Hawaii 9 – Giants in the Land

Hawaii 9 – Giants in the Land

Have you ever stood at a spiritual high point — a baptism, a recommitment, an answered prayer — and then been blindsided by trouble within days? If so, you are in good company. In this message, preached in Hawaii on the Sabbath of a baptism, Dr. Conrad Vine set aside his prepared sermon and spoke directly to the church’s newest members about what happens after the anointing: the giants come.

After the Anointing Comes the Battle

When Samuel poured the oil over young David, “the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward” (1 Samuel 16:13). We might expect a smooth ascent to the throne. Instead, the very next scenes of David’s life are a war, an invading army, and a ten-foot champion named Goliath. Dr. Vine’s warning to the newly baptized is loving and blunt: don’t be surprised if Satan hits you from left field or right field. The enemy does all he can to discourage, dissuade, divert, and depress those who have just given their lives to Christ.

Prepared in the Hidden Places

David did not arrive at the battlefield unformed. He came from a genuinely difficult family — “a stranger to my kindred, an alien to my mother’s children” (Psalm 69:8) — worked a menial, dangerous job nobody wanted, and served a boss who threw javelins at him. Yet in those hidden years he fought lions and bears for a single lamb, and wrote “The LORD is my shepherd.” Faithfulness in obscurity, Dr. Vine argues, is precisely how God prepares us for what Churchill called our “finest hour” — the moment we are tapped on the shoulder and offered a task fitted exactly to our talents.

You Cannot Fight in Another Man’s Armor

Saul dressed David in royal armor, and David could not even walk. He laid it aside and picked up the sling God had trained him on. The application lands close to home: God is not asking you to sing, preach, or lead like anyone else. He has given you unique gifts, uniquely needed in your congregation. Identify them, nurture them, practice them — because you never know when the battle will call for them.

The Name That Wins the Battle

Goliath came with sword, spear, and javelin — three ways to kill. David came with one name: “I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts” (1 Samuel 17:45). That name, Yahweh Sabaoth, tells us who God is when the world falls apart: a very present help in trouble (Psalm 46), the King of glory who is strong and mighty in battle (Psalm 24), and a covenant-making, covenant-keeping God (2 Samuel 7). Because God’s promises to David had not yet been fulfilled, David knew he was walking off that battlefield alive.

A Covenant Walk for Ordinary Believers

The sermon’s most personal moment comes when Dr. Vine recalls being twenty-one, reading Joshua 1 on the morning he left to serve in Azerbaijan, and claiming it as his personal covenant with God: meditate on the Word day and night, and “the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” Decades later, he testifies with Joshua that not one of God’s promises has failed — through war zones, public attacks, and every Goliath since. His invitation: choose a passage, make it your covenant, and build your life on it.

The Battle Belongs to the Lord

God’s word to Jeremiah is His word to every new believer: “They will fight against you; but they shall not prevail against you; for I am with you… to deliver you” (Jeremiah 1:19). God does not remove us from the fight — He joins us in it, and He gives the victory. There will always be Goliaths. But there will also be God, and He is greater.

Watch the full sermon and explore the study guide, devotional, transcript, and quotes on the Sermons & Resources page.