Most people are aware of the story of David and Goliath and how a pimply faced runt of a kid delivered a nation and became king. What there might not know however is that to win, David faced more than one foe. It started in his own family and he was eventually opposed by Saul. The story of David and Goliath however also reveals that David faced not one giant, but six!

The events leading up to and including his confrontation with Goliath himself is seen on the page David and Goliath, that you can visit here.

This particular story however is about his attitude towards all of these giants and it has a bearing in our lives today.

Have you ever been to a dentist? Part of their training is to learn foreign languages, because they ask you dumb questions like, “Are you OK?” Why? All anyone can hear is that raucous racket of a high speed drill when your mouth is full of padding, your face is nuimb and you cannot talk. I once needed urgent dental treatment, having developed a sudden abscess under one tooth. I brush properly and have good hygiene. My diet is balanced and for my age, surprise most folk. My last annual checkup with the optometrist surprised them. I could read the very fine print at the bottom of the chart and the first thing the optometrist said was, “Wow! That’s great. You are better than many teenagers.”

Therefore when that tooth developed problems it took me by surprise.  I went to bed one night without any symptoms and woke in the early hours in pain. I later telephoned the dentist and was given a priority booking around midday. He did all the usual tests and probes and was surprised to find decay, but the problem was that it started below the gum line in my lower right second molar tooth. We discussed my options and he recommended a visit to the specialist. On my visit there, I was given bad news.

A nerve had died and the hidden decay had infected my gum. The tooth had to come out.

I shared that to illustrate that we are not immune from things like that and that there is a spiritual message to be learned as I will share later. I heartily believe in the healing ministry and miracles do happen in my own ministry. I met with one of the leaders of the Argentinian revival back in the ‘70’s who told me how people in one of his meetings started crying out loudly whilst holding their hands to their mouths as fillings popped out of their mouths because God recreated their teeth.

God can do it and does do it today, but the point I want to make is not about healing, but about hidden problems and obstacles and how we deal with them before they become major issues.

The story of David and Goliath is found in 1 Samuel 17.

In the account, David was a runt of a kid and his own family treated him badly. He wasn’t even invited to the meeting when Samuel came to their home searching for the new king of Israel.

When Goliath came out to confront God’s people, he was not alone. As we can do in life, we sometimes miss all of a story because we focus on one thing only and not see the things that are hidden.

David came out to confront Goliath who was about 9 feet tall. He was a giant.
The Old Testament tells us that giants lived on the earth at one time. 

There are the Anakim, who are descendants from the Nephilim mentioned in Genesis 6:1–4. Some people think that fallen angels or evil spirits fathered those giants. I am not sure of this so will not comment on it, but we shall see some other information later.
Moses and Joshua encountered them when leading the Israelites through the wilderness.
See Numbers 13:22–33 and Joshua 15:13–14.

The land to the east of the Jordan River was heavily populated with tall people known as Emim (Deuteronomy 2:10–11) and the Zamzummim, also called the Zuzim. See Deuteronomy 2:10-11 and 20.

The Amorites is another group that stood in the way of Israel claiming the Promised Land and are described as being exceptionally tall. See Amos 2:9–10.

Another group were the Rephaim. They are mentioned approximately 20 times, mostly in association with the conquest of the Promised Land. Moses encountered King Og of Bashan, whose bed measured 13 feet or 3.9 meters in length.
See Deuteronomy 2:11, 20–22; 3:11–13 and Joshua 12:4; 13:13.

God had given strict instructions to His people to completely eradicate all of the enemy that included men, women, children and livestock and for good reason. It was to prevent contamination and cross infection. Many of the people that Israel had to deal with were evil, worshiping false gods and making human sacrifice, including sacrificing children.

Saul disobeyed that instruction and you know the outcome.
God could have healed my tooth and I prayed that way, but it was not to be so. It had to be removed, to prevent other problems and this is the central core of this message. Fix what has to be fixed up before it becomes too big a problem to handle later.

Goliath was confronting God’s people when David arrived and prevailed against him, but it is only part of the overall picture. 

David asked the soldiers standing nearby, “What will a man get for killing this Philistine and ending his defiance of Israel? Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?” 1 Samuel 17:26 

David wanted to know, “What’s in it for me?” and it is perfectly OK to ask what we have inherited. We need to know all the facts, like who we are, what Jesus did, what we can do and so on. We need to determine our boundaries, recognize and understand our position in Christ and more importantly...to exercise our rights in and through Him.
God has given us the land, but there are giants there who we must dispossess to take possession of our inheritances.

There is a story of a man who went on a cruise ship. He booked into his cabin and was looking forward to reaching his destination. Day after day, the ship sailed closer to port whilst the passengers enjoyed themselves. The man made himself at home in his cabin and carefully meted out the provisions he took with him ensuring that he had enough to reach the destination.
On arrival as he was disembarking, the steward asked him why he had never come to the dining room for meals. The passenger said that he had saved for the trip, but did not have enough for meals, litle realizing that they were free! They had been included in the price of his fare.

Whatever we need for our own journey is free and already paid for. I have observed over the years however that many Christians are not aware of this as they live far below the standard, or the mark God set for us in His Son.
This not only includes partaking of the benefit and privileges, or the blessing, but walking in the victory Jesus already won.We know that Jesus destroyed the works of the devil and won the victory for us. Of that there is no debate, but  although the ultimate execution of sentencing is yet to be fulfilled, he is still wandering around seeking to take us down with him.
Never be afraid of him and do not underestimate him, but always ensure that you are wearing the armor of God at all times, knowing that we can and should walk in the victory. Our armor is not provided to simply look good or defend us as we hide behind it. Our armor is mighty through God to the tearing down of enemy strongholds. The Armor of God is discussed on my web site. Click here. Our armor is a weapon against which no enemy can prevail, but we need to know what it is and what we can do with it.

Most of our warfare is waged in our own minds. Paul said -

For though we walk (live) in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons.
For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds,  [Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One), Being in readiness to punish every [insubordinate for his] disobedience, when your own submission and obedience [as a church] are fully secured and complete. 2 Corinthians 10:3-6

Often times winning the battle requires us to deal with intellectual arguments and debates, theories and pure pride. We win by bringing every thought captive and bringing it into submission...to Jesus. See Philippians 2:5, 4:6-9 and James 1:13-16.
We do this—not God. We make the choice, but He gives us the ability to do what needs to be done and sometimes we have to be radical about it. There are times when my thought life is not right, just as it is with you. I am not talking of impure thoughts but of negativity, doubt, an occasional fear of something unknown and the like. They are thoughts like, “We can’t do it. We can’t make it. What if it doesn’t work? What will others think about me?” and so on. Control them and bring them into submission because they can become giants in our lives. If you could overhear me, sometimes I speak to myself and tell my thoughts to shut up, or to stop it. I have forcibly said, “Robert! Shut up!” on many an occasion and deliberately changed channels. As Paul said-

...And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9 

Since I was saved in September 1968, I have seen and witnessed some stuff, some of which was pure demonic, but I do not engage in “spiritual warfare” as some do. If and when occasion dictates, we are to take authority of course, but on most occasions, I would say that most problems you and I experience are in the areas of the mind.

By David's own admission, there was a righteous cause and if no one else was going to do something about it, he would and weighed up the pros and cons. That’s a good place to start any endeavor. Jesus told us to do that. He said that no one starts a building project unless he first determines the cost and if it is feasible. David saw the enemy and weighed up the cost and the possibilities, drawing off his knowledge of the word of God and what God had done for His people and from his own testimony. Having such knowledge is champion building material.
No one can argue with good experience or a testimony of the reality and truthfulness of God and His word.

The Lessons we can learn from this story are many and varied but I will only touch on several.

• Saul tried to get David to wear his armor, but thankfully he refused to wear it. God has given each of us individual talents and abilities and functions in life. What He has asked you to do could be vastly different to what He wants someone else to do, so avail yourself of those things and only do those things; nothing else. This applies to pastors as well as all believers. If you step out from your personal calling, you will be trying to work under a barred anointing and risk not only your own failure, but cause hurt to others in the process.
  ​
• David selected five stones from the brook. This was a deliberate and planned act. He was working to a plan.
  Many believers fail in their endeavors because they do not make plans. They are keen and enthusiastic and could have a legitimate call on their life, but do not prepare themselves to fulfill it. Bible colleges do not always fully equip people for the real ministry God has, but tend to shape the student into their own mould, often denominationally based. That’s OK and it does give credibility and does impart certain good and necessary information, but not necessarily equipping them God’s way.
  Selecting 5 stones (5 is the number for God’s grace) took some time and effort.
  We see in 1 Samuel 17:40 that he chose smooth stones from the brook, meaning that he searched for the right tools for the task ahead. I have heard it said that he did this thinking that if he missed Goliath with the first stone, he would have a backup.
  That is wrong! There were other giants to conquer and I shall elaborate later and he was ready for all of them. Goliath was first.
   
• David hasted and ran towards his enemy. The meanings of haste and run are different. Haste is māhar that I believe means in this instance that he did not waste any time, but immediately went into action. The opportunity presented itself and he took it.
  The other word is rûṣ that does indeed describe the act of running.  What it all means, I believe, is that he saw an opportunity, did his homework and then immediately got into action and meant business.  He did not want to miss the day of his visitation as many believers do for a myriad of reasons. We are in a race after all and are told to run it.
   
• He fitted one stone into his sling as he ran towards the enemy after making his faith declaration—that he was coming in the Name of the Lord and what he would do. He deliberately aimed at Goliath’s head. It was no hit and miss effort, or, “Let’s try it and see if it works”.
  The meaning to us, especially to those in ministry is, as I said earlier, to work in your own calling and focus on that.
  If God called you, He anointed you for that task and if He called you, He provides for you. I’ve seen too many lovely people and churches go down because they attempted doing something God never ordained, or not laying full and proper foundations. Financial issues and power struggles are prevalent. I know of several churches that were going great and growing well until they had a building program. They got into debt, people were hurt and the public witnessed it.
   
• David faced more than one opponent. We tend to think that this was about one man of God and Goliath, but David faced 5 other obstacles, making 6 in all.
  Goliath was a giant around 9 feet tall and a fully equipped and trained warrior. He was enough to strike terror in any man, but he had a shield bearer in front of him! This man was a warrior in his own right and had to be big and strong enough to carry his own weapons and armor as well as Goliath’s shield.  David faced him first! Goliath was behind!
  I am of the opinion that such a shield bearer could also function as a distraction. He could get someone’s attention whilst the real enemy lurked behind. David was called, anointed, prepared, ready for action and also alert.
  The bible tells us that we are not ignorant of the enemy’s devices. In 2 Corinthians 2:11 when Paul was talking about other matters, including forgiving others, he said

... Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

That word device is interesting, coming from the Greek word noēma that talks about perception, purpose, intellect, mind and thought. I mentioned earlier that in order to succeed, we have to ensure our thought processes are right. We can be distracted by all kinds of things, some of which are good and wonderful, or as Paul said, “Lawful, but not expedient”. Regardless of what it is, even if it is a good thing, we cannot afford the luxury of letting our guard down and allowing something else to take our gaze off the things God has for us. Whilst we are looking at that shield, the giants we face could be taking aim and about to launch a barrage at us. We then wonder, “What happened?” What went wrong? Why did that person betray me?” and  so on. Sometimes such attacks do not come from the outside, or the heathen, but from a brother or sister in the Lord or a relative! It happens!

• ​David cut Goliath’s head off. He knew that he had slain his enemy, but wanted to make sure that the source or the driving force behind him was eliminated—and everyone knew it! It is quite possible that we have a situation or a problem and deal with that little realizing that the real culprit is hidden or that it has companions.

Many years ago, a wonderful woman in the church came for prayer, saying that she was suffering from a severe headache.

I laid my hands on her and she said that the headache disappeared. Everyone was happy. Some time later, she came again with the same problem and I prayed with the same results. This started to happen often and I realized something was wrong, so inquired of the Lord and He told me to stop praying for her. It surprised me because I would pray for anyone at the drop of a hat, until I learned better. The lesson was not to be too hasty in doing things, not to leap to conclusions and to check with the Holy Spirit first beforehand.

He told me that she had an issue with pride. Her vanity was the problem, because she disliked using her reading glasses. She also liked the attention given. Don’t be too quick to jump in. Things are not always what they seem.

He told me to tell her to start using her reading glasses. She thankfully took that advice and the headaches stopped.

If you go back to my opening comments about the dental treatment I had to have. I did not want that to happen of course, but was wise enough to realize that the decay and ensuing infection would have caused other problems, perhaps greater sometime later.
​​​​​​​I laid my hands on myself. Marjorie prayed for me, but it still had to come out.

The lesson to be learned here is that we must deal with issues when we discover them and not try to sweep them under the carpet and ignore them or pretend there is no problem. We also need to do things God’s way on that specific occasion.

Goliath was not the only giant that David faced and I have already mentioned the armour bearer. He faced 6 enemies. Second Samuel 21:15–22 and 1 Chronicles 20:4–8 tell us that there were four other unusually tall warriors among the Philistines. They were Saph (also called Sippai), Lahmi, Ishbibenob, and an unnamed warrior. They are described in similar terms to Goliath , being described as great in stature. The immense dimensions of their weaponry are also listed.

The unnamed giant is said to have six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. This malformation, known as polydactylism, is only mentioned in the description of this giant, but I would not be surprised to find out that they were all like that.

The number six in scripture speaks about man’s world and sin. It is about man’s enmity to God, so is the number of imperfection; the human number; the number of man as destitute of God, without God and without Christ.

Man was created on the sixth day and six days were appointed to him for his labor; while one day is associated in sovereignty with the Lord God, as His rest. Our labouring is to enter that rest.

Six is therefore also the number of labor as apart and distinct from God’s rest.

The Sixth Commandment relates to one of the worst sins—murder.

If those giants had 6 fingers and 6 toes, it aptly describes that their whole walk in life and everything they did was sin oriented. Their armor was brass that is also a symbol of sin and we know from the biblical account that Goliath was covered with it, from his head to his feet. His thought life and everything he did was therefore sin oriented, pure and simple.

The serpent was created on the sixth day and this creature was used by the devil to bring about the fall.

We could thus say that David’s battle was against sin—manifested in, through and by those giants. The question comes to mind therefore as to what each one of those giants represented. Are they evil spirit beings? I think so.

Giants like the Anakim were mentioned earlier. The Israelites also encountered tall people known as Emim in Deuteronomy 2:10–11 and the Zamzummim, also called the Zuzim in Deuteronomy 2:20. The Amorites, also mentioned previously also confronted God’s people.

The last group, also mentioned beforehand  were the Rephaim and Goliath came from this group. He and the four giant warriors listed alongside him are descended from Rapha in Gath (see 2 Samuel 21:22 and 1 Chronicles 20:8).

If rapha is interpreted as a proper name Rapha, then the four warriors were all brothers of Goliath. The biblical text does not actually say this, as only one of these men, Lahmi, is specifically said to be the brother of Goliath. We could thus equate the term giants with Rephaim. Some of the Rephaim giants survived the wars of Moses and Joshua, and their descendants settled in the Philistine city of Gath. The other warriors who accompanied Goliath may not have been brothers, but they were all part of an enduring and unusual lineage that continually challenged Israel for their land and opposed their God.

Many of those tribes and clans that all have the “ites” (I like to think of them as parasites)at the end of their names that you may have seen and not realized any significance, can be associate with certain kind of demonic activities or spirits. Genesis 10:16-18 lists  the Jebusite, the Amorite, the Girgasite, the Hivite, the Arkite, the Sinite, the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. They have certain specific traits and characteristics that can affect us today.  Jezebel is also one and this spirit is active in certain areas of the church.

If we put these things into present day context, they represent sin in its various manifestations and especially those that have not been dealt with, that will continually try to rise up against us with the purpose of preventing us from taking hold of our inheritance. At this point, we would do well to briefly touch on some aspects in a brief overview.

Whatever God promised you is yours, but that does not necessarily mean that you will have it. You have every right to it, but taking possession of your inheritance is not an automatic process. The Promised Land had to be taken, because there was someone there who did not want God’s people to have it.  You too have to take what’s your’s.

With every achievement, there’s a challenge. Sometimes it is taken progressively as seen in Exodus 23:29-33. Please read this.

With every victory there’s a battle, but we have real help. Jesus has already won the battle that counts most.

When Moses sent the spies into the land, only Joshua and Caleb believed what God said and they were the only ones to eventually enter in. They all saw the same land and they all saw the same giants in the land, but ten of the spies came back with an evil report.

What is an evil report? It is a fear filled and faithless report that is basically telling God that He is a liar. God says we can do it and we tell Him we can’t. The doctor says you have such an such a condition that is real with all the symptoms and an evil report  disregards the scriptures pertaining to healing. Philippians 4 says-
My God will richly fill your every need in a glorious way through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 

We start worrying about money and I think we could be telling God He lied. All these can be giants.

Sure the land has giants, but we need to know and act on the basis that with God we can defeat any problem.

Once the Israelites entered the Land, their battles had really just begun. Once we’ve come to Christ, our battles have really just begun. Far from being the end of challenges and struggles, it marks the beginning of new ones, but the difference is that we have God on our side and if God be for us, who can be against us?

The Israelites (and others) had a simple approach to names and places and called people by an obvious trait. Even though a people in a city may have had different family names, their city was named after their reputation. For example, if it was a big city, its name might simply be Big City. If all the people in one city had a reputation for horsemanship, the city might be called Horse City. The nations that Israel had to defeat to subdue the Promised Land bore significant names and they are all members of that “ite family” I mentioned, each having their own particular characteristics, that have to be handled according to their individual characteristic. According to that passage in Exodus they had to do it in progressive stages and not all at once. So do we.

The name Canaanite for example means merchants who humiliate. This spirit is very powerful and active today and the financial structure of the world system is influenced by this spirit. Canaanites are motivated by greed and the lust for material accumulation, including manipulation and control over finances.

The name for Hittites means terror. Hittites were giants who brought fear, confusion and discouragement. The believer today can be challenged by the enemy’s bombardment of fear, confusion and discouragement.

Hivites claimed to offer a good life by living their lifestyle. Many alternate philosophies and religions today offer to give their adherents “life”. The enemy loves to lure people into lifestyles claiming to be the answer to that person’s needs and desires. Lifestyles such as “swinging”, “if it feels good-do it”, “don’t worry what other people think”, “look out for number one” and “its about time you did something just for yourself” can all lure people away from the lifestyle that God requires of them. I suspect that the excesses of the “grace movement” may be influenced by this spirit.

The Perizzite spirit likes to get people to live in separatism, or in unwalled cities or villages. The aim is to separate us from each other and from God, thus leaving us exposed and vulnerable.

Something that I believe is often found in the church is the Girgashite spirit. Girgashites are earthy people who like to go back and revert to carnality. The aim is to cause backsliding. It does not happen quickly, but little by little, mostly by little compromises here and little compromises there. The implication for a believer is that he or she must do battle and control bad habits and slackness and the like. This spirit is rife in the church.

Amorites were people who were arrogant and boastful in their speech and always challenged authority and positive faith filled speech. Our main battle in this area is with our tongue.

The last Giant I will describe is the Jebusite. They were people who trod on others and polluted them. They major on power and defilement. There are two areas in which we can be defiled; sexually (Genesis 34:5) and religiously (Leviticus 18:30; 20:3 and Nehemiah 13:29). The Jebusite spirit seeks to destroy the believer in these two areas.

Obviously I have only but touched on some of these giants, but they are there and we have to adopt the same approach that David had. Goliath was the first. After slaying him, David was ready to go for all the others.

Allow me to bring this to some kind of practical conclusion and to do that I will talk again of my dental issue. I was totally unaware I had a problem until it revealed itself! Sometimes we can live as if there are no problems, or if we are aware of them, choose to ignore them, hoping they all go away. We might get away with it  for a while, but are only postponing the inevitable. Remember that old saying, “Your sin will find you out”? See Galatians 6, especially verses 7-10.

When I visited the dentist, he said that he would refer to refer me to a specialist which he did. I received a letter from the specialist advising of the date and time of my appointment and approximately 6 weeks after my initial consultation, that tooth came out. It could not be extracted in the normal way, so surgery was required. Radical action was needed.

During that waiting period, all symptoms had disappeared. I had no pain and there was no swelling, so it would have been easy to forget everything and not take any further action. I had laid my hands on myself claiming healing, but the Lord had sent me to a dentist. Sometimes we disregard the Lord’s advice to our peril, as ignoring that would have been disastrous for me, because at some future time, the problem would have re-emerged, possibly worse than before. One tooth can affect your sinuses, your ears and goodness know what else. It is like having one rotten apple or a potato in the barrel with all the good ones.
A little leaven, leaveneth the whole lump.

The lesson to be learned for us as believers is to deal with issues as soon as they arise and not to open ourselves up to anything that would cause spiritual tooth decay. If we find a problem...fix it. Don’t delay. That is procrastination and you know what that is. It is putting something off til tomorrow that you have already put off from yesterday. I do not need to elaborate.

God has a plan for our lives and He has a Promised Land for each and every one of us. The promise is there and God keeps His word, but on our journey, we will have opportunity to fail; to face opposition; to be tested, to get discouraged and to face our own personal giants in the land. Don’t just settle for a partial victory, because it could be only temporary, but make sure that you deal with all issues. If necessary rid yourself of that rotten apple or potato and sometimes this means severing relationships with certain people! Your Goliath could have 4 brothers waiting in the background for their turn.

God had commanded the Israelites to totally eradicate all the enemy and deal with the issue, but they did not. Saul for example was commanded to root out and destroy all the enemy and everything associated with him, but he did not.
The root that remained eventually rose up against the nation to destroy God’s people and Esther came to the rescue.

How to do it is the issue and David showed us how.

• He acted responsibly, fulfilled his duties faithfully and arrived on the scene when everyone else needed a champion. There was a cause and when a cause arises, a champion is needed.
• He had a testimony. You have a testimony.
• He knew what reward he would have. We already know the reward ahead of us when we are out of here. Actually, we do not really have to wait for all our rewards because many are already in store for us in the here and now.
• He knew what God had already done. You too know what God has already done. It is recorded in the bible.
• He refused to use any natural weapons but relied on what God had provided him. We can do that also. We have God’s word and the Holy Spirit is here to help and equip us.
• He told the enemy what he was going to do. That was making a faith confession. We too can make our own faith confessions based on God’s word.
• He carefully chose his 5 stones that were smooth, after having been washed in the brook that we can liken to the washing of water by the word. Stones are smoothed by regular tumbling by water movement, implying that we need use the word regularly.
• He did not get distracted, but focused on his objective. We can run our race with patience keeping our eyes on the Lord as per Hebrews 12:1-2 -
  Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Most people are aware of the story of David and Goliath and how a pimply faced runt of a kid delivered a nation and became king. What there might not know however is that to win, David faced more than one foe. It started in his own family and he was eventually opposed by Saul. The story of David and Goliath however also reveals that David faced not one giant, but six!

The events leading up to and including his confrontation with Goliath himself is seen on the page David and Goliath, that you can visit here.

This particular story however is about his attitude towards all of these giants and it has a bearing in our lives today.

Have you ever been to a dentist? Part of their training is to learn foreign languages, because they ask you dumb questions like, “Are you OK?” Why? All anyone can hear is that raucous racket of a high speed drill when your mouth is full of padding, your face is nuimb and you cannot talk. I once needed urgent dental treatment, having developed a sudden abscess under one tooth. I brush properly and have good hygiene. My diet is balanced and for my age, surprise most folk. My last annual checkup with the optometrist surprised them. I could read the very fine print at the bottom of the chart and the first thing the optometrist said was, “Wow! That’s great. You are better than many teenagers.”

Therefore when that tooth developed problems it took me by surprise.  I went to bed one night without any symptoms and woke in the early hours in pain. I later telephoned the dentist and was given a priority booking around midday. He did all the usual tests and probes and was surprised to find decay, but the problem was that it started below the gum line in my lower right second molar tooth. We discussed my options and he recommended a visit to the specialist. On my visit there, I was given bad news.

A nerve had died and the hidden decay had infected my gum. The tooth had to come out.

I shared that to illustrate that we are not immune from things like that and that there is a spiritual message to be learned as I will share later. I heartily believe in the healing ministry and miracles do happen in my own ministry. I met with one of the leaders of the Argentinian revival back in the ‘70’s who told me how people in one of his meetings started crying out loudly whilst holding their hands to their mouths as fillings popped out of their mouths because God recreated their teeth.

God can do it and does do it today, but the point I want to make is not about healing, but about hidden problems and obstacles and how we deal with them before they become major issues.

The story of David and Goliath is found in 1 Samuel 17.

In the account, David was a runt of a kid and his own family treated him badly. He wasn’t even invited to the meeting when Samuel came to their home searching for the new king of Israel.

When Goliath came out to confront God’s people, he was not alone. As we can do in life, we sometimes miss all of a story because we focus on one thing only and not see the things that are hidden.

David came out to confront Goliath who was about 9 feet tall. He was a giant.
The Old Testament tells us that giants lived on the earth at one time. 

There are the Anakim, who are descendants from the Nephilim mentioned in Genesis 6:1–4. Some people think that fallen angels or evil spirits fathered those giants. I am not sure of this so will not comment on it, but we shall see some other information later.
Moses and Joshua encountered them when leading the Israelites through the wilderness.
See Numbers 13:22–33 and Joshua 15:13–14.

The land to the east of the Jordan River was heavily populated with tall people known as Emim (Deuteronomy 2:10–11) and the Zamzummim, also called the Zuzim. See Deuteronomy 2:10-11 and 20.

The Amorites is another group that stood in the way of Israel claiming the Promised Land and are described as being exceptionally tall. See Amos 2:9–10.

Another group were the Rephaim. They are mentioned approximately 20 times, mostly in association with the conquest of the Promised Land. Moses encountered King Og of Bashan, whose bed measured 13 feet or 3.9 meters in length.
See Deuteronomy 2:11, 20–22; 3:11–13 and Joshua 12:4; 13:13.

God had given strict instructions to His people to completely eradicate all of the enemy that included men, women, children and livestock and for good reason. It was to prevent contamination and cross infection. Many of the people that Israel had to deal with were evil, worshiping false gods and making human sacrifice, including sacrificing children.

Saul disobeyed that instruction and you know the outcome.
God could have healed my tooth and I prayed that way, but it was not to be so. It had to be removed, to prevent other problems and this is the central core of this message. Fix what has to be fixed up before it becomes too big a problem to handle later.

Goliath was confronting God’s people when David arrived and prevailed against him, but it is only part of the overall picture. 

David asked the soldiers standing nearby, “What will a man get for killing this Philistine and ending his defiance of Israel? Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?” 1 Samuel 17:26 

David wanted to know, “What’s in it for me?” and it is perfectly OK to ask what we have inherited. We need to know all the facts, like who we are, what Jesus did, what we can do and so on. We need to determine our boundaries, recognize and understand our position in Christ and more importantly...to exercise our rights in and through Him.
God has given us the land, but there are giants there who we must dispossess to take possession of our inheritances.

There is a story of a man who went on a cruise ship. He booked into his cabin and was looking forward to reaching his destination. Day after day, the ship sailed closer to port whilst the passengers enjoyed themselves. The man made himself at home in his cabin and carefully meted out the provisions he took with him ensuring that he had enough to reach the destination.
On arrival as he was disembarking, the steward asked him why he had never come to the dining room for meals. The passenger said that he had saved for the trip, but did not have enough for meals, litle realizing that they were free! They had been included in the price of his fare.

Whatever we need for our own journey is free and already paid for. I have observed over the years however that many Christians are not aware of this as they live far below the standard, or the mark God set for us in His Son.
This not only includes partaking of the benefit and privileges, or the blessing, but walking in the victory Jesus already won.We know that Jesus destroyed the works of the devil and won the victory for us. Of that there is no debate, but  although the ultimate execution of sentencing is yet to be fulfilled, he is still wandering around seeking to take us down with him.
Never be afraid of him and do not underestimate him, but always ensure that you are wearing the armor of God at all times, knowing that we can and should walk in the victory. Our armor is not provided to simply look good or defend us as we hide behind it. Our armor is mighty through God to the tearing down of enemy strongholds. The Armor of God is discussed on my web site. Click here. Our armor is a weapon against which no enemy can prevail, but we need to know what it is and what we can do with it.

Most of our warfare is waged in our own minds. Paul said -

For though we walk (live) in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons.
For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds,  [Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One), Being in readiness to punish every [insubordinate for his] disobedience, when your own submission and obedience [as a church] are fully secured and complete. 2 Corinthians 10:3-6

Often times winning the battle requires us to deal with intellectual arguments and debates, theories and pure pride. We win by bringing every thought captive and bringing it into submission...to Jesus. See Philippians 2:5, 4:6-9 and James 1:13-16.
We do this—not God. We make the choice, but He gives us the ability to do what needs to be done and sometimes we have to be radical about it. There are times when my thought life is not right, just as it is with you. I am not talking of impure thoughts but of negativity, doubt, an occasional fear of something unknown and the like. They are thoughts like, “We can’t do it. We can’t make it. What if it doesn’t work? What will others think about me?” and so on. Control them and bring them into submission because they can become giants in our lives. If you could overhear me, sometimes I speak to myself and tell my thoughts to shut up, or to stop it. I have forcibly said, “Robert! Shut up!” on many an occasion and deliberately changed channels. As Paul said-

...And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9 

Since I was saved in September 1968, I have seen and witnessed some stuff, some of which was pure demonic, but I do not engage in “spiritual warfare” as some do. If and when occasion dictates, we are to take authority of course, but on most occasions, I would say that most problems you and I experience are in the areas of the mind.

By David's own admission, there was a righteous cause and if no one else was going to do something about it, he would and weighed up the pros and cons. That’s a good place to start any endeavor. Jesus told us to do that. He said that no one starts a building project unless he first determines the cost and if it is feasible. David saw the enemy and weighed up the cost and the possibilities, drawing off his knowledge of the word of God and what God had done for His people and from his own testimony. Having such knowledge is champion building material.
No one can argue with good experience or a testimony of the reality and truthfulness of God and His word.

The Lessons we can learn from this story are many and varied but I will only touch on several.

• Saul tried to get David to wear his armor, but thankfully he refused to wear it. God has given each of us individual talents and abilities and functions in life. What He has asked you to do could be vastly different to what He wants someone else to do, so avail yourself of those things and only do those things; nothing else. This applies to pastors as well as all believers. If you step out from your personal calling, you will be trying to work under a barred anointing and risk not only your own failure, but cause hurt to others in the process.
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• David selected five stones from the brook. This was a deliberate and planned act. He was working to a plan.
  Many believers fail in their endeavors because they do not make plans. They are keen and enthusiastic and could have a legitimate call on their life, but do not prepare themselves to fulfill it. Bible colleges do not always fully equip people for the real ministry God has, but tend to shape the student into their own mould, often denominationally based. That’s OK and it does give credibility and does impart certain good and necessary information, but not necessarily equipping them God’s way.
  Selecting 5 stones (5 is the number for God’s grace) took some time and effort.
  We see in 1 Samuel 17:40 that he chose smooth stones from the brook, meaning that he searched for the right tools for the task ahead. I have heard it said that he did this thinking that if he missed Goliath with the first stone, he would have a backup.
  That is wrong! There were other giants to conquer and I shall elaborate later and he was ready for all of them. Goliath was first.
   
• David hasted and ran towards his enemy. The meanings of haste and run are different. Haste is māhar that I believe means in this instance that he did not waste any time, but immediately went into action. The opportunity presented itself and he took it.
  The other word is rûṣ that does indeed describe the act of running.  What it all means, I believe, is that he saw an opportunity, did his homework and then immediately got into action and meant business.  He did not want to miss the day of his visitation as many believers do for a myriad of reasons. We are in a race after all and are told to run it.
   
• He fitted one stone into his sling as he ran towards the enemy after making his faith declaration—that he was coming in the Name of the Lord and what he would do. He deliberately aimed at Goliath’s head. It was no hit and miss effort, or, “Let’s try it and see if it works”.
  The meaning to us, especially to those in ministry is, as I said earlier, to work in your own calling and focus on that.
  If God called you, He anointed you for that task and if He called you, He provides for you. I’ve seen too many lovely people and churches go down because they attempted doing something God never ordained, or not laying full and proper foundations. Financial issues and power struggles are prevalent. I know of several churches that were going great and growing well until they had a building program. They got into debt, people were hurt and the public witnessed it.
   
• David faced more than one opponent. We tend to think that this was about one man of God and Goliath, but David faced 5 other obstacles, making 6 in all.
  Goliath was a giant around 9 feet tall and a fully equipped and trained warrior. He was enough to strike terror in any man, but he had a shield bearer in front of him! This man was a warrior in his own right and had to be big and strong enough to carry his own weapons and armor as well as Goliath’s shield.  David faced him first! Goliath was behind!
  I am of the opinion that such a shield bearer could also function as a distraction. He could get someone’s attention whilst the real enemy lurked behind. David was called, anointed, prepared, ready for action and also alert.
  The bible tells us that we are not ignorant of the enemy’s devices. In 2 Corinthians 2:11 when Paul was talking about other matters, including forgiving others, he said

... Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

That word device is interesting, coming from the Greek word noēma that talks about perception, purpose, intellect, mind and thought. I mentioned earlier that in order to succeed, we have to ensure our thought processes are right. We can be distracted by all kinds of things, some of which are good and wonderful, or as Paul said, “Lawful, but not expedient”. Regardless of what it is, even if it is a good thing, we cannot afford the luxury of letting our guard down and allowing something else to take our gaze off the things God has for us. Whilst we are looking at that shield, the giants we face could be taking aim and about to launch a barrage at us. We then wonder, “What happened?” What went wrong? Why did that person betray me?” and  so on. Sometimes such attacks do not come from the outside, or the heathen, but from a brother or sister in the Lord or a relative! It happens!

• ​David cut Goliath’s head off. He knew that he had slain his enemy, but wanted to make sure that the source or the driving force behind him was eliminated—and everyone knew it! It is quite possible that we have a situation or a problem and deal with that little realizing that the real culprit is hidden or that it has companions.

Many years ago, a wonderful woman in the church came for prayer, saying that she was suffering from a severe headache.

I laid my hands on her and she said that the headache disappeared. Everyone was happy. Some time later, she came again with the same problem and I prayed with the same results. This started to happen often and I realized something was wrong, so inquired of the Lord and He told me to stop praying for her. It surprised me because I would pray for anyone at the drop of a hat, until I learned better. The lesson was not to be too hasty in doing things, not to leap to conclusions and to check with the Holy Spirit first beforehand.

He told me that she had an issue with pride. Her vanity was the problem, because she disliked using her reading glasses. She also liked the attention given. Don’t be too quick to jump in. Things are not always what they seem.

He told me to tell her to start using her reading glasses. She thankfully took that advice and the headaches stopped.

If you go back to my opening comments about the dental treatment I had to have. I did not want that to happen of course, but was wise enough to realize that the decay and ensuing infection would have caused other problems, perhaps greater sometime later.
​​​​​​​I laid my hands on myself. Marjorie prayed for me, but it still had to come out.

The lesson to be learned here is that we must deal with issues when we discover them and not try to sweep them under the carpet and ignore them or pretend there is no problem. We also need to do things God’s way on that specific occasion.