How The Anointed Shepherd Saw The War

Samuel chapter 17.

Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle and were gathered at Socah, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socah and Azekah in Ephes-Daman.

And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and they encamped in the valley of Elah and drew up in battle array against the Philistines.

The Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side with a valley between them.

And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines named Goliath from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of his coat was 5,000 shekels of bronze.

And he had bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders.

Now the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his iron spearhead weighed 600 shekels, and a shield bearer went before him.

Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel and said to them,

Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul?

Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me.

If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants.

But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.

And the Philistines said, I defy the armies of Israel this day.

Give me a man that we may fight together.

When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem, Judah, whose name was Jesse, and who had eight sons.

And the man was old, advanced in years in the days of Saul.

And the three oldest sons of Jesse had gone to follow Saul to the battle.

The names of these three sons who went to the battle were Eliab, the firstborn next to him, Abinadab, and the third Shammah.

David was the youngest, and the three oldest followed Saul.

But David occasionally went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem.

And the Philistine drew near and presented himself forty days, morning and evening.

Then Jesse said to his son David,

Take now for your brothers an ephah of this dried grain and these ten loaves, and run to your brothers at the camp.

And carry these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and see how your brothers fare, and bring back news of them.

So Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.

So David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with the keeper, and took the things as he went and as Jesse had commanded him.

And he came to the camp as the army was going out to fight and shouting for battle.

For Israel and the Philistines had drawn up in battle array, army against army.

And David left his supplies in the hand of the supply keeper, ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers.

Then, as he talked with them, there was the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, coming up from the armies of the Philistines.

And he spoke according to the same words.

So David heard them.

And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, 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, will 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.

The word of God for the people of God.

Please be seated.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of the Lord stands forever.

Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you that your Holy Spirit has been active through every generation, through every step of redemptive history.

We thank you for how your Holy Spirit is poured out now in your church.

And that by the power of the Holy Spirit, your word comes alive.

And you shine the light of the gospel accomplished by Jesus Christ on every part of your word to your people.

We ask that you will please do that now, Lord.

For Christ's sake we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, following the fall of France in 1940, Great Britain was left to stand alone against Nazi Germany.

In a moment of national crisis, can you imagine being in London like the little children in the Chronicles of Narnia,

about to hear these airplanes fly over and drop bombs on your neighborhood?

The prime minister got on the radio and had opportunities to speak to the people.

In the face of the imminent battle of Britain, in some of his words I remember this day,

he told them,

We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be.

We shall fight on the beaches.

We shall fight on the landing grounds.

We shall fight in the fields and in the streets.

We shall fight in the hills.

We shall never surrender.

How one man sees the war changes everything.

You and I as Christians, we're in a war also.

We fight against the world, the flesh, and the devil.

But how do we see this war?

You and I are either in the kingdom of Christ,

or we are an enemy of God still under bondage to sin, Satan, and the world.

But the war is real.

Last week, our encouragement was that nothing can stop God from advancing his kingdom.

And this week, the nature of the kingdom of God is put to the test.

And it's defined for us by the words of the anointed king.

David goes to see the war.

And David viewed the war differently.

So that's my message for us today as we walk through this wonderful passage.

How the anointed shepherd saw the war.

How the anointed shepherd saw the war.

First out of five observations is the setting of this battle.

Please look at 1 Samuel 17, verse 1.

1 Samuel 17:1

We read,

Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle.

It's a verb in the active voice.

The Philistines gathered their armies together to battle.

Organized, powerful, confident, commanding, advancing.

We're given a detail of the location at Sokoth.

What are the words that come next after that city in verse 1?

Which belongs to Judah.

This description reminds us that the Philistines had invaded the land that God secured for his people.

They had encroached on Judean soil.

Saul had failed to keep the enemy out of the kingdom of God.

And so now the two sides mount for war.

Along this ridgeline at the top of the hill was a major road which the Philistines now controlled.

Giving them control over whatever would enter or leave Israel.

We read in verse 2 that Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together.

Here that same verb is given in the passive voice.

It's something being done to them.

They encamped at the valley of Elah.

They drew up in battle array against the Philistines.

We're told that each part of the army, each side had a mountain.

And in between them was this valley.

And this valley is where the border will be redefined.

If the Philistines win this battle, they have now free reign to invade the whole kingdom of God's people.

The Philistines also owned the metal industry.

They had a complete monopoly on the blacksmith trade.

They secured through metal and weapons that they brought a military dominance.

You can flip back to see that and remember for yourself.

Look at 1 Samuel chapter 13.

1 Samuel 13 · chapter mention

Just a page or two back.

Verses 19 and 20.

We read,

The only two men in all of Israel that had weapons, you'll remember, were Saul the king and Jonathan the crowned prince.

They had the most advanced military weapon of the day, which were ironclad chariots.

And with chariots covered in metal, no one could stop the advance of the Philistines.

We read that they were gathered for an attack with the Philistines coming up from the south,

the Israelites on the northern side in the land of Judah.

As someone pointed out, the future of their nation, all is going to be determined by this one battle.

And if ever a lion from the tribe of Judah was needed, it was now at this moment.

On verse 3, we read that the Philistines stood on a mountain on one side

and Israel stood on a mountain on the other with a valley in between them.

In between them was a ravine, an east-west wadi is the name in Israel.

And it's like a dry creek.

It's a tear in the soil that makes it impossible for chariots to roll across.

And so this was most likely one of the reasons we now have a cold war, a standoff.

Both sides are in battle array, waiting for the moment now when the first arrow will be shot across this valley.

Israel had been given this land by God, been drawn out of slavery to possess it, to live in it,

and to be ruled in this land by God as a gift of his grace to them, his people.

But as we can see in the mindset of the Israelites, most still lived as slaves to the world.

We're told that this valley is called the Valley of Elah, literally oak.

So it's a big tree down in the middle of this valley with a ravine cutting through it.

The oak tree is a long-living tree.

Most likely this one grew very tall so that it could be a landmark, a point of reference for everyone traveling through.

So here, on the standoff between two armies, with one big central tree in the middle,

heaven and hell will have a standoff.

This long-lasting tree will be what this battle is remembered by.

Here is where the battle will be fought, and here the war will be decided.

Well, we too were born into slavery to sin.

We're born into this world in bondage.

But our Lord Jesus Christ entered the domain of darkness.

Jesus Christ secured our citizenship in the kingdom of heaven.

In Colossians 1.13, we read that God rescued us who are in Christ from the dominion of darkness

and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.

And like Israel preparing for this great battle, our fate also was determined.

That one moment in time, that long-standing tree, the cross of our Savior Jesus.

Though we're still in this world, we are not of this world.

We are in God's kingdom of grace.

And by his power, by his strength, these borders of his kingdom are to be protected.

The enemy is not to creep in, not to invade the borders of the kingdom of God

in our hearts, in our families, and in our church.

That's the setting of the battle.

Number two, what about the enemy's champion?

The enemy's champion.

Goliath stands as the tormentor, the accuser of God's people.

Goliath is the figurehead of the domain of hell and darkness in the world.

He's the one who is the weaponizer of sin and death.

And we're given a very detailed description that's meant to strike fear in us, beginning in verse 4.

We read that a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines named Goliath from Gath.

Gath was the city of the Philistines, one of the five powerful cities just on the other side of the border from Israel.

So this battle was taking place in Goliath's backyard.

We're told that his height was six cubits and a span.

Most estimate that Goliath would have stood at nine feet, nine inches tall.

So children, that's three inches, just that much shorter than a 10-foot basketball hoop.

So it works really well for us to have our service today in a gym because we can see that.

And I was trying to visualize somewhere toward the bottom of the net is where the nose of this great warrior would be if he's nine foot nine.

Can you imagine the body of a giant filling in from that point of height all the way down?

That's how tall he was.

Gath was a strategic border city and it's meeting the world, meeting Judah.

This would have been David's backyard as well.

And this is the tribe of Judah that had not sent as many soldiers to go fight in Saul's war in the previous chapter.

Now, their own fields, their own livelihood is directly under attack.

Archaeological excavations of Gath near this same valley, the Valley of the Tree today, found extensive fortifications.

And they found an iron production facility in this same land.

And so here comes the champion from the Philistine side.

By his words, we can tell that the Philistines, through him their mouthpiece, despise God the creator.

These are rebellious people that are mocking God's people.

And yet we see the reaction of the Israelites is that they are impressed.

They are stunned.

You could even say they're attracted to that worldly way of war.

The word champion that's given in verse four, it literally means a man between or a man in the middle of two sides.

A warrior who's going to go between the two armies and represent his entire nation.

One soldier who's going to go fight a single combat as a stand-in for the entire army.

This is how nations of the world showcase their power.

And it goes back well before what we're familiar with.

You think of how the Philistines were called the Sea People.

And historians' best conclusion is that the Philistines were originally from the islands of Greece

until they got on their ships, these seafaring people,

and they left to go to Egypt and then to Judea or to the land of Israel.

So I looked up what century was it that the Philistines began sending, you know,

their own men off of these Greek islands to other parts of the world.

And it was the 12th century before Christ.

So then I looked it up.

When was, you know, Homer's setting, the Iliad and the Odyssey,

what were the setting of that?

And it was the 12th century before Christ.

In other words, if you're familiar with this Greek legends and stories

of how these great warriors would be sent out,

like Achilles, to represent an entire nation, an entire kingdom,

this would be like an early gladiatorial game.

You get to watch the best of the best from each side go head to head.

And then from then the battle continues,

like the battle between the Greeks and the Trojans.

So the Philistines brought with them most likely this tradition

of sending out a champion as a federal representative.

Rather than the vast multitude dying right away,

and then we see who wins,

let's send out a token representation.

Because most likely, however that goes,

is how the rest of the battle is going to go.

And as Goliath taunts Israel,

the losing nation has much at stake.

The whole nation will now become slaves of the winning nation.

The victorious champion will secure the freedom of his people

and establish dominance over the enemies that he defeated.

You see how now the fate of each nation

is placed in the hands of one champion,

one warrior who will go between to fight.

Now we get a description from his head all the way down

of how he was dressed as their champion.

We need to know that ordinary foot soldiers

would have worn helmets,

but most likely because they're poor

and don't have a lot of access to resources,

their helmets were often made of leather.

So a little bit of protection,

but nothing compared to verse 5.

Goliath had a bronze helmet on his head.

He was armed with a coat of mail.

In Hebrew, he was clothed with scales.

Like the Philistine idol Dagon, remember?

Goliath, whose lower half was fish-like or serpent-like,

clothed in scales.

Now Goliath's body is covered in scales.

He's a warrior showcasing the most advanced technology of his people

who have a monopoly on metalworking.

And his people learned how to suit themselves for war

by studying scale-covered creatures,

studying the way of the serpent, you could say.

Scales facilitate movement while shielding the body.

Most likely, Goliath's coat of scales

was made of overlapping plates of bronze

sewn onto leather,

then put onto his body.

So a strike of a weapon would disperse the shock,

and even if one piece was damaged,

the rest of the armor would remain intact

and still able to continue fighting.

We're told the weight of the coat

was 5,000 shekels of bronze.

To our English American pounds,

it's 125 pounds.

Now you think of David,

we'll get a few insights in him here in a moment.

David likely did not weigh more than 125 pounds

at this point in his life as a teenager.

We know David would have been a teenager

because Numbers 26, 2 says that

all those 20 years old or more

who are able to serve in the army of Israel shall serve.

We read in verse 6 that Goliath

had bronze armor on his legs,

bronze shin guards,

and bronze thigh plates.

And think about the color bronze.

The Philistines had more sturdy weapons.

You know, they had iron-clad chariots

and other weapons,

but they want their champion

to be in shiny bronze.

And as we get the picture of Goliath

being presented forth,

we can only imagine what other sounds and sights

would have accompanied that.

But as he comes,

as the sun is rising

and those rays of sun

are bouncing off of the bronze,

it would have been a stunning sight.

Bronze, stealing light from the sun,

like their little replica of a Greek god,

a lowercase g.

You could almost imagine Goliath

like an angel-type blasphemer,

glowing with light.

And we read that even his bronze javelin

was between his shoulders,

strapped to his back.

This javelin was designed for hurling.

You'd pull it off of the back

and throw it.

The spear was designed for hand-to-hand combat

like a long sword.

We read in verse 7,

now the staff of his spear

was like a weaver's beam,

most likely about five feet long.

David might have been about five feet tall

at this stage of his life.

His iron spearhead weighed 600 shekels.

That's 16 pounds.

I looked up,

what is 16 pounds?

It's a common object

and it's a bowling ball.

You think how much you can hurl a bowling ball.

Goliath is a walking arsenal.

Someone called him a weapon of mass destruction.

We're told then that his shield-bearer

went before him.

This is like his defensive line

if he's the quarterback,

positioned to block him,

probably a shield covering almost the entire body

with this champion right behind it.

I wondered also,

how is it that Israel came to have

all of these details and these measurements?

If you look down at verse 53,

we read that the people of Israel

came back from chasing the Philistines

and they plundered their camp.

So I wondered,

as they're plundering the camp,

we've got to save all of this

and while we have it,

let's weigh it

and let's find out,

I mean,

what was Goliath wearing?

So that's just my guess,

but this description that we're given

is so detailed,

again,

using up precious words on a scroll

for a reason.

It paints a picture.

It's an evaluation,

you could say,

from the perspective

of an offensive coordinator,

why the enemy's mightiest weapon

seems impossible to beat.

From the eyes of the world,

the eyes of Israel,

we have no shot.

If that's the best showcase

of what this entire empire is bringing,

who are we to go up against them?

We read today from Matthew

how our Lord Jesus

faced the enemy one-on-one,

tempted in the desert.

He faced off against Satan,

the devil,

Lucifer,

the ancient serpent

called a dragon.

And where Saul was passive

and Adam,

the first federal head,

was passive,

our Lord Jesus Christ

was not passive.

He went on the offensive.

He invaded the domain

of what he called

in John 12, 31,

the prince of this world.

And Jesus Christ

withstood

and overcame

the enemy

alone.

We too,

in the words of Martin Luther,

are amid the flood

of mortal ills prevailing.

For still our ancient foe

does seek to work us woe.

His craft and power

are great

and armed

with cruel hate

on earth

is not his equal.

But we look to Jesus Christ,

the promised,

anointed,

shepherd king.

So our third observation

is now the reaction

of Israel

to seeing this champion,

Goliath.

It's the cowardly army.

The cowardly army.

Verse 8 says,

Then he stood

and cried out

to the armies

of Israel,

Why have you come out

to line up for battle?

Am I not

a Philistine?

Literally,

he says,

Am I not

the Philistine?

And you,

these servants

or slaves

of Saul?

Goliath is speaking truth,

isn't he?

Israel had made themselves

slaves to Saul,

a king after their own hearts.

God said Israel

had rejected

the Lord of hosts

as their king.

And now Goliath says,

Choose a man

for yourselves.

Let him come down

to me.

If he is able

to fight with me

and kill me,

then we will be

your slaves.

But if I prevail

against him

and kill him,

then you shall be

our slaves

and serve us.

In verse 10,

the Philistine said,

I defy

the armies

of Israel

this day.

Experts

in the Hebrew language

say that the word

defy

is unusually

harsh.

It means

to put under

reproach,

to charge you

with severe

contempt.

It's to shame you,

to deride you,

to accuse you,

to put extreme

disgrace

on God's people.

Notice how

Goliath says,

Give me

a man

that we may

fight together.

earlier when the

Israelites confronted

the Philistines,

this was the language

of the Philistines.

Maybe again from

that Greek tradition.

Give me a man.

Who will be a man

to go fight?

Goliath says,

Do you have

any man

among you?

In other words,

if you don't

produce a champion,

you have no men

in your entire

nation.

He is

shaming them.

He's saying,

You can't match

me on our

terms.

The Israelites,

as they assess

the situation,

if they were

a little bit

relieved at first

that this

wadi,

this ravine

that cut through

the valley

had disarmed

or neutralized

their chariots

for now,

all the hope

that they had

of delaying

any longer

is now gone.

You can almost

imagine them

as Marsha

pointed out,

you know,

sitting around

the campfire

each evening

as soldiers

talking and

assessing their

future.

Maybe we ought

to accept this

offer and send

a champion

representing our

side.

If one man

can save

thousands of

lives,

it's worth

doing it.

But now the

Philistines are

really just

playing with

Israel.

They know

they can easily

wipe this

poor people

out that have

no weapons.

It's just a

game.

That's why

it's so

humiliating.

And if their

champion goes

out on the

side of

Israel and

fails,

now we've

all agreed

to be their

slaves.

In verse

11,

when Saul,

remember,

Saul was a

head taller

than any

other man

in Israel.

He was the

man after

Israel's heart

and the

only one

with weapons.

In verse

11,

when Saul

and all

Israel heard

these words

of the

Philistine,

they were

dismayed

and greatly

afraid.

dismayed.

Dismayed

means yielding

to fear,

a terror

felt by

them,

spirits that

are sunken

down.

That's how

Israel and

Saul viewed

the war.

God's

I'm afraid

that many

of us

have taken

away the

wrong application

from this

story of

David fighting

Goliath.

We like to

imagine ourselves

as David,

but here's the

application.

That's us.

We're the

cowardly

army.

We're

dismayed,

sunken in

spirit.

Martin Luther

confessed that

was his

weakness apart

from Christ

as well in

that great

hymn.

Did we in

our own

strength confide?

Our striving

would be

losing.

We're not

the right

man on

our side,

the man

of God's

own choosing.

You ask

who that

might be?

Christ

Jesus,

it is

he.

Lord

Sabaoth,

the Lord

of hosts

is his name

from age

to age

the same

and he

must win

the battle.

The prince

of darkness

grim,

but in the

name of

Christ

Jesus,

we tremble

not for

him.

The cowardly

army.

Fourth

observation

is a

section that

might even

seem surprising

and maybe

unusually

lengthy,

so it

has to

mean

something.

It

begins at

verse 12.

We'll

call this

section

the father

sends his

son

with

provisions

for the

army.

The father

sends his

son with

provisions

for the

army.

In

verse 12

we get

what I

believe is

a second

introduction.

I don't

think it's

a flashback

because it

does say

that David

went back

and forth

from Saul

to take

care of

the sheep

and then

back to

the court

of Saul

to play

the music.

But now

I think

most likely

because David

has been

anointed,

he has

the spirit

of God,

what we

get is

the first

evidence

in public

that the

private

anointing

that God

put on

David

was in

effect.

The power

of God

is at

work in

this

anointed

king.

In

verse 14

we're

reminded

David

was the

youngest.

Remember

there were

four more

brothers

and only

the,

well there

were eight

brothers total.

The three

oldest went

to war,

therefore there's

four others

that weren't

even old

enough to go

to war.

So we

can conclude

that David

was most

likely pretty

young,

most likely

a teenager.

So we

read in

verse 15,

David

occasionally

went and

returned from

Saul to

feed his

father's

sheep at

Bethlehem.

Verse 16,

and the

Philistines

drew near

and presented

himself

forty days

morning and

evening.

In the

Bible the

number forty

generally

signifies a

completed period

of testing,

a probation,

a trial.

It's often

leading then

to a

transformation

or a

big transition.

In

Genesis 6,

it rained

for forty

days and

forty nights.

Remember,

Israel was

tested in

the wilderness

for forty

years after

being delivered

out of

slavery.

We're told

in verse

16 that

Goliath

mocked God's

people,

accused

them,

derided

them twice

at the

start of

each day

and then

again at

the end

of each

day.

So,

children,

forty days,

twice a

day,

how many

times?

Eighty

times God's

people had

to sit

there and

be mocked

and ridiculed.

In verse

17 now is

the key for

this passage,

I believe.

Then the

father,

Jesse,

said to

his son,

David,

take now

for your

brother,

brothers,

these

provisions.

See,

when the

forty days

of

mocking

had

come

to

an

end.

These

forty days

were

completed.

The

father

says to

his

anointed,

his

Messiah

marked

son,

David,

the name

David

means

beloved,

the shepherd

king,

go to

the battlefield

for your

brothers

and me.

In verse

20 we read

that David

arose early

in the

morning.

He left

the sheep

with the

keeper.

Notice

how David

as the

anointed

king is

always

concerned

about the

sheep.

When he's

mentioned,

the sheep

are mentioned

with him.

He makes

sure that his

sheep are

always cared

for.

And he

took the

things and

went as

his father

had commanded

him.

He paid

attention to

those details

and he

carried it

all out.

And he

came to

the camp

as the

army was

going out

to fight

and shouting

for battle.

I believe

the Israelites

while they

were in

dismay,

40 days

are now

up.

They're

pumping

themselves

up for

action.

They're

shouting

for battle.

They're

making a

lot of

noise.

But when

David gets

there he's

also surprised

and confused

because they're

taking no

action.

Here's an

army that's

all hype,

all emotion,

and no

faith.

They're

focused on

their own

strength and

they're

cowering

back.

The army

needs a

better

warrior,

one anointed

by the

power of

God,

one that

will stand

in their

place,

who is

not focused

on worldly

power and

what the

eye can

see,

a man

of faith.

I was

interested in

the word

Jesse.

You know,

he's the

old father

now and

he's got

sons in

the battle

and he

loves

those sons.

He wants

to send

provisions

for them

and he

wants to

hear back

from them.

And how

the Lord

Jesus came

to reveal

the loveliness

of the

father.

And his

mission is

to tell

the brothers,

the father

wants to

know you're

well.

Just as

David's

taking care

of the

sheep,

the father

wants to

provide and

out of

the abundance

of his

generosity,

give to

his army,

give them

all they

need.

Of course,

with the

enemy accusing

and deriding

God's people,

they're going

to wonder

and worry

and think

the worst.

And we

can too

when we're

under attack.

That's why

I think we

love that

song so

much where

we ask,

does the

father truly

love us?

And we

respond as a

church,

he does.

Does the

father truly

love us?

He does.

The father

so loves

us that

he sent

his beloved

son,

Jesus

Christ,

the

anointed

Messiah,

to be

our

representative,

our champion,

the one

who would

stand in

our place.

And through

him,

we receive

all the

provisions

that our

loving father

has provided.

The fifth

and final

observation for

today,

I know it's

a longer

passage,

I had to

get to this

point so we

hear someone

speak truth,

and it

finally comes

from the

lips of

David.

And it's

this,

how the

first

anointed

shepherd

views the

war.

How David

as the

first

anointed

shepherd

viewed

the war.

As David

talked with

his brothers

in verse

23,

there was

the champion,

the Philistine

of Gath,

Goliath by

name,

coming down

from the

armies of

the Philistines,

and he

spoke

according

to the

same

words.

It's

almost like

the narrator

by verse

23 can't

even repeat

these words

again.

They're so

humiliating.

And so

David heard

them.

There's

Israel's army

making noise,

but what's

their theology?

Verse 24,

all the men

of Israel,

when they

saw the

man,

the Philistine

Goliath,

fled from

him and

were dreadfully

afraid.

Verse 25,

so the men

of Israel

said,

have you

seen this

man who

has come

up?

Surely

he has

come up

to defy

Israel.

See,

their theology

is what

you can

see,

and they're

focused on

this man.

So the

men of

Israel

are making

noise

with their

mouths,

but they're

still slaves

to what they

can see

with their

eyes.

And it

shall be

done,

what shall

be done

to the

man who

kills

him?

The king

will enrich

the great

riches and

will give

him his

daughter and

give his

father's house

exemption from

taxes in

Israel.

Notice how

even with

this worldly

enticement,

it doesn't

even come

from Saul.

That's how

passive Saul

is.

It just

comes from

the soldiers

talking about

it.

The army

has learned

the theology

of their

king.

Saul

offers what

the world

offers.

They got

what they

wanted,

a king

like all

the other

nations.

If you

can match

the best

that the

world has,

you will

get the

best of

what the

world can

offer.

Because as

Goliath said,

this is

Saul's army.

They are

slaves of

Saul.

And now

the shepherd

psalmist

spoke for

the first

time.

He bore

witness for

the first

time in

verse 26.

David

spoke.

And his

audience was

very small.

Notice

that in

verse 26.

Not on a

big platform,

but it was

just to the

men who

stood by

him.

And he

said,

what shall

be done

for the

man who

kills this

Philistine?

He saw

the real

problem.

This man

takes away

the reproach.

Or who is

it that will

defeat the

Philistine,

will take

away the

reproach

from Israel?

See,

this Goliath

has reproached.

He's

disgraced the

people of

God.

Who's going

to stand up

and put

grace back

into the

people of

God?

The people

saw

Goliath

through the

same lens

that saw.

They saw

two men

that are

tall and

attractive and

by the standards

of the world

very powerful.

But David

saw Goliath

through covenantal

terms.

David says,

for who is

this

uncircumcised

Philistine?

Who is

this man

who's outside

of God's

covenant?

The prince

of darkness

grim.

We tremble

not for him.

His rage

we can't

endure.

For lo,

his doom

is sure.

One little

word shall

fell him.

He remembered

to whom the

army belongs.

Look at what

David says.

He is defying

the armies

of the living

God.

Men,

you are not

slaves of

Saul.

God secured

you for

himself.

And God

is alive.

You are the

army of the

Lord of hosts.

He fights

for his own

glory.

He knew

the army

did not

belong to

Saul.

It belongs

to God,

Yahweh,

the great

deliverer.

These men

are looking

only at their

own weakness

and they

forgot that

the Lord

is the

Lord

Sabaoth.

The Lord

of hosts

and his

armies include

not just

these men

of Israel

but the

armies of

angels

in heaven.

When God

created the

heavens,

he created

the invisible

spiritual realm

and while

there is a

standoff

between two

men on

earth,

there is

certainly a

spiritual warfare

going on.

The kingdom

of heaven

intruding

onto this

fallen world.

We forget,

we often

just focus on

what our eyes

can see in

this world.

Remember the

army of

angels at

God's

command.

J.I.

Packer said,

heaven is the

headquarters of

these angels

where they

constantly worship

God and from

there they are

sent to render

services to

God through

the ministry he

is carrying out.

The angels

serve the

church.

The angels

serve God's

people at

God's bidding.

That's the end

of Packer's

quote.

Andrea

pointed out

to me as

we were

listening to

the McShane

Bible reading

that when

God then

had King

David's son

Solomon build

the temple

according to

the instructions

given in

1 Kings 7

the cherubim

that stand

and guard

the ark

of the

holy of

holies

the symbolic

throne of

the lord

of hosts

each angel

was 15

feet tall.

Remember the

basketball hoop

is 10 feet.

That distance

between the

floor and

the basketball

hoop that's

5 feet right

in the middle.

So you take

that and put

it on top

of the

basketball hoop.

Now of course

angels are

spiritual beings

they don't

have bodies

but the

ministry of

this to

God's people

is when you

approach the

temple of

God you

need to be

reminded he

is the

lord of

hosts towering

above Goliath

is the army

of God.

According to

Zechariah

1 10

angels are

mighty warriors

of light whom

the lord sends

to patrol

planet earth.

What's the

number of

the angels?

Well God

has a vast

army of

angels.

A legion

is 5 to

6 thousand

so we're

taking what

the scripture

has revealed

70,000

angels.

This would

be like

taking ball

arena where

the nuggets

play for

their basketball

games and

it's four

times what

you could

pack into

the ball

arena would

be a legion

of these

angels warriors

of light.

revelation

5 11

says the

voice of

many angels

numbering

myriads of

myriads and

thousands of

thousands.

With the

eyes of

faith we

can remember

the lord of

hosts does

not tremble

before any

man or

anything of

this world

or of the

principalities of

darkness.

God by

faith reassures

his followers

of his might

far above

that of the

enemies.

brothers and

sisters outside

of Christ we

are a

cowardly

army but

because God

is good and

loving and

gracious God

the father sent

provisions from

his home through

his beloved son

the anointed the

Messiah marked

shepherd king for

us who he calls

brothers and

sisters.

Jesus Christ

overcame the

evil one first

in the wilderness

then on the

cross.

He has

disarmed

Satan.

The powers

of darkness

no longer have

power over

God's people

and his

kingdom according

to Colossians

2 15.

While we

failed while we

are weak

Jesus Christ

obedience his

stands in the

place of our

disobedience and

his courage

covers our

cowardice.

I want to

remind you how

Jesus Christ

the Messiah

the anointed

shepherd king

views the war

that we're in

now.

In John 18

36 Jesus

said my

kingdom is

not of this

world.

If my

kingdom were

of this

world my

servants would

fight but

now my

kingdom is

not from

here.

In John

17 16

our Lord

Jesus said

my disciples

are not of

this world

even as

I am not

of this

world.

From that

hymn by

Martin Luther

taking the

cue from

our Lord

Jesus we

can say

as well

though this

world with

devils filled

should threaten

to undo us

we will not

fear for God

has willed his

truth to

triumph through

us.

The body

they may

kill God's

truth abideth

still his

kingdom is

forever.

The outlook

of our Lord

Jesus Christ

changes the

way his

army views

this life

and this

world.

By his

strength I

have been

praying this

week for

myself and

for us as

a church

that the

perspective the

view what

our Lord

Jesus Christ

sees for

his church

will slowly

fill us

and become

our outlook

our view

of this

battle as

well depending

on his

strength and

let's pray that

he will do

that.

Lord we

thank you for

how you are

mighty in

battle how

you are

victorious how

you have

secured the

freedom of

your people

how we are

no longer

slaves to

fear you

have ransomed

your people

you are our

great anointed

king we

praise you that

you've not

left us

orphans you

are near your

people you

care for your

sheep we

trust ourselves

to you again

today Lord

please work in

us the view

that you have

for your

church we

ask this for

your glory in

your powerful

name amen