Heart Series: Vision for the Valley - Part 4 | 1 Samuel 17

You're listening to the Bridgetown Church Podcast with

Pastor Casey Kendall, where our vision is Jesus, our mission is

people, and our cause is love. Thanks for tuning in.

Let's dive in. We're in First Samuel chapter

1 Samuel 17 · chapter mention

17. We've been in a series called

Heart, but we've taken 4 weeks to walk through the valley of

Elah with David and his fight with Goliath.

And so we are in this spot today.

And so if you have your Bible handy, First Samuel chapter 17

1 Samuel 17 · chapter mention

as we've joined together today, as Steve was sharing with you,

we do next steps every Sunday after church.

It will be about for 45 minutes. This topic is going through your

personality and your gift set and where God and how God has

wired you to serve him. And so this is a class for us to

no longer just come in as a crowd, but to get involved in

community and begin to contribute in our gift to the

Lord. And so join us after service,

we'll start at 12:30 to 1:15 and we'll get you out of here.

And so you can go have a great In-n-out burger for lunch.

And all God's people said, Amen. First Samuel, chapter 17.

1 Samuel 17 · chapter mention

As we go through this series called Heart, I just wanted to

remind you of the theme of this book in First Samuel, the theme

relating to us and bringing us to this point where Samuel was

about to anoint the king of Israel.

And being in that spot, he brought all the sons of Jesse

before him except David. And he's about to anoint the

oldest brother, Eliab. And the Lord says to Samuel, he

says that I'm not looking at the outward appearance.

Do you remember the verse? I'm not looking at the outward

appearance in this sense, he said.

I'm the one that looks at the heart, and the heart of the

matter has always been the matter of our heart.

So going into this valley, I don't know how many of you are

walking through a valley right now.

I don't know how many of us are bold enough to lift our hand or

there's a lot of loss going on in our church right now.

There's a lot of pain, there's a lot of heartache, there's been

numerous phone calls and there's a lot of valleys that people are

walking through right now. And I just pray that this last

four weeks has been something that we could take hold of as a

community and walk through the valley well.

And so I want to pinpoint a verse for you.

We're going to end chapter 17 today and so I want to pinpoint

this verse that we've been reading together in first Samuel

1 Samuel 17 · chapter mention

chapter 17. If you have your Bible handy and

that isn't found in first Samuel 17 verse 47.

1 Samuel 17:47

The Bible says these words. Then all this assembly David

says to Goliath shall know that the Lord does not save with

sword and spear, for the battle is.

The Lords and he will give you into our hands.

So I want to read that again. I want to remind you of this

again. David says to Goliath what God

says to us today in the San Gabriel Valley.

Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save

with sword and spear for the battle is.

The Lords. And he will give you into our

hands. I've been going through this

book by Max Lucado called Facing Your Giants.

And in that book, if you would write down this quote and that

quote is this How we handle our tough times stays with us a long

time. Once again, he said these words.

How we handle our tough times stays with us a long time.

I. Want you to look at your

neighbor around you and just say neighbor, my neighbor.

Thank God I'm out of that. Thank God I am out of that.

I had gone to Disneyland. It was a beautiful day.

I had met some friends there at the Magical Kingdom in Orange

County, California and I wanted to start with an easy ride to

get my senses going and so I made my way to a ride called

Finding Nemo. I thought it would be easy.

You actually have to hop on a submarine and you go into the

submarine and then you see all these amazing characters, Nemo

and Marlon and Bruce and Dory. You know the story.

And I was on the ride and it wasn't scary, but when I took my

seat, I was filled with anxiety. It was tight and I was

terrified. I'd found myself at a place

where. I was trying to be bold on

Finding Nemo but I couldn't catch my breath.

What I found on the ride was this is that I was experiencing

a feeling that they called claustrophobia.

And although I was trying to catch my breath, my heart was

racing so much that I had to close my eyes the entire ride.

And I couldn't enjoy the ride because I couldn't endure the

process that I was in. And I found myself just waiting

for the ride to finally be over for the adventure to stop

because I didn't want to find Nemo anymore.

I just wanted to find my breath. And the ride came to a close and

they opened the Hatch and I saw the light of hope and I stepped

out of the ride and into Disneyland.

And I took a deep breath and I looked my friend in the face and

I said these words. Thank God I'm out of that.

I don't know if you've ever found yourself in that specific

spot where you have thank God that you are no longer walking

in the place where you might even be today.

Where there was pressure on all sides of you, there was problems

on the outside of you, and it caused so much panic on the

inside of you. You were you.

You knew you were called into this, but you couldn't wait to

get out of this and you had found yourself at this spot in

your life. And I want you to hear these

words today if you were there. And that is this.

It is just as important how you leave the valley as you have

entered into the valley. Once again, it's just as

important as you leave the valley as as much as how you

entered the valley. Now I want to give you a

definition of the word valley because David is fighting

Goliath in a valley called Elah. The definition of the word

valley. If you're taking note, the word

means this. A valley is a long, narrow

region of lowland between ranges of high mountains, hills, or

other high areas. Once again, a valley is a long

Anyone there a long, narrow region of lowland tucked between

the ranges of mountains, hills, or other high areas, and the

tendency in the valley is often three folds.

If you're taking note, write this down because this is

important and that is this. The tendency in the valley is

threefold. Letter A Some of us when we are

going through the valley, because it's so long, we just

live in the valley. Now we choose to live in the

valley and that is because of apathy.

We choose to live in the valley. We're we no longer want to

fight. We'll just pitch our tent there.

We'll build a structure there. We've become a victim to what

has happened in our lives and that's because of that, we now

choose to live in the valley. The second thing or letter B if

you're taking note, is what happens in the valley is this is

we try to quickly climb out of the valley.

We try to quickly come out and climb out of that valley.

And that's normally from anxiety, not apathy, but

anxiety. And because it feels like

everything closing in all around me.

I just want to climb out of it as quickly as I can.

The third thing that we can often do in the valley or letter

C is we can walk through the valley actively, slowly,

thankfully, and obediently. And the way that we find

ourselves walking through the valley is this.

We know it is the same God who brought us into the valley.

It is the same God who met us in the middle of the valley, and it

will be the same God who brings me out.

Of the Valley. Did you see there's all types of

valleys in the scripture? People are known in the Bible

for going in to the valley. The first valley that was ever

mentioned in the Bible was when Abraham would meet the high

priest Melchizedek after his battle with Sodom and Gomorrah.

That valley was called the Kidron Valley.

It's in Joshua's life that Joshua fought the Amalekites in

the Riffidim Valley. It's Moses.

Moses found himself in the Ish Call Valley.

Did you know, ladies, Deborah found herself in a valley that

was called the Kishon Valley. Also, Elijah found himself in a

valley. It was called the Jezreel

Valley. Listen, the Bible says in Psalm

23 that God meets us in the valley of death.

That God meets us in the Valley of Baca.

He meets us in the Valley of Decision.

The Bible says that God meets us in the Valley of Barack and he

meets David in the Valley of Elah, and he meets you today in

the San Gabriel Valley. Listen, it is here in this spot

that we might be in all of our valleys might have a different

name right now. They might have a different size

right now. The mountain ranges might look

different for every single one of us.

But I could be certain beyond the shadow of a doubt in this

place that all of us at some point in time and of our life

have walked through a valley. We're in a valley.

We're in the middle of the valley.

We're towards the end of the valley.

We're walking out of the valley and it's important that every

single one of us know. Some of you right now you're in

a marriage valley. Some of you right now you're in

a single valley, you're lonely. Some of you right now, you were

in a school year valley. Some of us are in a mental

health valley. Some of us are in a financial

valley. Our valleys have different

names, but we can still meet the same God, Jesus Christ, who the

Bible says walked through the Kidron Valley to go to the cross

and conquer death and defeat the grave.

Did you know it Jesus when he walked through the Kidron

Valley? The word Kidron literally means

murky in dark waters. When Jesus found himself walking

through the Kidron Valley, it was at the time where the High

Priest was sacrificing the Lamb as a celebrated Passover, and

the blood of the Lamb would exit its way out of the temple,

through the drain and into the Kidron Valley.

Jesus in the valley had to step over the blood of the Lamb.

Oh, come on. He had to step over the blood of

the Lamb to go give His blood as the Lamb of God on the cross,

that he would suffer for us. I just want to tell you this

today. The shepherd is always sent to

the valley, and it is no different today in the life that

we are living in that God brought David the shepherd to

the valley. So I want to remind you what

we've been saying every week as we're walking through the

valley, and that is this. I am here.

We say I am here. We'll say it again, I am here by

God's appointment. I am here in his keeping.

I am here under his training. I am here for his time.

This will not last forever, but what we learn from it could last

forever. And so I'm learning to say a

brand new sentence today and that is this.

Not just thank God I'm out of that valley, but thank God I've

learned from that valley. Do you see?

Because the, the, the truth is this, the truth is this is that

what happens in the valley never stays in the valley.

It always moves into the deserts.

It always moves up into the mountains.

It always crosses back into the river, which delivers itself

into the vast oceans of our lives.

Finding in themselves that the battle for David was something

that he would meet the Lord in a more more profound, deeper way,

ever before realizing that the Lord does not save by spear.

The Lord does not save by sword. He saves by his own hand.

And what God wants us to know today is that you might say,

thank God I am out of that. But what I also want you to

realize today that David would know beyond a shadow of a doubt

that he was one man facing one giant in one valley who had one

God who would meet his one need, who would give him this one

victory that would be for multiple generations.

If you stop now, what is the victory that your kids are going

to experience? If we stop now, what is the

victory that our marriages will experience?

If we stop now, what is what are our relatives going to be

experiencing? David's victory meant that

generations would experience the power of God lived and

exemplified through the life of a man who was willing to come

simply and say I'm available. And so the Lord too has brought

us to a place now in this valley that David's walking through.

But how do we walk through our valley?

Well, like David, how do we come to this spot?

I love Chuck Swindoll in his book entitled David all about

the life of David. He said these words in context

about what we're about to enter into.

When was the last time you thanked the Lord for not showing

you the future? He writes these words.

I'm convinced that one of the best things God does for us is

to keep us from knowing what will happen beyond today.

Just think of all the stuff you didn't have to worry about just

because you never knew it was coming your way.

How gracious of God to give David one day at a time.

I wonder how many people think that David, after he killed the

giant, within a matter of just a few days, took the throne and

became the youngest king in the history of Israel.

Well, he writes, in case you were one who thought that, you

need to know, it didn't happen that way.

As a matter of fact, the aftermath of the giant killing

LED David into one of the deepest, longest and darkest

valleys of his entire. Life.

Listen, this young man who had proved himself faithful among

the sheep and on the battlefield went from the highest pinnacle

of popularity to the lowest depression of despair.

God was good not to tell David all that was coming his way.

And God is good. God is good and all the time.

So how can I learn from what David did?

Because some of you are walking out of a valley right now and

you find yourself wondering, what can I actually take from

this valley that I am in? And understand, 1 valley doesn't

mean that that's the end of all valleys in your life.

And we have to come to a spot in our lives where we're willing to

say to the Lord, this is training and bringing into my

life something I desperately need for what's coming next.

So I want to give you some things.

Can I do that? This morning, I got a few more

minutes to spend with you. Is that all right?

Here we go. If I'm going to learn something

walking out of the valley, I'm going to have to make a

decision. Can you just write that down?

I'm going to have to make a decision.

I'm going to have to make a decision.

The decision is this. Write this down.

I will face my giant. Write that down.

I will face my giant. I will face my giants.

I will face my giant. No Notice the Bible says about

David in verse 48. And it was so and it was so, and

it is so in your life right now, that when the Philistine arose

and came and drew near to meet David, the soldiers gathered up

this man who they say was 9 feet 6 inches tall to 11 feet tall, a

man by the name of Goliath. And the soldier, his shield

bearer, would walk Goliath into the valley.

And there Goliath is standing. And you remember he is taunting

Israel, terrorizing Israel for 40 days, 40 days.

And here the Bible says that the giant came near to meet David.

The giant came near to meet David.

But this is what I want you to get.

David ran to meet his giant. The Bible says these words that

David hastened and he ran toward the army to beat the Philistine.

Now we're not often using the word hasten in the city of

Glendora. We're not going through our

homes going hasten to clean your room to your children.

You're not going to the store. Going.

I hastened myself to the grocery store.

You're not going on the freeway using the word I, I hastened on

the freeway. What does the word hasten mean?

The word hasten means this. It means to move promptly and

quickly. David moved promptly and

quickly, but the Bible says that he ran toward the army.

He ran. The word run means to take one

step at a time in a specific direction.

David didn't crawl. David didn't walk.

David ran, and he did this quickly and he ran.

Notice this. He ran toward the army to meet

the Philistine. Because David met with God in

private, he was able to meet with Goliath in public.

And because David found himself at this specific time, he

realized he was coming to the Bible describes A Philistine.

A Philistine was one who believed and worshipped the

false gods. David served the living God, the

God of the armies of Israel. And because of that, David's

first saw the face of God before he would ever see the face of a

giant. And because he would face God,

he found himself being able to face his giant.

Now that does not mean that giants are not scary.

It doesn't mean that giants are not overwhelming.

It doesn't mean that giants have the possibility to cause

taunting and terrorizing in our hearts.

But what it does mean is this is that God is greater than any

giant I could ever face. And I believe because because

David met with God first, the real giant wasn't Goliath.

The real giant was David. And because of that we come to

this place where now David makes a specific decision to run

towards his giant. Now I want you to remember this

and write this down this way. David's dedication to God

determined his direction towards the giant.

David's dedication to God found himself in a place determining

his direction for the God of Israel.

Remember that David, he ran towards the giant, not away from

his giant. Look at his decision when Saul,

Saul would stay in his tent in comfort.

David made a decision to run towards the valley for combat.

Saul, the king of Israel, should have been standing up saying

something, but David was the one who would now find himself in

this spot. And I want you to remember this.

In the valley that you might be in today, one of the lessons as

you come out of it is you always have to move forward.

You always have to move forward. If I look at David's life, he

moved forward towards the army to meet the Philistine.

He did not notice this. He didn't reminisce about the

past because reminiscing is not always righteous.

I could post up old trophies and never gain new victories.

And so David moved forward and noticed this.

As he moved forward in his life, he did not hide because hiding

is not holy. He was willing to come into a

place and not bury this burden. He was willing to face this

burden. And you could be the person that

would reminisce about all of your past.

But here's what I want to challenge you to do is we have

to take the responsibility to engage in the present place that

we are in. And I want to encourage you

beyond a shadow of a doubt. I want to encourage you to move

forward, have this in your life, that you're going to make a

decision to move forward. You are going to be the person

now that finds yourself on day 41.

For 40 days, Goliath taunted and terrorized Israel.

We know as we look through all of the Bible that the number 40

is a number of trial and testing in the Bible.

But 41 was the next day. Your 41st day is coming.

What's the word 41 or the #41 mean throughout the Scripture?

The number 41 actually means this.

The number 41 is brought to us throughout the Bible as a day of

hope and a day of a second chance and a day of a new

beginning. Oh, come on.

This is day 41. David the Shepherd arrives on

the scene after 40 days of taunting and terrorizing.

And here on day 41, it's the second chance.

It's the new beginning. It's the dawning of a new day.

It's like on The Lord of the Rings when Gandalf comes and

behind Gandalf is the rays of the sunshine, the breaking of

the dawn into the light, into the darkness.

It it's like this moment in in David's life.

It is just like this moment where at this point in time that

day 41 is coming. Day 41, day 40 would represent

the trial and the testing, but David would face Goliath on day

41. And in this look it through all,

all of the Bible, Noah's flood, the sun came out on day 41.

Moses was called to lead Israel on the 41st year.

Israel's wandering in the wilderness.

After 40 years, they would enter the promised land.

Jesus began his earthly ministry on the 41st day after his

temptation. I want to just say this to you,

41 is coming. Keep on running.

It's coming. The 41st day in your marriage,

the 41st day of of your financial strain, that the 41st

day of this depression and anxiety and fear.

The 41st day is coming and God brings us the shepherd.

Did you see? Here it is.

We got to keep running and I have to make that decision

because I don't always feel like running, I don't always feel

like it. Sometimes I'll just want to

crawl, but I want to be like Cliff Young.

Do you remember Cliff Young? He was the Australian runner who

found himself coming to a race at a race with 573 miles and he

showed up in overalls and boots and the other runners looked at

him and they mocked him and they said that who is this guy?

One guy shouted in the crowd before Cliff Young would run.

They said get this guy. Off the, off the.

Race. He's a joke.

Well, Cliff Young would come in to this race and he would run

for five days and 14 hours and 4 minutes later and arrive at the

finish line at 1:25 AM. He arrived at the finish line 9

hours and 56 minutes before the 2nd place person and they asked

him this question, how did you do it?

And Cliff Young said these words.

I ran through the darkness. I ran through the darkness.

I ran through the struggle. I ran through when the times I

couldn't see. I ran through the times maybe I

couldn't understand. I, I ran through the times of

confusion. I ran through the times that

just seemed cloudy. I ran through the times that I

was questioning. I just would not stop.

I ran through the darkness and I just I think there's some of us

that need to keep running through the darkness.

Some of us are allowing the darkness to stop us and the

night that is approaching us has come to a place.

But. But Cliff Young would say what

we need to have tattooed on our hearts is that we would be

willing to run through the darkness.

It doesn't always feel good. I know that you're tired.

I know that your legs might be giving out.

I know that you're bothered by blisters.

I know that you find yourself maybe hearing the opinions of

other people around you make a decision to run through the

darkness because the making of dawn is coming and the light is

shining and the hope is giving way to the hurt that's inside of

your heart. Galatians 69, the apostle Paul

would write, do not grow weary and well doing, for in due

season you will reap if you do not lose heart.

And these are the decisions that we're making.

If you're taking note and you can't write these down fast

enough, listen to the podcast this week.

These are the decisions we're making, either convenience or

obedience. These are the decisions that

we're making, either escape or endure.

These are the decisions that we're making, facing or hiding,

watching or wishing or participating.

Listen that there's some things that are so important that we

learn from this. Don't just be led and ruled by

your feelings. I believe we're fully human,

thus God's given us full feelings, joys and gladness, but

also sorrow, grief we face depression, we face

difficulties. But I'm ultimately going to be

allowed to be the person that can feel these feelings but be

directed by what God has declared.

Listen, can you write this down In your valley?

God doesn't need you to do big things for him.

God doesn't need you to do big things for him.

David wasn't coming into the valley to kill Goliath.

He was coming into the valley to deliver a lunch, essential oils,

sourdough bread, cheese, goat cheese because his brothers were

dairy free. I want to encourage you, God

doesn't need you to do big things for him in the valley.

He doesn't need you to do big things.

Can you write this down? Also, don't wander from the

flock. David ran to the battle.

I love what Max Lucado writes in his book.

He says, like David, you know well the presence of Goliath.

Your Goliath doesn't carry a sword or shield.

He brandishes blades of unemployment, abandonment or

depression. Your giant doesn't parade up and

down ancient hills in Israel. He prances through your office,

your bedroom, your classroom. He brings bills you can't pay,

addictions you can't resist, a past you can't shake and a

future you can't face. How long has your Goliath

stalked you, invaded your first thought of the morning and last

worry of the night? David knows a little something

about facing giants. The shepherd boy seemingly had

little to offer against a nine foot 9 inch Goliath.

He could read his story and wonder what God saw on him.

Throughout his life, David fell as often as he stood.

He stumbled as often as he conquered.

But for those who know the threat of a Goliath, David gives

us this reminder. Focus on your giant and you will

stumble. Focus on God and your giants

will tumble. Thank God I am out of that.

We're going to have to make a decision, but not only a

decision, we're also going to have to have some determination.

We're going to have to have some determination and that's this.

David had some stones in his pack and he took the sword of

his enemy. Well, listen to the story.

Then David put his hand in his bag and he took out a stone.

We know that David grabbed 5 stones.

We don't know why David grabbed 5 stones.

Maybe just to be prepared for whatever would come his way.

Some say that David knew that Goliath had five brothers or

four other brothers. Excuse me?

So he'd take care of Goliath and all of Goliath brothers.

Some say that David would attack Goliath with one stone.

And then if the army of the Philistines came from the north,

the South, the east, and the West, that David was prepared.

Some tape people take this 5 stones and they take 5

principles out of it, but it's just 5 stones.

They're just 5 stones. The significance wasn't in the

stone, the significance was in his God.

Do you see? This the stone, they say, was

about the size of a tennis ball, and they called what David did

in Roman history. These were slingers.

They were greater in battle, they say, than the people with

the arrows. They could hit a target at 665

feet away from where they were. Specifically, they could take

someone's nose out. So David wasn't just pulling

back a sling at Goliath in the Valley of Elah.

He would swing it like this. Around and around, and then he

would throw it. And some scholars believe the

stone would go upwards to 100 to 150 mph.

So here's the scene. David takes out a stone and he

slung it, and the Bible says he struck the Philistine in his

forehead so that the stone sank into his forehead and he fell on

his face to the earth. And so David prevailed over the

Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck the

Philistine and he killed him. And all the people said, but

there was no sword in the hand of David.

So David, notice what he did. He didn't stun his giant, he

killed him. I think sometimes we're content

to stun giants, but God says you need to, you need to get rid of

this. Therefore David ran and stood

over the Philistine and like Mortal Kombat, he said finish

him. He took his sword, Goliath

sword. He drew it out of the sheath and

he killed him and he cut his head off with it.

Do you want to get ahead in your valley?

That was you guys. I know it's kind of early.

We'll have glass house coffee. We'll be here next week just to

wake you guys up a little bit more.

No notice. He when when the Philistine saw

that their champion was dead, they they fled.

Look at David's determination. He's prepared with the stones.

He's trusting in God. He slung the stone.

He hits Goliath. The stone sinks into his

forehead. Then he runs towards the giant

and he takes Goliath's sword out of his sheath, and then he chops

his head off. This is bloody, this is gory.

This is messy. Listen, don't think coming out

of the valley that you're going to stay clean.

You could stay holy, but you might not be clean.

This is messy, this is gory. I don't think we'd even allow

some of our kids to see this scene.

It's that graphic. But sometimes fighting giants is

graphic, and sometimes we do walk through this place.

But David's determination came to a place in his life where he

wasn't content just to stun Goliath.

He actually had to slay Goliath. And I think sometimes in our

lives we got to hear this, that we need to slay Goliath.

And, and the, the Bible says that that he, he struck the

Philistine and David would run and then he would, he would go

and he would cut his head off. But notice if you would, David's

determination was before David's action.

His action of victory did not determine his determination.

His action was based upon what he knew God could do.

You might be saying, well where are you taking that from?

Look at verse 46. This day, David says, the Lord

will deliver you into my. Hand He has not picked up a

stone yet. He has not slung his sling yet.

He has not killed a giant. And I will strike you, and I

will take your head from you. This is not manifestation.

David didn't speak something into existence.

David trusted in a God who sovereignly ruled.

In the Valley. David was determined before his

action because he knew he had a God who would act on his behalf.

And so David comes into this valley and notice he comes in

and he cuts the head of Goliath off.

He makes the declaration before he does the deed.

So what is determination? Determination is a firm or fixed

intention to achieve a desired end.

What was David's end? I submit this to you this

morning. David's end was not.

The head of Goliath, David's end, was the glory of God.

Can I just say that again, David's notice this His end goal

was not the head of Goliath. His end goal was the glory of

God. Verse 46 this day.

The Lord will. Deliver you into my hand.

Look at the bottom of the verse that all the earth may know that

there is a God in Israel. Why did David risk his life?

Why did David walk through this valley?

Why did David come and face his giant?

For the glory of God, that everyone would know that there

is a God in Israel. Did you see?

David knew and he submitted A to the glory of God because he knew

that the head was temporal but the glory is eternal.

He knew that the name of Goliath would fade, but the name of God

would remain. Here is the determination.

Dead giants will not survive when you are living for the God

of all of Israel, the God who's in Israel, and the God who is

for Israel. The Bible says that God is for

you and He's not against you. But here is the Rob.

Evacuation always kills determination, and we love to

evacuate in hard places in our lives.

And this is the one thing that we need, the one sentence that

would infuse the church with hope and life.

We need wider shoulders, stronger backs, courageous

hearts, fixed eyes, willing hands.

We we need people who are willing to go through the dirt

and keep on walking. We need people who will find

themselves and not have the mindset that they are going to

quit. Look at Moses, look at Joseph.

Look at Job. Look at Esther, Ruth, Daniel,

Gideon, Abraham, Mary, Paul, Peter, Nehemiah.

Look at Ron and Rachel, Alana, Daniel, Teresa, Caleb.

Look at Rudy and Michelle and Virginia and Henry and Jen,

Maria, Sergio. That's just a few rows of our

church. Look all around you.

Look at look at Michelle, look at Lisa, look at Emma.

Look at Noah. Look at Summer and Rosanna.

Look at people of Andrea and Delvin.

Look at Rita who's not willing to stop in the hardship.

Just look around you. Look around you.

You want to see some David's in the room.

Look around you. Look, look all around you.

And that's just the first few rows of our church.

If we were to go back, if I were to name all of you have battled

and fought and walked through this journey that you're not

going to give up in what God has called you to look at this and

all that God has called you to do.

I, I just want to I want you to know this that here are living

examples in the room that are experiencing the presence of God

and the pain of life at the same exact time and they live with

such audacious spirits that they will not give up this.

It's in the room because he's in the room and because his glory

is in the room. We're living for something

that's greater than ourselves. Determination is not us

mustering up this this looking in the mirror and and preaching

to ourselves. Determination can only come from

the Spirit of God. And if there's one principle we

want to leave with coming out of the valley, it is determination

that we will be marked by what David was marked by, and that is

the awe of God, the awe of God. Thank God I'm out of that.

I was reading an article just the other day that the author

said most people don't fail, they just quit too early and

they call it failure. We live in a culture obsessed

with instant results, overnight success, 30 day transformations,

quick wins. And when progress doesn't come

fast, people don't pivot. They quit.

But quitting is not the same as failing.

Quitting is a decision. Failure is just feedback.

Listen, you weren't out of talent, you were out of

patience, he writes. You never know how close you

were. And most people give up 3 feet

from gold. One more Rep, one more phone

call, one more revision. They stop not because they can't

win, but because they got tired of waiting for visible proof

that they could win. But progress doesn't always show

up on the outside first. Sometimes growth is internal.

It's grit being built, not numbers being posted.

Just because it's not loud doesn't mean it's not working.

Results lag behind the work. Faithful is not always linear.

There are dry seasons, plateaus, setbacks, and long stretches

where the grind feels thankless. That's normal.

But the people who stick with it tweak the process, stay in the

room, and refuse to label the valley as the ending of their

life. These are the ones Who Will Win.

You don't need more skill. You need more stamina.

Quitting feels safer than persistence.

Quitting gives you an out. It gives you something to blame.

It just wasn't the right time. The the market wasn't ready.

I gave it a shot. But persistence, he says.

That's vulnerable, that's risky. That's the choice to keep

showing up without a guarantee. That's also where every

breakthrough lives. Real failure is settling for the

almost How many times have you seen someone walk away from

something that was starting to work because it didn't move fast

enough? That's the tragedy.

Not that they failed, but that they gave up before they ever

gave it their full shot. If you were going to quit, quit

cutting corners. Quit shrinking away.

Quit talking yourself out of what you were capable of.

But don't quit the thing that just because it hasn't bloomed

yet, you stop. You haven't failed until you've

walked away from the thing you still had time to build.

So ask yourself today, he writes.

Are you actually failing? Are you just giving up before

the results can catch up? Determination.

David brought that to the valley.

But notice this. He not only brought that, but he

brought no hesitation. No hesitation If you could take

this away with you as you walk out of the valley that you're

in, live with no hesitation. Listen to the story the Bible

says now when the men of Israel had Judah arose, they shouted,

David kills Goliath. The men rise up and they're

shouting. They're celebrating, and they

pursued the Philistines as far as the entrance of the valley

into the gates of Ekron, and the wounded of the Philistines fell

along the road to Shahreen, even as far as Gath and Ekron.

The children of Israel chased the Philistines for 15 miles

because David killed Goliath. Then the children of Israel

returned from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered

their tents and David took the head of the Philistine and he

brought it to Jerusalem. Listen to this.

David took the head of Goliath, the one who caused Israel

problems, and he set it in Jerusalem, which is the city of

peace. But then David put his armor in

his own tent, maybe like a trophy.

I remember how he fought, but this is how I fight.

I trust in the Lord. Now when Saul saw David going

out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of

the army, Abner, whose son is this youth?

And Abner said, As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.

And the king said, Inquire whose son this young man is.

And then as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine,

Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the

Philistine in his hand. Don't you love David?

She's gritty. And Saul said to him, Whose son

are you, young man? And notice what David answered.

I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.

Listen, what happens? David comes with no hesitation.

And the people followed his example.

As you leave your valley and as you're walking out of your

valley, I want to encourage you to walk out and walk into, walk

in the middle of it with no hesitation because God is always

faithful. So I submit this to you.

This might be in our generation and in our time.

Think about David in our time. The Goliath that you might be

facing right now. David is, they believe, not even

20 years old at this time. So listen if you would if David

lived in our time. David wakes up slowly.

David rolls his eyes. David checks his phone.

David post on his Instagram story the fake account, the one

that Jesse, his father doesn't know about and doesn't follow.

And David puts that on Instagram.

God, my dad makes me absolutely sick.

This is ridiculous. God, God I hate my parents.

I hate my life. And David goes to the battle

line. But David, he gets there 45

minutes late. He gets there after Goliath came

out to shout his usual defiance. He didn't know Goliath was on

the battle line. And you don't know what day God

wants to use you. You don't know what conversation

is going to turn things around. You don't know what moment is

going to be holy. You don't know when a Bush is

going to burst out into flames and spontaneously combust with

the presence of God in the direction for the next step of

your life. You don't know this.

But if you don't show up and do the ordinary with a good

attitude, it could end a whole lot different.

And I think one of our problems walking through the valley is we

have a bad attitude doing the ordinary.

We have a bad attitude doing the ordinary.

David went into the valley and he didn't say these words.

He didn't go to his brothers and say I'm David.

I'm not DoorDash. What you think I am.

Uber Eats. I'm not dropping nothing off for

you. My name is David.

Say my name David. King David Crown.

David Samuel. Put the oil on my head, David.

It could have been a whole lot different if David had tripped

over the ordinary. So here's what I'm learning in

this opportunity of what it presents itself.

Do the ordinary. David didn't say I want to kill

Goliath. He didn't say I want to

breakthrough in my life. He just said I'll deliver the

lunch. And it was here in this moment

that David would meet Goliath. And I think sometimes we have

this bad attitude towards the ordinary.

But I think sometimes what also happens is this, this could have

ended differently. This thing could have ended in

so many endings. It could have ended when David

had a bad attitude towards the ordinary.

And it could have ended when David was fighting against who

he was supposed to be fighting for, his brother.

He could have got offended. He could have ended with

ordinary. And it could have ended with a

fence. And it could have ended with

this last one. Only Eliab said some pretty

hurtful things to David. And notice what David did.

The Bible says he turned from Eliab and he turned towards

another soldier. David didn't allow the ordinary,

nor a fence, nor the only. And maybe you've come into this

spot with your only. And that is in this moment.

You hear the words that Saul said to David when David was

telling him that he had to beat the bear and he beat the lion.

And then Saul looked at him and said these words.

You're only a boy. And they've already labeled you

before you've walked in to. The valley.

I always thought that David was the delivery boy.

David wasn't the delivery boy. Goliath was the delivery boy.

Goliath delivered for David a sword, and David would take that

sword and we'll learn on in First Samuel and Second Samuel.

There'll be a time that he goes back and grabs that sword that

he took from the enemy. And that's what God does.

Where the enemy thinks that he has plundered you, God prizes

you, He possesses you, and He gives you what you need for the

moment. So thank God I'm out of that.

But I could come out of that and not really learn from that.

And that is, I'm going to live with a decision, I'm going to

live with determination, and I'm going to live with no hesitation

towards the Lord. We hope you enjoyed this message

and we'd love for you to join us in person every Sunday at 10:30

AM. For more information and

updates, visit wearebridgetown.com.

Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next week.