how his other sons, David's brothers, are doing. And the 19th verse says this Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Eli, fighting with the Philistines. And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with the keeper and took the provisions and went and as Jesse has commanded him. And he came to the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry. And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. I mean, imagine this powerful scene, army against army. And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers. Verse 23, and as he talked with him, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him. Oh, woo. This time, this time David heard him. This time, someone with enough faith to do something about it. This time, someone who believed in God enough to do something about it, done heard what Goliath has been speaking for 40 days. Now watch this, verse 24. And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid. And the men of Israel said, Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will aren't the man who king who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel. Oh, be careful who you hang out with. Let me just throw this in here. I feel led by the Spirit to do this. Be careful who you hang out with, because they may turn and run from the very thing you got to stand in and fight against. All of Israel, all the army of Israel turns and runs. Be careful who you hang with. Be careful who you hang with. Verse 26, and David said to the men who stood by him, What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? And the people answered him in the same way, so shall it be done to the man who kills him. Now listen to me, friends. Let's just take a break right there. Put a bookmark in the text right there. Listen to me for a moment. In order for Goliath to have been removed, somebody, someone with enough faith had to be willing to step up and stand out. I say it all the time. I say it all the time. If you're gonna stand up, you're gonna stand out. God is willing to give you the victory. Now here's good news. God is willing to give you the victory and remove the giants in your life, but you must be willing to stand out and fight. You may say, Pastor Lee, what I'm facing is way too large and is surely, certainly out of my control. I could never beat it. Well, let me just tell you this. That is exactly my point. Without God, you cannot beat it. You cannot bear it, you cannot defeat it. So you gotta give it to God. You gotta have faith and trust that God is larger than your problem. Can someone say praise God? Can someone say amen? Now, you got to understand that God doesn't get caught up into the hype of what or who or how big your giant is, right? What God cares about, write this down. What God cares about is your relationship with him. That's what God's concerned about. And God is willing to fight for you and remove for you any and everything that tries to get in the way of you growing closer to him. Rather than run from the giant, David knew that this was the moment the giant had to be stopped. The giant had been defying the armies of God for 40 days, and for David, that 40 days was too long. The entire army of Israel allowed Goliath to taunt them for 40 days. Now, here's a question for every one of you listeners right now. How much time are you willing to give the giant that is facing you? The entire army of Israel, I'm gonna say it again. The entire army of Israel, okay? They allowed Goliath to taunt them for 40 days. And had David not showed up, who knows how long? Who knows how long it would have gone on? So, so how much time are you willing to give the giant that is facing and taunting you? How long, my friend? How long will you listen to the lies that you are not good enough? How long will you listen to the lies that you're not pretty enough? You're not skinny enough, you're not tall enough, you're not smart enough, you're not educated enough, you're not rich enough, you're not successful enough, you're not popular enough, you're not how long? How long? David heard the giant's taunt the first day, the first day he showed up, the first day he showed up to camp, he heard it. And that was enough. That was enough. David knew the giant had to be stopped. Somebody out there just say immediately. David knew the giant had to be stopped immediately, my friends. The longer the Israelite army listened to Goliath, the more they believed in what Goliath was saying. And that's what's so dangerous about listening to the lies of Satan, accepting the lies of the enemy. When you hear or feel something that is contrary to the word of God for your life, you must immediately deal with it, expose it for what it is, and walk in the truth of what God's word has for your life. Now we're gonna we're gonna press on. We're going a couple a couple verses deeper in in this text right now. Again, if you got your Bibles, we're gonna be in 1 Samuel chapter 17 still. Okay, we're getting going here at the at the 28th verse, and this is what the word of God says. Now, Eliab, his eldest brother, heard when he spoke to the men, and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? Ooh, I tell you, look who's got a look who's got a bad attitude here. You see how this negativity can can be contagious? You see how it could be contagious? And now here, one brother is spilling over on his other brother, David, who's completely innocent in the matter. Matter of fact, God's going to use David to step up and save the day. But his brother says to David, I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle. And David said, What have I done now? Was it not but a word? And he turned away from him toward another and spoke in the same way. And the people answered him again as before. Oh, understand this. When you do what is right for your life, when you follow Jesus Christ and faithfully serve God, you will have opposition. And it may come from your own family. And just like David, some of them, some of them were his family. And they love David. They truly did love David, but but they've got a problem with them right now. Because David's willing to step up and do something that they're not willing to do. However, serving God, no matter who comes against you, serving God in all faithfulness and obedience is always the right thing to do. Whenever you step out to fight the enemy, there's always going to be someone to discourage you, and often it can begin in your own home, can't it? Jesus referenced this in Matthew chapter 10, verse 36. If you're taking notes, write it down as a reference. Matthew chapter 10, verse 36, when he said, And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. And in the 38th and the 39th verse, Jesus said this, and whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. So, my friends, let this be an encouragement to you and also a warning. Be ready for opposition. Be ready for the naysayer. Be ready for the negative attention, for the negative opinion, and do not allow that to be what causes you to back down because if you do, okay, if you do, you're gonna end up potentially giving up. And your giant will still be there when you return for the battle. We don't want the giant to be there no more. So we cannot listen to the naysayers. We cannot accept what they're throwing our direction. We cannot allow their lack of faith to determine what we are or are not going to do. Okay? All right. Time is running short, so we're gonna have to wrap this up. Look at the 31st verse. If you got your Bibles, we're pressing on. This is what it says. When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine. And Saul said to David, You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth. But David said to Saul, Your servant used to keep sheep for his father, and when there came a lion or a bear and took a took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them. Whew! Can somebody say, Amen? Glory to God, hallelujah, for that. For he has defied the armies of the living God, David says. Verse 37, and David said, The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go and the Lord God be with you. You see, when you know who God is and you experience the power of God in your life, you know that God can turn weakness into power. David knew if God could deliver him from the lion and the bear, surely God could deliver him from this giant. David knew who God was. Now listen to me, friends. If God has the power to save your soul from hell, then surely God has the power to defeat whatever giant stands before you today. Do you believe that, my friends? Do you believe that? If you do, can you just let loose and just give God some praise? Amen. Just give God some praise because he's worthy of it all. God is in control. Somebody just shout that. God is in control. God is in control. Glory to God. The 40th verse says this. We're pressing on. 1 Samuel chapter 17, verse 40. So then David, he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in the shepherd's pouch, and his sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine. And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David with his shield bearer in front of him. And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. And the Philistine said to him, He said to David, Am I a dog that you come to me with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods, lowercase g, false gods. Verse 44. Then the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air, to the beasts of the field. Then David said to the Philistine, You come to me with sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord God of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. And this day the Lord God will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beast of the earth, that all the earth may know. Hear that, hear that, hear that, my friends, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord God saves not with sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands. And when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead, and the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. David went out in faith. Write that down. David went out in faith that God Almighty would give him the victory. And Yahweh, God, did exactly that. So where's your faith at? As you're listening to this episode, where's your faith at? I hope that this episode has helped increase your faith when it comes to fighting, when it comes to defeating and removing the giant in your life. Our faith must be placed in God through his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. That no matter your giant, no matter your problem, no matter your sin, no matter your struggle, no matter your addiction, no matter your circumstance, God is always bigger. Glory be to God. Hallelujah. Let's pray. Father, in the name and in the blood of Jesus, I pray that every listener who has paid attention to the episode of this podcast Beyond Sunday has been encouraged. That no matter what we're facing, we understand that you are God. We are not God. You are God. What we're facing is not God. You are God. Our circumstances, our enemies are not God. You are God. And so since we stay in step with the Holy Spirit of God, we know that all is going to be well. Your word, Father, says that we are in the righteous right hand of you. And so, Father, we know that we remain alive, well, and safe at all times. God, I pray that if anyone out there have a giant in their life and they're not seeing it as a giant, that their eyes would be open, that any lie that they've believed in to keep that giant housed closely within their heart, that any lie would be exposed that they've believed in, Father. And Lord, I just pray that we would trust you, trust you, as you remove the giants out of our lives. In the name of the blood of Jesus Christ, all God's people said, Amen, amen, and amen. Until next time on Beyond Sunday, stay in the word of God.