David's Duel with Goliath, Part 2

Father, we thank you for tonight, a chance to be in your Word. Lord, you are so good to give us the past history of Israel, that we might learn the truths that you tried to teach that nation, and pray that we'd apply them to our lives this day, as we seek to understand your will for us, in Jesus' name. Amen. 1 Samuel chapter 17, David's duel with Goliath, part two. The plan is to finish it this evening, and then to move on to chapter 18. And the plan is to take a chapter a week. That's the plan. It doesn't always work out that way, but you know, what can I say?

But that's what we want to do with the historical narrative there of the life of David. We're in 1 Samuel chapter 17. I won't read to you the whole chapter like we did last week, because we're going to pick it up from where we left off. We began last week by looking at number one, the conflict that Israel faced.

And the conflict that Israel faced began with the armies of Goliath. It just wasn't Goliath they were facing. It was the armies of Goliath, the Philistines. And with that came his armor, came his appearance, and his attitude. His one of defiance. His one of deceitfulness. And that's what they faced. And so we move from there to point number two, which was the circumstances that brought David into focus.

What was it that brought David to the forefront? First one had to do with the inability of Israel to fight because of their fear.

And the second thing had to do with the instructions that Jesse, his father, gave to him to take food to his brothers there on the field.

And that's how David came into play during this whole battle with Goliath and the Philistines. The third thing we noticed was the cause of Israel's fear.

It was in two categories. One was because of their sin, because whenever there's fear, there's sin at the root of that fear. And sin was there because they wanted to do things their way. Israel has always been known for wanting to do things their way, not God's way. They wanted a king like all the world had, and they got a king. And once they got that king, they led that king in the wrong way, and they followed that king in his way. It was a kind of a cyclical kind of thing. But their sin, and their sin led to their sight, which was another aspect of their fear.

They saw the giants, and they didn't see God. They saw Goliath, but weren't able to see God. It was their sight. It was their perception. It was marred because of their sin. That was the cause of Israel's fear. We talked about that last week. Number four, we looked at the criticism that David found. David found criticism. He went to find his brothers. He got there, and the first thing he found was criticism from Eliab, his oldest brother.

It was because, as Eliab said, he was unwise in coming at such a young age. He was looking for an opportunity to make himself known. Eliab confronted him on the fact that it seemed as though he was filled with wickedness. And so he faced this conflict from his own brother. And we told you that when you go to serve the Lord and honor the Lord, you're always going to face conflict. It will come from those who are closest to you, by and large. Those closest to you will begin to criticize and to speak against you.

And his brother tried to discourage him and discount him. And then the next criticism they faced was from Saul himself, because Saul confronted him by the fact that he was too young to be able to be involved in this battle. So we saw that David faced criticism. And usually, and not usually, but always, when you serve the Lord, you will face all kinds of criticism. And then we left off in point number five, the confidence which David felt. This is where we left off last week. So we'll pick it up right here.

That's in verse number 31. It says this, when the words which David spoke were heard, they told them to Saul, and he sent for him. And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail on account of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine. Then Saul said to David, You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, while he has been a warrior from his youth. But David said to Saul, Your servant was thinning his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I went out after him and attacked him and rescued it from his mouth.

And when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God. And David said, The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, he also, or he will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go and may the Lord be with you. Then Saul clothed David with his garments and put a bronze helmet on his head, and he clothed him with armor.

And David girded his sword over his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. So David said to Saul, I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them. And David took them off. He took a stick in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the shepherd's bag, which he had even in his pouch. And a sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine. The confidence that David felt falls into three categories. What was this? He saw, his confidence is seen in his acceptance of the challenge.

He accepted the challenge. No one else accepted it. No one else was willing to go. The king, the leader, he was unwilling to go. He prayed that someone would stand. So for 40 days, as this taunting went on, no one stepped forth. David shows up on the scene, and the first thing he does is accept the challenge with the giant.

He says, your servant will go and fight. And all throughout the story, it's about David the servant. Because if you're going to fight for the Lord God, you must learn to be a servant of the Lord God. And David was a servant. He accepted the challenge. He was the courageous young man. He was willing to go. You know, for the most part, we're just not willing to do anything for the Lord. We're not willing to step out in faith and do what God has asked us to do. David wasn't particularly asked by anybody to go fight the giant, but he was willing to go.

He was at the disposal of the Lord to be used, and when the opportunity arose, he accepted the challenge. His confidence is seen in his assurance of God's power. The Lord will deliver me. The Lord will deliver me. He delivered me before, for the paw of the bear, for the paw of the lion. He'll deliver me from this uncircumcised Philistine. He believed in the power of God, and he believed that God would take care of him no matter what. He had seen God work in his private life, knowing that God would cause him to triumph in his public life.

He believed in the power of God to deliver him. Now, it's important to note that, you know, so many times you got to realize that in the small things you must be faithful, that you might be able to accomplish greater things in a public arena. I mean, you can't just say, I want to be a preacher and just step in and start preaching. You start teaching Sunday school first, right?

And you work your way up, being faithful in the little things, being faithful with the twos and threes, being faithful with the fours and fives, being faithful with those junior high, being faithful with those in senior high, and then the Lord will continue to move you, but you got to be faithful in the little things. God told Jeremiah in Jeremiah 12 5, if you can't run with with footmen, how will you ever be able to run with with horses? You got to be able to do it in the little arena in order to do it in the big arena.

David did it in the little arena. He did it in the backside of Bethlehem. He did it with the bear and the lion. They were nothing, but God delivered him as compared to Goliath in the battle he would face in front of thousands of people. But he was, he was willing to accept the challenge and his assurance was in God's power for the Lord had delivered him and it was seen in his attitude towards Saul's armor. It was seen in his attitude towards Saul's armor. He had confidence in what God had used him to do in the past.

He wasn't able to wear the armor. I mean, this is what Saul had to give him. Saul couldn't give him anything else but his own fleshly armor because Saul wasn't looking to God. He wasn't, he didn't even offer a prayer up for, for, for David. He just said, here, take my armor. Use this. Maybe this will protect you. Well, David can't even, can't even walk with that armor on. Remember, Saul was heads and, heads and shoulders above everybody in Israel and David was still a young boy in his late teens and he wasn't able to do that.

But he did do what he's always done. He went and he took five smooth stones, not six, not ten, not a whole basket full, just in case he missed, he took five. I think that's important. I think it's crucial. Now, all he needed was one because David was a marksman. David didn't miss. He wasn't planning on missing. People say, well, he took five just in case he, in case Goliath ducked, you know? No, it's not coming that fast with a slingshot. Sometimes they say they go up to 120 miles an hour, you know, with, with the slingshots they use and how they whip those babies around and, and so I'm not so sure Goliath would be fast enough, as big as he was, to be able to duck and be missed.

So he took five. Why? Because simply Goliath had four brothers. Now, how do we know that? Well, those of you who are students of the Word know about 2 Samuel chapter 21. So if you got your Bible, turn there with me, if you would, please, and I'll give you the names of the four brothers. 2 Samuel chapter 21. Verse number 15. Now, when the Philistines were at war again with Israel, you notice that Philistines are always at war with Israel.

That's why it says they're at war again with Israel. It says, David went down in his service with him. As he fought against the Philistines, David became weary. Then Ish-bibbonab, who was among the descendants of the giant, the giant, definite article, the weight of whose spear was 300 shekels of bronze, which is about 10 pounds, was girded with the new sword. He intended to kill David. But Abishai, the son of Zariah, helped him instruct the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, You shall not go out again with us to battle, that you may not extinguish the lamp of Israel.

Brother number one, Ish-bibbonab. That's number one. Verse 18. Now, it came about after this, there was war again with the Philistines at Gob. Then Sebekai, the Hushethite, struck down Saph, brother number two, who was among the descendants of definite article, the giant.

And there was war with the Philistines again at Gob. And Elhanan, the son of Yare-orgim, the Bethlehemite, killed Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. Goliath the Gittite. Was that his name? No. First Chronicles chapter 20 gives us his name.

Verse number five. It says, And there was war with the Philistines again. And Elhanan, the son of Yare-orgim, killed Lami, the brother of Goliath the Gittite. So his name is Lami. You have Lami, Saph, Ish-bibbonab. And then, it says in verse 20, And there was war at Gath again, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. Twenty-four in number. And he also had been born to the giant. And when he defied Israel, Jonathan, the son of Shammi, David's brother, struck him down.

These four were born, or better translation, were the brothers of the giant in Gath. And they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants. There you go. So, well, what's the fourth guy's name? Well, he had six fingers on each hand. He had six toes on each feet. Numbering how many? Twenty-four. Jack Bauer was his name. No, see? That's a bad joke, because Jack Bauer is only about five, six. But anyway, I don't know his name, but he didn't have to have a name because he was kind of abnormal, right?

He was the giant with the six fingers and the six toes. That's what he was called. But those are the four brothers of Goliath. That's why David took five stones. Not one, not ten, not twenty, five. Goliath had four brothers. All needed to be killed. Would not be killed till later in the ministry of David, but eventually all were killed. And David was a man who, when he saw the challenge, accepted the challenge. I'm wondering how many of us, when the challenge arises, are willing to step out in confidence and accept the challenge.

Let me tell you something. Every day there's a challenge that comes your way. There's a challenge every single day you have to face. And some of us back away from those challenges. They're too big, too hard, too much time. But to be able to accept the challenge and trust God and his power with the assurance of what he's done in the past and to step out and do what God's called you to do as a person in his kingdom is the greatest opportunity you can possess. And we have to learn to accept those challenges.

But let's move on. Let's move on to our next point. Point number six, I believe it is. And that is the courage that David featured in verses 41 down through verse number 49, okay? 41 down through verse number 49. It says this, then the Philistine came on and approached David with the shield bearer in front of him. Why did he need a shield bearer? I'm gonna think about that. A shield bearer, really? I mean the guy's nine foot nine. And how big is this shield this guy's got to carry? The shield bearer goes to the front of him.

And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him. Remember now, it was it was Eliab who discounted him. It was Saul who tried to discourage him and it was the giant Goliath who disdained him. This is the conflict that David faced. For he was but a youth and ruddy with a handsome appearance. And the Philistine said to David, am I a dog that you come to me with sticks? The Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine also said to David, come to me and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field.

Then David said to the Philistine, you come to me with a sword, a spear, a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have taunted. This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands and I will strike you down. And remove your head from you and I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines to stay to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear.

For the battle is the Lord's and he will give you into our hands. Then it happened when the Philistine rose and came and drew near to meet David, that David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. David put his hand into his bag and took from it a stone, slung it, struck the Philistine on his forehead, and the stone sank into his forehead so that he fell on his face to the ground. The courage that David featured. Notice this, he stood alone.

Because he stood alone, he had to stand apart. Because he stood apart, he stood above everybody else. Unless you learn to stand alone, you'll never be able to stand apart and you'll never stand above anybody. David stood alone. No one stood with him. No one encouraged him. No one said, David, you're the guy, go do it. I know what Saul said, but Saul's, you know, his encouragement was like, I don't believe he thought David would even live. And this man, he stood all alone, but he stood with his God.

And when he stood alone, he stood apart from the armies of Israel. And when he went to battle, he would stand head and shoulders above everybody, including his enemy, who was nine foot nine or nine foot six or some even say is upwards of 11 feet, who knows. But big is big and he was big. But David stood above him. He stood above everybody. Because he was willing to stand alone. And that's what he did. The courage that he featured. Number one, he glorified the name of the Lord.

He glorified the name of the Lord. I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts. Remember Proverbs chapter 18 verse number 10? The name of the Lord is a strong tower and the righteous run to it and are safe. I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the Lord of armies of Israel. And his, his whole courage was based on the fact that he glorified the name of God and then he magnified or amplified, I'm sorry, the knowledge of God. He amplified the knowledge of God. Listen, everybody's gonna know about my God.

Because of what he is gonna do on this day. Not what I'm gonna do, but what he is going to do. All the earth will know and all this assembly will know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear for the battle is the Lord's. He magnified the power of God. He glorified the name of God. He amplified the knowledge of God and he glorified the power of God. This is the Lord's battle and he will win his battle. And lastly, the conquest of David's faith. Verse 50. Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling of stone.

He struck the Philistine and killed him but there was no sword in David's hand. Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took a sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. And the men of Israel and Judah arose and shattered and pursued the Philistines as far as the valley and to the gates of Ekron. And the slain Philistines lay along the way to Shahrim, even to Gath and Ekron. And the sons of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines and plundered their camps.

Then David took the Philistines head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his weapons in his tent. Now when Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Admir, the commander of the army, Admir, whose son is this young man? And Admir said, by your life, O king, I do not know. And the king said, you inquire whose son this youth is. So when David returned from killing the Philistine, Admir took him and brought him before Saul with the Philistine's head in his hand. And Saul said to him, whose son are you, young man?

And David answered, I am the son of your servant, Jesse the Bethlehemite. Can you imagine standing there with Goliath's head in your hand? Man, David's a stud, man. I tell you, there he is, he's got the head of the giant in his hand, you know. But this man, his conquest was all by faith. And listen what it did. Number one, it exhibited the power of God through one man's life.

One man's life committed to God, who stood alone, which caused him to stand apart, enabled him to stand above everybody else because of his faith in the living God. And then he encouraged the men of Israel. Everybody stood and cheered. They now had the power. They now had the the inspiration to go to battle, to go after the Philistines because David, the young boy, had led the way because he stood above everybody else. Now they had a leader. See, Saul didn't stand above anybody. Oh, yeah, he was physically bigger than everybody else, but he couldn't stand above anybody because his character had depleted.

But David, he stood above. Now they had a leader. Now they had someone they could look to. Now they had someone who could lead them in the battle. They followed him. He encouraged them. And then it established David's relationship with Saul. At this point, it would be good. Next week, it will be bad. But for a brief moment, it was good. And the question comes, why does he wonder who this this young boy is? Didn't he come in and play the harp? Didn't he come in and be his armor-bearer? You know, when sin fills your life like it did with Saul, you forget quickly all that God is doing.

And Saul had forgotten that he was a son of Jesse, the Bethlehemite. Abner should have known who he was. He was the captain of the army of Israel, but he didn't know. Saul certainly should have known who he was and and how it was this boy came to play the harp for him when the evil spirit terrorized his soul. And you'd think that that Saul would know, but he didn't. And it reminds me of the church. You know, we there's so many things in the Bible we should know, we just don't know. We know about who the greatest pop artists are, and we know who the greatest athletes are, and we know what the number one TV shows are, but we don't know much about the Bible, do we?

And Saul, when it came to spiritual things, didn't know much. Should know a lot more than he did. And yes, he had to be able to give David's family the tax write-off because they'd be free from the taxes. He'd have to be able to know who David was so that he could give his daughter Michael to him, which is another story for another day down the road, which wasn't really a good bride to have, but she was a bride nonetheless, and so we'll look at that.

But the bottom line is, and here was David, and this man with the Goliath's head in his hand said, I am the son of Jesse, your servant the Bethlehemite. The story ends right there. But it doesn't end for us because there's some conclusions that are for the faithful that come from the story. There are ten of them. I'm gonna give them all to you tonight, Lord willing. Ten things that will help you understand how to face your enemy, listen carefully, and always win. You know, I like to win. You know, when I played sports, I didn't play to compete.

I played to win, right? And so, yeah, I like to win. You know, part of being a Christian is that you're always on the winning side, right? Because the Lord always wins. But how is it, in a practical, daily living, we gain the victory over maybe a sinful habit? Maybe that's the giant you face every day. It's some kind of sinful habit that you just can't seem to get a handle on, to gain victory over, but you need to gain victory over it. You can't do it. What is it that stands in your way that keeps you from being what God wants you to be?

How do you gain the victory over those things? Let me give you some principles from the story that will hopefully give you the encouragement you need and cause you to always gain the victory.

This is really, in my mind, extremely important. It all begins in chapter 17, verse number 7, and verse number 8, with the words of Goliath. So this is verse number 8, And he stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel and said to them, Why do you come up to draw up in battle array? Am I not the Philistine? And you servants of Saul, choose a man. Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down. Saul wasn't that man. Saul couldn't be that man because Saul had been abandoned by God. The Spirit of God had been removed from Saul.

He was terrorized by an evil spirit. Saul was unable to be that man. Goliath taunts him, choose a man. Give me one man, just one man that will stand toe-to-toe with me. Just give me one man. And in all reality, 2 Chronicles 16, 9, the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the earth, looking for one man whose heart is completely devoted to him, right? It begins with one man, one woman, one individual, just one. And that one individual can lead the way for thousands. David would stand above everybody else and he would lead the nation into battle against the Philistines and they would win.

But there needed to be a man. David was that man. The question comes, are you that man to lead God's people to victory? Well, to do that, you've got to be victorious yourself, right? Are you that man, are you that husband to lead your family into victory? Are you that husband to lead your family into a deeper walk with God? I would trust that you are. Are you that man to lead the place of your employment to a greater understanding of who God is? Are you that man? Are you that woman? Are you the one that can influence the sphere in which you exist, the arena in which God has called you to exist, to lead them to victory?

It can be because God's looking for a man. Even Goliath was looking for just one man, just one. Unfortunately, he got the wrong man that defeated him, killed him. But here it goes, principle number one.

In order to gain the victory, you must be selected by God. You must be selected by God. 1 Samuel chapter 13, verse number 14, says it this way. 1 Samuel 13, verse number 14. It says, these words, Now your kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought out for himself a man after his own heart. And the Lord has appointed him as a ruler over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you. David was selected by God. David then was anointed by Samuel. David had to believe that God had chosen him.

He was selected specifically for that ministry, for that kingship of Israel. One of the greatest motivations in life is for us to believe that God has chosen us to do a great and mighty task. Wherever it may be. Well, you go to school. God's chosen you to go to that school. You know for certain this is what God wants you to be. That's where it all begins. If you know for certain that's where God wants you to be, then that begins the process of standing alone, to stand apart, to stand above. You've got to believe that in the family you live, that's what that's the family God's given to you.

And that in that family you will lead the way. God has selected you to be the leader of that family, to be involved in that family, to lead them. Your church ministry, God has selected you for that position, that ministry, that opportunity. God doesn't make mistakes. He puts people in positions of ministry to be used for him. David was selected by God. You can go over to Psalm 89 and in verse number 20 says the same thing. Psalm 89 verse number 20 says, I have found David my servant with my holy oil I have anointed him.

He was selected specifically by God. Listen, God's timing is always perfect. Psalm 1830, as for God his way is perfect. God's timing is perfect. If God's timing is perfect, God's training is precious. If God's training is precious, God's truth is powerful. And the truth of God is that which trains you for the timing of God to be complete in your life. And that's exactly what happened in the life of David. David was selected by God. He was chosen by God. He was appointed by God. When you know that God has placed you where you are today, you can do anything that God asks you to do.

Because he's going to empower you to do it. Number one, you must be selected by God. Number two, you must be sanctified by the Spirit of God.

You must be sanctified by the Spirit of God. To be sanctified means to be made holy, to be made set apart, and it's God's Spirit that does that. That's exactly what happened with David. Why? Because the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and we know that the Spirit of the Lord came upon David, 1 Samuel 16, in a powerful way, in a mighty way, right? And the Spirit of God was that which set him apart for the master's use. Same is true for your life. When you become a Christian, guess what? You are indwelt by the Spirit of God.

And we need to walk in the Spirit. We need to be controlled by the Spirit. We need to be dominated by the Spirit of God in our lives. Listen, if God has selected you and you are set apart by His Spirit, sanctified, useful to the master, you could do anything God asks you to do, no matter what it is. But you got to be selected by God. You got to know for certain that you're born again, and the place He has you is a place He wants you to be, without a doubt, because you've prayed about it, you've sought His will, you know for certain that He has put you there, and then you need to be sanctified by the Spirit of God.

You need to be under the domination of the Spirit of God. It was true of our Lord, our Lord, when He was anointed by the Spirit of God at His baptism. And that Spirit of God drove Him into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil for 40 days, and that Spirit of God was upon Him all throughout His ministry, and that Spirit enabled Him to accomplish everything that God had for His Son. And the same is true for you and me. We don't do anything without the Spirit. Nothing. Without the Spirit of God indwelling us and empowering us, we can't accomplish anything.

We can't do it in our own flesh. We can't do it by our own might. We can't do it by our own prowess. We can't do it by our own intellect. We can't do it that way. We try to though, but we can't. That's why you can't, you can't convince anybody to become a Christian. You can't, you can't get your wife to submit to you. You can't get your husband to lead you. You can't, you can't do it. It's got to be the Spirit of God energizing that individual, and the Spirit of God convicting them and moving them in the right direction.

Well, if we're going to gain any victory, it comes because we've been selected by God. For a specific task, for His glory and for His honor. And if God selects you, He will give you His Spirit. And you must be set apart by that Spirit, sanctified, made holy by the Spirit's use, because the holiness of David was of God. He was a holy man of God. And the holier you are, the greater impact you will make. The more set apart you are by God, and for His purposes, being sanctified by the Spirit of God, you then become more useful to a God who is holy and pure and true.

God wants to use clean, pure vessels. That was David. He was clean. He was pure. So you're selected by God, you're sanctified by the Spirit of God, and number three, you're submissive to the authority of God.

This is so crucial. You are submissive to the authority of God. This takes us back to 1 Samuel chapter 17, when David's father came to him. Remember, he was back at Bethlehem, and in verse 17, Jesse said to David, his son, take now for your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves, and run to the camp of your brothers. Go feed your brothers. You see, David could have said, you know what? I'm not doing that. Are you kidding me? I should be in battle. I'm not a food carrier. I'm not a delivery boy.

I'm not an errand boy. I'm not going to do that. Send the older brothers, one of the other four that are at home. The other three were at war, five were at home. Send the other four. I'm not doing that. That's a menial task. I got to take care of the sheep on the backside of Bethlehem. I don't have time for that. But he ran. He did exactly what his father said. He was submissive to the authority of God in his life. His father was his authority figure. And, you know, he went back to Bethlehem. He submitted to the authority of the king.

The king didn't need him anymore to play his harp. So he sent him back to Bethlehem. He could have said, I'm not going back to Bethlehem. I'm the next king of Israel. I'm going to learn the ropes here in the palace. I'm not going back to the pastor. I'm staying right here. You can't tell me what to do. I've been anointed king of Israel. Spirit of God's left you. It's on me now.

I'm the new king. That wasn't his attitude. He was very submissive to authority. Listen, the greatest thing, the greatest lesson you're going to learn as a student, as a child in your home, is how to submit to your parental authority. You don't learn that. When you get out of your home, you're going to have a hard time getting a job, and maintaining a job, and being respected at that job. Because all through life, you have authority you've got to submit to. Learn it while you can. Because when you get out, there's always somebody telling you what to do, right?

You go to work, they're going to tell you what to do. You're going to get married, what's your wife going to do? She's going to tell you what to do, right? That's just the way it is. There's always somebody telling you what to do. And so you've got to learn to submit to authority while you're young, as you're growing up, to even learn that lesson. He was submissive to authority. You didn't learn to submit to the authority of the Word of the Lord, right? The Bible says over in the book of Proverbs chapter 28, verse number 9, these words, Proverbs 28, verse number 9.

It says this, he who turns away his ear from listening to the law, even his prayer is an abomination. See, if you turn your ear away from submitting to the law of God, I'm not listening to that. I don't want to hear that. That doesn't apply to me. I don't want that in my life. Even your prayer is an abomination. Because you refuse to submit to the authority of the truth of God in your life. Remember what it says back in Acts chapter 13, verse number 22? This is so beautiful. Paul is speaking. He says in verse number 22, And after he had removed him, that is Saul, he raised up David to be their king, concerning whom he also testified and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all my will.

I got somebody who will submit to my authority. Saul didn't. Saul did his own thing. But I found somebody who's going to do my will. That's my king. See? If I'm going to gain victory over my enemy, if I'm going to eliminate my enemy, if I'm going to gain victory over my giant, whatever it may be, I've got to submit totally to the authority of God in my life. If his word says something, I do it because God said it. If God has placed somebody over me and they're giving me direction, I submit. Remember what Hebrews 13 says?

Hebrews 13, 17, Obey your leaders, submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this will be unprofitable for you. Not for them. You got leaders in the church, and they're trying to give you direction, and you refuse to submit to them. Guess what? If you don't submit to them, they're going to have grief, but it's going to be unprofitable, not for them, but for you. Unprofitable for you. Why is it unprofitable?

Because you refuse to submit to the God-given authority in your life at that time. Learning to submit is so crucial to everything you do in life. We want to be the best. We want to be top dog. We want to be, you know, way above everybody else. We want everybody to submit to us. We don't want to submit to anybody else. And God says, you know what?

Just submit to the authority over you. Look at My Word, what it says. Just do it. What I say, just do it. And I'm going to give you kings. I'm going to give you leaders. I'm going to give you elders. I'm going to give you pastors. I'm going to give you parents. Just honor them. Listen to what they say. Follow them, and it will go well with you. Selected by God. Sanctified by the Spirit of God. And then submissive to the authority of God. Number four. If you are going to gain victory over whatever giant is in your life, whatever it may define, be it's a person, maybe it's a sin, maybe it's a problem, whatever it may be, having been selected by God, sanctified by the Spirit of God, submissive to the authority of God, you will be scorned by the people of God.

Mark it down. You will be scorned by the people of God, and this point right here will either detract you from your battle, or cause you to continue in your battle. You will be scorned by your brethren. David was. Christ, when He came, He came with His own seed or not, right? There's one man of God in Scripture who was not scorned by those closest to Him. Whether it was Joseph, Moses, David, Christ Himself, the Apostle Paul, you're scorned, you're ridiculed, you're criticized. And how you handle those things, okay, will either lead you on to victory or cause you to fall to defeat at that point.

Don't let the criticism of others, the scorning of those close to you, lead you to go down to defeat. Proverbs chapter 20, verse number two, says this, The terror of a king is like the growling of a lion.

He provokes him to anger, forfeits his own life. That's not the verse I wanted to use. It sounds good though. It's verse number three.

I'm sorry. Sorry. Sometimes I have a hard time reading my own notes. Keeping away from strife is an honor for a man, but any fool will quarrel. Keeping away from strife is an honor for a man. David kept away from strife. He went to battle lines. Eliab began to scorn him. What are you doing here? You're here because you want to see what's going on. You're here because you have a wicked heart. You are here. I don't know why you're here. Why are you here, David? And David could have gotten in an argument with his brother.

But it's the honor of a man not to enter into strife, not to quarrel. It doesn't do you any good. Why battle with this guy when there are true battles out there, right? Goliath's out there taunting the people of Israel and the God of Israel, and you're infighting. You're conflicting with those closest to you. And even with Saul, it wasn't that David was going to sit there and bicker with his brother and try to argue with his brother as to, okay, this will get... No, a fool does that. There is a bigger battle at stake.

And Satan uses these kinds of things to detract you, to steer you away from the ultimate battle, to get you involved in little things that really are petty but can be blown up way out of proportion, and David didn't succumb to that. He just says, you know, what do you ask me this question for? I'm moving on. He moved on. He went to the other brother. Then Saul heard about it. He went to Saul. Saul says, what are you doing here, David? You're just a boy. You're a kid. You can't do this. Oh, I can.

I can. Because your servant will kill. Will kill Goliath. I will do it. I will go to battle, and I will fight the battle. Just sit there and try to argue with Saul. Say, no, I'm a big guy. I can handle this. I'm a big boy. I'm not a little boy. I can make this happen. He left the quarreling on the table. He moved on. He honored his God. He would not be detracted. You see, that happens so many times in our lives. There are little things that pop up that detract us, that can get us into an argument that we don't have no business being involved in.

It's the honor of a man that walks away from that quarrel, that walks away from that strife, because a fool will stay and stand his ground and bicker and bellyache and argue and quarrel with you. But the wise man, he walks away because there's a bigger battle to win. He knows what it is. He will not be sidetracked. And that's the way David was. But mark it down. You will be scorned by those closest to you. It happens. It happens all the time. It could be from those in your own family. It could be your mother.

It could be your father. It could be your husband. It could be your wife. It could be your son. It could be your daughter. It could be a myriad of things. It could be all of them in one. But when you ever set your heart on doing what God wants you to do, Satan doesn't want that to happen. And so he will do everything he can to sidetrack you. The whole conversation with Christ and Caesarea Philippi, when he told the disciples about who the men say that I am, and they told him that he was going to go suffer and die, and Peter came and wanted to argue with him.

That's not what you're here for. You're the Messiah, the King of Israel. You're not going to suffer and die. I don't want to hear anything like that out of your mouth again, Jesus, because you're the King of Israel. And what did Jesus say? Get thee behind me, Satan. Because even those closest to you, even those well-intentioned people who are closest to you, can be used by Satan to sidetrack you from the mission that God has for you. You can't let that happen. You'll be scorned by your brethren, those closest to you.

Here's another one, number five. The lesson you learn from the story of David and Goliath is that you must be stimulated by past experiences. David was. There was something that stimulated him, that moved him, that inspired him. He was stimulated by the fact that, you know, I killed the lion, I killed the bear, and the Lord delivered me. The Lord delivered me. And if the Lord delivered me then, guess what? He's going to deliver me now.

See, what took place in the past, okay, enabled him to accomplish what God called for him to do in the present. We believe in the God of history, right? We look back and read the Bible and we can see what God did in the days of Israel. We can go back, even modern times, go back and read the life of Spurgeon and Moody and Zwingli and all those great men of God that God used. And we can, we know about the God of history. We even know about the God of prophecy, right? We can read the book of Revelation.

We know how it's all going to end. We know that Jesus is the victor. We know he's going to come back on a white horse. He's going to rule and reign forever there in the city of David and rule over Jerusalem. And he's going to be the king of Israel. We know the God of prophecy and we believe in the God of prophecy. We believe that what happens in Revelation, God's going to do. We believe that. We understand that. We get that. And we believe that what he did in the past, he was so faithful with doing and we rehearse the past.

But for some reason, we have a hard time that God is that way in the present, don't we? Why is that? Why is that? Why is it we find ourselves in the midst of a battle with a giant that's way beyond anything we can ever imagine. And we just don't think the God of history and the God of prophecy is going to come to my present reality. He's not going to show up. It's not going to be there. But he is. And David was stimulated by past experiences. That's why in first Samuel chapter 18 or 17, excuse me, it says verse 64, then David took the Philistine's head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his weapons in his tent.

Why'd he do that? Because he was going to cherish those trophies. They were a stimulant for the future. They would be something that proved the power and faithfulness of God in his life. God did this. And I'm going to keep this as a treasured trophy to what my God did. So that when I get into the future and I have another battle, I can look back at it and say, yeah, God did it before. He'll do it again. There's nothing wrong with that. You're not glorifying the trophies. You're not honoring the trophies.

You're just using them as lessons to be learned. You know, God stood at memorials, right? He stood at memorials. He told Israel to set up memorial stones, right? So that they wouldn't forget what God did. You can't forget, but we tend to forget. And because we forget the past, we fail in the present. And David would go back and rehearse for Saul. The Lord delivered me from the paw of the lion. The Lord delivered me from the paw of the bear. I mean, the Lord did that. He can do this too. He was stimulated by his past.

By past experiences where he saw God at work, he was excited about the present and what God was going to do. This is good stuff. See, and so maybe you were going through a time and there was a time of financial distress and all of a sudden the Lord brought money in a unique and fabulous kind of way. And you deposit that check and you keep a copy of that check someplace to say God did this when I was at my lowest point. I'm going to keep the copy of this check. I'm going to keep this always with me because I know that God will provide all my needs because he did in the past.

He'll do it in the present. Because I know he's going to do it in the future. But I need him right now.

And there's nothing wrong with holding on to those things and saying, you know what God, you are so faithful. You are so true. You are so good to me. You sit in a building at night. This building is a treasure to the trophies of God. You sit in a building that God gave us. That God literally dropped in our lap one day when we were looking for a building. Five years, no building, no facility to meet in. And God dropped this building in our lap. You're sitting, you come every Wednesday, every Sunday, whatever else you come throughout the week.

You come to one of those past experiences as to the faithfulness of God that allows you to trust him into the future. Because of what he did. See? That's just so good to be able to do that. And so whatever it would be for you, and I don't know what it is for your life, but you know, whenever God does something, you need to somehow keep some memento from that that will allow you to look back at that past experience and say, boy, look what God did. Look what God did. We keep pictures about the past, right?

To look back on the way things used to be, right? But there are certain things that God does that we can treasure. And why do they put Goliath's head in Jerusalem? So everybody who came to Jerusalem would know that the God of Israel defeats the giants who come against his people. See, it was a memorial. And David takes a sword, takes the armor, puts it in his tent, you know? And there, you know, just to get the picture. I think that the picture in the front of our tape album should be David holding the head of Goliath with blood just dripping down from there.

That'd be just so cool, you know? Here he is. There he is. I'm the son of Jesse, your servant of Bethlehemite. That's who I am, you know? And holding that trophy right there because it was something that would remind him and all of Israel that God can defeat whatever giant you face. See? And so many people can't in the present can't in the present have the in the present have the presence to know that God will work. He is the God of history. He is the God of prophecy. But he truly is the God of your present reality.

And you must trust him to accomplish those things. And so if we're going to gain victory over the enemy, it simply comes because, number one, we've been selected by God.

We've been chosen by God. We've been appointed by God. He has selected you. And you know what? Wherever God selects you to do something, he didn't select anybody else to do that. Just you. And if that doesn't encourage you to fight the battle in that present arena, then I don't know what will. God puts you there. He puts you there. He puts you in that family. He puts you in that job. Okay? He puts you on that team. He puts you in that musical group. He puts you there. So whatever battle you face, you can overcome it because God has put you there for this very occasion.

His timing's perfect, right? He's trained you to be there in his own way to put you in that unique place. And so you are selected by God. Having been sanctified by the Spirit of God, been made holy by God's Spirit, set apart for his purposes that you might represent a holy God in a holy way, you then submit to the authority of God in your life, whatever it may be. Because God is in charge. He is the ruler and you want to submit to his authority. And this becomes one of the greatest lessons you'll ever learn in life.

Learning to submit to authority. Why? Because one day you will be a man in authority. You will be a woman in a place of authority. And guess what? People will follow you as you followed authority in the past. If you have a hard time getting people to follow you, ask yourself this question. How is it I didn't follow the authority of God in my life in the past? Because I've come to realize over over 32 years of pastoral ministry that what happens in people's lives is that they have a hard time getting others to follow them because they were hard people to follow the authority in their life.

They wouldn't do it. They bucked against it. They fought against it. They just would not submit. And so you submit to authority. David is that perfect example of a man who was humble, seeking the the glory of the Lord, honoring God in his life, wanting God to be put on display. And then fourthly, you will be scorned by those closest to you. And you can't let this attract you. You can't. Why? Knowing God's called you, knowing that you've been purposing your heart to be set apart by the Spirit of God for use in the kingdom of God, for the holy purposes of God, and willing to submit to whatever God says, people will ridicule, scorn, and criticize your submission.

Your sanctification. And your selection. They will. They did it with everybody in scripture. They'll do it with you. And you can't let that detract you. You must stay your course. You must be committed to doing what God's called you to do because many people fall by the wayside right here because they can't get past the criticism. They can't get past the scorning. They can't get past the ridicule. And they fall right there. And I say to you who do that, if you cannot run with footmen, you will not run with horses because that's what God told Jeremiah.

Jeremiah, if you can't handle this little bit of criticism, in the Hebrew, it says, dude, you can't handle anything hard. You can't. You just can't do it. And you've got to be able to handle the little bit of criticism that comes your way. Because in the broad spectrum of things, it's not that big a deal. It's really not a huge thing. It's just Satan's way of trying to sidetrack you and move you away from what God wants you to do. Don't let it happen. David didn't let it happen. He stood apart. He stood alone.

He stood above everybody else. And then you look at your past events and they stimulate you to the future.

They move you to the future. They inspire you to keep on serving God. That's what God wants for you. That's what God wants for me, and we're not finished. I tried. I really did. I went as fast as my lips would move. And it still wasn't fast enough. I am so sorry. That's okay. David and Goliath part three next week. We'll finish this for you. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you, Lord, for tonight and a chance to study your word. Please encourage us, Lord, for the things that we've learned, the life of David that is so, so unique.

Help us, Lord, to learn to conquer our enemies because of what you have taught us. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Now listen, folks, you're not going to want to miss Sunday. Okay, if you have missed every Sunday up to this point in the new year, you don't want to miss the first Sunday in March.

Okay, or the second Sunday or the third Sunday or the fourth Sunday, but you don't want to miss this Sunday, right?

Because what does it mean when Jesus says, if you come after me and you don't hate your mother and father, your brother and sister, even your own wife, even your own life, you are not worthy to be my disciple.

What literally does that possibly mean? Is the Lord saying that somehow there must be an emotional detachment of anger toward those who are closest to me to be in his kingdom? What does Christ say when he says to you, if you're going to follow me, you must hate those closest to you. What does that mean? We're going to help. We're going to unfold that for you this Sunday to help you be able to see it because it's God's call to salvation. And why is it that when Jesus calls people to salvation, He does it differently than we do?

How is it when Jesus calls people to salvation? He doesn't talk about his identity. He doesn't talk about his deity. He doesn't talk about sinlessness. He doesn't talk about the cross. He doesn't talk about the resurrection. He doesn't talk about the objective facts of the gospel. He always addresses the subjective attitude behind those facts. Why does Jesus always do that? How come he didn't come and say, well, if you're going to follow me, you got to believe I'm God in flesh. You got to believe I'm sinless because I'm God in flesh.

You got to believe that I died for your sins as a substitutionary atonement, rose again the third day, and I'm coming back again.

You got to believe all that. How come Jesus doesn't say that? But he says, you want to follow me? Deny yourself. Take up your cross. Follow me. You want to follow me? Hate your mother. Hate your father. Hate your brother. Hate your sister. Why does God do it that way? You got to come on Sunday to hear it. See you. Go on. Get out of here.