1 Samuel 17: Facing Your Goliath, the Victory Is Already Won

Introduction

For weeks, one word had been echoing in Sarah Marvane's mind: victory. She never imagined she would preach it in the circumstances the country is going through at the time of this message. But she says it simply: what God does is perfect, and the leading of his Holy Spirit always is.

To speak about victory, she chooses a story everyone knows, even those who come to church for the first time: David and Goliath, in 1 Samuel 17. She encourages everyone to reread the whole chapter when they get home, "because every detail counts."

From this account she draws three keys that allow a child of God to walk in a victorious life: knowing God in secret, standing in the position of someone for whom everything is already accomplished, and running toward the battlefield. The starting point is clear: we have the victory in Jesus.

Message outline

1. Leaving the quiet fields to go and see your brothers

Goliath lays down the challenge: if an Israelite kills him, the Philistines will be slaves; if he wins, Israel will serve the Philistines. Saul and all Israel hear these words and are seized with great fear (1 Samuel 17:9-11).
For forty days, morning and evening, the giant comes back to throw out the same challenge. David is not there: he is tending his father Jesse's flock, far from the battlefield. His three oldest brothers, meanwhile, have joined Saul's troops.
David arrives for one reason only: to check on his brothers and bring them food. He moves from the quiet fields to the front line, where the army is shouting its battle cry. That is how he discovers the script Goliath has been playing out for weeks.
Sarah Marvane pauses along the way on a question for God's family: do I obey the Father who sends me to check on someone who may be on a battlefield? Am I even aware of what my brother or sister is going through?
David had no social media. Only obedience to his father allowed him to find out what was happening. Our comfort must sometimes be exchanged for the battlefield, and the result is worth it: David did not just help his three brothers, the whole people was saved.
"You don't know what your arrival on the battlefield, as a brother or a sister, can produce." She calls the Church to love and care for those in distress.

2. A people paralyzed before the giant

In verse 23, Goliath steps out of the ranks and repeats his words. David hears them. The Israelites, for their part, flee from him, seized with fear (1 Samuel 17:23-24). Two attitudes stand in contrast in this story.
The first is that of the people: paralyzed, frozen by what they see. And the problem is real. Goliath is 2.92 meters (about 9 feet 7 inches) tall. He wears a helmet, a breastplate weighing 57 kilos (about 125 pounds) by itself, shin armor, a javelin slung between his shoulders and a spear whose iron head weighs more than 6 kilos (about 13 pounds). "The fact is undeniable: they were facing a giant."
Goliath comes at strategic moments. In the morning, so that fear floods their thoughts and freezes the soldiers all day long. In the evening, to haunt their dreams. He does not even need to draw his weapons: a paralyzed people is already immobilized.
The enemy of our souls works the same way: he tries to fill us with fears in order to immobilize us. Who comes to challenge you morning and evening? Perhaps the events of the day before, or the images we watch on a loop on the news channels.
Sarah Marvane names the giants: rejection, fear, addiction, pornography, sin, comparison, violence, refusing to forgive, illness. The battlefield may be your body, your health, your marriage, rebellious children.
"Life is not a quiet, flowing river," and the Word never promised that it would be. It promises that, on the battlefields, God remains faithful: he is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). That is where God tests us, stretches us and does in us a work he cannot do in the sheep pastures.

3. David knows his God in secret

The second attitude is David's. As soon as he hears the insult against his God, he leaps up inside: "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?" (1 Samuel 17:26). He sees neither the size, nor the armor, nor the booming voice.
The difference between the people and David is that David knows God. Knowing God lets you see beyond circumstances, beyond the battlefield, to the place where victory is already assured.
Before Goliath, David had already killed a lion and a bear on his own to protect the sheep (1 Samuel 17:34-36). "The victories you win in secret are public victories that God will one day use to glorify himself." God does not train us in the spotlight, he trains us one on one.
People look at what strikes the eye, but the LORD looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). Sarah Marvane testifies that there are also secret battlefields, which no one imagines, but where God remains faithful, good and just.
The Israelites were soldiers armed to the teeth, and they let fear defeat them. Are we aware of the almighty God who lives in us? To become aware of it, we need to know him personally and intimately. And "there is no such thing as fast-food faith": someone who wants everything, right now, and wants to shine in the spotlight will not know God this way.
She has just come back from Paris, where she spent the weekend with persecuted brothers and sisters from around the world. A survivor spoke there about two kinds of persecution: the red one, where people shed their blood for their faith, and the white one, that of the Western Church, which is content with what it is. She believes the latter is worse, because we are no longer aware of the God who lives in us.
Whoever fears the LORD has a secure fortress (Proverbs 14:26). When you face difficulty, do you run to the secret place of your God, or to your contacts list so that everyone knows you are doing badly? David was not trying to be a hero, but a humble shepherd and an obedient son. Knowing God means seeking humility: it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me (Galatians 2:20).

4. Standing facing the battle, not in the battle

David tells Saul: "Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine" (1 Samuel 17:32). He does not first take a time of fasting and prayer: the insult is enough to make him leap up.
Fasting and prayer are necessary, Sarah Marvane points out, but there is a kind of spirituality that has no place when the enemy attacks us. We must position ourselves as victors in Christ and look the giant in the eye: "Who are you to intimidate me? Who are you to destroy my family, my health? Who are you, depression, cancer, adultery?"
God did not need a young boy with a sling. But he needed someone who would stand up boldly. It does not matter how big the giant is or what his name is: the question is how you position yourself.
Too many Christians place themselves in the battle instead of standing facing the battle. In the battle, you struggle against something. Facing the battle, you look beyond the circumstances and declare victory. The LORD will fight for you, and you shall be still (Exodus 14:14); the battle is not yours, but God's (2 Chronicles 20:15).
Colossians 2:15: Jesus stripped the rulers and authorities and made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. The Greek verb described the procession in which a victorious general paraded his enemies. The cross is not a defeat: it is the place of triumph.
On the cross, Jesus said "It is finished" (John 19:30). It is a permanent state, with nothing to add. Sarah Marvane invites us to take up the "tetelestai position" and enter the rest of faith. God had announced it: the offspring of the woman would crush the serpent's head (Genesis 3:15).
She thinks back to the martyrs whose names were read during the weekend: "They can behead us, but no one can chain our faith." The enemy can touch the body, but never the spirit or the soul of the one who is in Christ.
Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57). It is grace, a free gift. "It was not the nails that held Jesus on the cross," it was his love. And if a single match is enough to pierce the darkness of a room, how much more can the King of glory, the sun of righteousness, dispel the darkness you are facing.

5. What you see is not the reality of faith

God commands his angels to guard us (Psalm 91:11). We are no longer alone.
Goliath is caught in his own game. He despises David: "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" (1 Samuel 17:43). He sees a young man of 15 to 19, handsome and blond. Because he believed what he saw, he lost his head.
"What you see with your eyes is not the reality in faith." What God says in his Word is not subject to your emotions. Christ has accomplished everything for each of us.
It is not about fighting the enemy, but about reminding him who he is. The small stones and the sling you need are found in the Word of God. That is why you must first know God before you can take your position in faith.

6. Running toward the battlefield

David answers Goliath: "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin; but I come to you in the name of Yahweh of Armies, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied" (1 Samuel 17:45-47).
As soon as the Philistine moves forward, David runs onto the battlefield to meet him (1 Samuel 17:48). This is the last point: when you know God, you do not watch the giant from a distance, you do not go around the battlefield, you run.
When you run, you look neither right nor left. You are focused on what is essential. David leaves no room for doubt: "Today, Yahweh will deliver you into my hand." Today, not next week once we have had time to gather a group of intercessors.
"I am not alone on the battlefield." He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).
To run, you have to lay down the armor. Saul had dressed David in his own, but it was far too big and David could not move (1 Samuel 17:38-39). Many people have built themselves an armor of overprotection so they will not hurt anymore. We need to get rid of our concepts and our safeguards: the faith of a child is enough to defeat the enemy.

7. An army of Davids

What fascinates Sarah Marvane in this passage: a whole army of soldiers never even thought that, together, with courage and boldness, they could bring this giant down.
It is a picture of the Church. If Goliath could not stand before one little David, what could stand before an army of Davids? She prays that faith will awaken and believe that, united, believers will see France transformed.
What she saw the day before broke her heart, but she sees in it only one more giant. In Jesus Christ, we can release love, grace and hope in the streets.
She calls us to be courageous, humble and determined soldiers, who know they are nothing without him. What Goliath did not see when he looked at the young David was the multitude of angels and the army of the LORD around him.
She ends by sharing how she prays at home: "I, Sarah, am coming against you in the name of the LORD of Armies. Today the LORD will deliver you into my hand." Speak to your giant, remind him who you are.

Key takeaways

Obedience can take you out of your comfort to join a brother or sister on their battlefield, and your arrival can change everything.
The enemy tries to paralyze you with fear, morning and evening. Knowing God lets you see beyond the size of the giant.
Victories won in secret prepare the public victories. God trains us one on one, not in the spotlight.
At the cross, everything is accomplished: you are not called to struggle all your life, but to stand facing the battle and declare victory in the rest of faith.
To run toward the battlefield, lay down the armor of overprotection: the faith of a child is enough.

Personal application

Which brother or sister is going through a battlefield right now, and how is God sending you to check on them?
Which Goliath comes to challenge you morning and evening? Can you name him before God?
When you face difficulty, who do you run to first: the secret place with your God, or your phone contacts?
Do you stand in the battle, struggling, or facing the battle, declaring what Christ has already accomplished?
What protective armor keeps you from running toward the battlefield today?

Verses cited

Frequently asked questions

Why did Goliath come to challenge Israel morning and evening?

For Sarah Marvane, this rhythm was strategic: in the morning, fear flooded their thoughts and froze the soldiers all day long; in the evening, it came to haunt their dreams. Goliath did not even need to draw his weapons: a paralyzed people is already immobilized. The enemy of our souls still works this way to immobilize us.

Why was David not afraid of Goliath?

Because he knew his God personally. Before facing Goliath, he had already defeated a lion and a bear, alone, to protect the sheep. Those secret victories had prepared him. Knowing God lets you see beyond circumstances, beyond the size of the giant.

What does it mean to stand facing the battle rather than in the battle?

Someone in the battle is still struggling against something. Someone standing facing the battle looks beyond the circumstances and declares victory. According to Colossians 2:15, Jesus stripped the rulers and authorities at the cross: everything is accomplished, and the believer is called to live in the rest of faith.