THE GIANT-KILLER

              A Sermon by Rev. Grant R. Schnarr

"This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand . . . that
all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel" (I Sam-
uel 17:46).

     The Philistines had been one of Israel's greatest enemies
throughout much of their history as they established their
kingdom in the land of Canaan. Historically they are believed
to have come from the sea and settled on the coastlands, and
they were indeed of larger stature. Now in this story the
Philistines brought forth their greatest warrior, a giant who
was said to be around ten feet tall. He was huge, awesome, a
man of battle. He was well armored and equipped for battle.
His spear was said to be like that of a weaver's beam. And he
defied the Children of Israel to send someone out to fight
against him.
     Now the Children of Israel were greatly distressed over
this. They were all men seasoned for war but this Goliath was
too much for the best of them. They were afraid. Who could go
against such a monstrosity? They would lose the battle and
suffer permanent defeat.
     Well, there was a youth at that time named David who had
a strong belief in the Lord and His power, who was ready to go
and fight against Goliath. "I'll go. Send me," the youth
exclaimed. At first his brothers were indignant. "What are you
doing here? You should be back tending your sheep. Why do you
come up here?" his brothers replied. He answered, "The Lord
will give us the battle. If the Lord is on our side, and He
always has been when we've done His will, He will give us the
battle. We will win."
     Well, Saul heard of this young man and sent for him. And
we can imagine this youth coming to Saul, a man of war, the
king, and saying, "Yes, I can go up and fight against this
giant." Saul's first reaction was, "But you are just a youth.
And this man has been a warrior from his youth. How can you
fight against this giant?" And David explained that he had
killed a lion and a bear while he was protecting his sheep. If
he could kill them, maybe he would have a chance at this
Philistine.
     Now we don't know what it was for sure, whether it was in
David's voice or whether it was a perception given to Saul by
the Lord, but for some reason Saul believed this young man. He
said, "Go, and may the Lord be with you."
     Saul prepared the boy for war in the traditional way. He
got out his armor to put on the boy. David had never worn
armor before and it was too awkward for him. After David had
put on this heavy armor and finished buckling his sword, he
realized that he couldn't move. He was not used to it. He
said, "I have not proved this armor. I can't wear this." So he
took it off. He got his sling and his staff and set off to the
brook, a place that he had gone many times before, and he
carefully selected five smooth stones from the brook to use
with his sling. He knew exactly where the stones were. He
probably collected them every day to protect his sheep. And
then with his five smooth stones, his sling and his staff he
went off to the battle.
     We can imagine Goliath out there defying the Children of
Israel, cursing at them by his gods, and out walks this boy.
Of course Goliath was indignant at this. "What is this? Am I
a dog that you come against me with sticks for battle?" He
shouted, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds
of the air to eat." But then David, standing firm, made his
declaration of faith.  "You come to me with a sword, with a
spear, with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the
Lord. And today all the earth will know that there is a God in
Israel."
     In what happens next, imagine you are one of those
Philistines upon the mountain watching your champion. And
there's this boy facing him, and all of a sudden you see this
youth run forward, pull out a stone, sling it around, let go,
and it hits your champion right in the forehead and he falls
dead. Your giant, your champion is no more. David runs up and
cuts off his head. The Philistines were completely surprised,
completely frightened. There is a God in Israel. And they fled
for their lives, and the Children of Israel ran after them.
There was a great battle, and Israel was victorious.
     Now this drama is such a drama in the literal meaning.
But also in the deeper, spiritual meaning this is a Divine
drama, which teaches us something about our lives and how the
Lord works within our lives. Saul, David, and Goliath each
represents a part of us. The drama in this literal story
represents a drama that goes on in our own minds and hearts as
we try to do the Lord's will.
     We all have spiritual enemies inside of us. People like
the Philistines, the Hittites, the Hivites, and all the
enemies of Israel, represent evils within us which we must
fight against. They rise up against us from time to time and
cause turmoil in our lives.
     In this particular story, Goliath represents an immense
evil in our life, something that really looms over us, fills
us with fear. Maybe you can think of something in your life
that every once in a while looms up within you, and you
wonder, "How am I going to beat this? It's too powerful. How
can I fight it?~ With some, especially the young and single,
these Goliaths which emerge from time to time have to do with
the opposite sex. Unclean thoughts and feelings emerge and one
wonders how he or she could ever have conjugal love with such
terrible feelings within. Perhaps one has a loose tongue from
time to time talking about people and saying things that
shouldn't be said. They could be working on it very hard but
sometimes the evil looms up within and defies the person to
beat it. They can't help but say bad things about people.
     Each one of us has some monster that rises up within us
occasionally. And it is like a Goliath, an evil that defies us
to challenge it. We can become filled with a certain sense of
fear. "Will I ever be able to change? Will I ever have peace
in my life? Will I ever be able to do the Lord's will?"
     Now Goliath was heavily armed. And we are told that this
armor represents in us all sorts of different false beliefs
which we use to cover over our evils, to make excuses for
ourselves. For every evil there are a hundred excuses. And
these false reasoning's, like armor, pad evil so it is pro-
tected, so it cannot be easily destroyed or removed from our
life. For example, if we were going to be stealing something
from our place of employment, some of the armor might be,
"Well, the company's always cheated people out of money, so
I'll just take a little bit from them. It's just evening the
score." That's putting armor on that evil. "That person has cut
me up before. I'm going to get them before they get me this
time. It's right. I'm just trying to be just here. They
deserve it." That's armor that we put on. "I'll change
tomorrow." That's another set of armor we put on our evils.
     Well, that's Goliath with his armor on him, strong and
powerful, an evil in our lives that looms up within us which
has all kinds of excuses for its right to exist.
     At this time we, like the Children of Israel, become
afraid, and don't know how to deal with this. We are dismayed
and even fearful because we don't know what to do. But when
this happens, there is another part in us. There is a David
within us that is volunteering to come forth. David, strictly
speaking we are told, represents the Lord's Divine truth. In
us he represents our love for what is right, that simple love
for the Lord, that simple youth-like obedience which wants to
do the Lord's will. Have you ever had that feeling in tempta-
tion when an overpowering evil rises up of a little voice
inside, chirping, saying, "Don't do that. You don't have to do
that. You can conquer this evil"? Well, that's the David
within us, that simple belief in the Lord which really wants
to do the Lord's will, that part of us which hopes, that part
of us which knows we can beat this evil. It may be a monster,
but if the Lord is on our side, we can conquer it. That's the
David within us speaking.
     Now, in our lives we've got to recognize that there is
part of us willing to fight against our evils, and in these
times, not to be afraid, not to run away from the evil but to
listen to that part of us which wants to fight. Saul, after
hearing David's story, was willing to give David a chance. And
we remember David told his story: "I can fight against this
person. Back when I was a boy I fought against the lion the
bear, and I conquered them." This represents us, in our own
minds, recognizing that those simple teachings, that simple
love for the Lord, has helped us through other temptations. We
think to ourselves, "I remember. I just held on to what the
Lord told me was right and I was able to beat these things."
And we think, "If I can beat these other things, why can't I
beat the big evil in my life? Maybe I can." So Saul agreed
that maybe David could and gave him a chance.
     We remember that Saul then put his armor on David and it
didn't work. Now armor, in an evil sense, represents falsities
or knowledge's which protect evil. Armor, in a good sense here,
represents knowledge's or doctrines which protect good. This
armor represents all the doctrinal knowledge's we have learned
about religion, what it means to live a good life, all the
things we know about heaven and hell, all the things we know
about why the Lord works in this world and how He operates.
These are like armor that protect good. But what happens so
often in temptations, in really grievous temptations? We can't
rely on that doctrinal knowledge, not if it hasn't been proved
or experienced in life. This armor hasn't been proved. If we
are a being tempted to lust, it is going to do relatively
little good to know all about heaven and hell and the differ-
ent degrees of the mind, and this and that. If we are tempted
to steal something, it is going to do relatively little good
to know how the Lord operates in this world, or what happens
to our limbus after death, and so on. That armor is useless
because it hasn't been proved, used in life and understood.
     In grievous temptations such as this we have to rely on
the basic teachings from the Word which we have lived by and
experienced in our life. We have to rely on those simple,
basic teachings the Lord has given us in His Word. Thou shalt
not steal. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adul-
tery. These are the teachings that will pull us through if we
hold onto them and use them.
     Where does David go to get his weapons? He goes to the
brook. Water in the Word represents the Lord's Divine truth.
It represents the Lord's Word, for us to go to the Word to
learn these knowledges that are going to fight against these
evils. The David within us must go to the Word to find his
stones.
     What do these stones represent in themselves? They repre-
sent simple knowledges from the Word: smooth, refined things
that we have learned and used in our life, the basic teach-
ings. They will pull us through this battle. They will give us
the victory over the enemy. And so David collects these stones
and goes off to war against Goliath.
     When Goliath sees David come out to him, Goliath is
indignant that this boy has come out to fight him. In the same
way in our minds, sometimes we can become indignant with what
we're hearing inside, with what these simple truths are
saying. "What do you mean you shouldn't commit adultery? I'm
in love. My case is special. Don't give me that Sunday school
stuff." There is an indignation there. "What do you mean,
don't steal? I'm not really stealing; I'm just signing the
piece of paper a little differently. Everybody does it." We
are indignant when we hear this conscience within us telling
us, "No, thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
It does apply to you."
     And then David gives his declaration of faith. "You come
to me with all these weapons. I come to you in the name of the
Lord. And today all the earth will know that there is a God in
Israel." If we will only listen to the David within us, that
simple basic belief in the Lord, to let that fight for us, to
hold onto those basic teachings in time of temptations, we
will pull through that giant will fall. David ran forward,
pulled out one of those stones, swung it and let go, and it
hit the giant right between the eyes and he fell. This repre-
sents with us that when we actually do hold on through that
temptation and use those basic truths, the enemy will fall. We
come to the instant realization of the truth of the matter. We
might say, "I'm so glad I didn't do that. I must have been a
fool to think I could do that. Thank the Lord I didn't follow
that path." The truth hits us right between the eyes. When the
enemy falls we can see so clearly again. The monstrous evil
with its armor of falsity is no more. That terrible enemy is
vanquished, and peace returns to our conscious lives.
     There are going to be many times in our life when giants
loom up within us. That's why the Lord tells us this, so we
can be ready for those giants. When we feel those temptations
within us to do what is evil, and we become afraid, believing
that we will never change, let us remember that there is a
faith within us that is volunteering to come forward and
fight, that simple, basic love for the Lord wants to come into
our lives. Give that boy a chance and he will prove to be
right and true. Turn to the Word and follow those basic
teachings in times of temptations and that giant will fall.
The temptation will end. We will be free. And there will be
peace. And everything inside of us will know for a fact that
there really is a God in Israel. Amen.

Lessons I Samuel 17, AE 781:12

Preached in ???Apocalypse Explained 781:12

     The bear that David smote has a like signification; this
is described in the first book of Samuel: "David said unto
Saul, thy servant was pasturing his father's flock and there
came a lion and a bear and took away a sheep from the flock;
I went out after him and smote him; and when he arose against
me I took hold of his beard and smote him and killed him. Thy
servant smote both the lion and the bear. Therefore this
uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, because he
hath reproached the ranks of the living God" (17:34-37). Power
was given to David to smite the lion and the bear that took
away the sheep from the flock because "David" represents the
Lord in reference to Divine truth in which those who are of
His church are instructed; and a "lion" signifies the power of
spiritual Divine truth, and in the contrary sense, as here,
the power of infernal falsity against Divine truth, while a
"bear" signifies the power of natural Divine truth, and in the
contrary sense the power of falsity against that truth. But "a
sheep from the flock" signifies those who are of the Lord's
church. And as this was represented, the power was given to
David to smite the bear and the lion, to represent and signify
the Lord's power to defend by His Divine truth His own in the
church from the falsities of evil that are from hell. David's
taking hold of the beard of the bear involves an arcanum that
may be disclosed, indeed, but can scarcely be comprehended.
The "beard" signifies the Divine truth in ultimates, in which
its essential power rests. This truth also the evil who are in
falsities carry indeed in the mouth but they misuse it to
destroy; but when it is taken away they no longer have any
power. This is why he killed the bear and smote the lion
. . . . But "Goliath," who was a Philistine and was therefore
called "uncircumcised," signifies such as are in truths
without good [which] are truths falsified, which in themselves
are falsities. "The uncircumcised" signifies those who are in
filthy corporeal loves, for the foreskin corresponds to those
loves. From this it is clear what the victory of David over
Goliath represented.