Five Stones for the Battle
2 Samuel 22:1 – 6
And so today we come to the end of our six lesson series on becoming Giant Killers, as we have walked through some monumental passages in the books of first and second Samuel, beginning with runt of Jesse’s family, the shepherd boy David being called in from the fields to be unexpectedly anointed king in waiting to replace King Saul who had fallen out of favor with God.
Our lessons end decades later as we see King David after he had overcome so many challenges, some of his own doing, so not. David has had the uncanny ability to defeat the giants that chased and taunted him over the years by using his faith and his focus on the power and authority of God to overcome anything that stood in his way.
During this journey we have recognized how much our challenges reflect those of David. We know that we all face giants in our lives, obstacles and challenges that taunt us when we are weak, in the darkness of the middle of the night, in the fog of the morning dawn and in the heat of the afternoon sun.
In the beginning, we saw that was exactly what Goliath told David. Goliath was already in the heads of the Israelite army. Surprised that this scrawny child has stepped in front of the Israelite formation, Goliath focuses on David and he begins trying to get into the head of the young shepherd.
The experienced and hardened soldiers of the army refused to be the next notch in the giant’s belt but young David refuses to give into fear, he refuses to give up his faith God. So with his enormous faith in God, what does David do to arm himself against his giant? He chooses his staff, his sling, his faith in God and Five Smooth Stones from the river bed. Not one or two or twenty or one hundred but the scriptures tell us he choose Five Stones.
We, unlike David that day are not going into battle with a mountain of a man but today we will learn about the Five Stones for Battle that God provides to us through the lessons learned about what David took into his personal battles with the giants. The first stone for the battle is The Stone of Priority.
David was able to focus on his relationship with God and not on the giant Goliath. Goliath threw taunts and jeers at David but David doesn’t take the bait. David refused to make this conflict about the giant instead he focuses on his reliance on his Lord protecting him and helping him to overcome challenges. You see, unlike the others before him, David confronts the challenge of the giant by embracing God. He makes trust in God his priority not his obstacle.
David expresses a longing for God’s presence, for fellowship with God, and confidence in God’s salvation. David’s priority was to seek the Lord above all things. To vanquish your giants, make your relationship with God, his presence with you in your time of challenge your highest priority. Dear ones, as you go into your life’s battles, arm yourself with the Stone of Priority.
The second Stone for the Battle is The Stone of the Past. The army of Israel stood by day after day, both morning and night, terrorized by the giant that stood across the valley from them. In their present they could not conceive how they were going to be able to defeat this monster. Everyone else quivered, but David remembers. They were intimidated by the presence of the giant but David was empowered by his past.
He remembers that God had given him strength to wrestle a lion and strong-arm a bear. Surely he will do the same against this unholy giant. With a single shot from his from his righteous sling he slays the giant.
But after David conquered the giant, he lost his nerve and his faith when King Saul turned against him and threatened to kill him. David became desperate and despondent and he lost the God-focus that empowered him to defeat Goliath. In his desperation David goes to the one place where he can think without the fear of Saul finding him. The place where no one goes, he goes to the desert, to the wilderness.
David finds a cave and in it he finds shade, silence, and safety in the wilderness. After a while, in the serenity of that cave, David remembers the Lord of his past and the things that the Lord has done for him. David once again finds hope and the faithful shepherd boy surfaces again. The giant-killer rediscovers his faith and courage. He returns his focus to God alone and to the victories against his challenges in the past given to him by his Lord.
Friends when things go poorly for us and they will go poorly for us, remember what God has done for you in the past. God has been where you are and as done this before. Dear ones arm yourselves with the Stone of The Past.
The third stone is the Stone of Perseverance. By the time that we get to our scripture lesson today from we see that challenges continue to make David’s life difficult. Since we left David last week there has been a number challenges faced by David. Among the challenges we see is that David;
- Falls in love Bathsheba, as her husband sent on a suicide mission and then marries Bathsheba.
- He Has a son from one wife fall in love with a daughter from a different wife.
- His son Absalom tries to overthrow David, but eventually Absalom dies in battle.
- And that four behemoth relatives of Goliath have come back to avenge him. The last one is the biggest of them all, he was a giant with six fingers on his hands and six toes on his feet—twenty-four fingers and toes and you think that you have problems
You would think after a while with all this drama and all these challenges to overcome that eventually David would become jaded and lose his faithfulness. But as we have seen David has a special relationship with his Lord and has an incredible ability to persevere, to endure hardships and yet come out the better for the experience.
Friends David learned perseverance from the Lord himself. If God can persevere in the challenges that we lay at His feet through our disobedience, then we too, like David can find the strength and courage to persevere, with His grace and mercy. Dear ones, arm yourselves with the Stone of Perseverance.
Next you are armed with the Stone of Prayer. We have seen that David was a man consumed with prayer. Whenever he is confused or perplexed with what God wanted him to do “David inquired of the Lord”. When he was confused David talked to God. When he was challenged he talked to God. When he was afraid he talked to God. David’s many inquiries of the Lord reveals that he was a man of prayer, who was always intent in knowing God’s will for the future.
Something for us to remember, when anxiety chips away at our peace, we can find this promise from the Apostle Paul: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Phil. 4:6 NIV). Friends arm yourself with the Stone of Prayer.
Now the last stone, the Stone of Confidence. Remember with me these words: “As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him. David ran, not away from, but toward his giant.
What could possibly create the fortitude in the young David to run headlong into a mortal battle with a giant. The answer lies in the promises that David found in the actions of his Lord during his life. God had anointed David to be the king, he had saved David from confrontations with a bear and a lion and David believed in God’s promises to keep him safe.
David learned about promises from God himself and that God’s promised grace and mercy is an unbreakable covenant. God sets the standard for covenant keeping. God makes and never breaks his promises. Your eternal life is covenant based, covenant caused, and covenant secured. Just like David we are all under the promised protection of the Father as we go through our lives.
Brothers and sisters find confidence in your daily walk and when you come up against a challenge believe, that we have a Lord that promises us protection against those that would do us harm. My friends arm yourselves with the Stone of Confidence.
Hear the Good News my friends……..
After everything that he went through and every Giant that he faced, David wrote the words. “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior from violent people you save me.”
These Five Stones for the Battle should remind you of the most important lesson that our study of David taught us. We can all overcome the life challenges that we face if we embrace and trust in our relationship with God.
Each of these stones are powered through a special understanding that God wants us to rely on him when things get tough, when giants stand in our way, when times get tough, we have a Father that wants to help and will help if we will simply remember what our Lord has done for us.
Friends I pray that you find the Priority of your relationship with God, remember the protections from God in your Past, learn Perseverance from God’s action toward you when you fail, when in doubt use Prayer to communicate with God and finally grow in the Confidence that our Lord wants only the best for you. Friends as you go through life’s challenges hold onto the divine inspiration found in these Five Stones for the Battle to become Giant Killers! Amen.