May it please God to bless us
this morning as we meditate in his word. Let us turn to the
first book of Samuel, chapter 17, and we'll read verse 29.
The first book of Samuel, chapter 17, and reading verse 29. And David said, what have I now
done? Is there not a cause? I suppose this account we read
of in the 17th chapter of the first book of Samuel is probably
one of the best known accounts in the Word of God that people
recognize and remember and know. But of course in such accounts
there is obviously much teaching for us today. And interesting
as it is as an historical narrative, there is much important information
in this chapter. And this 29th verse is one which
is important to consider what it tells us. There are a number
of issues which we can see in these words. David said, what
have I now done? Is there not a cause? This was
a response to the words that his eldest brother Eliab had
spoken to him. And it's good that we realize
how David responded. The words that Eliab spoke were
not kind words, were they? They were unkind words, and the
truth is that they were not true. Eliab just made an assumption. Eliab was obviously jealous.
that his younger brother, first of all, had already been anointed
as the one who will be king over Israel, and he'd obviously been
there and witnessed that. And secondly, now he'd come down,
he was talking to the soldiers around him, and Elihab was jealous
of this situation. And therefore, he speaks and
he asks him, why camest thou down hither? And with whom hast
thou left these few sheep in the wilderness? Well, in one
sense, that wasn't too bad. But then he says, I know thy
pride and the naughtiness of thine heart. For thou art come
down, thou mightest see the battle. So how does David respond to
that? Well, he responds like this.
A soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words cause a problem. And so David comes in this very
simple way and asks a question. What have I now done? And then,
if you like, he almost answers it. And he said, is there not
a cause? Well, we should take notice of
such a simple illustration as to how we should respond to people
who may criticize us, who may indeed speak wrong words, untrue
words to us. And naturally we may be perhaps
very annoyed and very upset and think, well this is totally unjust
for somebody to say that. Well, if we are tempted to respond
in a wrong way, then we might easily become angry and be cross.
And my friends, this is not God honouring. The Word of God gives
us so many examples of how we are to respond in the situations,
we are not to get angry, and we are not to get cross, and
we are not to exert our authority in a wrong way. But here we have
the example of David responding in such simple terms, asking
a very simple question, what have I now done, and is there
not a cause? Well, there was a cause. for David to have come down to
the battle at this time. And what we observe here is God's
timing is always perfect. God's timing is always good.
Our timing can often be wrong. It often is wrong. It mostly
is wrong. But here we have God's timing. Knowing what David would
be called to do, And the faith that David was given at this
time to engage with this great giant, Goliath. You see, naturally,
the position would have been impossible. And it's quite surprising,
really, as we read this account, to recognize that King Saul was
willing for young David to go and to be involved like this
and to basically fight the battle against the enemy single-handed. But obviously Saul's spirit was
moved by the Spirit of God, whether he realized it or not, and David
was therefore the one who was allowed to go and to fight with
this great enemy Goliath. And David had come down into
the camp at that very time when the Philistine was drawing near
and speaking those wrong words against Israel and of course
against their God. And David heard those words and
hence he asks the questions that we read of to the people and
he realised what the response would be, that if Goliath was
successful then they would all be the captives of the enemy. Well, what a blessing it was
that God was in all this. And we see how God was in it,
and there was a cause, that David should be there. It wasn't just
something that happened by chance. It's wonderful to know that God
has ordained situations like this. And those of us who were
here on Friday, hearing that account from Tom about his brother
and sister-in-law out in Kenya, to realise how God had wonderfully
gone before them and had heard and answered their prayers. And
we might say, well, was there not a cause? Yes, there was a
cause that they should be out there at that particular time.
When we think of that piece of land that James stood upon several
years before and felt convinced that that was the place the Lord
would have him to be, And yet there was no evidence of it really
ever coming to pass, and yet when he gets over there with
his wife and a man comes and says that he's got three bits
of land to sell, which is very unusual in Kenya because land
usually passes down from one to another, and then one of those
pieces of land was the very place that James has stood upon. Well we see how wonderful it
was that the Lord heard and answered prayer that the Lord had ordained.
Therefore that that man should come back to James at that appointed
time and to offer him this land." Well, may it be encouraging to
us to realize that we read here of a wonderful account of the
Lord appearing for Israel and appointing that David should
come down into the camp at that very time. So we should realize
today the Lord still moves in wonderful and amazing ways to
strengthen our faith to know that there is a God in Israel
as David tells us. Very similar to what Daniel said
years later. There is a God in heaven. We're
thankful to know that there is a God in heaven and there is
a God today who is with his people on this earth. And so we see
how God was with David. And God enabled David to testify
before the king when he was brought before the king of what the Lord
had done for him, and to therefore impress the king. But as the
Lord had helped him in killing the lion and the bear, so he
would indeed be with him and help him on this occasion. And it's good to read the actual
words that David actually spoke, because he said, Thy servant
kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion and a bear,
and took a lamb out of the flock, and I went after him and smote
him and delivered it out of his mouth. And when he arose against
me, I caught him by his beard and smote him and slew him. Thy
servant slew both a lion and a bear, and this uncircumcised
Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the
arm of the living God." Now, read in that section, we might
conclude, well, David is boasting of what he's done. And David's
just stating that he'd done it. But he comes and tells us, he
says, the Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion
and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the
hand of this Philistine. His total confidence was in his
God. And he was able to give his God
the glory for what he had done. And that should be just the same
situation with us today. We should always be concerned
to acknowledge what God has done for us, and how God has helped
us, and how God has blessed us. And therefore might that give
us confidence then to believe that he will still bless us,
and he will still help us. And we see then David's confidence
was in his God. Well, Was there a cause for David
to come into the camp? There was a cause. And the reason
was, David was that person who the Lord had anointed to be king
and that one who the Lord had appointed to rise up and to kill
this great giant. And of course, it's wonderful
to read how this occurred. And David, what faith he had
to take those stones and his Just his sling and that confidence
which he had, he was able to go and tell the Philistine what
would happen. Because David told him, thou
comest to me with a sword and with a spear and with a shield,
but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God
of Israel, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver
thee into mine hand. Well, what humble confidence
there was in David, wasn't there? And how successful he was. The
very first stone that he slung at the giant went into his forehead
and made him at least unconscious if it hadn't killed him then.
And then David went, as we know, and cut off his head. So there
was that wonderful victory. Well, there was a cause then
that Jesse should have been moved in his heart to ask David to
go down and take his brethren some food. There were many days,
weren't there, when this could have been set forth. But there
was an appointed day, an appointed time when David should do just
this and arrive at the camp at just the right time, be brought
before Saul and able to describe how his confidence was and then
to speak the same words to Goliath, and then to be blessed with that
wonderful victory. What have I now done in answer
to that question of Eliab? Is there not a cause? Well, we
read this today, don't we? And we see then the Lord did
prove and did grant the blessing to Israel in that deliverance
by bringing David to this point, to this very time, when he would
be used to accomplish the purpose of our God. And the same things
occur today. The same things occurred through
the Word of God. We have so many examples. Perhaps just quoting two examples.
The familiar one, when Philip was told to go down to Philippi,
or rather go down to a place of desert. And he went there. He went there not knowing what
was the purpose of God, but there was a cause that he should go
there. And what was that? Just when
he was arriving there, there was this Ethiopian who'd been
up to Jerusalem to worship, and he was in his chariot returning
to his country, He was reading in Isaiah. He couldn't understand
it. God had ordained that Philip
should come at just that time. And perhaps we might say, well,
the Ethiopian might have said, well, why have you come now? Well, there was a reason. There
was a cause. And there was a cause so that
God might open his understanding to the great truth of Scripture
as Philip was able to go and sit by him in that chariot and
explain the meaning of the chapter that he was reading in that prophecy
of Isaiah. And what a wonderful occasion
it was, because he received the Gospel. He was concerned about
it. The Lord used Philip to travel
all those miles, to come to this place of desert, What reason,
perhaps, Philip might have thought, why am I going here? What's going
to happen? But he was obedient to the word
of the Lord. And the Lord greatly blessed
that occasion, didn't he? Because the Ethiopian was spoken to of
the things of God, the things of the Savior, the things of
the crucified Savior, and also the glorious way of salvation.
And also pointing out to him the ordinance of believers' baptism. And so they came to that water,
and what did the Ethiopian say? Here is water. What doth hinder
me to be baptized? And Philip said, if thou believest
with all thine heart, thou mayest. And so what a blessing that was.
There was a cause, wasn't there? A cause that Philip should be
travelling across that desert to come to that place where this
man was. And then perhaps we can think
of another familiar case with the Apostle Paul, Paul and Silas,
commanded to go again down to Philippi. And well, there they
were, preaching the gospel. And there they were, arrested
and beaten and put in prison. They may have wondered, why was
this? Was there not a cause? Yes, there was a cause. And the
cause in their life was very wonderful. Because there was
an earthquake at night and all the prison doors opened. And
the chains fell off. And the jailer, the jailer was
moved and quickened in his heart. And what did he say? He said,
what must I do to be saved? And the Apostle again explained
and declared the whole counsel of God to him. And he then was
blessed and was able to come and to be baptised. Was there
not a cause? Yes, there was a cause that Paul
and Silas should endure that suffering for the blessing of
the Jada and his household. And of course that may have had
a much greater effect as the word spread Oh, God's ways are
wonderful, aren't they? Now we should think that God's
ways are still the same today. And as we perhaps apply it to
our little lives, we may come into situations where we may
wonder the reason. We might perhaps ask the question,
well, is there not a cause? Why has this happened? Why am
I here? Why am I doing this? This situation
which has developed, well, it's a blessing if we can look back,
as we can with David's case here, can't we? We see, we couldn't
see the reason that David should have come there. As we get to
this point, can we? No, it was set before us. We
can't see the reason, but there was a reason, and it was a blessed
reason. And it was for the deliverance
of Israel. And so, if we wonder perhaps
what the reason for things are in our life, and as this question
may come to us, is there not a cause? Well, to watch the hand
of God. The hand of God was very clearly
shown in this case, wasn't it? It was shown in the cases I refer
to you. It might be shown in our case,
in our little lives, situations which we don't understand. You
think again in the Old Testament, that occasion of Ruth. Well,
there was Naomi and her husband living in Bethlehem under big
famine. What do they do? decided to go
down into Egypt. Naturally, we would think that
wasn't a very wise decision. If they weren't true worshippers
of God, were they? But you see, it was ordained
by God that Nomai's two sons should marry those two women
of Moab. And then the time came when Nomai
clearly moved by the Spirit of God, decided to return back to
Bethlehem and advised her daughters to return to Mayav. One did,
but Ruth decided not to. She decided to come and to join
with Naumai. Now if Naumai had not gone down
into Mayav with her husband, Ruth would never have come to
the knowledge of the truth. Is there not a cause there was?
And so we should not be surprised in our lives to be able to recognize
that God's dealings with us are for divine purpose. Isn't that
wonderful? Things which don't appear to be going very well. And these evil and wrong words
of Eliab seem to point in the wrong direction. Not to encourage
David, but to discourage him. But the Lord was in it, and the
Lord appeared, and the Lord blessed him. And so may we not be discouraged
in our lives when perhaps things appear to be going contrary,
not in the right direction. And we wonder what the reason
is. We may not see it at the time. But let us remember the
occasion of David. Remember what the Lord did for
him. and how wonderfully blessed he was, and what a wonderful
outcome there was for the blessing of all Israel. Well, is there
not a cause? Yes, there was. Now, we know, I believe, that
David sets forth in the Word of God a very clear type of Christ,
the type of the Saviour. And if we think of what the Lord
Jesus was and what he did. We can see in the life of David
that type set forth because the Lord Jesus was ordained to come
into this earth at an appointed time. Yes, there was a set time
when the Saviour was to come. He'd been prophesied so many
times in the Old Testament. But the time had drawn near and
the time came when the Lord Jesus should be born into that poor
circumstance and be shown in due time to be the Son of God. Well, was there not a cause for
the great and glorious Saviour to come into this world? Of course
there was. Of course there was. We see that
Jesse sent his son. We see our great and glorious
father sent his son. And he sent his son for that
divine purpose, to save his people from their sins. For God so loved
the world that he sent his only begotten son into the world,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal
life. Well, how willing was David to
go, wasn't he? Yes, he was willing to go to
see the battle, willing to go and see the warfare. And the
Lord Jesus Christ willingly came into this sinful world to be
amongst the warfare which existed, the warfare between good and
evil, The warfare between the Spirit of God and the work of
the devil. The Lord Jesus came into this sinful world. And of course, we know that as
David was able to destroy Goliath and so save Israel, so the Lord
was gloriously able to destroy the devil. David, of course,
destroyed it in the simple way by a stone. The Lord Jesus also
destroyed the devil by a simple way, but a very glorious way
and a very different way, didn't he? Yes, because he was called
upon to give his life. He didn't come, you see, as a
glorious king. David didn't come. and dress
himself all up in the armour of the king, Davidus went in
the clothes he had. The great and glorious saviour.
He went to the cross in the clothes he had. He didn't have any great
kingdom on this earth, did he? No, but he was crowned. He was the king of kings. David
was also crowned as a king. He wasn't actually fulfilling
his office at this time, but he would in due time be crowned
the king of Israel. The Lord Jesus Christ came, didn't
he, as the king of kings. And yet we see he laid aside
his glory so that he might take on him our form, our human form,
so that his death, his sacrificial death, would be satisfactory
to his father to redeem Israel. David slew Goliath. And it was that which was a catalyst
for Israel to be able to beat the enemy. my friends, the great
and glorious Saviour. He willingly gave his life. Yes, the Lord wonderfully blessed
him. And the Lord did indeed deliver
him from all the power of Satan. Satan used all the skill he could,
if possible, to defeat the Lord Jesus Christ. He raised up all
the enemies he could to defeat the Lord Jesus Christ. And he
perhaps thought that he'd been successful in the crucifixion
of the Saviour. The truth was, he'd utterly failed. And the Lord Jesus, through his
death, gained that great salvation for the whole Church of God.
Now perhaps we often read, don't we, this account of David and
Goliath. But my friends, when we read
it, let us realise there's a much greater than David, a much more
glorious one than David, and that is our Lord Jesus Christ.
And what a wonderful testimony we have of what the Saviour did
and what he endured. David had to endure hard words
from his brother, didn't he? The Saviour had to endure hard
words from his friends, from his enemies. And you see, how
did the Lord respond? Did the Lord respond in an angry
way? He responded, didn't he, in a
very similar way to the way that David did here. Yes, and sometimes
the Lord did not answer. He was silent. He could have
answered, and he could have justified everything, and he could have
brought, we know, legions of angels to deliver him. But no,
he was willing to do his Father's will. What we see here, David
was also willing to do his father's will. And David was willing to
have all his trust in his God. We see the great and glorious
Saviour doing the will of his father so willingly, so willingly
and so gloriously. We should never fail to wonder,
never fail to admire the great work of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the wonderful victory that he gained. David gained a victory. The Saviour gained a much greater
victory. Yes, because he was a conqueror. David was a conqueror.
The Saviour was a conqueror over sin, over death, over hell and
over the grave. David died. The Lord Jesus Christ
rose in the dead. The Lord Jesus Christ rose in
the glory. The Lord Jesus Christ is alive
forevermore. Well, what a great and blessed
consideration it is as we think of the life of David, especially
perhaps this circumstance that we're able to consider here,
to see how the Lord Jesus Christ is so superior. and so much greater. But we see, don't we, the similarity. But can we today, as we read
this account, bless God that he appeared for David and brought
about a wonderful victory. But can we today bless God far
more for the great and glorious victory of his son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And as we think of that great
and glorious victory that he did, not just for natural Israel,
but for spiritual Israel. And to think that today, by his
grace, we have a hope that that victory was accomplished, that
death got passed through, so that he might deliver us. David was called to deliver Israel.
The Lord Jesus Christ came to deliver his people, deliver them. from the wrath to come. Oh may
our hearts be moved to realise we have such a great and glorious
saviour. May we always come and say, oh what a saviour. It's a line in a hymn, isn't
it? How wonderful it is to be able
to sing that line. What a saviour who willingly
came to save my soul, to deliver me and to give me that good hope
through his grace that one day I shall be with him in glory."
Yes, when our little battle of life would then have finished.
We want to gain the victory ourselves, not by anything that we've done.
But our whole victory will be dependent upon what Christ has
done. The Saviour did not fail in that which the Father gave
him to do. Oh, how wonderful it is to think
today. We fail often, don't we? We fail horribly. But let us
look to the Saviour, and let us give thanks to Him, believing
that He came, that He died. He gave His life. He gave His
life. David didn't have to give his
life, did he? My friends, the Saviour did. And what an enormous
sacrifice it was. It wasn't an easy death, was
it? He didn't just lay down and fall asleep as it were. He had
an agonizing death. So that death was satisfactory
to pay that price, to atone for our sins. That sacrifice was
acceptable unto our Father in Heaven. Accepted unto the Lord's
Father. That acceptable sacrifice which
was the death of the Saviour. And so he shed his most precious
blood, willingly. David didn't have to. We see
the difference, don't we? We have the example in type,
but we see the end as different. We see David then carried on.
We see the Saviour carried on. The Saviour, of course, was then
ascended into heaven itself. take his rightful place beside
his father as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And there
he is, my friends, today. Remember, he will return into
this earth as that great and glorious saviour. And every eye
shall see him, not then as a poor man. Not as a man without any
clothes that he really called his own apart from those that
he stood up in, but he will come in all his glorious robes and
a crown upon his head and he will come in all his glory. Well, what a wonderful thing
it is for the Church of God to look forward to. Yes, as we travel
on, but remember, As we think then of the account of David
and Goliath, remember what it sets before us. It sets before
us the great and glorious life of the Saviour. And it sets before
us so clearly what he suffered, and how he acted, and how he
responded, and how he was willing to give his life in order that
great enemy of souls should be forever defeated. And David said,
what have I now done? Is there not a cause? There was
a great and glorious cause why the Savior had to come into this
world. And it was to save his people. It was to deliver his people. And so today, can we thank God
from the bottom of our heart that we have such a God, such
a great plan of salvation, and such a good hope we have of eternal
life through that victory that the Saviour obtained on our behalf
on Calvary's cross so many years ago. Amen.