1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:01,760 We're in First Samuel, chapter 17. 2 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:07,040 And really in First Samuel, we've, we've seen this progression 3 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:08,960 of the life of Saul. 4 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:13,280 Actually, First Samuel tracks the first king of Israel, and that's 5 00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:14,000 a guy named Saul. 6 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:18,240 And Saul started out really well, and God was working in the 7 00:00:18,240 --> 00:00:18,960 life of Saul. 8 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:20,800 The power of God was resting on him. 9 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:23,560 And as he was obeying God, God was blessing him. 10 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:28,610 But we saw that Saul took a turn to a lifestyle of selfishness, 11 00:00:28,610 --> 00:00:33,690 a lifestyle of pride, a lifestyle of self sufficiency. 12 00:00:33,850 --> 00:00:38,210 And in that, he found emptiness, he found hopelessness, 13 00:00:38,210 --> 00:00:39,690 he found destruction. 14 00:00:40,170 --> 00:00:43,930 And actually what we see is that because of his disobedience 15 00:00:43,930 --> 00:00:49,930 to God, God took the kinghood away from him and essentially passed 16 00:00:49,930 --> 00:00:51,290 it over to David. 17 00:00:51,370 --> 00:00:54,570 And we saw David being anointed and the wonderful story 18 00:00:54,570 --> 00:00:58,330 of young David trusting in the Lord and taking up the mantle. 19 00:00:58,490 --> 00:01:02,650 And now we're in First Samuel, Chapter 17, and we come to a very, 20 00:01:03,290 --> 00:01:04,650 very familiar story. 21 00:01:05,050 --> 00:01:08,530 And I would venture to say that all of us in this room have 22 00:01:08,530 --> 00:01:12,370 heard of this story before, probably more than once, probably 23 00:01:12,370 --> 00:01:13,850 more than 50 times. 24 00:01:13,850 --> 00:01:15,930 And that's the story of David and Goliath. 25 00:01:16,410 --> 00:01:20,130 And, and one of the challenges of talking about a passage of scripture 26 00:01:20,130 --> 00:01:23,200 that we're all familiar with is that sometimes, if we've heard 27 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:27,200 a story a hundred, a thousand times, we tend to kind of shut down 28 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:30,960 and think, yeah, I know the story, I've heard it a million times. 29 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:35,120 David, Goliath, yeah, we know the sword or the, the sling and stone 30 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:37,559 and eventually the sword with Goliath. 31 00:01:37,559 --> 00:01:40,720 But what, what I want us to think about as we go through this 32 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:44,080 study is, is certainly, yes, there, there is the surface level 33 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:47,840 lesson that we can learn when it comes to David trusting the Lord. 34 00:01:48,410 --> 00:01:51,930 But I also want us to look at Saul in this passage because oftentimes 35 00:01:52,170 --> 00:01:55,850 we focus on David and Goliath, and rightfully so. 36 00:01:56,250 --> 00:02:00,290 But I also want you to see saul in chapter 17, because Saul 37 00:02:00,290 --> 00:02:04,570 has a chance to step up and obey the Lord and do something for 38 00:02:04,890 --> 00:02:06,050 the Lord in this case. 39 00:02:06,050 --> 00:02:09,930 And we see that he basically misses his opportunity and David 40 00:02:09,930 --> 00:02:13,050 gets to step in and have this wonderful blessing of seeing this 41 00:02:13,050 --> 00:02:13,450 victory. 42 00:02:13,450 --> 00:02:17,690 So think about David, think about Goliath, but also think about 43 00:02:17,690 --> 00:02:18,050 Saul. 44 00:02:18,050 --> 00:02:20,570 And ultimately we're going to think about the Lord and how this 45 00:02:20,570 --> 00:02:21,890 applies to us in our life. 46 00:02:22,210 --> 00:02:26,730 Because anytime we look at a story, we, we see it obviously from 47 00:02:26,730 --> 00:02:30,450 the perspective of it's a narrative, story, history, or, or 48 00:02:30,610 --> 00:02:31,890 however you want to see it. 49 00:02:31,890 --> 00:02:35,850 But also there's a spiritual lesson here for us to apply to our 50 00:02:35,850 --> 00:02:36,050 lives. 51 00:02:36,050 --> 00:02:37,810 And so I want us to see that as well. 52 00:02:37,810 --> 00:02:40,450 So without further ado, let's look at verse number one. 53 00:02:40,450 --> 00:02:43,210 It says now the Philistines gathered together their armies to 54 00:02:43,210 --> 00:02:43,650 battle. 55 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:49,280 Most of you know that at this time in Israel's history, the Philistines 56 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:50,600 are the greatest rivals. 57 00:02:50,920 --> 00:02:54,360 The Philistines are basically people that have come from another 58 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:59,759 land and settled in the south western side of the land of Canaan, 59 00:02:59,759 --> 00:03:00,840 the land of Israel. 60 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:03,160 And they basically planted themselves there. 61 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:07,240 And they're, they're pagan, they're trying to infuse their culture 62 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:08,880 into the Israelite culture. 63 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:12,100 And in many ways the Philistines did influence the people 64 00:03:12,100 --> 00:03:13,500 of Israel in sin. 65 00:03:13,500 --> 00:03:17,500 And so what we're going to see here is that Goliath and the people 66 00:03:17,500 --> 00:03:22,660 of the Philistines are trying to basically reject what God is bringing 67 00:03:22,660 --> 00:03:25,700 in the nation of Israel and then infuse their thinking. 68 00:03:26,100 --> 00:03:29,660 And what we see in our culture today is that as Christians we're 69 00:03:29,660 --> 00:03:33,100 living for the Lord, but we know that the world is trying to 70 00:03:33,100 --> 00:03:38,170 push, push on us the culture of sin, the culture of fleshliness, 71 00:03:38,170 --> 00:03:39,810 the culture of pride. 72 00:03:40,210 --> 00:03:44,290 And essentially we're Israel and we have the world, the Philistines, 73 00:03:44,290 --> 00:03:46,450 that are pushing their way of life upon us. 74 00:03:46,450 --> 00:03:47,570 And so that's what we see here. 75 00:03:47,570 --> 00:03:50,130 So the Philistines are gathering together to, to battle 76 00:03:50,130 --> 00:03:51,410 against the Israelites. 77 00:03:51,410 --> 00:03:55,090 And they're gathered together in, in Shokam, which belongeth to 78 00:03:55,090 --> 00:03:59,490 Judah, and pitched between Shokah and Azakah and Ephin. 79 00:03:59,570 --> 00:04:02,050 And for you, you might say that means nothing to me. 80 00:04:02,050 --> 00:04:05,290 But for the people that understand the geography of Israel, 81 00:04:05,290 --> 00:04:08,470 this means a lot because this was a stronghold for the nation of 82 00:04:08,470 --> 00:04:10,830 Israel, particularly in the land of Judah. 83 00:04:10,830 --> 00:04:13,830 And we're going to see that there's this valley, the valley of 84 00:04:13,830 --> 00:04:16,150 Elon, that's the setting for this story, verse two. 85 00:04:16,150 --> 00:04:19,350 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together and pitched 86 00:04:19,350 --> 00:04:23,150 by the valley of Elah and set the Philist the battle in array against 87 00:04:23,150 --> 00:04:23,870 the Philistines. 88 00:04:23,870 --> 00:04:27,750 So we see that there's the Philistines on one side of the valley 89 00:04:27,750 --> 00:04:29,390 and the Israelites on the other side. 90 00:04:29,390 --> 00:04:29,830 Verse 3. 91 00:04:29,830 --> 00:04:33,550 And the Philistines stood on the mountain on one side, and Israel 92 00:04:33,550 --> 00:04:35,310 stood on the mountain on the other side. 93 00:04:35,660 --> 00:04:37,180 And there was a valley between them. 94 00:04:38,060 --> 00:04:39,620 And so we see the setting here. 95 00:04:39,620 --> 00:04:43,500 There's this, the rolling hills there in that part of Israel. 96 00:04:43,580 --> 00:04:47,100 And I've had the blessing to stand on the one side, the Israel 97 00:04:47,100 --> 00:04:49,900 side and look over the valley and see the other side. 98 00:04:50,220 --> 00:04:52,820 And it's a very remarkable place to. 99 00:04:52,820 --> 00:04:54,220 To see with your own eyes. 100 00:04:54,620 --> 00:04:55,980 And a lot of battles were. 101 00:04:55,980 --> 00:04:57,820 Were fought in these very hills. 102 00:04:57,980 --> 00:05:00,380 And so the Philistines come, and this would have been a place 103 00:05:00,380 --> 00:05:01,020 of battle. 104 00:05:01,020 --> 00:05:03,100 This would have been a place of confrontation. 105 00:05:03,700 --> 00:05:05,820 And that's what we see exactly happen here in verse 4. 106 00:05:05,820 --> 00:05:09,300 There's a confrontation and there went out a champion out of 107 00:05:09,300 --> 00:05:10,500 the camp of the Philistines. 108 00:05:10,500 --> 00:05:13,820 Now, that word champion means a few different things in the original 109 00:05:13,820 --> 00:05:14,740 Hebrew language. 110 00:05:15,220 --> 00:05:18,180 It does mean someone who's been very successful in battle. 111 00:05:18,180 --> 00:05:21,980 But it also means a representative or an ambassador for 112 00:05:21,980 --> 00:05:22,900 the Philistines. 113 00:05:23,140 --> 00:05:26,380 And so Goliath comes out basically as the spokesperson of 114 00:05:26,380 --> 00:05:27,140 the Philistines. 115 00:05:27,940 --> 00:05:29,060 So you could see it this way. 116 00:05:29,060 --> 00:05:32,860 The spokesperson for evil, the spokesperson for the world. 117 00:05:32,860 --> 00:05:35,740 And so he comes out and it says he's Goliath of Gath, which 118 00:05:35,820 --> 00:05:36,540 Gath is. 119 00:05:36,540 --> 00:05:39,540 Is a place, a Philistine stronghold, one of the major cities 120 00:05:39,540 --> 00:05:40,460 of the Philistines. 121 00:05:40,780 --> 00:05:43,740 And it says whose height was six cubits and a span. 122 00:05:44,460 --> 00:05:47,699 Now, there's been a lot of debate about really how tall Goliath 123 00:05:47,699 --> 00:05:48,060 was. 124 00:05:48,220 --> 00:05:52,660 I've heard scholars argue for hours about which system of measurement 125 00:05:52,660 --> 00:05:53,900 are we going to use? 126 00:05:54,300 --> 00:05:58,270 And so I would say it this way, guys, think about it from this 127 00:05:58,270 --> 00:05:58,710 perspective. 128 00:05:58,710 --> 00:06:00,310 It really doesn't matter how tall he was. 129 00:06:00,310 --> 00:06:02,150 He was a lot taller than everybody else. 130 00:06:02,230 --> 00:06:05,910 If you want to put a number on it, roughly he was anywhere between 131 00:06:06,070 --> 00:06:08,470 a little under 9ft and up to 10ft. 132 00:06:08,790 --> 00:06:10,790 That's what most scholars believe he was. 133 00:06:10,870 --> 00:06:13,750 Other scholars believe he was probably only 7ft. 134 00:06:14,070 --> 00:06:15,590 Other scholars say even taller. 135 00:06:15,990 --> 00:06:18,350 So we could sit there and be nitpicky about his height. 136 00:06:18,350 --> 00:06:21,390 But what I will say is that the reality is that we see in this 137 00:06:21,390 --> 00:06:23,830 passage of Scripture that he is larger than everybody else. 138 00:06:24,260 --> 00:06:27,500 And, and we see in verse five, and he had a helmet of brass upon 139 00:06:27,500 --> 00:06:29,940 his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail. 140 00:06:30,100 --> 00:06:33,340 And the weight of the coat was 5,000 shekels of brass. 141 00:06:33,340 --> 00:06:38,740 So most commentators believe that just his armor itself was about 142 00:06:38,740 --> 00:06:40,980 150 to 200 pounds. 143 00:06:41,460 --> 00:06:45,100 And so if anybody is wearing about 200 pounds of armor, they've 144 00:06:45,100 --> 00:06:46,900 got to be a pretty big person to. 145 00:06:46,900 --> 00:06:48,780 To carry that with them. 146 00:06:48,780 --> 00:06:52,780 And so nonetheless, we see that he is a physically imposing 147 00:06:53,100 --> 00:06:57,060 individual, says, and he agrees, of brass upon his legs, and 148 00:06:57,060 --> 00:06:59,740 a target of brass between his shoulders. 149 00:06:59,980 --> 00:07:04,260 And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's 150 00:07:04,260 --> 00:07:06,460 head weighed 600 shekels of iron. 151 00:07:06,460 --> 00:07:09,340 And one bearing a shield went before him. 152 00:07:09,900 --> 00:07:13,820 And so the reality is, is that he comes out here and there's this 153 00:07:13,820 --> 00:07:15,180 intimidation factor. 154 00:07:15,830 --> 00:07:19,670 And I want to speak to that here for just a moment, because evil 155 00:07:19,750 --> 00:07:22,470 usually works in the level of intimidation. 156 00:07:22,870 --> 00:07:26,550 What Satan wants to do is he wants to bring into our life intimidation. 157 00:07:27,030 --> 00:07:31,229 And what we know is that though Goliath was physically imposing, 158 00:07:31,229 --> 00:07:35,870 we're going to see later that a man or a young boy that was much 159 00:07:35,870 --> 00:07:40,270 smaller, much less physically equipped was able to defeat him through 160 00:07:40,270 --> 00:07:41,190 the power of God. 161 00:07:41,850 --> 00:07:43,690 And so that's a picture for us in our own life. 162 00:07:43,690 --> 00:07:47,210 Sometimes we're going to face evil, Sometimes we're going to face 163 00:07:47,290 --> 00:07:52,250 a temptation, a trial, an opposition that's going to seem on 164 00:07:52,250 --> 00:07:54,890 paper to be impossible to overcome. 165 00:07:55,210 --> 00:07:58,450 We're going to see something that's physically or spiritually 166 00:07:58,450 --> 00:07:59,130 imposing. 167 00:07:59,450 --> 00:08:03,810 And it might be in a way very intimidating to the fact that we 168 00:08:03,810 --> 00:08:04,530 would say, you know what? 169 00:08:04,530 --> 00:08:05,770 I think we should just give up. 170 00:08:05,770 --> 00:08:08,310 And that's exactly what Saul is going to do. 171 00:08:08,310 --> 00:08:11,950 Saul is going to look at the situation and he's going to back 172 00:08:11,950 --> 00:08:12,230 down. 173 00:08:12,230 --> 00:08:13,990 He's going to cower in fear. 174 00:08:13,990 --> 00:08:18,510 And really, we have two responses to a difficult situation 175 00:08:18,510 --> 00:08:19,110 in our life. 176 00:08:19,110 --> 00:08:22,310 We have two responses to this type of intimidation. 177 00:08:22,710 --> 00:08:28,430 We can either respond in fear like Saul responds, or we can respond 178 00:08:28,430 --> 00:08:29,190 in faith. 179 00:08:29,910 --> 00:08:31,910 Really, there's two ways that we can respond. 180 00:08:31,910 --> 00:08:36,039 And so we're going to see that Saul is going to cower in fear, and 181 00:08:36,039 --> 00:08:37,759 everybody else cowers in fear. 182 00:08:38,239 --> 00:08:41,559 And the reason why they're in fear is because they're not operating 183 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:42,239 in faith. 184 00:08:42,239 --> 00:08:43,719 And then we're going to see a difference. 185 00:08:43,719 --> 00:08:45,639 We're going to see how David responds. 186 00:08:45,639 --> 00:08:47,639 And David responds not in fear. 187 00:08:47,639 --> 00:08:51,119 He's looking at the same giant, he's looking at the same spear, 188 00:08:51,119 --> 00:08:55,279 he's looking at the same army that's standing on the other side. 189 00:08:55,439 --> 00:09:00,530 But instead of responding in fear and backing away and. 190 00:09:00,530 --> 00:09:04,450 And worrying, he comes to the situation and says, look, God's on 191 00:09:04,450 --> 00:09:06,570 our side, and he faces it with. 192 00:09:06,650 --> 00:09:07,530 With faith. 193 00:09:08,170 --> 00:09:10,570 So let's see in verse number eight, what happens? 194 00:09:10,890 --> 00:09:14,050 And he stood, Goliath stood and cried unto the armies of Israel 195 00:09:14,050 --> 00:09:18,010 and said unto them, why are you come out to set your battle in 196 00:09:18,010 --> 00:09:18,490 array? 197 00:09:18,650 --> 00:09:20,530 Am not I a Philistine? 198 00:09:20,530 --> 00:09:24,130 And ye servants of Saul, choose you a man for you, and let 199 00:09:24,130 --> 00:09:25,530 him come down to me. 200 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:29,200 So Goliath is issuing a challenge. 201 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:33,040 It's a challenge to the whole army of Israel. 202 00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:34,800 And really what he's saying is this. 203 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:37,440 Who's brave enough to come down and face me? 204 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:39,440 Who trusts in their God enough? 205 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:42,320 And we're actually going to see that he blasphemes God. 206 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:45,760 So this isn't just an attack on the nation of Israel. 207 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:47,600 This is an attack against the Lord. 208 00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:50,960 And that's what we have to also understand is when we're dealing 209 00:09:51,150 --> 00:09:51,310 with. 210 00:09:51,460 --> 00:09:55,780 With a situation in our life of evil, it's not just an attack 211 00:09:55,780 --> 00:09:59,740 on us, it's actually attack on everything that we believe in, everything 212 00:09:59,740 --> 00:10:00,820 that we stand for. 213 00:10:00,980 --> 00:10:04,620 Jesus even said, hey, when people are attacking you, don't take 214 00:10:04,620 --> 00:10:07,220 it personally, because really, they're coming after you. 215 00:10:08,260 --> 00:10:09,460 They're coming after me. 216 00:10:09,780 --> 00:10:12,380 And that's the greatest understanding, is that when someone 217 00:10:12,380 --> 00:10:15,780 does something evil to us or we're facing a situation in our life 218 00:10:15,780 --> 00:10:19,600 that's quite difficult, Jesus reminds us that we're not facing 219 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:21,080 anything that he hasn't faced. 220 00:10:21,560 --> 00:10:25,680 Hebrews tells us that we have a high priest who understands our 221 00:10:25,680 --> 00:10:30,800 infirmities, our situations, our pain, our sadness, all of these 222 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:33,000 things that we think are unique to us. 223 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:36,360 The Lord has understood those things and gone through that. 224 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:39,080 But the distinction is that he did it without sin. 225 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:44,280 And we face these problems and we don't face them in perfect nature 226 00:10:44,280 --> 00:10:44,920 like he does. 227 00:10:45,340 --> 00:10:48,660 And so we're going to see here verse number eight. 228 00:10:48,660 --> 00:10:50,980 He challenges them and he says, verse nine. 229 00:10:50,980 --> 00:10:55,820 If he be able to fight with me and to kill me, then will we be your 230 00:10:55,820 --> 00:10:56,380 servants. 231 00:10:56,540 --> 00:11:00,380 But if I prevail against him and kill him, then shall ye be our 232 00:11:00,380 --> 00:11:01,379 servants and serve us. 233 00:11:01,379 --> 00:11:05,340 And so what we see here is that he's essentially making stipulations. 234 00:11:05,340 --> 00:11:06,540 He's making the rules. 235 00:11:06,700 --> 00:11:08,700 He's trying to dictate the situation. 236 00:11:09,660 --> 00:11:13,170 And the Israelites fall right into his trap. 237 00:11:13,650 --> 00:11:16,770 They, they, they do exactly what he wants them to do. 238 00:11:17,010 --> 00:11:18,290 Verse number 10. 239 00:11:18,290 --> 00:11:22,970 And the Philistines said, I defy the armies of Israel this day. 240 00:11:22,970 --> 00:11:25,890 Give me a man that we may fight together. 241 00:11:27,090 --> 00:11:28,370 He defies God. 242 00:11:28,930 --> 00:11:30,130 He defies the truth. 243 00:11:30,130 --> 00:11:33,170 He defies everything that Israel is supposed to be trusting 244 00:11:33,170 --> 00:11:33,490 him. 245 00:11:33,890 --> 00:11:35,250 So let's see Saul's response. 246 00:11:35,250 --> 00:11:39,610 Because remember, if anybody should receive this challenge, it 247 00:11:39,610 --> 00:11:40,370 should be Saul. 248 00:11:40,680 --> 00:11:45,280 Remember Saul's description earlier on in his life when they 249 00:11:45,280 --> 00:11:48,520 picked him as king, he was, what, head and shoulders above everybody 250 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:48,920 else? 251 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:51,400 So, so he's the guy. 252 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:53,800 He's the giant in Israel. 253 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:54,920 He's the leader. 254 00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:58,600 He's the one that's been selected by God to lead. 255 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:03,720 So if anybody was supposed to step up for this opportunity to prove 256 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:06,280 that God is all powerful, it should have been Saul. 257 00:12:06,740 --> 00:12:08,500 Saul should have said, you know what, guys? 258 00:12:08,660 --> 00:12:10,740 I'm the biggest, I'm the champion. 259 00:12:10,900 --> 00:12:13,540 I'm the one that God has selected for this leadership position. 260 00:12:13,780 --> 00:12:15,540 And really, that's what leadership is. 261 00:12:15,780 --> 00:12:19,060 It's taking the responsibility to fight the battles for others. 262 00:12:19,620 --> 00:12:22,860 And as Christians, oftentimes we want to pass the buck to somebody 263 00:12:22,860 --> 00:12:23,220 else. 264 00:12:23,540 --> 00:12:25,820 We don't want to take the responsibility for ourselves. 265 00:12:25,820 --> 00:12:27,860 And so Saul says What? 266 00:12:27,940 --> 00:12:28,740 Well, verse 11. 267 00:12:28,740 --> 00:12:32,420 And when Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, 268 00:12:33,310 --> 00:12:36,110 they were dismayed and greatly afraid. 269 00:12:37,310 --> 00:12:41,110 Instead of responding in faith, they respond in fear. 270 00:12:41,110 --> 00:12:42,510 And that word dismayed. 271 00:12:42,510 --> 00:12:47,750 There really is this idea of just being completely deflated to 272 00:12:47,750 --> 00:12:49,230 being complete distress. 273 00:12:50,270 --> 00:12:52,110 Hopeless, really. 274 00:12:52,110 --> 00:12:54,270 Saul should not be the one who's hopeless. 275 00:12:54,430 --> 00:12:57,150 Saul had the opportunity to speak directly to God. 276 00:12:57,230 --> 00:12:59,150 God anointed him as leader. 277 00:12:59,650 --> 00:13:02,530 And so if anyone should have confidence, it would be Saul. 278 00:13:02,690 --> 00:13:04,370 But Saul is dismayed. 279 00:13:05,010 --> 00:13:06,090 Why is he dismayed? 280 00:13:06,090 --> 00:13:07,730 Because he's looking at the giants. 281 00:13:07,970 --> 00:13:10,210 He's looking at the circumstance. 282 00:13:10,450 --> 00:13:13,410 He's looking at all the things that could go wrong instead of looking 283 00:13:13,410 --> 00:13:16,210 at the Lord and trusting in what he can do. 284 00:13:16,770 --> 00:13:21,810 And so essentially what we see is he is demoralized because of the 285 00:13:21,970 --> 00:13:23,770 enemy that's standing before him. 286 00:13:23,770 --> 00:13:28,070 And we see many Christians act this way when a situation of evil 287 00:13:28,070 --> 00:13:28,630 stands up. 288 00:13:28,630 --> 00:13:32,350 You know, we have an opportunity as Christians to stand 289 00:13:32,510 --> 00:13:34,830 in the truth and fight for truth. 290 00:13:34,830 --> 00:13:37,270 Actually, in the New Testament, in the Book of Jude, it 291 00:13:37,270 --> 00:13:39,390 says to contend for the faith. 292 00:13:39,390 --> 00:13:41,390 That means to fight for the faith. 293 00:13:42,350 --> 00:13:47,150 And as humans and as Christians, oftentimes we're ready 294 00:13:47,150 --> 00:13:50,110 to fight, but we're not ready to fight for the right things. 295 00:13:50,110 --> 00:13:54,400 We're ready to fight for our own pride or for our own ego or for 296 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:55,840 our own personal preferences. 297 00:13:55,840 --> 00:14:00,080 But the Bible says there is a time and a place to fight, but it's 298 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:01,280 not to fight other Christians. 299 00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:04,880 It's not to fight people that have personally slighted us. 300 00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:06,680 Think about what Jesus says about that. 301 00:14:06,680 --> 00:14:09,760 Jesus talks about turning the other cheek when it comes to a personal 302 00:14:09,839 --> 00:14:10,400 slight. 303 00:14:10,400 --> 00:14:14,040 But the Bible does say there is a time and a place to have righteous 304 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:14,480 anger. 305 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:18,240 There is a time and a place to stand up and fight for the truth. 306 00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:22,040 And that is when God's word is on display. 307 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:25,600 And we can either trust in that, or we can trust in the evil 308 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:26,960 that's being presented before us. 309 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:29,160 And so we live in a culture today that's very evil. 310 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:30,960 I think all of you understand that right now. 311 00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:32,440 Just turn on the news. 312 00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:34,000 You're going to see evil all over. 313 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:37,360 And as Christians, we can respond in many different ways. 314 00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:41,080 One of the ways that many Christians respond is just by complaining 315 00:14:41,080 --> 00:14:41,920 about evil. 316 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:43,040 I think We. 317 00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:44,240 I mean, I'm guilty of this. 318 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:46,840 I'm guilty of sitting around with other Christians and talking 319 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:48,640 about how bad everyone else is in the world. 320 00:14:49,020 --> 00:14:51,580 You know, oh, man, these people are evil over here. 321 00:14:51,900 --> 00:14:54,220 This group of people over here believes in all the wrong things, 322 00:14:54,220 --> 00:14:57,180 and we commiserate one with another and complaining. 323 00:14:57,260 --> 00:15:01,500 But, folks, I understand why we do that, but that's not helping 324 00:15:01,500 --> 00:15:01,980 anything. 325 00:15:03,420 --> 00:15:06,460 Sometimes we can cower in fear and actually compromise. 326 00:15:06,460 --> 00:15:10,260 So we can complain, but we can also sometimes just compromise and 327 00:15:10,260 --> 00:15:11,140 say, you know what? 328 00:15:11,140 --> 00:15:12,380 Everybody's doing that. 329 00:15:13,500 --> 00:15:16,580 Everybody thinks this way, everybody acts this way. 330 00:15:17,380 --> 00:15:19,820 So it will make a lot of sense for me just to give into that and 331 00:15:19,820 --> 00:15:22,260 just compromise in this and not fight for it. 332 00:15:23,140 --> 00:15:27,980 And so we can either respond in compromise, we can respond in 333 00:15:27,980 --> 00:15:29,540 some level of complaining. 334 00:15:30,100 --> 00:15:30,860 Some of us can. 335 00:15:30,860 --> 00:15:31,140 Just. 336 00:15:31,380 --> 00:15:33,140 Some people just cower in fear. 337 00:15:34,020 --> 00:15:34,620 You ever. 338 00:15:34,620 --> 00:15:37,460 You ever in your life just been so petrified in fear that you 339 00:15:37,460 --> 00:15:38,100 couldn't move? 340 00:15:38,420 --> 00:15:40,940 And there's only been a few times in my life where I just was, 341 00:15:40,940 --> 00:15:44,080 like, so struck with fear that I'm just like, I'm shocked and I 342 00:15:44,080 --> 00:15:44,880 can't do anything. 343 00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:47,760 That's oftentimes what many Christians are doing in this world. 344 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:51,600 We see evil and we just freeze and we see that it's wrong, but we 345 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:52,480 don't do anything about it. 346 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:55,800 It's just a sense of apathy or a sense of just being petrified in 347 00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:56,160 fear. 348 00:15:56,320 --> 00:16:00,080 So there is another response, and that could be just to cower in 349 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:07,600 fear, or there's the biblical response to evil and sin, and that 350 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:10,850 is to contend for the faith and courage and to say, I'm going 351 00:16:10,850 --> 00:16:11,690 to stand for that. 352 00:16:11,690 --> 00:16:12,930 I'm going to stand for the truth. 353 00:16:12,930 --> 00:16:16,130 I'm going to stand against these things that are going on around 354 00:16:16,130 --> 00:16:16,370 me. 355 00:16:16,370 --> 00:16:22,090 And so Saul does not respond in courage to contend for the faith. 356 00:16:23,210 --> 00:16:26,810 He responds in fear and being demoralized. 357 00:16:27,850 --> 00:16:30,890 And so, yeah, Saul, I mean, and I understand why Saul is afraid 358 00:16:32,170 --> 00:16:33,690 in humanity terms. 359 00:16:34,170 --> 00:16:35,570 I mean, Goliath is coming out. 360 00:16:35,570 --> 00:16:37,210 He's the giant amongst the Philistines. 361 00:16:37,490 --> 00:16:39,650 Saul is the giant amongst the Israelites. 362 00:16:39,650 --> 00:16:43,970 And so Saul is the logical choice to do this, but instead, he 363 00:16:44,210 --> 00:16:45,330 cowers in fear. 364 00:16:46,290 --> 00:16:50,330 And so instead of allowing the spirit of the Lord to guide him into 365 00:16:50,330 --> 00:16:54,810 battle, he just allows his selfishness and pride to bring him 366 00:16:54,810 --> 00:16:57,410 to a place of being dismayed and greatly afraid. 367 00:16:58,610 --> 00:17:06,190 How many Christians today are living in that spirit of dismay and 368 00:17:06,270 --> 00:17:10,270 fear and not able to do the things that we're called to do in 369 00:17:10,270 --> 00:17:12,190 the midst of our Christian walk? 370 00:17:12,350 --> 00:17:17,150 And that's what we see really with Saul is he's the type of person 371 00:17:17,470 --> 00:17:21,830 who sees this great opportunity but yet backs away from 372 00:17:21,830 --> 00:17:24,230 it because of all the risks that he might face. 373 00:17:24,230 --> 00:17:26,830 And so there is no faith, it's only fear. 374 00:17:26,990 --> 00:17:27,710 Verse 12. 375 00:17:27,870 --> 00:17:29,150 We're going to see a contrast. 376 00:17:29,150 --> 00:17:30,590 We're going to see a flip in the script. 377 00:17:30,910 --> 00:17:34,390 Remember, we were thinking about Saul and the way that he responds 378 00:17:34,390 --> 00:17:36,750 to Goliath and this great evil. 379 00:17:36,750 --> 00:17:38,510 And now we're going to see David, and we're going to see the 380 00:17:38,510 --> 00:17:39,550 way David responds. 381 00:17:39,550 --> 00:17:40,110 Verse 12. 382 00:17:40,270 --> 00:17:44,030 Now, David was the son of the Ephratite of Bethlehem, Judah, whose 383 00:17:44,030 --> 00:17:46,350 name was Jesse, and he had eight sons in the main. 384 00:17:46,350 --> 00:17:50,070 The man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul. 385 00:17:50,070 --> 00:17:53,430 And the three eldest sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the 386 00:17:53,430 --> 00:17:53,750 battle. 387 00:17:53,750 --> 00:17:56,950 So we see that David's three older brothers are already there 388 00:17:56,950 --> 00:17:57,950 on the battlefield. 389 00:17:58,250 --> 00:18:00,690 And the names of these three sons that went in the battle were 390 00:18:00,690 --> 00:18:04,650 Eliab, the firstborn, and next Abinadab, and the third, Shammah. 391 00:18:04,730 --> 00:18:08,330 And David was the youngest, and the three eldest followed Saul. 392 00:18:08,810 --> 00:18:12,530 But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep 393 00:18:12,530 --> 00:18:13,170 at Bethlehem. 394 00:18:13,170 --> 00:18:16,130 So by the way, if you remember, David has already had a 395 00:18:16,130 --> 00:18:19,610 relationship with Saul because he's going into Saul and comforting 396 00:18:19,610 --> 00:18:23,850 Saul through his music and being in the king's chamber there. 397 00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:26,840 And so David already has a relationship with Saul. 398 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:29,760 So we see that he goes back and forth, but he's now back with 399 00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:31,160 his father's sheep in Bethlehem. 400 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:35,160 And the Philistine drew near morning and evening and presented 401 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:36,280 himself 40 days. 402 00:18:36,680 --> 00:18:40,760 And Jesse said unto David his son, take now for thy brethren, and 403 00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:43,920 Ephah of this parched corn and these ten loaves, and run to the 404 00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:47,400 camp to thy brethren and carry these 10 cheeses unto the Camp Captain 405 00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:50,880 of their 10,000 of their thousand, and look how thy brethren 406 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:52,360 fare and take their pledge. 407 00:18:52,820 --> 00:18:57,860 So all of that to say this, David is faithfully serving his father 408 00:18:57,860 --> 00:19:00,900 and ultimately serving the Lord by going back and forth between 409 00:19:00,900 --> 00:19:04,340 Saul and his father in the field there, shepherding these sheep. 410 00:19:04,340 --> 00:19:07,660 And now his father is asking him to go take some provisions to 411 00:19:07,660 --> 00:19:09,380 his brothers on the battlefield. 412 00:19:09,380 --> 00:19:13,420 And now we're going to see David be he's going to be aware of 413 00:19:13,420 --> 00:19:14,100 this threat. 414 00:19:14,420 --> 00:19:16,580 And so David's going to have a chance to respond. 415 00:19:17,380 --> 00:19:18,900 And we go back to verse 16. 416 00:19:19,420 --> 00:19:21,820 When I was reading through this passage, as I was Studying this, 417 00:19:22,060 --> 00:19:26,380 verse 16 kept jumping out to me, and I'm like, why is verse 16 418 00:19:26,380 --> 00:19:27,340 jumping out to me? 419 00:19:27,500 --> 00:19:29,260 Because it's just a Descriptive verse. 420 00:19:29,820 --> 00:19:31,220 But think about this for a second. 421 00:19:31,220 --> 00:19:33,420 It says in the Philistine that's talking about Goliath drew 422 00:19:33,420 --> 00:19:37,340 near morning and evening and presented himself 40 days. 423 00:19:37,500 --> 00:19:39,980 This just speaks to the persistence of evil. 424 00:19:40,700 --> 00:19:45,020 Sometimes we think if we just like ignore the giant in our life, 425 00:19:46,730 --> 00:19:48,970 that, that maybe it'll just go away. 426 00:19:49,530 --> 00:19:52,450 I don't know if any of you, by the way, I'm going to start talking 427 00:19:52,450 --> 00:19:53,370 about this in this study. 428 00:19:54,490 --> 00:19:57,610 When I say giant, I, I know that most of us aren't facing off 429 00:19:57,610 --> 00:19:59,530 against the ten foot Philistine. 430 00:19:59,610 --> 00:20:02,650 Okay, if you are, come talk to me because that'd be very interesting 431 00:20:02,650 --> 00:20:04,090 to, to talk to you about. 432 00:20:04,250 --> 00:20:07,530 Most of us aren't facing against a physical giant, but a lot 433 00:20:07,530 --> 00:20:10,250 of times we're facing spiritual giants in our life that 434 00:20:10,250 --> 00:20:13,050 are coming against us and causing us major issues. 435 00:20:13,450 --> 00:20:19,090 Whether it be a particular sin or a trial or a physical ailment 436 00:20:19,090 --> 00:20:22,410 or whatever it might be, we might be facing a giant in our life. 437 00:20:22,650 --> 00:20:25,730 But you know, oftentimes in my own life in the past, I've thought 438 00:20:25,730 --> 00:20:29,610 about, well, if I just ignore this problem, this temptation, this 439 00:20:29,610 --> 00:20:31,530 trial, maybe it'll just go away. 440 00:20:31,930 --> 00:20:36,170 And most times when I avoid something, it just gets worse and 441 00:20:36,170 --> 00:20:37,530 worse and worse. 442 00:20:38,310 --> 00:20:39,830 And that's exactly what's happening here. 443 00:20:39,910 --> 00:20:41,150 Goliath keeps coming out. 444 00:20:41,150 --> 00:20:44,270 It says there for 40 days, morning and evening. 445 00:20:44,270 --> 00:20:45,350 It's persistent. 446 00:20:46,550 --> 00:20:51,350 And oftentimes as Christians, we try to avoid the situation, lie 447 00:20:51,350 --> 00:20:53,270 to ourselves about what's going on. 448 00:20:53,270 --> 00:20:55,430 But that's not going to take away the problem. 449 00:20:55,830 --> 00:21:00,790 The problem always is going to need some level of spiritual and, 450 00:21:00,870 --> 00:21:03,350 or physical confrontation. 451 00:21:03,970 --> 00:21:05,810 And we don't often talk about confrontation. 452 00:21:06,770 --> 00:21:08,570 There are people who enjoy confrontation. 453 00:21:08,570 --> 00:21:10,050 Those are a unique type of people. 454 00:21:10,050 --> 00:21:13,370 I do not like confrontation, physically speaking. 455 00:21:13,370 --> 00:21:15,570 I want to avoid every confrontation that I can. 456 00:21:15,570 --> 00:21:16,770 I don't like confrontation. 457 00:21:17,090 --> 00:21:20,530 But at the same time, as Christians, there is a healthy level 458 00:21:20,530 --> 00:21:23,810 of confrontation, particularly with sins and issues within our lives. 459 00:21:23,970 --> 00:21:27,530 And so we're going to see David's like, hey, look, I'm going 460 00:21:27,530 --> 00:21:31,310 to confront this evil, this giant, where Saul doesn't want to 461 00:21:31,310 --> 00:21:31,950 confront it. 462 00:21:32,590 --> 00:21:33,870 So look at verse number 19. 463 00:21:33,870 --> 00:21:35,230 We're going to see Saul again. 464 00:21:35,230 --> 00:21:36,310 It says now Saul. 465 00:21:36,310 --> 00:21:39,710 And they and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah 466 00:21:39,710 --> 00:21:41,070 fighting with the Philistines. 467 00:21:41,550 --> 00:21:44,710 And David rose up early in the morning and left the sheep with a 468 00:21:44,710 --> 00:21:47,750 keeper and took and went as Jesse had commanded him. 469 00:21:47,750 --> 00:21:50,830 And he came to the trench as the host was going forth to fight 470 00:21:50,830 --> 00:21:54,630 and shouted for the battle for Israel and the Philistines had put 471 00:21:54,630 --> 00:21:57,390 the battle in array, army against army. 472 00:21:57,680 --> 00:22:00,280 And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage 473 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:03,440 and ran into the army and came and saluted his brethren. 474 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:08,000 So we see that David basically meets his brothers out on the battlefield, 475 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:11,040 and David's going to see Goliath. 476 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:13,680 And so verse 23. 477 00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:19,600 And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, 478 00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:23,760 the representative, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, 479 00:22:24,130 --> 00:22:27,210 out of the armies of the Philistines and spake according to 480 00:22:27,210 --> 00:22:27,890 the same words. 481 00:22:27,890 --> 00:22:28,770 And David heard them. 482 00:22:28,770 --> 00:22:32,770 So David hears the very same thing that all the other men hear. 483 00:22:33,570 --> 00:22:36,370 David now is going to experience this. 484 00:22:36,370 --> 00:22:39,770 And is the question is going to be, is he going to respond the 485 00:22:39,770 --> 00:22:43,010 same way as everybody else, or is he going to respond in faith? 486 00:22:43,010 --> 00:22:45,650 And so really, two responses, fear or faith. 487 00:22:46,290 --> 00:22:48,770 And so the Israelite army is afraid. 488 00:22:50,140 --> 00:22:53,100 Not one of them is willing to stand up against Goliath. 489 00:22:53,660 --> 00:22:54,820 Every one of them has. 490 00:22:54,820 --> 00:22:55,420 Has left. 491 00:22:55,740 --> 00:22:57,580 Every one of them has turned their backs. 492 00:22:57,660 --> 00:23:00,420 And David hears this, and we're going to see what David's Response 493 00:23:00,420 --> 00:23:00,700 is. 494 00:23:01,020 --> 00:23:01,740 Verse 24. 495 00:23:01,740 --> 00:23:04,780 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from 496 00:23:04,780 --> 00:23:06,380 him and were sore afraid. 497 00:23:06,780 --> 00:23:10,580 And the men of Israel said, have ye seen this man that has come 498 00:23:10,580 --> 00:23:13,420 up surely to defy Israel, is he come up? 499 00:23:13,420 --> 00:23:16,350 And it shall be that the man who killeth him shall the king will 500 00:23:16,350 --> 00:23:18,750 enrich him with great riches and will give him his daughter and 501 00:23:18,750 --> 00:23:21,670 make his father's house free in Israel. 502 00:23:22,550 --> 00:23:27,230 So essentially, David hears what the threat is, he hears what 503 00:23:27,230 --> 00:23:33,190 the reward is, and he makes a decision of what he's going to do. 504 00:23:33,510 --> 00:23:34,950 And we're going to see that decision. 505 00:23:35,270 --> 00:23:40,310 In verse number 26, David Spake to the men that stood by him, 506 00:23:40,310 --> 00:23:44,110 saying, what shall be done to the man that killed this Philistine 507 00:23:44,110 --> 00:23:46,790 and taketh away the reproach from Israel? 508 00:23:47,110 --> 00:23:51,470 For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the 509 00:23:51,470 --> 00:23:52,590 armies of the living God? 510 00:23:52,590 --> 00:23:55,590 So we see right there, David has already made his decision. 511 00:23:55,670 --> 00:23:58,150 Essentially, he's like, who's going to stand up against him? 512 00:23:58,229 --> 00:23:59,910 If it's not anybody else, I will. 513 00:23:59,910 --> 00:24:02,470 Because who is he to stand up against our God? 514 00:24:02,550 --> 00:24:05,950 That's a picture of David's faith, and it's really a picture 515 00:24:05,950 --> 00:24:06,550 of our faith. 516 00:24:06,550 --> 00:24:11,200 When we look at a difficult situation and on paper it looks overwhelming. 517 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:15,240 But when we say, you know what, who or what can stand against 518 00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:15,920 our Lord? 519 00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:20,120 I think of Romans, chapter eight, and I want you to turn there 520 00:24:20,120 --> 00:24:24,880 with me, because I think Romans chapter 8 ties so perfectly 521 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:31,160 with this passage of Scripture because Paul is discussing all these 522 00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:33,440 things that can come against us in our life. 523 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:36,080 And certainly there's a lot of things that can come against us in 524 00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:36,480 our life. 525 00:24:37,210 --> 00:24:40,250 And there's something that I had a realization of recently. 526 00:24:40,810 --> 00:24:45,130 Lord really revealed it to me as I was studying Scripture, is this. 527 00:24:46,410 --> 00:24:50,690 The truth is, is that every single person on this planet is going 528 00:24:50,690 --> 00:24:51,850 to go through difficulties. 529 00:24:52,170 --> 00:24:52,969 Everybody. 530 00:24:53,050 --> 00:24:56,010 There's no one that has walked this earth without difficulty, some 531 00:24:56,090 --> 00:24:58,970 having more difficulties than others, but all of us are going to 532 00:24:58,970 --> 00:24:59,850 have difficulties. 533 00:25:00,250 --> 00:25:04,090 The true question is, where are we going to turn when those difficulties 534 00:25:04,090 --> 00:25:04,410 come? 535 00:25:05,360 --> 00:25:09,560 Where are we going to look to find hope and peace in the midst 536 00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:10,400 of those trials? 537 00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:14,080 Someone who has no relationship with God turns to many 538 00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:14,640 other things. 539 00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:17,360 And you know where people turn. 540 00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:21,360 A lot of people turn to relationships or they turn to substances, 541 00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:25,160 or they turn to something to try to give them some hope in the 542 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:26,320 midst of the pain. 543 00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:29,920 But the Bible tells us that there's really only one sufficient 544 00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:33,640 remedy for the pain of this world, and that is having a relationship 545 00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:36,880 with God and having the eternal perspective of knowing that 546 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:40,160 God will be with us through this pain and suffering in this world, 547 00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:43,080 and that ultimately we're living for something more and that 548 00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:46,960 there's a hope of the future and that's an eternal life with him 549 00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:47,640 in heaven. 550 00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:49,520 So Romans chapter 8. 551 00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:53,400 He begins to list all of these things that are problems in this 552 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:53,760 world. 553 00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:57,410 He says, verse 35. Who shall separate us? 554 00:25:57,410 --> 00:26:00,970 Romans 8:35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ 555 00:26:01,370 --> 00:26:06,050 shall tribulation or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness 556 00:26:06,050 --> 00:26:07,210 or peril or sword. 557 00:26:07,370 --> 00:26:10,330 He says, as it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day 558 00:26:10,330 --> 00:26:10,650 long. 559 00:26:10,730 --> 00:26:12,970 We are counted as sheep for the slaughter. 560 00:26:13,210 --> 00:26:17,090 He says, nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors. 561 00:26:17,090 --> 00:26:19,690 Through him that loveth for loves us. 562 00:26:19,770 --> 00:26:22,850 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, 563 00:26:22,850 --> 00:26:25,450 nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things 564 00:26:25,450 --> 00:26:28,840 to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature shall separate 565 00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:31,600 us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 566 00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:34,920 We know in other places in Scripture it says, if God be for 567 00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:36,320 us, who can be against us? 568 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:40,120 That's the same principle that David is working under here in the 569 00:26:40,120 --> 00:26:41,040 valley of Elah. 570 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:44,920 When Goliath is saying, look, come, fight me, and everyone's afraid. 571 00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:47,840 He says, no, who is this guy in compared to our Lord? 572 00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:53,010 What is this spiritual trial compared to my Lord? 573 00:26:53,730 --> 00:26:56,610 Who is this naysayer compared to my Lord? 574 00:26:56,610 --> 00:27:00,650 Who is this person who is Sinning against me compared to my 575 00:27:00,650 --> 00:27:01,410 Lord who? 576 00:27:01,650 --> 00:27:03,770 What is the sickness compared to my Lord? 577 00:27:03,770 --> 00:27:05,890 I think that's something that we have to frame in our life. 578 00:27:06,050 --> 00:27:10,210 We are going to face things that seem overwhelming and confusing 579 00:27:10,370 --> 00:27:12,610 and painful and hopeless. 580 00:27:12,770 --> 00:27:16,090 But when we match it up to our relationship with God, we say, there's 581 00:27:16,090 --> 00:27:18,320 nothing that can stand against my Lord. 582 00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:20,680 And that's exactly what David is saying in verse 26. 583 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:25,000 He says, who is this Philistine that he should defy the 584 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:26,000 armies of the living God? 585 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:26,720 Who does this guy. 586 00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:30,440 He's basically saying this, okay, in modern American English. 587 00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:34,320 He said, who does this guy think he is coming against my Lord? 588 00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:36,880 He doesn't know what he's fighting against. 589 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:38,080 He's ready to lose. 590 00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:40,120 Verse 27. 591 00:27:40,120 --> 00:27:43,080 The people answered him after this manner, saying, so shall it 592 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:44,560 be done to the man that killeth him. 593 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:49,440 And Eliab, his eldest brother, heard when he spake unto the men. 594 00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:52,360 And Eliab's anger was kindled against David. 595 00:27:52,360 --> 00:27:56,160 Now why is his brother mad at him? 596 00:27:56,560 --> 00:27:58,000 David's doing the right thing. 597 00:27:58,080 --> 00:27:59,600 David's obeying God. 598 00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:01,240 David's standing in the truth. 599 00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:02,520 David is acting in faith. 600 00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:04,960 And his brother's, like, getting so mad at him. 601 00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:05,440 We see. 602 00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:09,040 We see that the way that it says, it says, his anger was kindled 603 00:28:09,040 --> 00:28:09,840 against David. 604 00:28:10,330 --> 00:28:13,530 And he said, why came ast down thou hither? 605 00:28:13,930 --> 00:28:17,930 And with whom has thou left those sheep within the wilderness? 606 00:28:18,970 --> 00:28:22,330 I know thy pride and the naughtiness of thine heart. 607 00:28:22,490 --> 00:28:25,850 For thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. 608 00:28:26,970 --> 00:28:28,650 So what's happening here? 609 00:28:29,450 --> 00:28:33,530 What's happening here is that there's a naysayer to David's faith. 610 00:28:34,090 --> 00:28:36,850 David is going to be misunderstood by his brother, his 611 00:28:36,850 --> 00:28:37,610 oldest brother. 612 00:28:38,110 --> 00:28:40,990 And we see that, that his anger is stirring. 613 00:28:41,310 --> 00:28:44,310 And we would think that maybe his older brother would be proud 614 00:28:44,310 --> 00:28:47,230 of David's faith and his courage. 615 00:28:47,550 --> 00:28:51,710 But he's angry because he felt that David is insignificant. 616 00:28:51,710 --> 00:28:52,390 You see it there. 617 00:28:52,390 --> 00:28:54,350 He says, who did you leave your sheep with? 618 00:28:54,510 --> 00:28:54,830 Right? 619 00:28:54,830 --> 00:28:55,270 He's. 620 00:28:55,270 --> 00:28:59,070 He's questioning David's strength and his validity and his 621 00:28:59,070 --> 00:28:59,470 worth. 622 00:29:00,190 --> 00:29:01,790 He says, why did you come down here? 623 00:29:02,030 --> 00:29:03,550 Who did you leave those sheep with? 624 00:29:04,110 --> 00:29:07,750 He's angry because he doesn't think David is worthy of this type 625 00:29:07,750 --> 00:29:09,550 of courage and this type of opportunity. 626 00:29:09,870 --> 00:29:14,750 He's also angry because he thinks he knows David's motivation. 627 00:29:15,310 --> 00:29:20,230 Look at it there with me in verse number 28, almost at the very 628 00:29:20,230 --> 00:29:24,910 end, he says, I know thy pride and the naughtiness of thine heart. 629 00:29:25,630 --> 00:29:30,630 So this is somebody who is thinking that they know why we're 630 00:29:30,630 --> 00:29:31,910 Doing what we're doing for the Lord. 631 00:29:31,910 --> 00:29:35,310 Like, oh, you're just doing that to have people praise you. 632 00:29:35,790 --> 00:29:38,950 You're just serving God because you want people to pat you 633 00:29:38,950 --> 00:29:39,550 on the back. 634 00:29:39,710 --> 00:29:44,630 And it's this pride in their hearts that's being projected on 635 00:29:44,630 --> 00:29:46,190 somebody else to say, you know what? 636 00:29:46,190 --> 00:29:49,230 You're just doing that so that people will look up to you, that 637 00:29:49,230 --> 00:29:50,270 people will honor you. 638 00:29:50,350 --> 00:29:52,910 But we know that that's not David's motivation. 639 00:29:52,910 --> 00:29:54,950 We know that through the whole passage of Scripture. 640 00:29:54,950 --> 00:29:59,480 So we know that Eliab's problem is he's trying to read David's 641 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:00,360 heart when he can't. 642 00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:04,040 And he assumes that David is acting in pride because most likely 643 00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:06,040 he was characterized by pride. 644 00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:10,880 And so that's oftentimes how people will judge our acts for the 645 00:30:10,880 --> 00:30:11,240 Lord. 646 00:30:12,120 --> 00:30:14,640 Someone might say, well, I would never do that for God, so you 647 00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:16,440 obviously aren't doing that in the right way. 648 00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:21,440 And so what do we do when someone questions our passion for 649 00:30:21,440 --> 00:30:21,880 the Lord? 650 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:25,850 Or what do we do when someone tries to pour water on the fire that's 651 00:30:25,850 --> 00:30:26,850 burning for the Lord? 652 00:30:26,930 --> 00:30:29,890 Well, as David does, he doubles down on it. 653 00:30:29,970 --> 00:30:30,490 He says. 654 00:30:30,490 --> 00:30:32,210 He says in verse number 29. 655 00:30:32,930 --> 00:30:35,010 And David said, what have I now done? 656 00:30:35,010 --> 00:30:36,250 He says, what did I do wrong? 657 00:30:36,250 --> 00:30:37,410 Is there not a cause? 658 00:30:38,370 --> 00:30:40,690 Is there not a reason to stand up for the Lord? 659 00:30:41,250 --> 00:30:42,930 Is there not something to fight for? 660 00:30:42,930 --> 00:30:44,690 Is there not truth to stand on? 661 00:30:44,930 --> 00:30:48,460 And that's exactly the way that we respond when someone tries 662 00:30:48,460 --> 00:30:51,380 to stop us from being passionate for the truth. 663 00:30:51,380 --> 00:30:52,100 We say, you know what? 664 00:30:52,100 --> 00:30:53,500 No, there is a reason to fight. 665 00:30:53,660 --> 00:30:55,340 There is a reason to stand up. 666 00:30:55,660 --> 00:30:57,260 I don't care what. 667 00:30:57,260 --> 00:31:00,140 Why you think I'm doing what I'm doing, because I'm not doing 668 00:31:00,140 --> 00:31:00,860 it for you. 669 00:31:00,940 --> 00:31:04,620 David's not standing up against Goliath to oppress Eliab, 670 00:31:05,020 --> 00:31:05,500 okay? 671 00:31:05,500 --> 00:31:08,300 He's not even standing up against Goliath to impress Saul. 672 00:31:08,780 --> 00:31:11,420 He's standing up against Goliath because he knows that's the 673 00:31:11,420 --> 00:31:12,020 right thing to do. 674 00:31:12,020 --> 00:31:14,170 And he has a heart for God. 675 00:31:14,250 --> 00:31:15,930 He's a man after God's own heart. 676 00:31:16,250 --> 00:31:17,490 Now, is David perfect? 677 00:31:17,490 --> 00:31:17,730 No. 678 00:31:17,730 --> 00:31:19,770 We know that David makes a lot of mistakes. 679 00:31:20,090 --> 00:31:23,530 But we do know that when David is walking in faith and in the spirit, 680 00:31:23,610 --> 00:31:25,250 he's doing this to honor God. 681 00:31:25,250 --> 00:31:29,170 And so there is this anger that is stirred amongst others who 682 00:31:29,170 --> 00:31:30,250 are not doing right. 683 00:31:30,970 --> 00:31:35,410 You ever wonder why somebody who is doing wrong gets mad when 684 00:31:35,410 --> 00:31:36,170 you're doing right? 685 00:31:36,650 --> 00:31:37,850 It's like, what do you care? 686 00:31:38,010 --> 00:31:40,170 Why do you want me to join in with your sin? 687 00:31:40,670 --> 00:31:43,310 Because a lot of times There's a phrase, misery loves company. 688 00:31:43,710 --> 00:31:47,390 And oftentimes what happens is that people don't want to see someone 689 00:31:47,390 --> 00:31:50,390 standing up for the Lord because it reminds them of what's 690 00:31:50,390 --> 00:31:51,630 lacking in their own life. 691 00:31:52,030 --> 00:31:54,670 And so what we see here is that Eliab is upset. 692 00:31:55,470 --> 00:31:57,590 He himself is a man of stature. 693 00:31:57,590 --> 00:31:59,710 We even know that in First Samuel, chapter 16. 694 00:32:00,190 --> 00:32:03,350 Remember, he was the one that Samuel initially thought should be 695 00:32:03,350 --> 00:32:03,870 the king. 696 00:32:04,430 --> 00:32:07,150 He was like, okay, well, obviously it's this guy. 697 00:32:07,150 --> 00:32:08,750 He's the one that looks like a king. 698 00:32:09,460 --> 00:32:13,460 And so he was the one who often was looked to as the strong 699 00:32:13,460 --> 00:32:13,860 one. 700 00:32:14,100 --> 00:32:17,140 But he was really essentially mad because David was right. 701 00:32:18,660 --> 00:32:20,940 David knew what it meant to have faith. 702 00:32:20,940 --> 00:32:24,340 And so David is going to stick to his gun, so to speak. 703 00:32:24,340 --> 00:32:25,860 He's going to stand in the truth. 704 00:32:25,860 --> 00:32:28,420 He's going to dig his heels in, and he's going to say this. 705 00:32:28,420 --> 00:32:30,740 He says, there is a cause to fight for. 706 00:32:31,300 --> 00:32:32,820 I have not done anything wrong. 707 00:32:33,860 --> 00:32:35,060 And I think that's all of us. 708 00:32:35,060 --> 00:32:37,300 I think all of us have to get to a place in our life. 709 00:32:37,950 --> 00:32:40,790 And I know it's difficult, and I know that often this isn't what 710 00:32:40,790 --> 00:32:41,710 culture teaches. 711 00:32:41,950 --> 00:32:43,950 But we have to stand in the truth. 712 00:32:44,110 --> 00:32:48,310 We have to be willing to dig our heels in to say, no, I'm not 713 00:32:48,310 --> 00:32:49,390 going to concede ground. 714 00:32:50,350 --> 00:32:53,709 Yes, I'm willing to have some level of compromise on things that 715 00:32:53,709 --> 00:32:55,950 are not matters of faith and practice. 716 00:32:56,590 --> 00:33:00,590 I'm willing to understand that we have freedoms within this world 717 00:33:00,590 --> 00:33:04,030 and within our Christian walk, that not everyone has to be the same 718 00:33:04,030 --> 00:33:04,590 as me. 719 00:33:04,880 --> 00:33:07,480 But there are things in Scripture that we cannot give ground 720 00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:07,840 to. 721 00:33:07,920 --> 00:33:12,720 And one of those things being denying the power of God, like we 722 00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:16,000 see Goliath doing here with David and Saul. 723 00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:18,480 So let's see what happens. 724 00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:19,920 Most of you know what happens. 725 00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:20,800 We. 726 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:23,960 We know that David has the complete confidence that God's already 727 00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:24,800 won this battle. 728 00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:25,920 And that's true faith. 729 00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:28,080 Faith is knowing that God's already got it under control. 730 00:33:29,520 --> 00:33:30,930 So verse 30. 731 00:33:30,930 --> 00:33:35,290 And he turned from him toward another and spake after the same 732 00:33:35,290 --> 00:33:35,570 manner. 733 00:33:35,570 --> 00:33:38,090 And the people answered him again after the former manner. 734 00:33:38,170 --> 00:33:41,930 And when the words were heard, which David spake, and they rehearsed 735 00:33:41,930 --> 00:33:43,930 them before Saul, and he sent for him. 736 00:33:44,170 --> 00:33:47,770 And David said to Saul, let no man's heart fail because of him. 737 00:33:48,650 --> 00:33:52,010 Thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. 738 00:33:53,050 --> 00:33:54,290 So here it is. 739 00:33:54,290 --> 00:33:55,650 Here's the culmination of everything. 740 00:33:55,650 --> 00:34:00,180 David says, look, everybody else is afraid. 741 00:34:01,060 --> 00:34:03,300 Everybody else is cowering in fear. 742 00:34:03,780 --> 00:34:05,660 But now I'm going to stand up. 743 00:34:05,660 --> 00:34:06,580 I'm Going to fight. 744 00:34:07,300 --> 00:34:07,620 He. 745 00:34:07,620 --> 00:34:11,340 He showed courage, but. 746 00:34:11,340 --> 00:34:13,380 But more than anything, he shows confidence. 747 00:34:14,340 --> 00:34:18,100 Like, the courage comes from his confidence and not in himself. 748 00:34:18,340 --> 00:34:21,100 I think a lot of times people read the story of David and Goliath 749 00:34:21,100 --> 00:34:25,080 and they're like, man, David must have been this amazing guy with 750 00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:25,600 a sling. 751 00:34:25,600 --> 00:34:26,560 And maybe he was. 752 00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:29,440 Maybe he could really throw that rock across the. 753 00:34:29,520 --> 00:34:30,960 The sheep pasture. 754 00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:34,600 But, but we know that this battle is not going to be fought 755 00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:36,640 just with David's resources. 756 00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:39,840 We know that this is a battle fought with God's resources. 757 00:34:40,320 --> 00:34:45,040 God could have used any method in which to defeat Goliath, but he 758 00:34:45,040 --> 00:34:49,360 needed or desired a willing vessel to work through. 759 00:34:50,399 --> 00:34:52,639 And David was the one that was willing to step up. 760 00:34:53,199 --> 00:34:55,199 And so David's like, I will be the one. 761 00:34:56,079 --> 00:34:59,679 And so he shows courage more than anybody else in Israel. 762 00:35:00,879 --> 00:35:04,239 But the courage did not come just because David's an awesome guy. 763 00:35:05,279 --> 00:35:10,319 Sometimes we read these stories in Scripture, and I don't 764 00:35:10,319 --> 00:35:12,799 know where your level of belief and trust in these stories 765 00:35:12,799 --> 00:35:13,039 are. 766 00:35:13,039 --> 00:35:17,730 I believe that these are real people and in real places with real 767 00:35:17,730 --> 00:35:18,650 situations. 768 00:35:19,050 --> 00:35:22,130 And we look at David and, or, or we look at Abraham, or we even 769 00:35:22,130 --> 00:35:25,210 look at the guys in the New Testament like Paul or Peter, and 770 00:35:25,210 --> 00:35:27,970 we think that they're super people, like, they're, they're different 771 00:35:27,970 --> 00:35:28,570 than us. 772 00:35:28,650 --> 00:35:30,850 But I'm going to tell you, what the Bible tells us is that these 773 00:35:30,850 --> 00:35:34,490 are just regular people like us trusting in the same God. 774 00:35:35,050 --> 00:35:38,330 And so David's like, hey, look, I don't know what's going to 775 00:35:38,330 --> 00:35:40,170 happen, but I know that God's going to win. 776 00:35:40,490 --> 00:35:43,680 That's the same way that we have to approach the giants that 777 00:35:43,680 --> 00:35:44,640 we face in our life. 778 00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:49,760 There are going to be times, and I, I could speak from experience. 779 00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:52,480 There's going to be times where we're going to face giants 780 00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:54,080 that are going to look too big. 781 00:35:55,120 --> 00:35:57,440 We're not going to see hope in. 782 00:35:57,520 --> 00:36:01,240 In our own selves, in our own circumstances, in our own talents 783 00:36:01,240 --> 00:36:02,400 and our own resources. 784 00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:06,720 But when we say, lord, okay, I'm trusting in you to give me the 785 00:36:06,720 --> 00:36:09,220 victory, I don't know how you're going to do it, but I'm going 786 00:36:09,220 --> 00:36:12,140 to take a step in faith and trust in you, and that's going to 787 00:36:12,140 --> 00:36:14,740 bolster courage and commitment. 788 00:36:14,740 --> 00:36:20,780 In my life, I often look at people who are what I would consider 789 00:36:20,860 --> 00:36:24,619 spiritual heroes, and I say, wow, how could they do that? 790 00:36:24,619 --> 00:36:27,660 Like, I want to talk to you on Sunday night. 791 00:36:27,660 --> 00:36:28,700 If you guys can come back. 792 00:36:28,700 --> 00:36:32,620 I would love to talk to you about the pastor friend that I met 793 00:36:32,700 --> 00:36:34,020 in Rwanda. 794 00:36:34,020 --> 00:36:38,060 I mean, this guy is one of those heroes of the faith. 795 00:36:38,060 --> 00:36:42,140 After I got to know him, after I got to hear his story, I'm like, 796 00:36:42,140 --> 00:36:47,020 wow, I want to be half the man that he was and is as he stood up 797 00:36:47,020 --> 00:36:49,540 against evil and his forgiveness. 798 00:36:50,580 --> 00:36:52,980 I want to tell you a lot of the story now, but we don't have 799 00:36:52,980 --> 00:36:53,620 a lot of time. 800 00:36:53,860 --> 00:37:01,180 But basically, this man was faced with his own countrymen trying 801 00:37:01,180 --> 00:37:04,180 to kill him just because he had a different tribe. 802 00:37:04,180 --> 00:37:09,420 On his ID card, some of his family was. 803 00:37:09,500 --> 00:37:10,460 Was killed. 804 00:37:10,940 --> 00:37:15,180 He was chased out by gunpoint, was a refugee for years. 805 00:37:16,940 --> 00:37:21,340 Story after story of his bravery and courage and comes full 806 00:37:21,340 --> 00:37:26,380 circle, desires to go back to the same village that chased him 807 00:37:26,380 --> 00:37:30,920 out, the same people to minister and to start a church and 808 00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:34,600 to witness and love on people that were his enemies. 809 00:37:35,400 --> 00:37:38,680 That's a type of hero that should be written about. 810 00:37:39,080 --> 00:37:41,960 That's the type of forgiveness that we don't often hear about within 811 00:37:42,120 --> 00:37:43,640 our church culture. 812 00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:47,000 And I looked at him and I, you know, it's like, how did you do that? 813 00:37:47,560 --> 00:37:48,880 How can you have that type of courage? 814 00:37:48,880 --> 00:37:50,360 How can you have that type of confidence? 815 00:37:50,360 --> 00:37:52,200 How can you have that type of forgiveness and grace? 816 00:37:52,200 --> 00:37:55,680 And he was like, it's just by the Lord, the Lord's strength, believing 817 00:37:55,680 --> 00:37:57,000 that he has a better plan. 818 00:37:57,640 --> 00:37:59,560 And he told me, he said, you know what? 819 00:38:00,440 --> 00:38:01,880 There's three steps to this. 820 00:38:01,880 --> 00:38:03,080 Obey, obey, obey. 821 00:38:03,320 --> 00:38:04,160 Just obey the Lord. 822 00:38:04,160 --> 00:38:07,480 The Lord called me back to my people and I say all that to say, 823 00:38:07,880 --> 00:38:11,760 we look at David and we say, yeah, that's David, but that's David. 824 00:38:11,760 --> 00:38:13,560 And he's a special superhero. 825 00:38:13,640 --> 00:38:16,040 David was just like us, a human being. 826 00:38:16,680 --> 00:38:22,990 But when faced with a insurmountable problem, he trusted 827 00:38:22,990 --> 00:38:23,710 in the Lord. 828 00:38:24,030 --> 00:38:25,950 And we know the rest of the story. 829 00:38:26,030 --> 00:38:27,950 We don't have time to go into it tonight. 830 00:38:27,950 --> 00:38:30,750 Next week we're going to talk about the rest of the story. 831 00:38:31,150 --> 00:38:32,990 But most of you know the rest of the story. 832 00:38:32,990 --> 00:38:33,390 He. 833 00:38:33,550 --> 00:38:37,110 He takes out Goliath in the power of God, eventually has that 834 00:38:37,110 --> 00:38:39,230 wonderful victory, which we're going to discuss next week. 835 00:38:39,630 --> 00:38:41,070 But what I will say is this. 836 00:38:42,350 --> 00:38:46,190 The battle wasn't won when the stone was thrown. 837 00:38:47,570 --> 00:38:51,610 The battle wasn't won when Goliath got hit by the stone and 838 00:38:51,610 --> 00:38:52,050 fell. 839 00:38:52,050 --> 00:38:56,850 And inevitably, David took his own sword, Goliath's own sword, and 840 00:38:56,850 --> 00:38:57,650 took his life. 841 00:38:58,610 --> 00:39:04,250 The battle was won when David said, I believe that God is who he 842 00:39:04,250 --> 00:39:04,850 says he is. 843 00:39:05,170 --> 00:39:08,810 I believe that no one can stand against my God and that he's 844 00:39:08,810 --> 00:39:10,530 more powerful than this Philistine. 845 00:39:10,530 --> 00:39:12,290 He's more Powerful than evil. 846 00:39:12,900 --> 00:39:15,140 And so I don't know what trial you're facing right now. 847 00:39:15,700 --> 00:39:18,020 I don't know what trial you're going to face tomorrow. 848 00:39:18,420 --> 00:39:20,980 I pray that you don't have to face pain and suffering. 849 00:39:21,220 --> 00:39:25,140 But just as we saw, even with our own church family, having a dear 850 00:39:25,540 --> 00:39:28,300 sister stand up before the church and proclaim her faith and 851 00:39:28,300 --> 00:39:31,980 get baptized and just a few weeks later, losing her 17 year old 852 00:39:31,980 --> 00:39:36,100 son to a tragic accident, I don't have answers for that. 853 00:39:36,900 --> 00:39:39,650 There's not just one thing that we can say to say, well, we 854 00:39:39,650 --> 00:39:41,290 can just get through that and pass that. 855 00:39:41,290 --> 00:39:44,810 No, it's about understanding that God is bigger and he's more 856 00:39:44,810 --> 00:39:47,930 powerful and he can get us through any problem that we face 857 00:39:48,090 --> 00:39:48,730 in our life. 858 00:39:48,730 --> 00:39:54,810 And the giants of our life will fall when faith is at the centerpiece. 859 00:39:55,770 --> 00:40:00,890 But if we're like Saul, Saul just backed away, who's going to 860 00:40:00,890 --> 00:40:01,210 do it? 861 00:40:01,290 --> 00:40:03,170 I'll offer you to marry my daughter. 862 00:40:03,170 --> 00:40:04,570 I'll offer you all these blessings. 863 00:40:04,900 --> 00:40:08,580 He wanted to basically essentially buy this type of victory. 864 00:40:08,660 --> 00:40:09,940 And there was no faith. 865 00:40:10,420 --> 00:40:14,100 And so the distinction between Saul and David was not that David 866 00:40:14,100 --> 00:40:17,700 was stronger, it wasn't that David had better skills and talents 867 00:40:17,700 --> 00:40:18,420 in fighting. 868 00:40:18,500 --> 00:40:21,900 Even though he does say, hey, your servant here killed a lion and 869 00:40:21,900 --> 00:40:22,420 a bear. 870 00:40:23,220 --> 00:40:24,620 That's pretty impressive, David. 871 00:40:24,620 --> 00:40:25,420 David did that. 872 00:40:25,420 --> 00:40:30,220 But David was only able to see God working through him because he 873 00:40:30,220 --> 00:40:34,020 was willing to trust that God would work through him. 874 00:40:34,740 --> 00:40:38,060 And if all of us want to see our giants fall in our life, we have 875 00:40:38,060 --> 00:40:40,340 to trust that God is going to do the work. 876 00:40:40,420 --> 00:40:43,460 Because David believes that God is going to do the work. 877 00:40:43,780 --> 00:40:48,180 But if you remember, he walks out to that little creek there and 878 00:40:48,180 --> 00:40:50,500 he picks up five smooth stones, so. 879 00:40:50,500 --> 00:40:53,700 So he's putting feet and hands to his faith. 880 00:40:54,340 --> 00:40:56,660 If I say, lord, I believe you're going to protect me. 881 00:40:57,230 --> 00:40:59,510 But I'm not going to go anywhere, I'm not going to take a 882 00:40:59,510 --> 00:41:00,510 risk, folks. 883 00:41:01,790 --> 00:41:06,030 God calls us in our perspective to take risk for him, 884 00:41:06,510 --> 00:41:08,190 but it's not a risk for him. 885 00:41:08,350 --> 00:41:11,110 You understand, from his angle, it's never a risk because 886 00:41:11,110 --> 00:41:12,590 everything's under his control. 887 00:41:13,150 --> 00:41:17,430 But for us to exercise faith, we have to take a step of saying, 888 00:41:17,430 --> 00:41:21,310 I don't know what tomorrow is, I don't know how this is going to 889 00:41:21,310 --> 00:41:21,710 work out. 890 00:41:21,790 --> 00:41:23,860 That's the pure definition of faith. 891 00:41:24,970 --> 00:41:25,610 Faith is not. 892 00:41:25,610 --> 00:41:27,250 Well, it all adds up on paper. 893 00:41:27,250 --> 00:41:28,490 So now I'll take the step. 894 00:41:29,130 --> 00:41:32,970 Faith is, I don't know how I'm going to wake up tomorrow with this 895 00:41:32,970 --> 00:41:34,290 type of sorrow and pain. 896 00:41:34,290 --> 00:41:36,450 But I'm going to trust that the Lord is going to get me through 897 00:41:36,450 --> 00:41:37,130 it tomorrow. 898 00:41:37,690 --> 00:41:40,890 And that's hard because American Christianity is very much, 899 00:41:40,970 --> 00:41:41,930 let's see it then. 900 00:41:41,930 --> 00:41:42,730 We believe it. 901 00:41:42,730 --> 00:41:45,770 But that's Biblical Christianity is the opposite. 902 00:41:45,770 --> 00:41:47,850 Biblical Christianity is, Lord, I believe. 903 00:41:47,850 --> 00:41:50,050 I haven't seen it yet, but I'm going to trust that you're going 904 00:41:50,050 --> 00:41:50,490 to do it. 905 00:41:50,630 --> 00:41:53,030 And that's exactly what happens here in the life of David. 906 00:41:53,750 --> 00:41:57,710 So if you're able to, I would encourage you to come back next week 907 00:41:57,710 --> 00:42:01,590 because there's a lot of lessons within that story with David 908 00:42:01,830 --> 00:42:05,350 going and grabbing those stones and taking the step of faith. 909 00:42:05,510 --> 00:42:07,630 Because I do believe that there's a lot of people that say, 910 00:42:07,630 --> 00:42:13,910 well, I believe, but oftentimes there's the uttering of 911 00:42:13,910 --> 00:42:17,870 the words, I believe, but we're not ready to go grab the stones 912 00:42:17,870 --> 00:42:19,180 and go out onto the battlefield. 913 00:42:20,850 --> 00:42:26,490 And I know for me, a lot of times I'm acting in, like the Book 914 00:42:26,490 --> 00:42:29,010 of James that says, what kind of faith do you have? 915 00:42:29,010 --> 00:42:31,330 Do you have the type of faith that says, I believe, but I don't 916 00:42:31,330 --> 00:42:31,890 do anything? 917 00:42:32,050 --> 00:42:34,770 Or do I have the type of faith that says, I believe and I'm acting 918 00:42:35,410 --> 00:42:35,690 now? 919 00:42:35,690 --> 00:42:36,810 The acting doesn't save us. 920 00:42:36,810 --> 00:42:37,930 The acting is not faith. 921 00:42:37,930 --> 00:42:41,330 Faith is what's happening in our heart, but the actions are reproving 922 00:42:41,650 --> 00:42:43,170 what's already in our hearts. 923 00:42:43,970 --> 00:42:46,770 So how many of us are willing to say, lord, I'm wanting to fight 924 00:42:46,770 --> 00:42:47,490 this giant. 925 00:42:48,230 --> 00:42:49,750 I'm willing to fight this giant. 926 00:42:50,070 --> 00:42:52,950 I'm willing to have courage and confidence and conviction in 927 00:42:52,950 --> 00:42:57,030 you and not to cower in fear and compromise in my Christian walk. 928 00:42:57,030 --> 00:43:01,350 Folks, I encourage you here this evening to get serious about 929 00:43:03,110 --> 00:43:03,590 faith. 930 00:43:03,830 --> 00:43:06,630 Get serious about the giants in your life. 931 00:43:07,110 --> 00:43:11,350 Because I'm going to tell you, though, God might not deal with us 932 00:43:11,350 --> 00:43:12,790 the same way he dealt with David. 933 00:43:12,790 --> 00:43:16,960 Like God might not give us an opportunity to throw a stone at a 934 00:43:16,960 --> 00:43:20,760 giant and knock him out, but what God does do is what Philippians 935 00:43:20,760 --> 00:43:22,160 chapter 4, verse 13 says. 936 00:43:23,280 --> 00:43:25,800 And most of you know Philippians 4:13, you could quote 937 00:43:25,800 --> 00:43:29,080 it, but I'm going to say it's probably one of the most misquoted 938 00:43:29,080 --> 00:43:33,680 passages of all the Scriptures says, I can do all things through 939 00:43:33,680 --> 00:43:36,080 Christ, which strengtheneth me. 940 00:43:36,720 --> 00:43:39,320 And often people think that means I can do whatever I want and 941 00:43:39,320 --> 00:43:41,440 God's going to give me the power to do whatever I want. 942 00:43:41,770 --> 00:43:43,690 That's not what that verse is talking about. 943 00:43:43,690 --> 00:43:47,610 That verse is saying, if God brings me to something in my life, 944 00:43:48,010 --> 00:43:51,850 whether good or difficult, he's going to give Me the strength 945 00:43:51,850 --> 00:43:52,810 to get through it. 946 00:43:53,690 --> 00:43:56,650 And that's the Context of Philippians 4:13. 947 00:43:57,529 --> 00:44:01,290 So though God might remove something from you, there's also 948 00:44:01,530 --> 00:44:05,690 instances in Scripture where Paul calls out to God and says, lord, 949 00:44:05,690 --> 00:44:08,010 take this thorn from me. 950 00:44:08,010 --> 00:44:11,600 And God says, no, it's not time for that right now, because 951 00:44:11,600 --> 00:44:12,800 I'm teaching you a lesson. 952 00:44:13,600 --> 00:44:20,440 And so some people will teach that if you have enough faith in 953 00:44:20,440 --> 00:44:23,040 God, you won't have any problems. 954 00:44:23,920 --> 00:44:27,440 God will answer every prayer that you have in the affirmative. 955 00:44:27,920 --> 00:44:29,360 But that's not biblical. 956 00:44:30,400 --> 00:44:31,200 We know that. 957 00:44:31,520 --> 00:44:31,880 We. 958 00:44:31,880 --> 00:44:36,850 We know that even Jesus in the dynamic of him in his relationship 959 00:44:36,850 --> 00:44:40,450 with the Father as he's in the garden of Gethsemane. 960 00:44:41,170 --> 00:44:43,890 And by the way, the word Gethsemane means to be in the press, 961 00:44:44,610 --> 00:44:46,690 to have stress upon you. 962 00:44:46,930 --> 00:44:50,530 Jesus was feeling all the stress of going to the cross in his 963 00:44:50,530 --> 00:44:51,170 humanity. 964 00:44:51,570 --> 00:44:53,010 And if you remember his prayer. 965 00:44:53,010 --> 00:44:53,970 What was his prayer? 966 00:44:54,290 --> 00:44:59,570 If there's any other way, Lord, let this cup pass from me. 967 00:44:59,650 --> 00:45:02,290 But then he says, nevertheless, thy will be done. 968 00:45:03,880 --> 00:45:09,240 And so God the Father responds to Jesus the Son by saying, it is 969 00:45:09,240 --> 00:45:13,720 my will that you go and take of this cup for the glory of My name 970 00:45:13,720 --> 00:45:15,960 and for the salvation of my creation. 971 00:45:16,760 --> 00:45:21,400 So sometimes it is God's will for us to take the cup, but it is 972 00:45:21,400 --> 00:45:22,600 for his purpose. 973 00:45:22,760 --> 00:45:25,560 And we know Romans 8:28. 974 00:45:25,960 --> 00:45:29,730 All things work together for good to them that love God, to them 975 00:45:29,730 --> 00:45:32,010 who are the called according to his purpose. 976 00:45:32,810 --> 00:45:35,130 You say, pastor, make that make sense for me. 977 00:45:35,370 --> 00:45:38,090 How did this problem work together for his good? 978 00:45:38,330 --> 00:45:42,410 I am not qualified that it's beyond my pay grade to give you all 979 00:45:42,410 --> 00:45:43,050 those answers. 980 00:45:43,050 --> 00:45:46,250 But all I know is that I trust in my Lord and I trust in His Word 981 00:45:46,490 --> 00:45:49,730 that all things are working together for good and will work together 982 00:45:49,730 --> 00:45:51,210 for good in the glory of God. 983 00:45:51,210 --> 00:45:53,130 And one day God will make all things right. 984 00:45:54,010 --> 00:45:55,530 And I want to be on his side. 985 00:45:55,810 --> 00:45:57,210 I don't want to be on the Goliath side. 986 00:45:57,210 --> 00:45:58,850 I don't want to be on the Philistine side. 987 00:45:58,930 --> 00:46:00,330 I don't want to be on Saul's side. 988 00:46:00,330 --> 00:46:02,970 I want to be on the side of David and the Lord to say, you know 989 00:46:02,970 --> 00:46:03,130 what? 990 00:46:03,130 --> 00:46:04,370 I want to be on that team. 991 00:46:04,770 --> 00:46:06,170 And I think that's all of us. 992 00:46:06,170 --> 00:46:07,730 I think we all want to be on that side. 993 00:46:07,730 --> 00:46:11,010 But sometimes there is that challenge of overcoming those human 994 00:46:11,650 --> 00:46:13,810 hesitancies of trusting in the Lord. 995 00:46:14,210 --> 00:46:15,530 And so I want to stop there. 996 00:46:15,530 --> 00:46:16,730 I could talk about that all night. 997 00:46:16,730 --> 00:46:19,170 We're going to pause, and we're going to come back next week. 998 00:46:19,170 --> 00:46:22,450 And we're going to talk about that culmination of the victory because 999 00:46:23,650 --> 00:46:26,130 oftentimes we're willing to take that first step. 1000 00:46:27,090 --> 00:46:30,330 But the Bible says, don't grow weary and well doing for induced 1001 00:46:30,330 --> 00:46:34,850 season, you shall reap if you faint, not meaning keep up, keep 1002 00:46:34,850 --> 00:46:37,170 going, stand strong, continue. 1003 00:46:38,290 --> 00:46:39,970 And that's what we'll talk about next week.