Grasshoppers and Giant Killers
Pastor Erickson preaches from Numbers 13 and 1 Samuel 16 and 17, setting the ten spies who saw themselves as grasshoppers beside David, the young worshipper from the tribe of Judah who killed Goliath. He says the way people see God shapes the way they see themselves, and he calls the church to face their giants in the name of Jesus, to worship before the battle, and to live free from condemnation.
The message in 6 points
How you see God shapes how you see yourself
He says a person's view of God determines how they see themselves. He reads Numbers 13:33 and 1 Samuel 17 and gives his title: you have a choice to be either a grasshopper or a giant killer.
1:16:20Two spies and ten spies
Two spies said we are well able to take the land, while ten looked at the same grapes and called themselves grasshoppers. He asks how the giants never caught the spies, and warns that settling for easy living in the wilderness keeps people out of the promise.
1:20:32Anointed, then back to the sheepfold
In 1 Samuel 16 the Lord looks on the heart and has Samuel anoint the youngest son. David is then sent right back to the sheep, the way people feel the anointing on Sunday and go back to work on Monday.
1:29:38The giant shows up in the valley
Goliath appears in the valley, not on the mountain, and he says the enemy strikes in our low places. Israel let the giant set the rules for forty days, but grasshoppers cower while giant killers find solutions, and believers do not have to live by the enemy's odds.
1:34:22A worshipper from the tribe of praise
David comes from Judah, the tribe of praise, and was praising before he reached the battlefield. His own brother criticizes him and Saul judges his size and age, but David asks, is there not a cause, and he urges young people not to wait to serve God.
1:43:13A testimony, the name, and the call
David's lion and bear testimony reminds him God can do it again, and he comes against Goliath in the name of the Lord. Washed in Jesus' name, believers live without condemnation, and he calls everyone to worship before the war and rise up as giant killers.
1:56:03
In his words
“The biggest struggles of my life never came when I was in the house of the Lord. It never came when I was on a high, it always came when I was in a low.”
“A testimony is a reminder to the one who got tested, reminding them that if God can do it before, God can do it again.”
“It's not my assignment tonight from God to turn grasshoppers into giants. It's my assignment to turn people who see themselves as grasshoppers into realizing they can be giant killers.”
Taken word for word from the video, with punctuation added.
Scripture
He reads
Numbers 13:33
33And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
King James Version.
1 Samuel 17:51
51Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.
King James Version.
1 Samuel 17:57
57And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.
King James Version.
1 Samuel 16:6-13
6And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD’s anointed is before him. 7But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. 8Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this. 9Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this. 10Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The LORD hath not chosen these. 11And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither. 12And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. 13Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.
King James Version.
1 Samuel 17:1-10
1Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim. 2And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. 3And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. 4And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass. 6And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders. 7And the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him. 8And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. 9If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us. 10And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.
King James Version.
1 Samuel 17:12
12Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehemjudah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul.
King James Version.
1 Samuel 17:14-29
14And David was the youngest: and the three eldest followed Saul. 15But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. 16And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. 17And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp of thy brethren; 18And carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge. 19Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle. 21For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army. 22And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren. 23And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them. 24And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid. 25And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father’s house free in Israel. 26And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? 27And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him. 28And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. 29And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?
King James Version.
1 Samuel 17:32-37
32And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. 33And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. 34And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: 35And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. 36Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. 37David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.
King James Version.
1 Samuel 17:41-50
41And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him. 42And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. 43And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field. 45Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. 46This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hands. 48And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came, and drew nigh to meet David, that David hastened, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 49And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. 50So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.
King James Version.
1 Samuel 17:54
54And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent.
King James Version.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
9Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
King James Version.
Romans 8:1
1There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
King James Version.
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