God Provides A Champion For His People

1 Samuel chapter 17.

1 Samuel 17 · chapter mention

I'll be reading from verse 24 through verse 44.

!

To the Philistine Goliath, they fled from him and were dreadfully afraid.

So the men of Israel said,

Have you seen this man who has come up?

Surely he has come up to defy Israel.

And it shall be that the man who kills him, the king will enrich with great riches

and give him his daughter and give his father's house exemption from taxes in Israel.

Then David spoke to the men who stood by him saying,

What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel?

For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?

And the people answered him in this manner saying,

So shall it be done for the man who kills him.

Now Eliab, his oldest brother, heard when he spoke to the men.

And Eliab's anger was aroused against David.

And he said, Why did you come down here?

And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness?

I know your pride and your insolence of your heart,

for you have come down to see the battle.

And David said, What have I done now?

Is there not a cause?

Then he turned from him toward another and said the same thing.

And these people answered him as the first ones did.

Verse 31.

Now when the words which David spoke were heard,

they reported them to Saul and he sent for him.

Then David said to Saul,

Let no man's heart fail because of him.

Your servant will go and fight this Philistine.

And Saul said to David,

You are not noble to go against this Philistine to fight with him,

for you are a youth,

and he a man of war from his youth.

But David said to Saul,

Your servant used to keep his father's sheep.

And when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock,

I went after it and struck it and delivered the lamb from its mouth.

When it arose against me,

I caught it by its beard and struck it and killed it.

Your servant has killed both lion and bear,

and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them,

seeing he has defiled the armies of the living God.

Moreover, David said,

The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion

and from the paw of the bear,

he will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.

And Saul said to David,

Go and the Lord be with you.

So Saul clothed David with his armor,

and he put a bronze helmet on his head

and also clothed him with a coat of mail.

David fastened his sword to his armor

and tried to walk,

for he had not tested them.

And David said to Saul,

I cannot walk with these,

for I have not tested them.

So David took them off.

Then he took his staff in his hand,

and he chose for himself

five smooth stones from the brook

and put them in a shepherd's bag

and a pouch,

which he had,

and his sling was in his hand.

And he drew near to the Philistine.

So the Philistine came

and began drawing near to David,

and the man who bore the shield

went before him.

And when the Philistine took,

looked about,

and saw David,

he disdained him,

for he was only a youth,

ruddy and good-looking.

So the Philistine said to David,

Am I a dog that you come at me with sticks?

And the Philistine cursed David

by his gods.

And the Philistine said to David,

Come to me,

and I will give your flesh

to the birds of the air

and the beasts of the field.

The word of God for the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

Please be seated.

Oh God, we ask

that your Holy Spirit

will help us to see Christ.

We ask that your Holy Spirit

will please help the preacher

to give your people Christ.

And we pray, Lord,

that as we leave this short time

together here today,

we will hold on to one thing,

Christ.

We ask this for his glory.

Amen.

Well, dear friends

and brothers and sisters,

I ask you to reflect

and think back

on different interactions

and relationships

on this question.

When was the last time

you felt accused?

Maybe some of you

are going through

an experience like that right now,

feeling accused.

Studies have shown

that when you're accused,

your brain stress response

is triggered,

activating the amygdala,

the emotional control center

of the brain,

to release hormones

like cortisol.

This causes your body

to go into an immediate

fight or flight reaction,

increasing blood pressure

and heart rate,

and temporarily

making critical thinking harder,

making you more apt

to make bad decisions.

That's the power

of one accusation

against a person.

But what about

chronic accusation?

To live constantly,

day after day after day,

accused.

This becomes,

for any human being,

unhealthy,

debilitating,

paralyzed,

and dysfunctional.

People in such a state

of chronic accusation

suffer strong emotions

like anger,

fear,

and confusion.

being accused

is one of the most

painful and confusing

things we can go through.

As I've reflected on it,

being accused

is humbling

when there's truth to it.

In my case,

there often is.

It's also torturous

when there's truth

mixed with untruth

in the accusation.

The Israelites

have been under

chronic stress

due to accusations

from this

champion of war,

Goliath.

You remember how long

they've been there

by this point

when God sends David,

the anointed king?

They'd been there

40 days,

the period of testing,

and every morning

and every evening,

here comes Goliath

to accuse

God's people.

80 times

stressful,

a flood of emotions,

no doubt.

Goliath as the accuser

of God's people

is really the mouthpiece

of Satan.

When the great

anointed king Jesus

came to earth,

he said in John 8, 44,

that Satan does not

stand in the truth

because there is

no truth in him.

In that same thought,

Jesus says,

he is a murderer

from the beginning.

You see,

the lies of the enemy

are murderous lies.

His words

lead to death.

The words

from Satan

are words of attack.

They're designed

to injure.

Those who are listening

to the accusations

of Satan

are brought into

a bondage

of condemnation,

of disgrace.

Satan will not

relent

in attacking.

And this is how

he even recruits

others to his cause.

His end goal

is destruction,

murder.

Those he accused

to either kill

themselves

or kill someone else

unless God

would save them

out of that.

You and I

are born

accused.

We're born

having inherited

sin from Adam

and piling on

our own sin

throughout our life

on top of that.

We're a lot

like the Israelites,

dysfunctional,

paralyzed,

needing God

to graciously

make it stop.

The good news

for you and me,

we see this

in 1 Samuel 17,

is that God

did not leave

his people

accused forever.

He did not

leave his people

disgraced.

Our Lord Jesus Christ

came to prove

to sinners

like you and me

condemned

by Satan's attacks

that in Christ

God does not

leave us

disgraced.

In 1 Samuel 17,

we have a portrait

of national Israel

needing a champion

that God would

provide.

And this is

fulfilled

through Jesus Christ

ultimately.

David is a shadow

and Jesus Christ

is the substance.

So we can see

in this shadow

of how God

provided David

for the Israelite

nation in this time

a picture of how

God has provided

our Lord Jesus Christ

to be the champion

of his people.

I would like to walk

us through five

insights from 1 Samuel

that foreshadow

this wonderful work

of Jesus Christ

for us.

The first is this.

Notice how

in this passage

the king

promises a reward

for the champion

of God's people.

The king promised

a reward

for the champion

of God's people.

Starting at verse 24,

we see this come up

over and over and over.

all the men

of Israel

when they saw

the man,

the Philistine,

they fled from him

and were dreadfully

afraid.

But then in verses

25 and 26,

David sees Goliath

as what he is.

He's a worldly

blasphemer,

one who's taking

God's name in vain

and cursing God

and his people.

Goliath,

you remember

by his armor description,

he was clothed

in scales.

David saw him

as one who's

outside of the

covenant of God,

hurling accusations

back at God's people,

disgracing the armies

of the living God.

And now this part

is surprising

because David

keeps asking this.

He goes to one group,

to the other,

to the other.

He wants to know

this question.

What will be given

to the man

who kills him?

And in the response,

what the men

in the camp

were talking about,

we can detect,

this was intended

to be the motivation.

The first one

is the honor

of God's name

for David.

He says,

who is it

that's disgracing

the armies

of the living God?

What shall be done

for the man

who kills him

and takes away

the reproach

or the disgrace

for God's people?

God doesn't want

God's,

David doesn't want

God's people disgraced.

David doesn't want

the armies

of the living God

being humiliated

this way anymore.

His motivation

is the glory

of God's name

that this will

be made known.

That's his first motivation.

But it's not

the only one.

The people

are also talking

about how

the king

has promised

to enrich

that man,

that champion

who would go

fight for Israel

if he is victorious,

to give him

his own daughter

as his wife

and to give

this champion's

father's whole household,

all of his

household,

exemption

from taxes.

You see how

even though

the Israelites

were warned,

they fell for it.

They got a king

like all the other nations,

Saul now enslaved them

and was charging them

crippling taxes.

Israel had made

themselves slaves

to Saul

and Goliath

knew that.

That was part

of his taunt.

So now

if you're an Israelite,

you owe

King Saul

taxes for the rest

of your life.

This is a great

incentive.

Not only that,

you're going to get

riches,

the taxes that others

have paid

that the king

is now hoarding

for himself.

These riches

will be yours.

And what's more,

you get to marry

the daughter of the king,

the princess,

which means

you are now part

of the royal court.

You belong in the

palace of the king.

These are the rewards

promised.

Think of how

our Lord Jesus Christ

took on flesh

to fulfill a mission

with a reward

promised him.

We too were born

owing God

a debt that we

cannot pay.

The wages of sin

is death.

This is the tax

that we owe

for our sin.

But God has

graciously decreed

our election

in Christ

before the

foundations

of the world.

Ephesians 1-4

Before you and I

had done anything

to deserve God's grace.

He decreed this.

This is God the Father

promised to God the Son

I will give you

the reward.

The honor of our name

Father, Son, Spirit

the one true God

and a bride

and the riches

of heaven

poured out on you

and your bride.

Your bride dwelling

with you forever

in the house of God.

1 Timothy 2-5

tells us very clearly

this is

Jesus Christ

the champion

of God's people.

You remember from last week

what the word champion

means?

It means a man

in between

a man in the middle

two opposing sides

and someone to stand

in between them.

1 Timothy 2-5

says

there is one

mediator

we could say

one champion

between God

and man

the man

Christ Jesus.

Hebrews 9-15

and 17

elaborates his ministry

further.

Jesus Christ

is the mediator

of a new covenant

so that those

who are called

may receive

the promised

eternal inheritance.

All that God

promised

as a reward

to his son

who lacked nothing

but accomplished

it for our benefit.

You'll receive it

in Christ.

How can this be?

Since a death

has occurred

that redeems them

from the transgressions

committed.

God the Father

promised a reward

to Jesus Christ

the champion

of God's people.

God promised

to the Messiah

to erase

the debt

of his people.

They owe us

nothing anymore

you've paid it all.

God promised

to give him

a bride

his church

that he purchased

with his own

precious blood

that can dwell

with him forever

upon whom

he lavishes

the riches

of heaven

already

in the spiritual

sense

and one day

consummately

forevermore.

The king promised

a reward

to the champion

of his people.

Second

the people

proved powerless

!

to trust

the champion

God provided!

The people

proved powerless

to trust

the champion

that God

provided!

This is illustrated

especially with

one person

and it happens

to be David's

oldest brother

who we've already

heard about

his name is

Eliab.

Look at verse

28

Now Eliab

his oldest

brother

his own

flesh and blood

who ought to

have stepped

forward in this

moment

he was the one

that Samuel

saw and said

surely this must

be the one

the future king

the next Saul

he was

regal looking

we can infer

surely it's him

instead

Eliab

becomes another

accuser

from Eliab's

mouth

come accusations

against God's

anointed

he's fitting

more the pattern

of Goliath

than of an

anointed

deliverer

notice what

this older brother

does

he questions

David's motives

why did you

come here

and then he

accuses him

you forgot

your low

place

brother

he says

with whom

have you

left

notice the

qualifier

how many

sheep

with whom

have you

left those

few sheep

in the

wilderness

he's saying

go back

to your

low job

your small

little flock

you shepherd

boy

you belong

back in the

wilderness

and he also

accuses him

of past

pride

well David

had the

anointing

of the Holy

Spirit

but his

whole life

shows us

he was not

sinless

or infallible

so this

is where

it might

be a

mixed

accusation

this is

likely

true

his

brother

says

I know

your

pride

well

which

brother

doesn't

know

another

brother's

pride

and your

insolence

of heart

now these

words are

so strong

I mean

you thought

Goliath's

accusations

were evil

listen to

the intensity

of what

Eliab

accuses

David of

insolence

of your

heart

this is

translated

another

English

version

this way

presumption

and evil

conceited

and wicked

heart

arrogance

and deceit

for you

have come

down to

see the

battle

so we

now have

three

tall

intimidating

worldly

impressive

men

Goliath

Saul

and

Eliab

all

three

standing

as

figureheads

of the

type of

man

Israel

wanted

in their

flesh

see how

the people

are

powerless

to trust

the right

man

without the

help of the

spirit we put

our hope

and our

trust in

all kinds

of men

and women

and worldly

things that

fall short

of the glory

of God

sinners

in darkness

lack

saving

faith

in Jesus

Christ

isn't that

still true

today

he's just

a simple

carpenter

well he

lived here

but it was

over 2,000

years ago

could he

really be

God the

son

and Satan

slips in

and he

exists

to accuse

those that

Jesus Christ

calls his

brothers

and sisters

Satan

lives to

accuse you

and me

he wants

to point

out our

past sins

he wants

to question

motives

he wants

to do

this

he wants

to freeze

us

from going

to fight

by accusing

us so much

in verse 29

David says

what have I

done now

is there not

a cause

in other

words

is anyone

missing

what's going

on here

it's what he

says in verse

26

to paraphrase

it

this

blaspheming

slave

of the

serpent

dressed in

scales

Goliath

he keeps

disgracing

the armies

of the

living God

what shall

be done

for a man

who kills

him

kills this

accuser

and takes

away

the reproach

takes away

the disgrace

from God's

people

this needs

to happen

verse 30

then David

turned from him

his brother

toward another

and said

the same

thing

and then

these people

answered him

as the first

ones did

why are we

given those

words

it's

it's

painting for us

what was

going on

will these

men care

about the

honor of

God

will these

men

see that

it's

it's the

people of

God

the living

God

it's the

name of

God

attached to

his army

that's being

disgraced

who's

going to

take away

the reproach

the disgrace

does anyone

care

is anyone

bothered by

this

it can't

go on

but time

and time

again

the people

prove powerless

to trust

the champion

God

provided

he'd already

been anointed

it's a failure

of faith

we are not

courageous

in our own

flesh

we're so

focused

I'm talking

about myself

without the

help of

God

we are so

focused on

worldly

might

physical

resources

and we so

often forget

the same

thing

that the

Lord of

hosts

is alive

it's the

armies of

the living

God

that he

is all

powerful

that his

kingdom

is not

of this

world

his

kingdom

is from

above

without

the Holy

Spirit

we too

prove

ourselves

powerless

to trust

to abide

to continually

rest

on the

champion

that God

has provided

and then

by extension

by trusting

God

trusting

that

God

continues

to work

through

weak

servants

recall

how blind

how lost

how wretched

you and I

were

and how we

would still

be

if God

had not

poured out

his amazing

grace

on sinners

like us

poured out

his Holy

Spirit

to make us

able now

to trust

in the

champion

he provided

number

three

notice

with me

please

the source

of this

champion's

confidence

what was

the source

of David's

confidence

in verse

31

the words

David had

spoken

asking this

who should

care

is anyone

going to do

something about

this

they were

reported to

King Saul

and so he

called for

David

in verse

32

David said

to Saul

let no

man's heart

fail because

of him

your servant

will go

and fight

with this

Philistine

the accuser

stands over

sinners

no hope

powerless

disgraced

40 days

80 times

cursing

accusing

and it's

working on

them

think of

how our

Lord Jesus

Christ had

to be born

sinless

he had to

come into

the battle

in the fullness

of time

nothing the

enemy could

accuse

Jesus of

let no

man's heart

fail because

of Goliath

Jesus alone

could say

he's got

nothing on

me

your servant

will go

and fight

in verse

33

Saul said

to David

you are

not able

first words

out of

Saul's mouth

passive

Saul

first words

are accusing

God's

anointed

king

you are

not able

to go

against this

Philistine

to fight

with him

for you

are a

youth

and he

a man

of war

from his

youth

if there's

anything to

take a

courage out

of a

soldier

those words

would have

done it

verse

34

I'm sure

by the

help of

the Holy

Spirit

he's already

been anointed

trusting in

God by

faith

David said

to Saul

you could

say it's

David's

next

sermon

telling him

God

has been

faithful

in the

past

and God's

past

faithfulness

is what

fuels

my present

trust

he says

your servant

used to keep

his father's

sheep

and when a

lion or a

bear came

and took a

lamb out of

the flock

I went

after it

and struck

it

and delivered

the lamb

from its

mouth

and when it

arose against

me I caught

it by its

beard and

struck it

and killed

it

your servant

was killed

both

your servant

has killed

both lion

and bear

and this

uncircumcised

Philistine

will be like

one of

them

seeing that

he has

defiled

the armies

of the

living God

what's the

source of

the champion's

confidence

verse 37

the Lord

who delivered

me from

the paw

of the

lion

and from

the paw

of the

bear

he will

deliver me

from the

hand of

this

Philistine

the source

of David's

confidence

was in

God to

deliver

it's God's

power who

did it in

those smaller

ways to

prepare me

to teach me

to trust him

and it's God

who will do

it now

think of how

our Lord

Jesus Christ

when he came

to accomplish

the mission

his father

gave him

he was

rejected

by Israel

his own

brothers and

sisters

people in

the town

he grew

up in

they knew

him from

his youth

and yet

he trusted

in God's

promises

our Lord

Jesus Christ

delivered people

who were

possessed by

demons

gripped by

the powers

of darkness

like wild

beasts from

the spiritual

realm

intruding in

and devouring

these lambs

and our Lord

Jesus with

his words

delivered them

showing the

power of

God through

him is much

greater than

the forces of

the enemy in

the spiritual

realms

and our

Lord Jesus

Christ

disarmed

the forces

of hell

by the

power of

his word

God

gave a

shot across

the bow

to get

the attention

to let

everyone know

his word

will come

true

remember that

great miracle

in preparation

for Christ's

own death

when God

delays Jesus

from going

to see

Lazarus

Lazarus

and his

sisters

and he

arrives in

their weeping

and Jesus

calls for

Lazarus

by the power

of the spirit

the man

who was

dead

and stinking

came walking

out alive

that victory

of the power

of God

over the

forces of

hell

and over

death

itself

were a

blessing to

all the

believers

to the

disciples

and according

to his

human nature

to Jesus

Christ

himself

God

will deliver

me

from death

I won't

go around

death

I will go

through

death

and my

God

who has

been

faithful

in the

past

I've

seen his

power

for myself

in my

incarnate

body

he will

be faithful

for me

in the

great

victory

we need

our Lord

Jesus Christ

active

obedience

and his

faith

to cover

our lack

of faith

we fail

to trust

God

God

I'm

speaking of

myself

this past

week

most likely

even this

morning

so often

I want to

put confidence

in ourselves

in myself

in what we

can do

control

or work

for

that's my

sin

and yet

Jesus Christ

he covers

that sin

by his

perfect

trust

his

perfect

faith

in God

he fulfilled

the righteousness

that I lack

and that you

lack

before he

died for

us

our Lord

lived

for us

he trusted

God

fully

in our

place

in John

15 10

Jesus

could turn

and pray

and say

I have

kept

your

commandments

father

then he

could turn

to us

his

disciples

and tell

us

remain

in God's

love

Jesus

said

I've

remained

in my

father's

love

my

disciples

follow

me

remain

in his

love

where

you

can't

I

already

have

this

was

the

source

of

Jesus

Christ

our

champion's

confidence

according

to his

human

nature

he

remained

in God's

love

to the

very

end

remember

how

Jesus

was

even

mocked

for

this

in

Matthew

27

43

they

accused

him

they

said

this

is

the

man

who

told

everyone

I

am

the

son

of

God

he

trusts

in

God

let

God

deliver

him

now

if

God

cares

for

him

and

will

have

him

Jesus

being

accused

of

not

trusting

not

loving

God

to

the

very

end

did

the

father

care

for

him

did

the

father

have

him

and

accept

his

purchase

!

his

perfect

righteousness

in

our

place

yes

he

did

and

it's

proven

because

God

raised

him

from

the

dead

you

see

how

every

page

of

the

Bible

it

testifies

that

God

has

always

been

faithful

to

his

word

God

is

always

faithful

to

his

promises

we

just

sing

this

beautiful

verse

from

Amazing

Grace

and

even

though

it's

beautiful

it's

maybe

the

less

familiar

of

all

the

verses

!

the

Lord

has

promised

good

to

me

his

word

my

hope

secures

he

will

my

shield

and

portion

be

as

long

as

life

endures

David

knew

that

in

his

context

our

Lord

Jesus

Christ

according

to

his

human

nature

knew

that

and

you

and

I

can

know

that

too

that's

the

source

of

our

confidence

number

four

how

the

champion

will

go

to

war

so

how

will

this

champion

this

picture

of

Christ

step

up

and

face

the

champion

of

the

Philistines

Saul

said to

David

in

verse

37

go

the

Lord

be

with

you

did

Saul

really

trust

that

having

God

go

with

David

was

sufficient

the

next

verse

answers

it

no

look

at

verse

38

go

with

the

Lord

but

Saul

then

clothed

David

with

his

own

armor

does

yours

say

armor

that

word

in

verse

38

literally

it

says

Saul

clothed

David

with

his

own

clothes

not

just

any

clothes

the

clothes

of

a

king

remember

this

is

a

king

who

is

at

least

a

head

taller

than

every

other

man

in

Israel

these

were

big

royal

clothes

but

then

also

the

armor

goes

on

to

describe

he

put

on

a

bronze

helmet

on

his

head

and

he

also

clothed

him

with

a

coat

of

mail

now

what

was

the

material

of

this

helmet

that

Saul

had

what

is

it

bronze

and

do you

remember

from

last

week

what

was

the

material

of

Saul

or

Goliath's

helmet

it

it

made

of

bronze

shiny

yellow

bronze

reflecting

getting

attention

I

wonder