READY FOR THE
BATTLE
The USA Olympic basketball team did not fare so well in this Olympics. Their talents and expertise in the NBA game were neutralized by the experience and talents of the international teams they faced. The David and Goliath contests of the Dream Team back in 1992 are no more…the brand of basketball played is different on the international level and our team did not adjust in time this year.
Years ago I used
to referee basketball games. You run
into some rough customers in city leagues sometimes but as the one with
authority on the court, the referee can normally keep things under control.
When I went off
to seminary, I had not been refereeing as much but an opportunity arose to call
a game down in the inner city in Boston through some Urban Ministry groups
working with high school students. The
two teams playing were from China Town in New York City and from Jamaica Plains
in Boston—an African-American team versus a Chinese team—one team with only a
couple of players under six feet and the other with maybe one player as tall as
six feet.
As I watched the
teams warm up, I figured we were in for a slaughter! But when the game started, I realized that the disciplined,
quick, strong Chinese team was a match for the tall, talented and fast
African-American team. Fundamental
basketball versus street-ball!
Eventually height and skill won out but not without a fight!
Size is not
always the determining factor! David
proved that.
THESIS: God uses the simple and small to accomplish the great and glorious!
I. THE
CHAMPION OF THE ENEMY
--Goliath was the champion of the enemy of God’s people, just
as there are giants in the land who stand against the Lord and His people to
this day.
--But what we learn in this account from David’s life is
that God does not look at the outward strength and appearance—He looks at the
heart and in His champion, David, He saw one who was able to overcome the best
His enemy could throw at Him!
II. The
Champion of the Lord
--But God is never without His own champions!
A. Zealous
for the Honor of God’s Name
--David had come to the scene of the battle straight from
the hills of Bethlehem, his own personal place of sanctuary where all creation
declared the glory and his hours were invested in meditating on the wonder of
God’s majestic splendor.
--For David, God’s name represented holiness… glory…unceasing love…power…majesty and more!
1. It Hurt
Him to Hear God’s Name Slandered
2. It
Angered Him to See God’s People Mocked
B. Focused
on the Restoration of God’s Renown
--David saw that God’s reputation and renown were being
challenged and immediately determined that he could not and would not allow
that to happen!
Jer. 13:11…so I made the whole household of
Israel and the whole household of Judah cling to Me,’ declares the LORD, that
they might be for Me a people, for renown,
for praise, and for glory; but they did not listen.
--David had a zeal for the name of the Lord and was not
about to allow this “uncircumcised Philistine” to dishonor His renown, His fame
as the Most High God.
1. Chose the
Right Battle
--As David became aware of the threat, he first had to deal
with another issue—a petty insult and threat from his brother Eliab.
1 Sam. 17:28-30
Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger
burned against David and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have
you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your insolence and the
wickedness of your heart; for you have come down in order to see the
battle.” 29 But David said,
“What have I done now? Was it not just a question?” 30 Then he turned away from him to another and said
the same thing; and the people answered the same thing as before.
--In this exchange we find two telling stories about the
character of Eliab and David:
·
Eliab was more
concerned about his differences with David than he was about the dishonor being
poured out on the Lord.
·
David showed his
ability to turn away from such small-mindedness and turn his attention to the
main point of concern—a threat to the honor of the name of the Lord!
--How much internal bickering and fighting among the army of
the Lord is keeping His people off the front lines, draining their energy and
resources on petty grievances instead of uniting in their determination to
fight the battles that count for God’s glory?
--David chose the right battle, ignoring Eliab’s attempt to
goad him into a fight that did not matter!
2. Selected
the Right Weapon
--When Saul realized that David was determined to fight
Goliath, he tried to arm him with his own garments and weapons of war.
1 Sam 17:8
Then Saul clothed David with his garments and put a bronze helmet on his head,
and he clothed him with armor…
--David must have looked and felt foolish in the armor of
Saul, like a little boy trying on his father’s suit…it did not fit, nor did the
weapons suit him.
--Therefore, David laid aside the provisions of Saul, picked
up the sling he had with him, gathered some stones and went out to meet Goliath
armed with the weapons God had prepared for him.
1 Sam.17:45
Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and 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.
--Instead of trusting in swords and spears, David selected
that which God had put in his hand and had prepared him to use—the sling and a
few stones.
--A little in the hands of one wholly yielded to God will
accomplish more than much in the hands of those who rely on their own
provisions instead of the Lord’s.
--Sometimes as Christians, we feel more secure if we have
the biggest weapons possible—we need to fight fire with fire, or so we think.
Gideon’s army was reduced from 32,000 troops to 300
men so that no one would suggest that it was the might of his army instead of
the power of God responsible for routing the Midianites.
Sometimes we go to great lengths to
plan outreach programs and develop gospel tracts and brochures in order to convince
people of their need for Christ…and those are often important. But sometimes it is not the sophistication
of the medium as much as the sincerity of the messenger. The last two baptism services proved
that. People sharing their
stories…simply and earnestly…touched hearts and minds in a way no preaching or
witnessing could ever do. God uses the
simple and small to accomplish the great and glorious!
That way He always gets the glory.
--God wants us to trust Him instead of ourselves, to trust what
He has given us instead of what we can find in the arsenal of the world.
David had developed his skills with a sling through
years of practice. God-given talents
sharpened through diligence can become powerful tools when made available to
the Lord. We just need to step out in
faith and leave the results to Him!
--If God has equipped you with a sling
and stones and a confidence born of years watching His handwork through you,
you will not want to go into battle in someone else’s armor!
--The little you have when placed in God’s hand will prevail
any day over a lot when you think you don’t need Him.
3. Embraced
the Right Cause
--David embraced a cause that was right and was willing to
die in the fight if necessary to restore the honor that had been smeared by the
curses of the enemy and the cowardice of God’s people.
--What was the essence, the summary, of what David was
willing to die for?
1 Sam 17:46b-47 …that all the earth may know that there is a
God in Israel, 47 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.”
--From his point of view, it was more important that God be
God and His name honored and glorified, and His power made known, than it was
for him to sit behind the front lines and let someone else take the risks.
“This cause
demands my all…God’s name, His renown, His character are at stake—I can do
nothing less!
C. Amazed at
the impotence of God’s LEADERS
--Whether David thought it odd to see the army of Israel and
its leaders quaking in fear before Goliath, the text does not say…but what we
can see makes us wonder if they served and trusted in the same God David did!
1. Saul’s
Unacceptable Cowardice
--Where was Israel’s leader, their king, the one to whom
they looked for help in times of trouble?
--Goliath was a giant and Saul was the tallest among the
Israelites, so is it wrong to assume that some looked to him to take the lead?
--Saul did not have the kind of courage and confidence David
did because he did not have the kind of heart David did, the kind of faith
David had…nor did he serve the God David served.
--Like so many other leaders, Saul had lost his spiritual
authority and had no inner spiritual reserves upon which to draw—he was an
empty man, drained of all power and authority because of his disobedience to
and disregard for the Lord.
--Without a sustainable motivation to live or die for the
honor and glory of God, Saul had nothing to offer as a leader of Israel and his
cowardice in the face of Goliath spoke volumes about the way he had forfeited
godly authority and power.
2. Army’s
False Bravado
--One word of irony in what Eliab said to David that we
should note: “I know your insolence and
the wickedness of your heart; you have come down in order to see the battle.”
--What
battle? No one is willing to fight!!
--It is easier to talk a good fight than to put up a good
fight!
·
Battle Plans
– “…drew up in battle array…” (v2)
·
Battle Cries
– “…the army was going out in battle
array shouting the war cry…” (v20)
·
Battle Motions
– “…Israel and the Philistines drew up in
battle array, army against army” (v21)
--The Goliath showed up and the army ran for the hills!
Christians are really good at going to conferences
about ministry, reading books about overcoming in Jesus’ name, crying out in
songs and intercessions, even the occasional public demonstration of standing
with slogans on signs (“in battle array”)…but then the giant appears and their
fears prevail and they fade back into the scenery once again.
We are hoping for a great turnout
at the Dobson rally on the family on Sept 7, but after the big gathering, the
motivational speeches, the excitement of being in the midst of a large
army—what then? What will we then do to
engage the Goliaths of ungodliness and regain the ground we have forfeited
because we have not been willing to do what David did?
Churches
are still full and their plans to keep their members busy keep flowing…but
somehow all the activity does not translate into any advances on the
strongholds of the enemy in our land!
They are “holding to a form of
godliness although they have denied its power…” (2 Tim 3:5).
These days call for some humble shepherds
to step out without the benefit of Saul’s armor or Goliath’s mass—but with the
power and authority of Jesus’ name giving us the strength to dare to call for
that name to be made known in all the earth!
--The impotence of Israel’s leaders and their armies had
nothing to do with how well they were armed…it had to do with the fact they had
forfeited their spiritual authority and righteous cause because they did not
remember that the battle is the Lord’s!
1 Sam 17:46b-47 …that all the earth may know that there is a
God in Israel, 47 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.”
D. COMMITTED TO THE
DEMONSTRATION OF GOD’S FAITHFULNESS
--What was David’s motive?
--Was Eliab right in accusing David of being selfish and
seeking nothing more than to satisfy his fascination with soldiers and battles?
--No, David, as we have already seen, was willing to risk
his life to let everyone know that the Lord is God, and that He had dominion
and authority over all things—armies, giants and nations included!
--Live or die, David committed his life to the glory of
God’s name and the honor of His name.
1 Sam 17:45-46 Then David said to the Philistine, “You
come to me with a sword, a spear, and 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. 46 “This day the
LORD will deliver you up into my hands…
--When all is said and done, David wanted everyone to see
and understand that God alone is in charge, no matter how impressive and
intimidating the enemy appears to be.
--Furthermore, God is faithful to anyone—shepherd boy or
king—who will step up by faith and trust Him to demonstrate His sovereign
power.
E. ACCEPTED AS THE REPRESENTATIVE OF GOD’S PEOPLE
--And so, David took the place of Saul…he took the place of
the armies of Israel…he took the place of the citizens of the land…and when he
defeated Goliath, they all shared in his victory.
--The Philistine army fled as soon as they saw that their
champion had been struck down…and the battle was won for all Israel because of
the faith and obedience of one willing to take their place in the fight.
--Christ has done that for each of us—He took our sins and
became our representative, our substitute, and stood in our place as judgment
was pronounced against our sin.
--As the verdict was declared and the sentence imposed,
Jesus took on the enemy in one final battle and unlike David did not slay
him…yet!! …but in dying for us, He paid
for our debt of sin…and in rising for us, He brought us new life in His name!
·
David’s victory over
Goliath allowed all Israel to be free from the threat of death at the hands of
a cruel enemy.
·
Christ’s victory over
sin and death offers to everyone the opportunity to be free from the threat of
eternal death—but we must be willing to put our trust in Him and receive the
forgiveness and new life He gives.
--Just as Israel celebrated their freedom in David’s name,
just as he became their champion and the champion of the Lord, will you live
for Jesus Christ and allow Him to give you an active share in the victory He
won on your behalf?
Without a doubt, we are engaged in a
battle for righteousness in a world determined to keep us from winning. We are facing an uphill climb every day to
hold up high the name of Jesus Christ.
It does not
matter how little you think you have to offer or how big you think the enemy
is. The battle is the Lord’s and in His
name and by His might those who are faithful to Him will prevail!
Where are you
greatest battles? In the classroom, in
the work place, in your family, in the public arena, in the media and
entertainment industries?
What do you have in your hand that God has equipped you to use for His glory? David had a sling, Gideon had a dedicated bunch of 300 faithful soldiers, Moses had a staff…what has God placed in your hand? The answer may surprise you!!
The Lord is
looking for hearts ready to trust Him enough to march off to meet the enemy if
necessary…or ready just to meditate and worship quietly on the hillside. He wants people whose heart beats for Him
like nothing else!
David was that
kind of man. Will you be the kind of
person God is looking for?
Providence Baptist Church
© David Horner 2004
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