Face the giant

Man, I'm excited to start this new series on the life of David.

So if you got a Bible this morning, open that up to 1 Samuel chapter 17.

1 Samuel 17 · chapter mention

And uh probably the most spoken on uh story in the Bible.

Uh but hopefully today you hear it with a little different twist to it.

I do want to ask you this morning to uh be in prayer for a couple of things.

Um please be in prayer for our missions coordinator, Deidra Brown.

Uh her mother had what I believe was a heart attack this week.

And um, apart from God's intervention and a miracle, she's probably gonna go home to be with the Lord.

Her name is Mildred, and then her dad is Buddy.

So pray for Deidra, keep her in prayer, and we're just praying that God takes her mother peacefully when it's his time.

And then um I couldn't speak last week.

Um, so I want to say something.

And I I I came up and I prayed with Pastor Danny, and in response to um his announcement, I just want to say that um for six years I believe that I've gotten the very best of Pastor Danny Lovett.

And uh he's mentored me, and um it's it's been a beautiful time for me in my life.

He's been a spiritual father.

So all I can say is this is an overwhelming honor.

I couldn't be more excited, and it is um just an honor to be at this sacred desk.

And so, Pastor, thank you for um I know that you're not gone, but I would just want to say in response, I couldn't speak.

I said, Benji, you gotta do the announcements.

I couldn't, I just couldn't say anything because while it's so exciting, it's overwhelming.

And I love the love it, and I know they love CCW, and we love CCW, so let's get to it before we get sappy.

1 Samuel chapter 17, and as you turn there, um, I got a couple of pictures that I want you to see up on the screen of some great mismatches.

1 Samuel 17 · chapter mention

I think there's been some great mismatches in history, and we're gonna show you a couple of them.

There's one.

All right.

On the same team there, you got Manute Bowl and uh Muggsy, and so that that was a great mismatch.

Here's another one.

I'm gonna pause here, okay?

Some of y'all have seen this movie, maybe.

I'm not recommending the movie, but what I got to say is it was a few weeks ago somebody said to me and Benji that we should go as this duo for Halloween.

Which one do you think Benji is?

I'm like, he's Arnold Schwarzenegger?

Do you even like me?

I'm supposed to be dead.

So great mismatch.

What's another one?

Show us another one.

Alright, here we go.

Shaq and Kevin Hart, man, they look like best friends.

They could hang out a lot.

And I think there's one more up here.

Yeah.

Alright, so uh, this takes me back to my childhood.

I loved Hulk Hogan, so I just had to throw him in there with Rocky.

But great mismatch, but probably the greatest mismatch of all time, I think, is in this scripture that we're gonna look at today.

David and Goliath.

What a mismatch you see between these two.

And point number one as we jump right in this morning, is this the fake champion.

I'm gonna read to you a couple of scriptures in chapter 17.

Let's see how it starts.

Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle, and they were gathered at Sokal, which belongs to Judah.

They encamped between them.

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, Israel stood on a mountain on the other side with a valley between them.

So I want you to understand something before we get into Goliath is this the Philistines were not supposed to even be where they were.

They weren't supposed to be in Canaan, Canaan.

That was Israelite land.

God told Israel, take the land and drive out everybody else.

But, this is what we find out about the Philistines, they were a scary people.

The Philistines were people who were known for fighting and warfare.

They were known for their metalwork and their armor, actually the best at the time in the known world.

And they had some people with a genetically mutated pituitary issue.

Y'all know what that means?

Also known as gigantism, right?

They had a pituitary issue.

And in 1 Chronicles 20, you can look back and see that it was a family thing for Goliath.

You can find out that he had some brothers, he had some nephews, and uh one of them, it says, had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot.

Like they were messed up.

Scary, right?

And this is where we see on the scene comes a fake champion.

I want to read to you verse three and four, or verse four, it says, 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 the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze.

Let me pray.

Father, use the words of this message to penetrate our hearts, God.

Whatever you want to say is what we want to hear today.

So, God, I pray you would empty and clear me as a vessel, and Lord, empty everyone here so that their hearts are not full of the next thing or the thing that happened last week, but what is right now for them.

Lord, use this time for your glory in Jesus' name.

Amen.

And so it describes a couple of things about Goliath letter A this morning is this Goliath was the epitome of a giant.

Okay?

If you didn't hear that in the scripture, when you break down these measurements, it's basically that Goliath was nine feet six inches tall, weighing about five hundred pounds of solid muscle mass.

Right?

This man's been being heavily recruited by every NBA team.

Okay.

Hailing right from Gath.

Even Gath sounds scary, right?

Like Goliath from Gath sounds like something that you hear and you go, oh, you know, right?

You remember the movie Lion King Mufasa?

It sounds like Goliath from Gath.

It sounds like a scary place.

It's not like, you know, Jeff from Harpersville.

Or Larry from Wilsonville.

Like, not too many of you that struck fear in your heart, but Goliath from Gath, right?

It just feels scary.

And so he pauses and goes on to tell us, well, that's a little bit about his stature, but let me tell you about what.

I mean, what does a nine foot six tall man like this even need for fighting?

But then it goes on to give us great detail about his armament.

Look at verse 5 through 7 again.

We read it, but first it says he has a helmet, a bronze coat of the finest armor in the known world.

Now listen to this.

The bronze coat, when you break down the measurement, weighed 125 pounds.

So he puts on armor that weighs probably more than David.

That we'll see in a little bit.

Okay.

He has armored legs, he has a sword, and he has a man to hold his shield.

Right?

Not because shield's too much, hey you.

Right?

And so somebody's holding his shield.

He has a bronze javelin with a spearhead.

Listen to this.

The head of his spear weighed 15 pounds.

Okay.

So recently I was at a track meet.

Callie runs track, and we go to these meetings, but all kinds of things are going on.

Well, I happen to look over and there's shot put.

I never really watched any shot put before.

And I'm watching this thing unfold, and it's kind of comical for me, right?

So I'm watching and they're spinning or doing their thing.

And it's a weird, the whole thing's weird.

I'm sorry if you're a shot putter or where, but this rotation and all that they do, and they got this, it looks like this is a little bitty ball, right?

Right?

And they're like, woo! And I'm serious.

If that thing went more than 10 yards, it was a miracle on anyway.

I'm like, what am I watching?

These people are spinning and grunting, and this thing is like drop.

I'm like, dude, I think I could go out there and throw that 100 yards.

No.

Like I'm watching, I'm like, I can't believe that this.

Well, listen to this.

There's a man, an Olympic record, Ryan Trouser, 6'7, 320-pound man.

Okay.

The high school shop puts about 12 pounds.

I'm all setting this up so you understand this man's spear, right?

Ryan Trouser throws an Olympic record, 67 feet.

Okay.

Not very far in my mind.

67 feet he throws is the Olympic record for this.

Goliath has a 15-pound head on his spear, right?

Anybody been working out?

You had the 15s?

Right?

Some of these ladies are.

I hear no man.

Man.

Come on, guys.

No, but our ladies are.

And so they're working out, and they had 15 on the end.

I have no doubt that on the edge of his spear, Goliath could have tossed this thing 50 yards.

Right?

He was huge.

And so I'm just, the picture of this warrior of a man was pure horror for the opposing side.

Pure power.

Literally, he's petrifying his foes, we'll find out.

Right?

The darkest and meanest picture that you can get.

I'm sure.

I'm sure.

Doesn't say it, but I'm sure he was ugly, right?

He couldn't have all this and he'd be out there handsome, right?

And so Goliath is this picture of ugliness.

He's he's so strong.

And and and with his spear, historians, I had a picture, I wish I brought.

It would have had to have been about 12 feet long and 35 pounds to support the 15-pound head.

So you're talking about he's just tossing something that, I mean, if it hits you, it'd knock you across the wall.

And so this is an enemy.

This is pure horror.

And so the way that the Lord gave this to me one time as I was studying it was like a fight announcement.

Some of y'all watch fighting.

Some of you uh good godly people, you watch fighting on the weekends.

And so you know that when a fight happens, right, there's a fight announcement.

And so this is the way the Lord put this in my mind one time.

Because this is the way he lays it out.

This is how it looks to me.

The announcer steps up and he says, In this corner, weighing in about 500 pounds, nine foot six inches tall, the gargantuan of Gath, the Philistine fiend, King Kong's cousin, the Mideastern mountain, the reigning, defending champion.

Here is music.

We are the champions of the world.

It says in verse 4, and a champion went out, verse 23 again.

Then as they talked with him, there was a champion.

Okay, he was the champion.

Nobody could beat this man.

So I'm giving you a picture of this enemy.

He was a champion, but I want you to understand something.

He was not the real champion.

Goliath was ugly, he was scary, he was mean, but he was not the real champion.

We're gonna find out about that in just a little bit.

So there's our picture of the fake champion.

That takes us to point number two, his fearsome challenge.

We're gonna see his fearsome challenge.

Often, church, before God is going to do a big work, people are faced sometimes with their most fearsome challenge.

For Abraham in scripture, God says, Get out of your country and away from your kinsmen.

I want you to go, and then I will bless you.

For Esther, he said, You've got to go face the king and face possible death by bringing to truth what you're about to say.

And it says, I'm here for such a time as this.

And for Daniel, his option was to pray publicly or go into a pit of lions.

And Daniel said, I'm gonna pray because that's what we do.

And so sometimes before the greatest breakthrough in the challenge that you have, there's a fearsome challenge.

Pastor Danny said to us last week, be strong and of good courage.

And so every time there's a giant, I want you to understand there is a God.

There's a God.

And so, but what we see here, Goliath is the one here that hits Israel with a penetrating shot.

A thought.

You wouldn't think this big, ugly, nasty foe is gonna hit them with something deep.

And then I want you to look at what he says in verse 8.

Look at what it says.

Then he stood and he cried out to the armies of Israel and said to them, Why have you come out to line up for battle?

Listen to that.

Why are you here?

Am I not a Philistine and you the servants of Saul?

Choose a man for yourself 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 so Goliath is the one that hits him with this shot.

And letter A is this Who is living for a cause?

That's what he has.

He says, Aren't we here for a fight?

Aren't you here today for a challenge?

If you think that you're gonna walk through this life, church, and there's not gonna be a fight every week, every couple of weeks, then we're in the wrong thing.

And so he says, Who is here for a fight?

Who is living for a cause?

So I want to ask you this morning, why are you here?

Why has God put you in this setting at this point in your life?

Why are you in existence today?

What is your life for?

It's not an accident.

God didn't make some cosmic accident and you showed up.

You're here for a purpose, and God has given you a purpose.

But what is that?

Now it's interesting that this is presented not by a pastor, not by a coach, a mentor, or a motivator, but by the lips of an enemy.

He taunts them.

Why are you even here?

For this moment in the history, church, why are we here?

I believe some people are here in this life and they think it's all about getting the money.

Some people, they're here and it's all about the next pleasure or a big name.

Goliath says something.

I know why I'm here.

I'm here for a fight.

And I want you to understand something, church.

Your purpose is riddled all throughout these pages.

Your purpose from God is riddled through this book, and you can find your purpose.

And so Goliath says, I know why I'm here.

Why are you here?

David, when he comes on the scene, I want you to see in verse 28 and 29, we'll go back, but I want you to see David's response to the battle.

Two people out of all these people had a right response.

One was Goliath.

Look at verse 28.

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 even come down here?

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

I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you've come down to see the battle.

And David said, What have I done?

Is there not a cause?

And so David had a right response to the thing that was before him.

And church, I want you to think today about this.

Is there not a cause to fight for?

Is there not something that you were placed in this point in history to fight for?

Is there not something right now in this country to stand for?

Is there not a cause?

It reminds me of two great quotes.

Listen to these quotes, and I'll tell you who they came from.

It says, There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but a man must take it because his conscience tells him it is right.

Sometimes we gotta stand up and fight the fight.

And then he also said this our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Because we see tomorrow being a celebration of that life.

And yet he he was someone who lived with conscience and convictions, and he believed, and from an early age he was willing to stand and fight against things in his society that were wrong.

Are you?

What does this mean practically for you in your home?

What are things that you know are wrong that are happening for your children?

Will we fight against them or will we stay and remain silent?

When that show has too much cursing, it's on you to take a stand.

This is practical, folks.

No, it's not okay to say, well, it's just like kind of everything else.

It's no different than most other shows.

That shouldn't be the one.

If that's happening at school and you don't like it, I remember my kids came home and there there was a book that was filled with cursing.

And like, why are my kids reading?

Why is this acceptable?

Well, everybody else is reading this type of literature.

No, they aren't.

Not my not mine.

Are we going to take a stand for what we believe is truth, or are we just going to say, well, society says that this is sort of okay?

So if everyone else in culture is sort of accepting of it, then I'm going to be also.

David said, Who is living for a cause?

Is there not a cause?

His brother said, Why are you even here trying to get a peek on things?

What are you doing?

He says, Isn't there a cause?

I'm so thankful for that example that Martin Luther King brought us of consciousness, of conviction.

Letter B today is this who is willing to contend?

Look at verses 9 through 11.

Who is willing?

He said, Who is living for a cause, but who is willing to contend?

It says this 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 the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day.

Give me a man that we might fight together.

When Saul and all Israel heard these words, listen to this, of the Philistines, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

The question is, who is willing to contend?

And what it says about Israel is that they were struck with fear.

They might have known what was right, but they were so afraid to face the challenge.

And so the challenge is put forth.

And he says, Any man, will any man fight me?

Are we not here for a battle?

Will somebody give me a fight?

Verse 16 says that Goliath came out, and it wasn't just once.

For 40 days, 40 days he came out taunting them day and night.

Eighty times he presents this challenge.

And thousands went like this.

Right?

Look left, looked right, nobody would contend.

C CW, who is willing to stand?

Who is willing when the enemy taunts?

Who, when the enemy is threatening at your door, is willing to stand up?

When he wants to divide your family, who's gonna stand?

What about it, husbands?

Who's gonna stand up?

When he wants to divide our church, who is willing to fight?

Are you willing to fight for your freedoms that you have?

Are you willing to contend?

What about your country?

Who is willing to stand?

Man, he's coming for your marriage.

Are you willing to stand?

Are you willing to fight for your faith?

Look, I want you to look at the person next to you and say, You want to fight?

Say, come on, let's go.

We gotta fight for our faith.

He said, Who will contend?

I'll tell you this, we start the year this way.

Mile one, Christians will show up and watch the fight.

Mile two will say, put me in.

Let's go, I'm ready.

Jude verse three says, I felt it necessary to write and urge you to contend earnestly for the faith.

Who will stand up for this thing that we say we believe?

We gotta have some people in 2022 that their conviction that they say they have matches the actions that are coming out of them.

But then there's David.

Everybody's quiet, looking left, looking right, whistling.

Even Saul, the king who would have something great to prove.

Not not me.

Look at verse 25.

What it says.

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.

We'll give him his daughter, and give him his father's house, exemption from taxes.

Y'all hear that?

No taxes.

Then David said, What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine?

And they repeated again, these three things.

Right?

And David finally he gets down through scripture, and David says, I'm in.

He says, What will happen for the man who kills him?

Treasure from the king.

Right?

You want to talk about a good Reward, right?

The richest man in all the land, you're gonna get some of his treasure, and then you'll get a daughter of the king, right?

Not only are you gonna get treasure, now you're taking on royalty.

You're gonna become royalty to have a daughter of the king.

And what everybody wants to hear, no more taxes.

I'm when I think about this, I'm like, wow.

Not one crazy person?

There hadn't been one crazy Israelites for 80 challenges, not one that said, huh, man, that sounds good.

I've been looking at the daughters of the king, no more tax, not one crazy person.

They must not have had any rednecks in that crew.

I'm gonna tell you that right now.

Even though one redneck would have been like, it's on.

I'm gonna blow something up.

We're about to go on, right?

This is one reason why I have loved working with ridiculous teenagers that are in junior high.

And when I look at David, because David is right there.

Because I know this, if he'd had a junior high army out there, there would have been one crazy kamikaze teenager.

I'm telling you that.

Just get teenagers around a bonfire and you'll know what I'm talking about.

There's always one, I'm telling you, one moron kid that's about to jump over the fire.

They're like, ha ha, look at me.

Like you just burnt your foot.

Right?

There's always one.

And so David, that was where he was.

And David thought differently.

He just, it's proven he thought differently than everyone else.

Because nobody would take this challenge.

But David thought in a way that showed he believed the things that he had heard about his God.

He would later write about it in things like Psalms 35:1.

Psalms 35:1

It says, he said, Contend for me, O Lord, for those who will strive against me.

He believed if he got in the fight, that God was on his side.

And so, man, I wish there was more of us sometimes, even though I joke about it with the drive of a kamikaze junior high boy.

We just get in there and see what happens.

And that's what David did.

And so we'll see that.

That takes us to letter number three, which is this the faithful challenger.

David is the faithful challenger in this text.

I like it when we watch some fighting and a guy goes for a while with an unbeaten streak.

Y'all like that in some sports too, an unbeaten streak.

I like it when somebody has a long streak, but then what I like about it is looking to see who is gonna be the one that steps up and knocks that streak down.

Who's gonna be the one to rise to the occasion to beat someone that nobody else has been able to beat, right?

Some of y'all got excited the other weekend.

I'm not gonna say nothing about it.

Only a few of you, but a few of you probably got excited about a football game, right?

There's some people gonna be watching this week that'll get excited, right?

And so there's something about that.

And Goliath, look, it says he was the champion.

Look, I'm sure nobody else at that point, he's the reigning, defending champion.

Nobody could beat him.

But then there was this faithful challenger.

And when I look at the circumstances around us, church, who's gonna be the faithful one to stand up to things in our society?

Stand up for our children's sakes, stand up for things that are going on and face them for what they are, and not back off and say, Well, it's just the way of culture.

It's just where we are.

It's just okay.

It's not.

Let me tell you about this faithful challenger.

Letter A is this David had insignificant characteristics.

I want you to look at verse 17 and 18.

Let's find out about David.

It says in verse 17, Jesse said to his son, David, now, take for your brothers and Epha of this dry grain and these ten loaves, and run to your brothers at the camp and carry ten cheeses to the captain of the thousands, and see how your brothers fare and bring back news.

So this is how David shows up on the scene.

Listen, I want you to understand, it was not about appearance that would beat Goliath.

Jesse tells David, Go take your brothers some grilled cheese sandwiches, right?

If you didn't see it, it's right in there.

That's what it says, go take them some cheese and bring me back some news.

I want you to understand, even Jesse, I don't believe, believed that David could take this fight.

Jesse, who in the previous chapter was with Samuel the prophet, Samuel the prophet came to town to anoint the king that would follow Saul.

And when Samuel came to town to Jesse's house, Jesse took him immediately to his oldest son, Eliah.

And he went through a listing of the sons.

And finally, Samuel said, I'm not hearing anything from God.

Is there any others?

And Jesse's like, no, whoa, well, that's a little shepherd boy.

I mean, it's probably a waste of time.

He's out, you know, in the pasture tending to the sheep, you know, a me a meanless job.

And Samuel goes, Well, bring them in, bring them in, bring them in.

And when he came in, it says he came in and he was youthful and ruddy.

He was cute, it says.

He was just this little guy, these big eyes, and he came running in.

Hey, dad! And God said, That's the one, Samuel.

And before his big brothers and before his dad, Samuel anoints him.

This is going to be the king to everyone's shock.

What?

The shepherd boy.

He'd been out there playing with sticks.

I can't even believe this.

And so I don't even believe Jesse believed that this fight was about to be David in the fight.

And so, then let me tell you about appearances.

Look for a second at verse 42 and 43.

We'll go back to it, but I want you to see what Goliath thought when David showed up.

And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him, for he was just a youth, ruddy and good looking.

And the Philistines said to David, Am I a dog that you would send this stick out to me?

Right?

Goliath is like, he hates it.

He hates it.

He feels it's a mockery of the warrior that he was.

He says, How dare you insult me with this joke?

You mean to bring me bird feed out here?

You mean to bring me sticks?

I mean, Goliath didn't believe in the appearance of the one who came to fight him.

Obviously, Eliab, his brother, his older brother, doesn't believe David is the right challenge as we looked at verse 28.

And this is what I want you to understand.

Sometimes, church, the big challenge for the fight is this.

There's some borderland bullies.

There's some people that might be real close to you, and they represent, Eliab represents the spirit of cynicism.

Y'all hear me?

Is that you today?

Every time somebody offers a grand vision of how something can happen or how we can do something differently to reach our culture or reach people, do you scoff at the vision?

Man, there's people like that everywhere.

There's scoffers for every vision.

We're not going to do something different.

We got to do what we've always done to get what we always have got.

Surely David can't take this fight.

It has to be a warrior.

He's just a shepherd boy.

Look at him.

He's cute.

He doesn't belong out here.

He ought to be going and playing in the woods.

You know why?

Some people can't handle a vision that's too big.

It's too different.

Because they like their thing their way.

And it messes with them to look at big faith.

There isn't enough proof.

There isn't enough science to prove this.

This is not logical.

When has your existence ever been logical?

Your next breath that you can't control.

When has it been about logic?

You better get God out of your logic.

Because Ephesians 3.20 told me, now to him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all I ask or can imagine.

That's the God that we serve, and you're going to see about it in a second.

So Eliab doesn't believe it.

You know what?

King Saul doesn't believe it either.

Look at verse 33.

And Saul said to David, You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him.

You're a youth, and he is a man.

Right?

I mean, the most highest seat in their nation has looked him in the eye.

Father, brother, king, enemy, you are not the one for this fight.

Man, I'm so thankful that David didn't listen to all of the mutter that was going on around his ears.

And he followed a vision that was for him anyway.

And I want you to know something, church, there's some giftedness that you have.

And you got some old voices.

Maybe from a childhood, you're not going to be anything.

You're never going to amount to something great.

Oh, you can't do that.

You won't overcome this.

This has always been in the family.

You're nothing but an addict.

You're nothing but an alcoholic.

You're nothing.

You can't be a better parent.

You can't.

And I want you to hear this.

That ain't you.

God dictates what you're going to be.

You don't have to listen to that.

You don't have to listen to that.

And so he's got all this cynicism all around him.

It wasn't about appearance, though, not for God.

You know what else it wasn't about?

It wasn't about weapons.

Look down at verse 37.

David says, The Lord, so what happens before this uh Saul tries to give David his armament.

Now, I don't want to get too much into next week because when we're talking about fight comparison, and Saul had a comparison issue that pops up.

But Saul was said to be head and shoulders above everyone else in the land.

If anybody should have been in this fight, it was big, tall Saul.

But you know what?

Saul cowered.

And Saul said, Well, if you say you could do it, David, and he starts trying to give him his armor.

Right?

He starts trying to put on David his armor.

It's a scene like your children when they're little trying to put on your clothes.

And David's like, I don't.

And he's like, I can't even walk.

And he says, These things are not tested.

That's important what he said there.

These things have not been tested.

Man, I don't know if David meant to insult Saul at that moment, but he said, These have not been tested.

By the way, church, listen to me.

You can't use somebody else's stuff to fight your giant.

You gotta fight with the weapons you've been given.

You can't live off of grandma's Christianity to fight your battle.

You can't, because your preacher gets some praise for you, fight your battle because your preacher's doing it.

Because you got a spiritual heritage in your family doesn't mean that you can fight your battle off of their spiritual warfare.

You gotta be alone with God day in, day out, live in his spirit, and then fight your battles with your weaponry.

And so David has equipped one weapon.

It wasn't Saul's weapons, it wasn't nobody else's weapons.

David goes, and you see it in verse 48 through 51, but he used one weapon, that sling.

That was his weapon.

And it says that he picked up five stones because Goliath was there, and Goliath had four big ugly brothers, and he was about to take out the whole team.

The whole basketball team was going down.

They weren't gonna win that anymore either.

So there we see the weaponry.

But it wasn't words either.

I want you to look at verse 44 through 46.

Some of y'all like some good smack talk.

Right?

What I like most about playing board games with my wife is the smack talk.

Y'all with me?

I like somebody to say something that makes me want to, you know.

I don't even care if I win as long as we go back and forth pretty good, right?

And so she'll say something, I say something back, but I like, and so in this fight, look at what it said.

I love this.

Verse 44 through 46.

After Goliath says, Have you sent sticks out to me?

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.

Then David said to the Philistine, David said, Oh, really?

Picture it again.

Teenage boy, oh, is that right?

You come to me, he says, with a sword and a spear and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

This day the Lord's gonna deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head off.

David had some words.

How about that, Goliath?

I'm gonna take that head.

Well, that takes us to letter B.

David had an invisible secret for combat.

He had a secret.

It wasn't a sling.

He had a secret.

And we see it and we can find it in verse 26 and 36.

Now stick with me.

I believe the Lord give me this.

It's a secret, okay?

Verse 26 it says, Then David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, What shall be done for the man who kills the Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel?

For listen to this.

Who is this uncircumcised Philistine?

Pause there and look at verse 36.

Verse 36 it says, again, your servant has killed lion and bear, and this, listen to this, uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them.

He calls Goliath two times the same thing, an uncircumcised Philistine.

Six times in 1 Samuel and one time in the book of Chronicles, either Samuel, Saul, or David refer to the Philistines as this word.

Uncircumcised.

The secret for combat is seen all the way back in Genesis chapter 14.

Genesis 14 · chapter mention

And you know what it says in Genesis 14?

Anybody?

I'm glad you asked.

It says, God said that those who were circumcised would be his chosen people.

They were his people.

It wasn't height, it wasn't weight, it wasn't weapons, it wasn't riches, it wasn't popularity, it wasn't what's trending or anything else that David brought to the table.

The secret wasn't his identity.

It was who he belonged to.

Are you hearing me, church?

The next time the devil starts to tell you how big your problem is, won't you tell him how big the God is that you belong to?

How big this circumstance is all around you, you're never going to get out, and you say, Let me tell you something.

My God is Jehovah.

My God is much greater than you.

And so the secret is he knew who he belonged to.

David knew it.

And here's what's crazy David knew it, and he believed it unlike every other person that was in this fight.

He believed it unlike any of them.

He believed really.

He believed in that truth and he kept it closely.

And so when he showed up for the fight, he was in shock.

I believe David said, What is going on?

Why won't somebody fight?

Do you know what God said?

He believed that there could be no other outcome than Goliath would obviously lose to whoever would go and fight him.

There could be no other outcome.

That's what David believed.

And so he couldn't even believe that his peers, nobody.

Of course, whoever fights him will win.

Is there anything else that God could let happen?

If he did, then Jehovah would be a lie.

He said he would fight for his nation and his people.

Why has no one else believed?

Church, do you believe what he has promised for you?

You believe that he says when you become a Christian, then you become a child of a king.

There's no temptation taking you, but such as a common man.

There's always a way of escape.

Sin doesn't have a grasp on you any longer.

By his stripes, by his wounds, we've been healed.

There's healing.

You've been set free.

You are a child of a king.

You're royalty according to that scripture.

And so we live to that standard.

We don't live to the enemy's standard and say, well, I messed up again.

He said, That's okay.

I've washed it.

It's clean.

You come for confession and I'll clean it.

But listen, you're royal.

Do you believe the promises of God?

Because you have a purpose in his story.

And what Satan wants to do is put something in your life that pulls you from your purpose.

So you'll live wandering, you'll live in the wilderness, you'll live like elevator music to a story that's supposed to get you involved to triumphantly and gloriously show the king.

Well, there's another secret.

The other secret that God gave to me is this that David and Goliath is not an underdog story.

What do you mean, preacher?

I don't believe it's a story of how you go fight Goliath and overcome Goliath.

Many people want themselves to be David in this story.

I want to be David in this story.

I want to go, yes, yes, I can do anything.

Anything comes against me, and I got it.

But listen.

In the story, I don't believe you and I are David.

Reality is, I believe in this story, we are much more like the nation of Israel.

We want to be David.

But you see, our biggest problem, like Israel's, was this.

Sin alienated us from God.

It separated us from God.

And just like Israel's paralysis in this fight, they could not move.

They could not move forward.

And it's not without purpose.

We can do nothing of our own accord, church.

And just as the giant of sin was coming in, about to overtake them in their struggle, here comes Jesus into our picture and our story, and he said, I got you.

I got sin.

And he took that stone that was about to go in the air, and he took that enemy, and the stone went crashing through his head.

And for us, he came and he said, I got their nails.

I got their beating.

I got that crown.

He said, I'll take their cross.

I will defeat the biggest enemy that they'll ever have in this life.

I have defeated sin.

I've nailed it all to the cross.

He took our sin, church.

David's not a type of us.

David is a type of Jesus.

He's the hero in this picture because he's a type of Jesus.

Where do you see that, preacher?

Well, it says he's born of Bethrahem, that he works as a shepherd and later rules as a king.

We find later in scripture, Romans 1.3, it says Christ is called the seed of David.

Revelation said he's the root and offspring of David.

But he took our sin, church.

Don't mishear me and get sad saying, Well, I wanted to be David in the story.

I wanted to know that I could fight battles.

Listen, don't miss this.

Because he took out the giant of sin and you're in my life.

Now we can bravely face all lesser giants.

We can now face every lesser giant that afflicts us.

Everything that comes our way.

Not because we're great, but because the Jesus we've accepted will fight our battles.

We can have victory.

That doesn't get you excited.

Look at verse 46 and verse 47.

David shouts triumphantly, his secret to victory.

Verse 46 and 47, he said, In this day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head.

And he goes on, and this day I will give your carcass to the camp of the Philistine, to the birds and the wild beasts, that all the earth, listen to this, don't miss this.

This was the soundtrack of David's fight.

This is what he says.

He says, So that on this Day right here, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

That there is a God when we fight insurmountable battles, church, God gets seen because of our fight.

When we fight against things and we stand against things, God gets seen in you.

And people go, huh?

Well, I didn't know that they were such a holy roller.

I didn't know they were like that.

Oh, they're not gonna be involved in that.

I wonder why.

And and God gets seen in you.

And when somebody's world gets comes crashing down and there's a CCW church member there to be a friend, when the rest of the world says, I'm too busy for that, they go, huh?

They're gonna fight this battle with me?

Why?

And they see God in you, and God gets seen at your work, and God gets seen at school, and God gets seen everywhere because we're willing to fight against a scary battle.

So stand, church, and fight, church, but stand knowing not for what, but in whom.

It's not about for what, it's but in whom you belong.

Well, I think that leaves us with one thing left to do with this story.

And so as the announcer got up and declared Goliath was on the scene, I believe, the announcer got back up and he says, and in the blue corner, weighing in and about 125 pounds, here is the cheese carrier, the shepherd boy.

Here he is, Jesse's son.

Over here came Goliath.

I'm big and I'm dumb.

And David said, I'm coming, I'm coming.

He slung a stone and he said, I will rock you.

You didn't know that Queen put out the soundtrack for the David and Goliath story.

Because I believe after that, David when he took his neck off, he said, Another one bites the dust.

But a Jesus-wrapped stone went in the air, and it wasn't, I don't even believe it was David's sling, swing.

I believe Jesus was wrapped all up in that boy, and that stone had no chance, hear me, no chance, not to go through the center of that giant.

And it went in the air, pierced through his head, he went down.

I want to tell you something just personal, and then I'm done.

One time in 16 years of being in ministry now, one time for half of one service, I wanted to quit.

Um I still get choked up thinking of that.

I had this thought, but I'm human and I felt it and it was real.

I I've loved ministry, I've loved all of these moments.

I love my God, I love being a part of it.

But we had a fight break loose in Sunday school, and when we first got here, look, it felt like our youth ministry just blew up.

It was real cool, and people were talking to me about it.

Well, we had 40 kids that were just whatever you want to call them, church type kids, and then we had 30 kids from King's home.

And so it was craziness, it was chaos, it was awesome, but it was crazy.

Well, one week in Sunday school, these two boys up there got into it.

The light went off.

I came over, and this boy's just pounding.

Bow!

I mean, just eyes went right.

I don't, I'm like, what is and anywhere in the past in the ministry in Indiana, if I spoke a certain way, it commanded attention.

Everybody would just listen.

Well, I was new here.

I was a new guy, right?

And so I'm like, stop.

That didn't work.

I said, stop now.

That didn't work.

So I go over and I'm on this kid, right?

He's six foot something.

Dave remembers him, 200 something pounds, and I'm just, you know, he is punching through me.

I'm there and he's going over me, just hitting this guy.

I'm like, he's gonna kill him.

He is going to kill him.

And I'm like, I can't believe this happened.

Another kid came, Benji came.

I promise you, this kid, I'm like, get up, go, get downstairs.

And he's like all slow about it.

I'm like, this is not time.

You better go, roll, do what you gotta do, get down the steps.

The girls are having Sunday school below us, and I'm all I can't even say a sentence or nothing.

So worked up, I'm like, go! That's all I could say.

I'm thinking of my wife, the kids are in.

I'm like, who knows what this kid's gonna do?

Like, he is going.

So this kid starts walking around a ping pong table to get free.

We got this kid.

He gets loose of it.

He jumped the entire ping pong table.

I promise you, front to back.

It looks like a deer.

And he pushes the kid down the steps and he goes back at it.

Boom.

Benji gets there and he helps get him off.

And I'm telling you, we're like a little while from service, and Pastor Danny takes him into the office.

And he's witnessing to him.

I'm like, dude, this kid was ready to murder somebody.

I'm like, he's gotta go to jail.

You can't be in there with him, Pastor.

You gotta stop this right now.

And Pastor Danny's talking to him, and I'm like, I sat through service, and for a minute I was mad about that.

I'm like, he was ready to kill something.

He needs jail, is what he needs.

He can't have Jesus right now.

He needs a little bit of punishment first.

I'm I'm a mess about it.

Inside, I'm like, God, did you call me to Alabama for this?

Like, what are you doing?

I I'm this I'm not teaching kids how to be more spiritual.

Like, this is behavior management.

This is, I'm like, what is this?

And for half of a service, I sat there sorry for myself, upset.

I was really upset that I couldn't get past that I want that I didn't want better for this kid.

I was mad at myself about this, but I couldn't get past it.

I saw his eyes and I'm like, I want to want better, but I don't.

And for half of a service, I sat there and I thought about that fight.

And by the end of the service, God had me in touch.

That the fight is real.

The fight before us is real, and and and all of this church has some different sense of fight all the time.

And what am I called to to help people see the God of their fight?

Pastor Danny was in there trying to win him until he was doing it.

And and I what I was struggling with was this.

This is a battle.

And yes, he definitely needed Jesus.

And he got saved.

Church, I want you to hear something.

He is so good, and he'll fight your battles.

I know that life has sent all of you real struggles, and Goliath is taunting you, and he wants you to give up, and he wants you to feel like you're nothing, and he wants you to just throw your hands up and quit.

What Goliath would have liked was another 40 days so he could mock them.

He said, They ain't doing nothing.

All they gotta do is see the enemy and they run.

All they gotta do is feel the stress and they say, I'm not in it.

And Jesus says, This church, says, Child, you just give it to me.

I don't know what you got right now, but I believe in a church this size, there's people battling right now.

He's saying, Won't you just give it to me?

Hey, listen, let me be your rock.

Because if you'll let me be your rock, that enemy's gonna fall.

The battle's not yours anyway.

You're my child, so that means any battle you got's my battle.

And I'm right here, but you gotta give me the battle.

I'm gonna ask you to stand to your feet this morning.