David and Goliath

Thank you. Thank you, Lord. Wow. What an incredible

day it is today, guys. I can't tell

you how much it means to me to come in to see your

smiling faces, to see all of you.

I missed last week and I was at a loss. I mean,

I mean, it was great. I mean, we had a. We celebrated a

19th year family reunion that we've been going to every year

in Texas. And it just so happens to be

Dana and I's 19th wedding anniversary on June 10th.

And so we got married back in 2006, and the Lord

has really blessed us and we had an incredible

time. But I missed you. So I'm glad to be back in the

house. Glad that Pastor Kevin is back in the house and thankful that he's

feeling better this morning. And it's Father's

Day. Come on. Father's Day.

Oh, man. I tell you what,

to get to preach on Father's Day is a dream come true.

I'm thankful for it. Why don't you, if you're a

dad in the house, why don't you go ahead and stand? We're gonna celebrate you.

We're gonna recognize you one more time. Okay? I know we already did it.

We prayed for you this morning, but give it up for all the

dads in. Lot

of dads in the house. We celebrate you

today. I hope your day is full of fun and

enjoyment. All right? With that being said, I want to

encourage you one more time. Back in 2011, this

movie came out and it spoke to me. The Lord

used it to change something in my heart and leave a

lasting impact on me as a young father

and as a man, really. And so we're going to go ahead and watch a

two minute clip of this video and I hope it has an impact

on you.

Courageous men of courage.

A courageous man stands in the gap. A courageous man

stands up and says, I will. I accept the

responsibility. And as a dad, as a father,

I'm here to tell you today I will.

Okay, this is a life

verse of mine, Joshua 24:15. As for me and my

Joshua 24:15

household, we will serve the Lord. But this is only a

part of the verse. See, back in the time of

Joshua, he was encouraging the people of Israel.

And Israel has fallen to some of their gods

of their ancestors and started worshiping some other false gods.

And Joshua took a stand and drew a line in

the sand, saying, as for me and my house, we

will serve the Lord. And the people of Israel

followed him because God was on his side.

See, this is the stance that I want to take for my family.

And every day,

I will not choose the idols of my past, but instead I will

choose the God who saves. And

I'm really fortunate, man, to have some incredible men

that have taught me, that have poured into me, that have given me

courage along the way. One of those

guys is my father in law, Kirk Whitworth. He's sitting

right back over there. Kirk, raise your hand. Everybody say, hey, Kirk. Hey,

Kirk. Kirk. Back in

2005, I started working for Kirk.

And in 2006, I married my incredible bride, Dana,

his second. Well, middle daughter.

Middle daughter. And Kirk has

poured into me selflessly. And I

remember one time he told me, before Dan and I started having kids,

we had Noah in 2008. So I guess this was about 2007 or so.

Kirk told me something that I'll never forget. He said,

anyone can be a father. Anybody. All you

gotta have is genetics, right? All you gotta have is the ability to.

Anybody can do it. But it takes a man to be a

daddy. It takes a man to be a daddy. And

I didn't know what that meant. I didn't have any experience being a daddy before,

but Kirk did. Kirk raised four girls, and he was a

daddy to those four girls. And being a daddy

means that you're there for them and the hard times and

the easy times, that you stand for them. And I see a lot

of daddies in this house. I see a lot of daddies who put.

Put their trust in the Lord and do what's right for their families.

So thank you, Kirk, for teaching me that.

All right. Being a daddy to Noah, Judah and Elijah has been one of the

best gifts that God has ever given to me. And we've

got little baby Abigail on the way, due September 10th. So I get

to be a daddy to a little girl soon.

Yeah. So I'm really excited about that.

Got a lot of joy in this season of life. And

gosh, I know that you guys have been praying for us and our family,

and I can honestly feel those prayers. I know that the Lord is

moving and doing some incredible things and he's brought people to help

surround us and hold our arms up and continue the pursuit

of God in the youth group. And I'm just so thankful for everything that God

has ordained and that he's doing. So thank you, church.

I. I appreciate you. I hope you brought your Bibles. This morning.

We are going to get into the word of God. If you brought your

Bibles, go ahead and get it out. I love the sound of rice paper

flipping over. So if you brought your

actual Bible, then go ahead and get it out. If you brought your phone, that's

cool too. I like doing that. I like using my phone.

But we're going to turn to First Samuel, Chapter

1 Samuel 17 · chapter mention

17. First Samuel, Chapter 17. If you guys have

1 Samuel 17 · chapter mention

been following along with the greatest stories ever told, we have been in

chapter 16 where Samuel anoints David. And

then last week, Pastor Kevin brought a word out of 1st Samuel,

chapter 18, about David and

Jonathan's relationship. And so

we're gonna go one step back. Right in the middle there, the sweet

spot, chapter 17.

But before we do, I want to know, you guys like an

underdog story. Do you like an

underdog story? You like when the person who is not supposed to win rises

up and defeats the bigger person, the one who has

more talent, the one who has just all the accolades and the experience?

That's an underdog story. And this is the story of David

and Goliath. And honestly, guys,

if you don't come to church, right, you might have heard this

story. This story is used in sports events. This story

is used in business meetings and all

kinds of motivational speeches. The story is for everybody,

right? But I think the point of the story, and that's what I

hope to help you understand today,

is that the Lord is fighting

on our side. The Lord is the reason that David

was victorious in this story. So as

a church, we believe that the Bible is a story about

how God is redeeming, saving and making new his

people by his grace, for his glory among

all people. All people.

This is so cool because you and I are a part of this

story. You and I share in this

incredible joy of the story of

redemption. It's God's

nature, in effect. His nature is to redeem his

people in and through His Word.

It's the story. All throughout the Bible in human history,

we see all kinds of stories of redemption

where God has moved and people have been brought to

new life, made new in his image.

Scripture comes to life when we realize this,

when we realize that God is fighting for us

and that we have hope and a future in Him.

So what I want to do today, I want to take one of the most

well known stories in the Bible, the story of David and Goliath. We're going to

go through it line by line. I hope you guys read your

Bible because we are going to be in it a lot today, line by line.

And we're going to really hear what the

Lord is saying today. So many

of us are facing challenges. So many of us

Might even be facing giant sized challenges in the room

this morning. And it could be super easy for us to

try and relate our challenges, our stories, to what

David faced that day in the valley. Right?

We could be saying, oh, that boss at work, he's my

giant. We could be saying, that

diagnosis is my giant.

The Lord comes to fight our battles for

us. The point of the story is not to be

brave in the face of our giants. No. The purpose

is to ignite us with a passion for the glory of

the Lord. Ignite us with a passionate pursuit

after him. A life that says, I want nothing

else other than to follow you, Jesus.

Because when we're standing on the word of God,

we're trusting in the power of God and we're living for

his glory, the glory of, of Almighty God.

That kind of faith can defeat giants that even kings

are afraid to face. That kind of faith

moves us. It's a verb.

Faith moves us out of the way

and allows God to fight our battles for us.

Amen. Okay, so let's get into the story,

but let's not forget what happened. Remember chapter 16, David

anoints Samuel, anoints David with the horn of

oil. And the scripture says the spirit of the Lord came

powerfully on David. This is important, okay? We

can't go out there. David wasn't able to go out there and do it alone.

He's doing it in operation, in the spirit.

The spirit of the Lord came powerfully on David, therefore

he went. Okay, so

first Samuel, chapter 17, starting in verse one

1 Samuel 17 · chapter mention

says, now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled

at Soca in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Damim between

Soca and Azekah. Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in

the valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines.

The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another

with with the valley in between them. Okay, guys, this starts out and

it's like a movie. A picture of this mountains,

two mountains on each side, a valley in between them. One army

lines up for battle and they're the Israelites. Another

one, the Philistines. And they're set to

take take place. Get it in, get in there. I like to read

my Bible like it's a movie, like it's like it's coming alive.

A champion, verse four, named Goliath, who is from Goth,

came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall.

Some scriptures, some translations say

six cubits and a span. And if you're

familiar with, you know, the ancient way of measurement, which

I don't know if a lot of you are, but a span

is from the tip of your middle finger to the

tip of your thumb. Okay, so it's a span. It's usually about 9

inches. They were a little bit smaller back then. But 9 inches is a

span. 18 inches is double the span. It's a cubit. Okay, so

six cubits and a span. If you're good at math, then

that's over nine feet. That's actually nine feet, nine inches tall.

That's a giant. Right?

This is a depiction of what the world

says David, or Goliath looks like. There he is in his

armor, his shield bare in front of him. Nine feet,

nine inches, stands head and shoulders above every man.

Goliath, a champion. Now, champion, that's

important to recognize there. That word is the first time

it's used in the Old Testament. It means a man between two

armies. Go. Goliath of Goth. He fought for the

Philistines. All right, let's go to verse five. He

had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale. Armor of

bronze, weighing 5,000 shekels on his legs. He wore

bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. His

spear shaft was like a weaver's rod and its iron point weighed

600 shekels. His shield bearer went ahead

of him. So this

guy had armor on that weighed more than most

Hebrews back then. Most of the Israelites, they probably didn't weigh

125 pounds. But this armor that

Goliath weighed weighed more than 125 pounds.

Okay? His spear, just the tip of his spear, weighed 15

pounds. And he was able to throw it right. That's

a lot of weight. That's a ton of weight. It weighed

more than most Israelites wore. He also had a

sidekick with him that carried a shield, and that shield was about the size of

a man. Guys, this is the most detailed

description that we see in the Old Testament of a warrior

anywhere. It helps us to get a picture of what was going

on in the valley that day. An invincible

character, Goliath, walks out covered in bronze armor, standing

head and shoulders above any other man, ready to take on

a whole army. Listen to what he says in verse 8.

Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, why do you come

out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine? And are you

not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to

me if he is able to Fight and kill me. We will become your

subjects. But if I overcome him and kill him, you will

become our subjects and serve us. Then the

Philistines said, this day I defy the ranks of

Israel. Give me a man and let us fight each other. On hearing

the Philistines words, Saul and all the

Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

Goliath just issued a

1v1amano e

mono challenge right there in the valley. He said,

anybody's man enough, come out and face me.

I'll feed you to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.

He said, you will not prosper. Look at

me, I'm Goliath. I'm the champion.

Pretty much draws a line in the sand saying, come on.

What did the Israelites do? Well, it says

they were dismayed and terrified. They shrunk back in fear

and they mentioned Saul. Saul was with him.

Saul, he didn't want to see Goliath on the battlefield.

He didn't want to go hand to hand combat with him? No.

Saul was the tallest of all the Israelites. He

was the one that should have stepped up and said, I'll take you

on the king. But he didn't.

He shrunk back in fear with the rest.

Then we get to verse 12. Now,

okay, the scene shifts. The movie's on the battlefield.

Now we're going to go to the meadow. Verse 12.

Now, David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse

who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons,

and in Saul's time he was old and well advanced in years.

Jesse's three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war. The

firstborn was Eliab, the second, Amminadab, and the third, Shema.

David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul.

But David went back and forth from Saul to tend his

father's sheep at Bethlehem.

Bethlehem? Who else is from Bethlehem? Do you guys remember someone who was

born in Bethlehem? Yeah.

David is described as a boy here. Now, we don't know how

old he is exactly, but the scripture clearly

describes him as a boy, the youngest of all of his brothers.

He has the job of tending sheep and also playing

music for Saul. So he travels back and forth.

Verse 16. For 40 days. The Philistine came forward every morning and

evening and took his stand. 40 days, Goliath

stands, mocking the people of of God, mocking the

Israelites, challenging them, insulting them,

defying them.

Jesse said to his son David, take this Ephah of roasted

grain and these 10 loaves of bread for your brothers. And hurry

to their camp. Take along these 10 cheeses to the commander of

their unit. See how your brothers are, and bring back

some assurance from them there with Saul and all the men of

Israel in the Valley of Allah fighting against the Philistines.

Okay, so, Jesse, David's dad, he asks him,

okay, please take these provisions. Take these snacks

to your brothers. Oh, by the way, an ephah of roasted grain is

about 36 pounds. Okay? David's used to going back and

forth, but, man, strap on this grain. That's

36 pounds. Take these 10 loaves while you're at it. And these cheeses

need to go, so go ahead and take them as well.

Gosh, don't sign me up for that. I can walk two

miles and be out of wind. Goodness.

David says, okay, you know why?

Because he was obedient. David was an obedient son.

Obedience, even in the mundane tasks, can

place us on the path of God's extraordinary

purposes. He was set

on an extraordinary task.

Young people, don't miss this. I see you out there.

Don't miss this. Live in obedience.

Live obedient lives to

the Lord, to your parents, to your teachers, and to

yourselves. Do what you say you're gonna do.

This is important as you grow up and you understand

what it means to speak something

and then live up to it. Okay?

A lot of people say they're going to do something and don't

learn from that. Do what you say you're going to

do. Live in obedience.

All right, pause for a minute. This is my

family, just like David's family. We didn't have eight

sons. And that's not Jesse, but this is my dad, Jeff,

my mom, Nancy, the oldest there, Hannah, my sister.

I am in red. The big smile. And

my twin brother John is in blue. And Philip is the

youngest. Now, this picture was taken in 1988.

I was four years old. And

there's four kids there. Hannah was born December of

83. Philip was born October of 86. So if you do the

math, that's less than three years, two years, 10

months. And there's four kids there. My parents

are in their early 20s. Okay, so that's a lot to handle.

It's a lot to handle. Our family dynamic was different. It was

busy. It was full. It was close. Okay.

I'm the second oldest of four. And so, you know,

I'm used to kind of, I guess, me and John

fighting and, you know, my dad letting us

duke it out kind of a thing.

This is my dad and I. It was a couple years later My dad

was my hero. He's always been. He was in

my earliest of memories. And back then,

he could do no wrong. No wrong in my eyes.

It was hard for me to see him in a negative light at all.

And then everything changed. See, like a lot of families out there,

we were a family of divorce. My parents ended up getting

divorced whenever I was in the third grade. I was a little bit older than

seven, I guess I was almost eight. And my dad

remarried a year later to my stepmom. And

things would never be the same. My childhood would never

be the same as it was. This was me at my dad's

wedding. I couldn't get the picture to where I had my tux on there.

So you guys just get to see the top part of my tux. I was

nine years old, handsome.

But everything changed after that. Divorce kind of

breaks up a family. And

it happened to us. The next eight years were

filled with counseling sessions.

The next eight years were filled with court battles, were filled with

custody issues. And it wasn't fun.

It wasn't fun. I turned away

from the Lord at that time. I had given my life to the Lord at

a very young age and turned away from him and started to get into my

own things, my own desires. And I

tried to cope with it as best as I can, but I ran from God

like a lot of us would. I said, you know what, God? You're

cool and all, but I'm going to do what I want to do now,

and then I'll come back to you one day.

I spent several years running, and

then in 2008, my dad decided that he wanted to

minister the gospel to people. And this

wasn't a new thing. He was always a man of God, and he

wanted for us to grow up in the church. And

he just always had bills to pay, too. And so

he decided, okay, I'm gonna go into ministry, and then we're gonna start a church.

So in 2008, I helped my dad start a

church. He was already in evangelistic

ministry, traveling and going to different nations and speaking and doing stuff

like that. But in 2008, he

heard a word from the Lord, said he wanted to start a church in Murfreesboro.

So my father in law, Kirk, and I went with

him and decided to help him build a church. Global Fire

World Miracle center in Murfreesboro back in 2008.

This was me in 2010. I was. It was

actually January 20th of 2010.

So we're coming up on 15 years being ordained in ministry

as A minister of the gospel. And we stood there and

I received the plaque, and then I was

able to go out in ministry. So I went out and traveled with my dad

for a number of years, and we saw some incredible,

miraculous things that God did, and he moved in

power. It was wonderful. This was at one of our trips. We

went to Haiti, and people were just giving their lives

to the Lord, back and forth, and it was an incredible time

for those years in total, my

dad traveled to 85 nations in 15 years to preach

the gospel of Jesus Christ. 15 years.

That means he was gone a lot, right? So there was a little bit of

a balance issue there. I remember one time I asked him,

I said, dad, what's the most important thing in life?

What's the most. The one thing that you could tell me

what's the most important thing? And he said,

love the Lord with all your heart

and love. Know him deeply. Know him deeply.

Then he said, but the second is this. He said,

have others come to know him as well? Have others

go out and have others come to know him as well? And I thought about

that and I was like, man, I want that. I want to

know the Lord deeply, but I can't sacrifice my

family for it. There has to be a balance here, Lord. There has

to be something that's got to give. Because I saw what

you did, dad, and you know, you sacrificed a lot to

be on the road for 15 years of your life. You brought

thousands of people to come to know who the person of Jesus is,

operated in all kinds of incredible moves of God.

But your home life was not what I want.

So what is it that you want me to do, God?

And the Lord said, be a disciple for your family.

He said, your first ministry is in your family. And then everything

else will flow out of that relationship with the Lord.

Everything else. Trust me and I'll take care of it.

Thousands of people came to know God because of

my dad's obedience to the Lord.

Dad passed away unexpectedly Tuesday.

Just a normal Tuesday, August 9,

2022. So we're coming up on three years.

Not a day goes by that I don't think about Him.

Thankful for the legacy that he has given me.

All right, back to the story. Now that I've cried.

All right, we are in verse.

Wait, verse 20.

Early in the morning, David left the flock with a shepherd, loaded up and

set out as Jesse had

directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out

to his battle positions, shouting the war cry. Israel and

the Philistines were drawing up their Lines facing one another.

David left his things with the keeper of supplies,

ran to the battle lines and greeted his brothers

as he was talking with them. Goliath, the Philistine champion from God, and

stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance.

And David heard it. That's important.

When the Israelites saw the man, they all ran

from him in great fear. So

David runs to his brothers on the battle

lines that day, and he hears something he's probably never

heard in his young life. Remember,

his relationship with the Lord was like this. He was

super close with God, and he

hears this mortal man defying

his God. I'm sure that brought all

kinds of. I mean, he rose up and just wanted

to take him on right at that moment. I'm sure he did.

We should be offended when we hear the word or the name

of the Lord taken in vain. When we should be

offended when we hear God being defied.

All of the other Israelites ran in fear.

Now, the Israelites had been saying, verse 25. Do you see how

this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel.

The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him.

He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt

his father's family from taxes in

Israel. Three rewards, right? Great

riches. The king's daughter in marriage, and then, man, your family

is free in Israel. You guys don't ever have to pay taxes

ever again. Saul must have really wanted

somebody to step up to this champion from Go,

Right. I know some of us might say, oh, you know what? No

taxes. Let's go. I am in. Come on.

Great riches. I don't know about your daughter, but

she proves to be a snare later on, if you familiar with the story.

All right, so verse

26. David asked the men

standing near him, what will be done for the man who kills the Philistine and

removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is

this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the

armies of the living God? They repeated to him what

they had been saying and told him, this is what will be done for the

man who kills him. When Eliab, David's

oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and

asked, why have you come down here? And with

whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited

you are and how wicked your heart is. You came down here

only to watch the battle. Now what have I

done? Said David. Can't I even speak?

Can't I even speak? David Responded to

them saying, who is this uncircumcised Philistine?

Why does he think that he has the authority to speak against the

Almighty God? See, David, his

relationship with the Lord was so close

that he couldn't take it. He didn't understand it. He said, why are

all you running? Stand up and fight him.

If I can get this to Click

Mary, you might have to. I might have pushed

pause or something.

Just click it for me whenever you get a chance.

Okay, I'll just read it. Our relationship with God is the most crucial

one we have. It's how we navigate all other

relationships. It's the source of our identity, strength,

and purpose, especially when facing our

own giants. David's relationship with God was so close

that he was not going to have anybody speaking bad about him,

about his God. In Eliab, David's

older brother, he was offended at the boldness of his

younger brother. He was probably offended because

his younger brother stepped up whenever he said, yeah,

I'm gonna run in fear with the rest of these guys, right? He

was offended at the boldness of David to say, who

is this uncircumcised Philistine? I'll take him on.

So what did he do? He tried to discount his younger brother.

He tried to throw insults at him. Assumptions. Who's

taking care of the sheep? Isn't that your job? Discount him in front of

all those people.

All right, reading on. See if they got this working. No,

let's go to verse 30.

He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter.

And the man answered him as before. What David said was

overheard and reported to Saul. And Saul sent for

him. So word starts to spread.

David's wanting to take on this challenge. Saul's probably like, oh, gosh,

finally there's a guy who's gonna step up and take on this giant.

Thank the Lord, right? So Saul sends for

David, and the stage is set for the present King Saul

and the future King David to come face to face

and us as readers to see the stark contrast

between the two of them as they respond.

So David says to

Saul in verse 32, let no one lose heart on account of

this Philistine. Your servant will go and fight for

him. Saul replied, you are not

able to go out against this Philistine and fight him. You're only a boy.

And he has been fighting. He's been a fighting man from his youth.

Notice the boldness in David as he speaks to Saul.

He is filled with boldness. He's ready to take on the

Challenge, he took action.

Saul responds to David as the world would. You're just a boy.

You're not able. You're not going to do this. He saw through

a worldly lens of this challenge,

this 9 foot, 9 inch giant and this little boy.

But he didn't see of the spiritual reality of

David's relationship with God. And that God is so much bigger than

anything that that giant had to offer.

Let's listen to David's response in verse 34.

But David said to Saul, your servant has been keeping

his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and

carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and

rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it

by its hair and struck it and killed it. Your servant has

killed both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised

Philistine will be like one of them because he has defied the

armies of the living God. The Lord who delivered me from the

paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the

hand of this Philistine. Saul said to David, go,

and the Lord be with you. Like I said,

David is aware of the spiritual reality here. He doesn't accept

Saul's viewpoint. He doesn't accept the words that

Saul hurled at him. You're only a boy, and he's been a fighting man since

his youth. David pretty much says,

saul, you have no clue who the giant in this picture is.

Do you not see that the Lord God Almighty

is with me, is with us, his people, and he

will fight our battles for us. David

chooses to see a spiritual reality that is lost

on Saul. How we respond

when authority figures disappoint or oppose us reveals

our character. It reveals who we

are, our character. See, David's character was

forged in the sheep fields with the Lord of hosts.

Every day he would talk with him, pray

with him, worship him.

See, ultimately, it's a matter of perspective. David chose

to see the bigness of God and Goliath

dwarfed in comparison. My prayer for us today

is that we would see the bigness of God in our lives,

that we would choose not to view the challenges, the

obstacles as these big overcoming things,

but that we would trust God to fight on our behalf.

Because fear is a liar.

Fear is from the enemy. And the enemy has no chance

against a God. And against the God of angel

armies, no chance.

Fear is a liar.

Verse 38 says.

Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor

on him and a Bronze helmet on his head, David fastened on his

sword over the tunic and tried walking around because he was not used to

them. I cannot go in these, he said to Saul, because I am not used

to them. So he took them off. David rejects

Saul's approach to battle. He's

not familiar with them. He hasn't been tested. His armor hasn't

been tested. And you know what? This is also a foreshadowing to

what's to come. See, David wasn't

going to accept the old way of things. David wasn't going to conform

to the world, and that was before him.

David was going to trust on the promise and provision

of the Lord God, who brought him through victory over the bear

and the lion and the God of his ancestors, Abraham,

Isaac and Jacob, trusting in the promises that he has set before

them. This is what David depended on.

I cannot go in these, he said. So then, verse 40. He

took his staff in his hand. He chose five smooth

stones from the stream. He put them in his pouch of his shepherd's

bag. And with his sling in his hand, he approached the

Philistine. David went to battle

with what he knew. David was a shepherd.

He had a sling. He had a shepherd's pouch.

And he went and chose five stones from the

river, put them in his pouch and said, let's go, God.

He knew that the Lord was fighting for him.

David went to battle in his everyday

ordinary shepherd gear.

Verse 41. Meanwhile, the Philistine with his shield bare in front of him,

kept coming closer to David. He looked David over and saw that

he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised

him. He said to David, am I a dog that you come at me with

sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

Come here, he said, and I'll give your flesh to the birds of the air

and the beasts of the field. Careful,

Goliath. Goliath is insulted

because this warrior from the Israelite

army is just a boy. He came at him with not a

sword, but some sticks. He

said, a sling, some stones. He's feeling

insulted and he calls him out,

who am I? And he curses him by his

gods. Careful. Because

in Genesis, chapter 12, verse 3 says,

Genesis 12:3

I will curse those who curse you. I will

bless those who bless you.

See, this is the word of the Lord. Goliath

cursed David. Therefore he's going to heap

curses on his head.

David, not to be outdone in pregame trash talk,

said to the Philistine, you come against me with sword and spear and

javelin, but I come against you. In the name of the Lord Almighty, the

God of the angel armies whom you have defied

this day, the Lord will hand you over to me and I will strike you

down and cut off your head. Today I will give the

carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the

beasts of the earth. And the whole world will know that there is a God

in Israel. All those gathered here will know that

it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves. For the

battle is the Lord's. And he will give all

of you into our hands. Wow.

Wow. All into

his hands. The battle is the Lord's. This David wasn't

set for personal glory. He wasn't out to seek fame and

fortune for his own doing. No,

the battle is the Lord's. He was out to give God

all the glory. And when we live in relationship with the Lord, a

vertical life says, I want God to get

all the glory. My relationship with

him says, he is worthy. He is the only one that

deserves the glory. This is

what our lives should say, God, you

get all the glory above everything else.

Later in chapter 18, King Saul kept David with

him. His shepherding days are over. The scripture

says that he brings him up as a high ranking

officer in the army. And David succeeds at everything that Saul

sends him to do.

The victory changed everything in

David's life. In the camp of the Israelites,

the Philistines were no more. They chased them down for

five miles and slew them,

just as David said. The birds feasted

on them.

Saul started to get

upset. He started to get jealous. Because when they returned home to

Jerusalem, there was a song that

the people were saying. And they were saying, saul has slain his

thousands and David his ten thousands.

He was jealous. Their relationship

became tense with suspicion, manipulation,

and eventually he started trying to take David's life.

See, success can test relationships.

Success can change things,

especially with those in authority.

This will test our integrity and our patience as well.

But it shouldn't change who we are in our relationship with the Lord.

Because if success happens in our own lives, then it shouldn't be

for us to receive the glory. It's for him

because we live vertical lives to please him.

Oh. Although David was successful on the battlefield that day, and the

nation of Israel triumphed over the Philistine army, the

ultimate purpose of this battle is to point us to a much,

much greater battle. One fought not in

the middle of a valley in Israel, but one fought in the

center of all history. See, on one side there's

an Adversary, the devil, the enemy. He's out to

steal, kill, and destroy all of us.

And we've taken the bait. We

have all fallen short of the glory. We have

all sinned, been lured by the enemy.

So who is going to take this adversary on? Who can?

Who can do it?

Not us, because we all, like the Israelites, run in fear.

But on the other side, a humble

servant

from the tribe of Judah in the bloodline of David, an

unlikely champion. He stares temptation

in the face day after day

and doesn't give in. Then one day, he

chooses the cross for us. He

goes to the grave. And it looks as if

the adversary has won. It looks as if

the enemy has won. Until

three days later, he rises from the grave.

His name is Jesus. He's the champion over

sin and death. And all who trust in him

will be free from sin, will be given true

life forever with him. This is the good

news of the gospel. Jesus

has conquered death, has conquered sin. And

just like David conquered Goliath that day in the valley,

we can rely on Jesus in our lives to conquer whatever

challenges we face. See, this

is the ultimate story that has the power to change all

of our stories for all of eternity.

That's the point of 1st Samuel 17.

That's the reason that we read this story today.

Not so we can trust in ourselves and what we have to

offer. No, that would be

foolishness. It's so we can put

all of our trust in Jesus and

every giant that we face. He is

faithful to go and fight for us and with

us. The God of the angel

armies is always on our side.

He's calling.

So if you're fighting a battle this morning,

if you're going. Going through something and you feel

like,

Lord, you're calling us out,

so. So I'm going to ask you to stand with me as

we come in to worship our risen Savior, the one who

defeated death and sin. Guys, there is

hope. This altar space is open

this morning. If you want to lay something,

you have a giant that you think is too big. You can trust

that the God of the angel armies is on your side. And

he is with you and for you in any

challenge that you face. Amen. Amen.