1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,640 Gracious Lord, we do indeed need you bring yourself present 2 00:00:03,640 --> 00:00:07,440 powerfully to us into our hearts, Lord, to change who we 3 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:08,960 are. We pray through Christ our Lord, 4 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:12,640 we ask, Amen. Today we are looking at one of 5 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:16,239 the very key biblical passages that I'm sure many of you know, 6 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:19,920 David and Goliath, bound to be one of the more popular texts in 7 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:23,160 the Bible. I would urge you, please to read 8 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:26,840 the passage. It's in First Samuel chapter 17. 9 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:30,920 It's a long text, but I need you to read it after the service to 10 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:34,520 be sure that what I say accords with the word of the Lord. 11 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:38,840 So please attend yourself to 1st Corinthians First Samuel chapter 12 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:40,880 17. We are going to look only at a 13 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:43,040 few minutes. This is when David and Goliath 14 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:45,080 come face to face with one another. 15 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:47,120 They come and confront one another. 16 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:51,240 Beginning of verse 42. When Goliath of Philistine 17 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:54,960 looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a 18 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:57,160 youth, Ruddy and handsome in appearance. 19 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:00,760 And the Philistine said to David, Am IA dog, that you come 20 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:03,840 to me with sticks. And the Philistine cursed David 21 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:07,400 by his God. And Philistine said to David, 22 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:10,680 Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air 23 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:14,200 and to the beasts of the field. Then David said to Goliath, the 24 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:17,880 Philistine, you come to me with a sword and with a spear and 25 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:20,560 with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of 26 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:23,840 the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you 27 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:27,360 have defied. This day the Lord will deliver 28 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:30,800 you into my hands, and I will cut you down and cut off your 29 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:33,360 head. And I will give the dead bodies 30 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:36,720 of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air 31 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:40,160 and to the wild beasts of the earth, so that all the earth may 32 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:43,480 know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this 33 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:47,400 assembly may know that the Lord saves not with a sword and a 34 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:51,600 spear, For the battle is the Lord's, and He will give you 35 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:55,000 into our hand. And this is the word of the 36 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:56,880 Lord. Thanks be to God. 37 00:01:56,880 --> 00:02:00,400 The grass Withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our Lord, 38 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:02,400 it stands forever. Amen. 39 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:06,560 Please be seated. If you would turn your Bibles to 40 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:09,479 First Samuel 17, it will be helpful to have it available as 41 00:02:09,479 --> 00:02:11,920 we go through this. We are doing something where 42 00:02:11,920 --> 00:02:15,840 we're summarizing a whole chapter here, a long chapter 43 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:17,600 really. It will take you about 8 minutes 44 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:19,720 to read it. And I strongly encourage again, 45 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:23,400 you take some time today to do so and see if those some of the 46 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:26,160 themes that I pull out are the some of the themes that the 47 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:29,840 scriptures speak powerfully to. If I was being provocative 48 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:32,880 today, I thought about this, that I would title the sermon 49 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:37,560 Stop trying to be like David. Stop trying to be like David. 50 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:43,520 But I didn't. Most of you, most of you know 51 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:48,360 the cultural nature, the the meme or the cliche of David and 52 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:50,040 Goliath. Here we've got the scrappy 53 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:53,160 little guy who's fighting against this big, massive, 54 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:57,200 powerful force in front of him. And yet by virtue of his 55 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:00,040 strength and tenacity and his faith, he goes ahead and 56 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:04,280 conquers the small victorious 1, conquers against all odds, 57 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:07,840 against the most favored, favored force in the all of 58 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:10,320 nature. And you can see this played out 59 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:17,000 in sports teams, in politics and economic situations and nations. 60 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:21,160 The David and Goliath motif is a really powerful one throughout 61 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:25,480 our society and much for many Christians it is as well. 62 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:29,200 For a lot of us, David is a bit of a hero, and he should be. 63 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:32,160 He's a hero of the narrative, and there's a hero of the 64 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:34,560 narrative. Many of us get caught up with 65 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:37,960 the idea of confronting the powerful forces that are before 66 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:41,360 us. We are overwhelmed with so much 67 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:46,760 that happens in our life that is only natural for us to seek some 68 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:50,320 kind of a model for us that we can follow after that would 69 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:53,400 allow us to conquer faithfully some of the challenges that are 70 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:55,880 before us. We can see those challenges in 71 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:58,600 numerous different ways. One is external. 72 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:00,840 The forces of this world are broken. 73 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:04,080 Our chaotic, our chaos in general. 74 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:07,240 And we see the wickedness, we see the depravity of the world 75 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:11,280 around us. And we, in our smallness, sit 76 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:13,760 there and think, how in the world are we able to confront? 77 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:17,160 How are we able to do something with the vastness of the world 78 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:21,800 that is before us? Or we are overwhelmed by the 79 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:25,200 brokenness that's within our own hearts. 80 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:29,920 We're confronted daily with the frustration that we have with 81 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:33,560 trying to conquer, trying to get over top of the sins that so 82 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:36,640 easily plague us, the temptations that overwhelm us. 83 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:41,240 And why it is that we, like Paul himself, Saint Paul, cry out 84 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:44,360 consistently. Why, oh Lord, do I do the things 85 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:47,480 that I don't want to do? We're aware of the brokenness. 86 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:50,400 We're aware of our own sinfulness and our attitude and 87 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:54,560 our grouchiness and our offenses to the Lord. 88 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:59,560 And in the midst of all of that, we seek some type of a promise 89 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:04,160 of a victory, some type of an assurance of a of a model for 90 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:06,600 us. And so we look to David as the 91 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:10,160 hero, the scrappy young one who comes along, oh, completely 92 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:12,480 overmatched by the forces that are around him. 93 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:15,400 And yet, nevertheless, by relying upon the Lord, he's able 94 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:19,640 to pull it off. And we identify with David, but 95 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:25,880 I think it's a completely case of total mistaken identity and 96 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:28,800 we should stop trying to be like David. 97 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:33,280 Couple of comments here on context, just to help us out a 98 00:05:33,280 --> 00:05:36,160 little bit. The context of the Texas, the 99 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:39,760 continual wars that existed between Israel and the 100 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:43,640 Philistines ever since Israel came and occupied Canaan land 101 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:46,360 and conquered Canaan land, they butted up against the 102 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:48,320 Philistines. And the Philistines were 103 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:50,400 continually at war with the Israelites. 104 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:53,800 And it's sad to say, but it is true that the Philistines were a 105 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:57,800 much more superior culture in almost every way, economically, 106 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:01,840 politically, and militarily. Technologically, they were far 107 00:06:01,840 --> 00:06:04,920 advanced for the Israelites. The Israelites were still stuck 108 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:08,680 using stone implements and wood implements during this time, and 109 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:11,480 the Philistines had already moved into a period of using 110 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:13,560 iron. They were at the forefront of 111 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:15,240 the Iron Age at this point in the game. 112 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:18,640 The Israelites were far in the back of this case. 113 00:06:18,840 --> 00:06:21,760 And so consistently between the wars of the Israelites and the 114 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:24,720 Philistines, the Israelites consistently came out on the 115 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:27,600 short end of the stick. The Philistines were consistent 116 00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:31,680 winners for through the decades, almost centuries of conflict 117 00:06:31,840 --> 00:06:35,200 between the Israelites and the Philistines, and this caused the 118 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:37,920 Israelites to look longingly at the way the Philistines were 119 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:40,600 doing things and try to do things the same way. 120 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:44,840 So they tried to gain iron implements in order to build up 121 00:06:44,840 --> 00:06:47,520 their military. They tried to do economically 122 00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:49,440 some principles that would advance themselves. 123 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:52,680 They tried to capture some of the cultural ideas, including 124 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:55,920 some of the religious ideas of the Philistines, and incorporate 125 00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:57,520 some of those. And one of the things they 126 00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:00,880 strongly yearned to do was try to get a king like the 127 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:03,440 Philistines. The Philistines had a military 128 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:06,840 leader that would lead them and they would be a king and roll 129 00:07:06,840 --> 00:07:08,960 over the Philistines. And the Philistines were so 130 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:12,040 successful in battle and so successful in their abilities 131 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:15,720 that the Israelites yearned to be like the Philistines. 132 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:18,880 And so they too hired a king. They too went out and got a 133 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:21,560 king. They pushed Samuel to get a king 134 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:25,240 for them, and they hired and they got King Saul. 135 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:28,280 And King Saul was exactly a king like all the other nations. 136 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:31,080 He actually did lead them to some military battles, 137 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:34,200 victories, and some victories over the Philistines. 138 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:39,680 He succeeded there in part, but he was also a massive failure in 139 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:43,960 so many different ways. Culturally, he led the he led 140 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:47,520 the Israelites further and further away from their Lord 141 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:53,080 until the point where God then says he rejects King Saul as 142 00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:56,520 king over the Israelites and instead anoints a young boy. 143 00:07:56,520 --> 00:07:59,040 We looked at this last week if you were with us in worship, 144 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:03,280 where God makes that wonderful pronouncement, man looks on the 145 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:06,920 outside upon the appearance. Man judges by the appearance, 146 00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:10,240 but God judges by what he's doing in the heart. 147 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:16,120 And then it's almost like we have a living parable after 148 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:20,040 chapter 16 where God makes that pronouncement that he, unlike 149 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:22,840 man, does not look at the appearance, he looks at the 150 00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:24,840 heart. Immediately following that, we 151 00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:28,480 have the living parable of the story of David and Goliath, 152 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:33,080 where Goliath is everything that you would want from the outward 153 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:37,919 appearance, and David is nothing at all according to the outward 154 00:08:37,919 --> 00:08:40,600 appearance. And yet David has what it takes 155 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:45,120 in the heart. David is where God is working in 156 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:48,800 his heart. And so it's easy for us to say, 157 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:53,560 I want to be like David, I want to model my life upon David. 158 00:08:54,560 --> 00:08:57,160 But that's a complete mistaken identity. 159 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:02,520 So we have the two armies at war with each other. 160 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:05,400 They line up across the valley and across one side is the 161 00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:07,400 Philistines, one side is the Israelites. 162 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:10,120 And they are looking at each other, taunting one another. 163 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:14,360 And daily, every day outcomes From the Philistines army comes 164 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:18,000 this massive warrior, this overwhelming warrior, this 165 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:22,120 Goliath, and he's powerful in every way. 166 00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:28,080 He carries a 60 LB spear, 60 LB spear, 125 lbs of armor. 167 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:31,400 He's this mighty force that comes upon the Israelites. 168 00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:34,720 And he comes out and taunts the Israelites and says over and 169 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:38,360 over again to them, you come, send me a champion, send me a 170 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:41,720 warrior, and I will defeat them as the Philistines will defeat 171 00:09:41,720 --> 00:09:44,320 the Israelites. And he taunts their God. 172 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:46,080 He taunts the Israelites culture. 173 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:49,960 He taunts the Israelites king over and over again and nobody. 174 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:54,560 Verse 11 in the text is a verse that you should note well. 175 00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:59,760 Verse 11 after having this introduction of Goliath, verse 176 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:05,880 11 tells us that King Saul quaked with fear and all the 177 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:10,120 people were shattered. It says dismayed, but the word 178 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:13,240 there is a shattering, a complete broken because I, I 179 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:16,080 can, I've been dismayed in my life, been dismayed where I've 180 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:19,280 kind of been downhearted and discouraged and disappointed. 181 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:22,480 That's not the word here. The word here is completely 182 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:24,800 fractured, broken into little pieces. 183 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:30,480 The people are dismayed because of Goliath and they are full of 184 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:33,520 fear. The the word greatly fearful is, 185 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:38,040 is the most strong adverb that you can get here in text. 186 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:41,640 It's the strongest emphasis about how bad the fear is. 187 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:44,640 It totally crushes the Israelite people. 188 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:53,560 And that's who we are. If you're looking for your place 189 00:10:53,560 --> 00:10:58,840 in the story, our place in the story is not the champion. 190 00:10:59,880 --> 00:11:03,520 It's not the hero. We are God's people. 191 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:08,440 We are God's people that are confronted by the forces of 192 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:12,360 wickedness, by the forces of evil that are overwhelming the 193 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:16,200 forces of evil that are outside, that are out of our out of our 194 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:19,800 ability to control and can confront that overwhelm us. 195 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:22,680 That we look at this society and saying, what are we supposed to 196 00:11:22,680 --> 00:11:25,560 do with the societal trends right now that are so terrible? 197 00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:28,960 What are we supposed to do with an endemic poverty that is 198 00:11:29,040 --> 00:11:31,240 crushing our nation? What is what are we supposed to 199 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:33,360 do with the racism that is all around us? 200 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:36,000 What are we supposed to do with the political chaos and the 201 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:37,600 difficulties that are confronting us? 202 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:39,480 What are we supposed to do with all of this? 203 00:11:39,880 --> 00:11:43,360 And it's a Goliath in our eyes, and it is supposed to be a 204 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:46,040 Goliath in our eyes. And what do we do in light of 205 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:48,040 that? If we have any sense of 206 00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:51,200 righteousness, if we are paying attention at all, if we have any 207 00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:55,640 compassion and care for this world that God has made, we're 208 00:11:55,640 --> 00:11:58,920 crushed. We're overwhelmed. 209 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:03,160 We sit there and think, what what can I do? 210 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:07,080 I can vote, I can protest, I can write a letter. 211 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:11,760 What, what can I do? I've got nothing. 212 00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:18,600 And that doesn't compare to what happens when I look inside and I 213 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:26,160 see the depravity, the brokenness, the character that I 214 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:28,920 so don't want anybody else to see. 215 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:33,600 And I and I've been a Christian for how long have I been a 216 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:35,720 Christian? 40 years. 217 00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:40,920 I've been a Christian for 40 years and still I struggle. 218 00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:43,240 I'm calculating in my head while I'm talking 38. 219 00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:49,520 And still I'm dealing with these things that that horrify me, 220 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:52,640 that embarrass me, that I know that I stand before my Lord and 221 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:55,280 shame before him. And I sit there and think the 222 00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:58,080 Goliath of the sinfulness in my heart. 223 00:12:58,200 --> 00:13:00,680 What can I do? What can I possibly do? 224 00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:06,960 And so many people say we'll be like David, grab a hold of the 225 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:11,720 reins of faith and stand before your Goliath and say Goliath, I 226 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:13,920 sin in this world, sin in my heart. 227 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:17,880 I defy you in the name of the Lord Jesus and said it and 228 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:22,280 completely misses the point of the story of David and Goliath, 229 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:30,840 which is that I am crushed, I am helpless, I am hopeless, I am 230 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:34,680 powerless before the brokenness in my world. 231 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:38,760 What I need is not to try harder. 232 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:43,520 What I need is not to be encouraged to work more 233 00:13:43,520 --> 00:13:48,080 diligently, to only learn how to trust like David Truss, to be 234 00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:50,880 that little scrappy individual that never gives in, never gives 235 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:55,280 up. What I need is a champion. 236 00:13:56,520 --> 00:14:03,360 I need somebody that will come out of the Israelite lines and 237 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:09,040 say I will fight for you, I will fight for you. 238 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:15,280 The story of David and Goliath has convinced us that we are the 239 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:19,000 hero of the narrative. We are not the hero of the 240 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:21,720 narrative. We are the people that need a 241 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:24,080 champion. We are the people that are 242 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:28,000 finally confronted by the devastation of our own sin and 243 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:31,000 the sin of this world and realize that there's nothing 244 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:33,920 that we can do. What we need to do is lean 245 00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:37,280 rather on somebody else, is to look to somebody else, is to 246 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:40,880 turn our lives over to somebody else because it's not on us. 247 00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:45,840 It can't be on us. If it's on us, we are doomed. 248 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:49,360 It's not. If we work harder, we can get 249 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:51,280 it. We are doomed. 250 00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:55,800 And so, like the people of Israel, we quake in our fears, 251 00:14:56,000 --> 00:15:02,000 we shake in our brokenness before the Goliath, the 252 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:06,680 wickedness, the evil of this world, and we ultimately cry out 253 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:10,400 God. We need a savior. 254 00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:16,080 And of course, that is exactly what he sends us in Jesus 255 00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:18,520 Christ. Not somebody that helps me live 256 00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:21,600 a better life, Not somebody that helps me try harder. 257 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:24,440 Not somebody that boosts my confidence when I need it. 258 00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:27,600 Not somebody that helps me out when I'm in trouble, but 259 00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:32,280 somebody that fights the battle for me, that struggles the 260 00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:37,520 victorious way when I cannot, when I am crushed and broken and 261 00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:43,560 feeble, when I have no ability. That's when God sends his 262 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:47,000 champion. That's when he sends his 263 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:53,280 victorious one in my life. Stop trying to be David. 264 00:15:54,760 --> 00:16:00,200 That's not your rule. 55 times or more in the Bible, in the New 265 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:08,360 Testament, Jesus is associated with David, not you, not me. 266 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:15,840 David is the champion that comes to fight the battle on your 267 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:21,240 behalf and any Israelite that ran out in front of David and 268 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:27,320 said no, no David, not you, not you, me instead is bound for 269 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:30,400 death. It was only those Israelites 270 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:36,800 that then allowed David to stand in their place before Goliath 271 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:40,600 that experienced the salvation of the champion. 272 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:44,920 First, stop trying to be like David. 273 00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:49,520 Recognize your need for a champion, somebody who will 274 00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:54,400 stand in your place, and realize that that's exactly what we have 275 00:16:54,920 --> 00:17:01,280 in Jesus Christ. Secondly, please notice that the 276 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:05,640 battle is done in weakness, not in strength. 277 00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:08,960 The champion fights in weakness, not in strength. 278 00:17:09,119 --> 00:17:12,000 And this is something that I know that we haven't yet learned 279 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:15,319 because of what I have picked up from interacting with so many of 280 00:17:15,319 --> 00:17:18,400 you individually. We haven't learned that God's 281 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:22,680 ways are not our ways. And we need to lean to to to 282 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:25,839 throw out our ways, to throw out our assumption about what is 283 00:17:25,839 --> 00:17:27,800 right and lean purely on his ways. 284 00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:32,040 So the opening verses of the chapter, chapter 17 here in 285 00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:35,320 First Samuel go out of their way to paint this massive picture of 286 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:39,280 Goliath. He is portrayed as as powerful 287 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:44,560 and as mighty as a victorious warrior, everything you could 288 00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:47,360 possibly imagine. The the author falls over 289 00:17:47,360 --> 00:17:51,360 himself trying to give you this picture of the physical, the 290 00:17:51,360 --> 00:17:55,280 worldly powers that Goliath wields. 291 00:17:55,280 --> 00:17:58,400 They talk about the size of his spear, the power of his sword, 292 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:02,680 the force of his armor. You are overcome by the worldly 293 00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:06,160 power of Goliath. Then the following verses 294 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:09,920 reintroduce us to David, and the following verses go out of their 295 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:14,720 way to talk about how small and weak David is. 296 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:18,560 We meet David's brothers, his older brothers. 297 00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:21,520 That said, you're just an annoying boy. 298 00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:23,400 Get away from us. You're annoying. 299 00:18:24,280 --> 00:18:27,480 Or then we meet King Saul who tries to dress him up in the 300 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:30,120 worldly armor. King Saul meets with David as 301 00:18:30,120 --> 00:18:32,600 David's going out to battle Goliath and he says, well, you 302 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:35,920 can't go like you are. You have to at least wear the 303 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:38,480 the worldly implements. You have to bring the sword. 304 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:40,400 You have to bring an armor out there. 305 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:43,720 And David says, I can't do any of those things because he's too 306 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:47,760 small, he's too inability. And Goliath himself looks at 307 00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:52,520 David and says, you're too puny. You're even too puny simply even 308 00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:57,640 to fight. And yet David comes not. 309 00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:00,320 Look at how he phrases it again. If you have the text in front of 310 00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:03,920 you in verse 45, you come with me with a sword and a spear and 311 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:06,320 javelin. OK, We hear military force. 312 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:09,560 What we're supposed to hear is the overwhelming power and 313 00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:16,320 forces of the world's power, The world's weapons are being 314 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:19,520 brought to bear here in an overwhelming way. 315 00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:24,640 But I come to you, David says in the name of the Lord, not the 316 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:29,200 name Lord, but the character of Lord, the essence of the Lord. 317 00:19:29,360 --> 00:19:33,280 I come to you as a champion for the Lord. 318 00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:38,240 This is where he comes with all of the the weaknesses and he 319 00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:45,040 battles in weakness before the powerful and the might of the 320 00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:51,480 world's champion of Goliath. And so we have with Jesus 321 00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:57,000 Christ. Who could picture the kindness, 322 00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:08,880 compassion, gentleness, grace would be the weapons that Christ 323 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:12,320 would wield against the forces of sin in this world. 324 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:18,280 Who could picture that the greatest weapon of choice? 325 00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:25,600 Is his own self sacrifice. No one could imagine this. 326 00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:30,320 And I know that solid Christians can't imagine this today. 327 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:34,000 Because when confronted with the worldly opposition and the 328 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:37,960 forces of evil in this world, I hear all too often, well, you've 329 00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:41,920 got to fight fire with fire. Well, if they're going to do it, 330 00:20:42,360 --> 00:20:44,160 then my side's going to do it too. 331 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:48,080 Of course it's a terrible thing to do, but I've got to justify 332 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:53,240 it somehow. God's ways are not our ways. 333 00:20:54,320 --> 00:21:01,240 God fights with the greatest weakness in the world, his own 334 00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:07,560 sacrificial death, and with that weakness he cuts off the head of 335 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:11,600 Goliath. With that weakness, he is 336 00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:20,040 completely victorious. We need brothers and sisters, we 337 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:24,200 need fellow Christians that are able to come alongside us and 338 00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:27,080 say, but have you seen the way of the Lord? 339 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:32,040 It's not the way of this world. We don't fight with the enemy's 340 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:34,560 tools. We don't fight with worldly 341 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:36,800 weapons. We don't have a sword or a 342 00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:40,840 javelin. And yet, nevertheless, we fight 343 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:47,080 with the tools of weakness. Indeed, we fight with the tools 344 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:54,160 of weakness. I have a aversion to being 345 00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:57,800 misunderstood. I, I, I don't care if you 346 00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:00,720 disagree with me, but I want you to understand me. 347 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:05,960 When somebody doesn't understand me, I get so frustrated. 348 00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:09,440 And I barreled down and I pinched down on it and I 349 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:11,560 reiterated over and over and over again. 350 00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:15,600 And I I want to make sure that I am being understood above all 351 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:19,240 else, because that's the key. That's the most important thing. 352 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:25,040 And in those few rare moments in my life where I sit there and 353 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:29,160 say, you know what? My Lord was misunderstood. 354 00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:35,720 My Lord suffered quietly when he was abused, when I 355 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:39,640 misunderstood. Perhaps it's just OK just to 356 00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:43,880 take it. It is in those few moments where 357 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:49,680 I'm truly following my champion, the champion who fights in 358 00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:53,880 weakness, not with the world's tools, not with the world's 359 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:58,760 weapons and strength. Finally, the text goes on to 360 00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:02,920 talk about what happens after Goliath slaying, after David is 361 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:07,880 victorious, the whole Israelite army rises up and of course goes 362 00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:09,760 charging across the valley floor. 363 00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:14,000 And the Philistine army rises up and runs away and they run 364 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:16,400 somewhere between 15 and 20 miles. 365 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:20,040 But the gather Ekron, the cities of gather Ekron, which are about 366 00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:23,080 15 to 20 miles away, they run 15 to 20 miles away. 367 00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:26,880 The Philistines do, dropping dead all along the way as they 368 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:31,000 go in the in the Israelites charge after them totally is 369 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:32,800 celebrating the victory of our Lord. 370 00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:35,480 Then they come back and they loot the camp. 371 00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:37,800 And this is of course one of the great big things. 372 00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:40,800 You gather the plunder of your enemy and you are blessed 373 00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:44,200 overwhelmingly with all of the spoils of war that the 374 00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:48,720 Israelites gained, not on their own behalf, but because the 375 00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:51,440 champion was victorious for them. 376 00:23:52,040 --> 00:24:00,120 And we too live a life of victory because our champion has 377 00:24:00,120 --> 00:24:03,240 won it for us. All too often we are trying to 378 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:08,760 fight for victory. We, my friends, fight from 379 00:24:09,120 --> 00:24:13,080 victory. Christ has been victorious on 380 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:15,800 our behalf. Our champion has won. 381 00:24:16,120 --> 00:24:20,880 And so it is incumbent upon us to celebrate that victory. 382 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:24,120 What would have been like if the Israelites continued to cower in 383 00:24:24,120 --> 00:24:27,320 fear long after the Philistines had fled the field? 384 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:32,960 Why is it so often that we cower and fear when we're confronted 385 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:35,640 by the brokenness of this world, when we're confronted by the 386 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:39,680 brokenness of our own hearts? Why is it so much so that we do 387 00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:45,080 not like the Israelites, rise up and celebrate the victory and 388 00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:47,160 live within the light of the victory. 389 00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:53,400 Our champion has secured it for us, not is calling us along for 390 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:58,440 the ride, but is already is already sustained the victory on 391 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:01,480 our behalf. This is what it means to be a 392 00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:04,520 champion. This is what it means to be a 393 00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:07,640 follower of Jesus Christ. We follow him. 394 00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:11,320 Yes, of course we are seeking to model our lives after him. 395 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:14,720 Yes, of course we seek to be faithful according to his call. 396 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:17,640 Yes, of course we want to be faithful like he is faithful. 397 00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:23,320 But my friends, we are called to live in the victory that he has 398 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:27,000 sustained, that he has already won for us. 399 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:32,160 That's what it means, that we have a champion that is not 400 00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:36,440 fighting the battle, but has fought the battle and has won 401 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:42,760 the battle, and he's done so with the weapons of his Father 402 00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:48,520 in heaven, God Himself. Stop trying to be like David. 403 00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:55,160 Instead, look to David. Look to the descendant of David, 404 00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:59,840 the Greater David Jesus Christ, who was the champion on your 405 00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:04,840 behalf. Realize that his weapons are the 406 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:08,160 weapons that we should experience as well. 407 00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:11,440 They are weapons that by all accounts look like weapons of 408 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:13,760 weakness. Nevertheless, they are the 409 00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:18,040 victorious weapons. And then live your life in a 410 00:26:18,040 --> 00:26:21,160 victory. Live your life in the victory 411 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:24,240 that the champion has already provided for you. 412 00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:28,960 Nothing should model this so well as when we come to the 413 00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:33,360 table, when we come to the table of the Lord, this is where you 414 00:26:33,360 --> 00:26:38,120 should see the champion who has fought for you. 415 00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:43,760 This is where you should see the weakness of the Champions 416 00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:47,520 weapons in light of the Lord, in light of this world's 417 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:50,680 brokenness. And this is where we should see 418 00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:53,320 the fullness of the victory of our Lord.