Go ahead and turn with me to
1 Samuel chapter 17. Tonight, we have one of the most
well-known stories in all of scripture, the story of David
and Goliath. I've titled this message, A Sling
and a Stone. This story is much more than
a children's Bible story, though it is that. It's not just a story
of bravery and courage and boldness and human cleverness. It's not
a fable, a fairy tale narrative of an underdog conquest. Not just that, though it is that.
It's not a lesson in self-confidence. I've heard it preached that way.
It's not a message of self-belief, having faith in oneself. This
is a story of grace. This is a story of faith, and
most importantly, the message that salvation's of the Lord.
The story of David and Goliath is the gospel. It is. It shows
us plainly that the Lord Jesus Christ defeated our giant called
sin. And with that said, I want you
to pay close attention as to how David pictures the Lord Jesus
Christ and Goliath pictures our sin, who is out to destroy us. Sin is out to destroy us. It's
an enemy. Satan is not our biggest adversary,
friends. Sin is. Self is. Only the Lord Jesus Christ can
deliver us from the power of sin and death, Romans 8. Now
let's begin reading tonight in verse 32, and I'll make some
points and comments along the way. Verse 32, and David said
to Saul, let no man's heart fail because of him, speaking of Goliath. Thy servant will go and fight
with this Philistine. And Saul said to David, thou
art not able to go against this Philistine, to fight with him,
for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. We see here David is surrounded
by doubters. We are too. People doubt the
ability and sovereignty of God all around us. His older brother
Eliab dismisses him. Saul questions his ability. He
saw just a boy. That's all King Saul saw. He saw just a boy. Eliab saw
a nuisance. Goliath saw a joke. When David
came out to fight him, he laughed. He mocked him. God saw a deliverer. So our first thought is that
true faith is never deterred by opposition and the doubt of
others. Should never be. David does not
back down. He becomes more determined to
face Goliath. He refuses to let ridicule or
doubt to stop him, discourage him. There's always gonna be
doubters. But unbelief is not an option
when it comes to God's ability. That's what we're talking about.
God's ability. Salvation's of the Lord. Salvation's
not dependent on you and me. If it was, we'd have reason to
doubt, and we'd have reason to be afraid like Israel was. But
God fights our battles. Salvation's of the Lord. We have
no reason to doubt. Verse 34, and David said unto
Saul, 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 out
after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth.
And when he rose against me, I caught him by his beard, and
smote him, and slew him. Thy servants slew both the lion
and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of
them, seeing that he hath defied the armies of the living God. And David said, Moreover, the
Lord that delivered me out of the pawl of the lion and out
of the pawl of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of
this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go,
and the Lord be with thee. That's faith, isn't it? He said, Lord, deliver me from
this giant. Secondly, we see that faith in
God, our faith in the Father and the
Son draws from past deliverances. This is not David bragging on
himself. David's bragging here and giving
glory to his God. He said, I went after the lion
and the bear. He said, I smoked them and delivered
my lamb. He said, I caught the lion by
the beard. I smoked the lion with my hands. And then he adds, this uncircumcised
Philistine will be no different. Why? Because it was the Lord
that delivered me. It was the Lord that delivered
me. Yes, David physically did these things, but it was the
Lord that was behind it all. And that was the confidence that
he had going forward to face Goliath. The same God. The same God that delivered me
from the lion and delivered me from the bear. He's the same
God that's going to deliver me from this giant. What do we have to fear, friends? And what we have here is not
blind courage. It's proven confidence. This
isn't faith built on wishful thinking. This is faith built
on God's accomplished history. How many times have we said it?
History is His story. It really is. I encourage you
to think back on all that God has done for you and brought
you through. We've all had some lion and bear
experiences, deliverances, and yet we doubt. Why do we doubt? God's past faithfulness should,
as it did David, bring about present trust. Right? Have you experienced some amazing
deliverance in your life? Well, that should promote future
courage. Verse 38, And Saul armed David
with his armor, and he put a helmet of brass upon his head. Also
he armed him with a coat of mail, And David girded his sword upon
his armor, and he assayed to go, for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot
go with these, for I have not proved them. And David put them
off him. And he took his staff in his
hand, and he chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and
he put them in a shepherd's bag, which he had. even in a script,
and his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine."
Oh, I've pictured this in my mind so many times. So thirdly,
we see that faith in God does not trust in this world's armor.
Saul tries to equip David with his own armor, but David removes
it. He takes it off. Why? Because
it didn't fit. It didn't fit. It wasn't tested,
it hadn't been proved. David chooses what God has trained
him with. A sling and a stone. It was a proven means of deliverance
for David. And David refuses to rely on
man-made strength. That's what that Saul's armor
pictures. Man-made strength. You know,
the doubters of divine providence and those who do not believe
in the sovereignty of God's purpose and providence often ask, why
did David take five stones instead of one? You ever thought about
that? Was it a lack of faith? No, it wasn't that. David seems
to be dripping with faith and confidence and assurance in his
God. He seems as though he's chomping at the bit to go face
this giant and end this mess. So it wasn't that. Though the
Bible doesn't directly say, we know that this was preparedness Not presumption. Having full
confidence in God is not an excuse for carelessness. God is sovereign,
but we don't walk out in the middle of the highway and dare
a truck to run over us. Taking five stones doesn't mean
David lacked faith. It just simply means that he
wasn't foolish. But prepared, he's gonna be prepared. We ought to be prepared. My dad used to say, it's not
scriptural or anything, but it made a lot of sense. He said,
you hope for the best and you plan for the worst. It's not
a bad way to live. Even though we know God's in
control of everything, we endeavor to be prepared. David was prudent,
he displayed great care and thought, not wanting to be presumptuous.
And the Lord Jesus said, watch and pray that you enter not into
temptation, for the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is
weak. We're to always be ready, Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians,
or excuse me, in 2 Timothy, he said, in season and out of season.
Those who think they stand, Paul says, should take heed lest they
fall. We don't walk around all cocky
with our chest hanging out, going, boy, I'm something. No, that's
when you're going to fall. We're to go through this life
awake. We're to watch and be sober, Paul said. Peter said
the same thing. Be sober, be vigilant, because
your adversary, the devil, is a roaring lion walking about,
seeking whom he may devour. And the wise man Solomon said,
although victory rests in the Lord, and it does, the horse
is made ready for the battle. You don't just jump on the horse
without your saddle and all that to go fight in the war, do you? Now others say, I've heard this
argument, others say that David took five stones because Goliath
had four brothers. There are other giants mentioned
at this time, and that David came prepared to face all of
them if they showed up, you know, like, you're gonna take on my
brother, you're gonna take on all of us. Well, I'm not sure
I buy that, but I do believe that taking five stones has a
symbolic meaning. In the scriptures and Jewish
numerology, the number five has great significance. Just as you
know, the number seven represents fullness and divine perfection
and the completion of God's work. God created the heavens and the
earth in seven days and he was finished and he rested. In the
same way, the number six symbolizes man, humanity, incompleteness,
human work, human effort, falling short of divine perfection. The
sign of the beast is 666. The number five symbolizes peace,
grace, God's goodness, God's favor toward the undeserving.
While there are five offerings of the law, there's a burnt offering,
a grain offering, peace offering, sin offering, trespass offering.
They represent the fullness of God's atonement and God's grace
under the Mosaic law. There are five books of the law
of Moses. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy, These form the foundation of God's covenant in the Old
Testament with Israel. And again, it's a picture of
grace and revelation and instruction. There's a five-fold ministry
according to Paul in Ephesians 4. Apostles, prophets, evangelists,
pastors, teachers, and these five equip the church for growth
and edification and expression of God's grace. The Lord led
5,000, fed 5,000 with five loaves of bread. A picture of divine
and gracious provision. And though it only took one stone,
only one stone was needed to kill Goliath, David taking five
symbolizes his preparedness, being ready for whatever God
sends. which also comes under God's
grace without any reliance of self, any reliance on self. In verse 41, and the Philistine
came on and drew near unto David, and the man that bared the shield
went before him. And when the Philistine looked
about and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth and
ruddy and of fair countenance. And the Philistine said unto
David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with a staff? And the Philistine cursed David
by his gods. And the Philistine said to David,
come to me and I'll give your flesh unto the fowls of the air
and to the beasts of the field. And then David said to the Philistine,
he said, okay, you said your piece, now I'm gonna say mine.
Thou comest to me with a sword and with a spear and with a shield,
but I come unto thee in the name of the Lord of hosts. the God
of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. And this day
will the Lord deliver thee into my hand, and I'll smite thee,
and take thine head from thee, and I will give the carcasses
of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the
air. I'm gonna do to you what you
said you was gonna do to me, and to the wild beasts of the
earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know
that the Lord saveth not with a sword and with a spear, for
the battle is the Lord's." There it is. The battle is the Lord's. And He will give you into our
hands. You know, I almost missed that
last phrase there in 47. The battle is the Lord's, I knew
that. We better know that. But he said,
he'll give you into our hands. In the same manner David killed
the lion and the bear, he killed Goliath by himself. But it was
ordained and purposed by God for his people. Now don't miss
the blessing here. They, Israel, received the benefits
as if they had themselves defeated Goliath with their own hands. That's what substitution does. Christ did for us what we couldn't
do for ourselves, and we received all the benefits as if we had
done it ourselves. Isn't that something? Fourthly,
in these verses, we see that true faith faces the enemy with
confidence in God. Goliath mocked David. Listen,
David could have carried lead. That didn't offend him in the
least. I hurt all my life, six and so on, to break bones, but
words will never harm me. Well, they do, but they didn't
David. You know what offended him? Goliath
mocking his God. That'll offend a believer. And
David did not fight for God's name. David fought in God's name. He did not fight for God. He
fought for God's glory. You're talking about my God who
can do anything and everything. That's why I'm not too fond of
preaching that mocks my God. The believer fights their battles
under the authority of Christ's name, who's already won the war.
I mean, David seems almost shocked that Goliath is coming to him
with swords and stuff. You know, he said, you're coming
to me as a staff? And David goes, you're coming
to me with a sword? You didn't know that God was
coming to fight, did you? Kind of like in the movies where
you see A guy doing karate moves or doing a knife and the guy
pulls out a gun and shoots him like he brought a knife to a
gunfight. That's kind of the way David here feels. You brought
a sword to a fight with God? In verse 48, it came to pass
when the Philistine arose and came and drew nigh to meet David,
that David hasted and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
I love that. And David put his hand in his
bag and he took thence a stone and he sling it and smoked the
Philistine in his forehead. That the stone sunk into his
forehead. And I'm certain right on through
to his brain. And he fell upon his face to
the earth. Killed him instantly. So, David
prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone. And he smoked the Philistine
and slew him. But there was no sword in the
hand of David. Therefore David ran and stood
upon the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of
the sheep thereof and slew him and cut off his head therewith.
And when the Philistine saw their champion was dead, they fled."
What'd they do? They fled. Fifthly, as we see
in our story, true faith acts. It's not passive. Faith's not
passive. David ran toward the battle.
And with a sling and with a stone, David smote the enemy. A sling
and a stone. The simplicity of Christ. What
a picture. And here is the gospel message.
It's a message of substitution. David was Israel's representative. Their mediator, so to speak.
The same as Goliath was for the Philistines. The outcome of this
conflict is gonna be determined and it's gonna be settled by
what happens out on this battlefield between these two men. David
pictures the Lord Jesus Christ. Goliath pictures our giant adversary,
sin. Freedom is given to the prevailing
camp. Servitude is the outcome for
the losing camp. The challenge is found back in
verse eight, look at it. And he, Goliath, stood and cried
unto the armies of Israel and said unto them, why have you
come out to settle your battle in Aram? Not I, a Philistine,
and ye servants to Saul. Choose you a man for you, and
let him come down to me. Now notice verse nine. If he
be able to fight with me. See, that's the issue. We're
not able to fight. We're not able to fight. If he'd
be able to fight with me and to kill me, then we will be your
servants. But if you prevail against him
and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us. And the Philistine said, I defy
the armies of Israel this day. Give me a man that we might fight
together. And when Saul and all Israel
heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly
afraid. Now look down at verse 25. And
the men of Israel said to David, remember David's asking about
what's going on here when he first gets to the camp. And they
go, have you seen this man that has come up? Surely to defy Israel
he's come up. But what does the man who kills
this giant receive? And it shall be that the man
who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches
and will give him his daughter. and make his father's house free
in Israel." I almost missed that too, but as I looked at it closer,
Christ and his victory received great riches and honor. This
is Christ, this is speaking of Christ. The Lord Jesus was given
the king's daughter. Who's that? That's the church.
And all his father's house, all God's elect shall be free. Isn't that good? Man, I'm telling
you, God must have wrote this book. First, we clearly see that Israel
pictures the trembling, fearful sinner who's awakened to their
helpless estate. That's what God does when He
saves us. He first shows us our need of Him. Right? Isn't that
the way it was with you? Sure it is. He showed you that
you couldn't help yourself. That you're in need. You're sick. Those that are holy have no need
of physician, but that wasn't the case with you and I. We were
sick. We were diseased. We were dying. We were born dying. Israel was not able or willing
to meet the challenge that was set before them. Neither are
we. In their cowardness, though they were able to call on the
Lord, they didn't. And this shows not only their
cowardness, but their ignorance. The sinner whom God has chosen
to salvation becomes the beggar whose only hope and only confidence
is that someone is both able and willing to fight for them. Substitution. It always comes
back to that. Christ doing for me what I can't
do for myself. God requires righteousness that
the sinner cannot produce. God requires faith that the sinner
does not have. God requires payment for sin
that the sinner cannot pay. These trembling chosen ones had
no ability or willingness to save themselves. Someone else
has got to meet the challenge for them. Someone else got to
accomplish the victory for them. Someone else, and not just anyone,
but a mighty warrior must do it for. Secondly, we see that
Goliath pictures our greatest enemy named sin. Goliath represents
opposition to God's people. That's what sin is. He was arrogant,
he was intimidating. He stood in defiance to God. He defied the armies of Israel.
He defied the God of Israel. He's mocking God's authority
and power. Sin does the exact same thing.
Goliath embodied strength and intimidation. Goliath symbolizes
confidence in the flesh. He's a picture of our flesh here.
His armor, his weapons, his sheer size point to the power of the
flesh. The flesh is like a giant. I
could do anything. I can do everything. And Goliath
paralyzed Israel's army with fear, showing us how overwhelming
that sin and its evil opposition can be to our natural eyes. Goliath is a picture of sin and
flesh, and David represents spirit and faith. Goliath relied on
worldly weapons and natural strength. David relied on the name of the
Lord God. What are you going to rely on?
thing that will save me, the Lord Jesus who died for me. And isn't it just like God who
throughout the scriptures shows us that boastful and destructive
natural fleshly strength, it always in the end is defeated. How is man's pride and sin defeated
by seemingly weak and faith-filled instruments of God's grace? Here's
a man nine to 11 feet tall. No one in Israel's army could
even probably carry his spear. And God sends a little shepherd
boy out with a sling and a stone to defeat him. Isn't that just
like God? Not by power, it's not by might,
it's by my spirit, saith the Lord. David defeats Goliath with
a sling and a stone. Christ defeated Satan in sin
with a piece of insignificant wood called a cross. And I said
that that way on purpose. Friends, it's not the cross that
saves, you know that. It's only the instrument that
God used. It was the one whom David pictures
who hung upon that cross that saved. You know, I hear people
talking about people that have dedicated their life to try to
find that piece of wood that the Lord hung upon. Why? Why? We just make a shrine out
of it and worship it, just like they did the brazen serpent.
There's no salvation in the cross. Salvation's in the Lord of the
cross, Christ of the cross. Yet Goliath represents the proud,
intimidating enemy of God and His people, one who trusted in
the flesh, one who mocked God's divine authority and was ultimately
brought down by faith and obedience in God. You're just a boy. It was the boy that put him to the
ground. But it was a boy that trusted
in God. So thirdly, we see the David pictures and shows us something
of our great and beloved Savior and substitute. He's a young
shepherd. He's not a soldier. An unlikely
deliverer by worldly standards. And our Lord Jesus was born in
humility in Nazareth. Remember what they said? Nothing
good was expected to come out of Nazareth. Anything good come
out of Nazareth? And the Lord was one that the
people did not expect to be the Messiah. And they often said
that, wasn't that Joseph's son? Isn't that Mary's son? Well,
we know his sisters went to school with his sister. He's the Messiah? Couldn't be. Couldn't be. Not a boy out of Nazareth. There
was no form, comeliness, or beauty that when folks saw Him that
they should desire Him. Isaiah told us this years and
years and years before He ever came. And yes, David was a good
shepherd, but our Lord Jesus was the great shepherd who laid
down His life for the sheep beyond death. There's no shepherd like
Him. But David pictures him. And just as David was mocked
by Goliath, the Lord Jesus was mocked and He was despised and
He was rejected of men while He was called a man of sorrows
who was acquainted with grief. I've experienced a little grief
in my life, but I'm sure not acquainted with it. It's not
something I deal with all the time, but the Lord did. He was
acquainted with grief. It was around every corner waiting
for him. A man of sorrows, acquainted
with grief. He was despised and none esteemed
him, Isaiah said. God chooses the foolish things
of the world to confound the wise. God chooses the weak things
of the world to confound the mighty. Goliath was confounded. When
this young shepherd boy met him on the battlefield, he's scratching
his head and laughing. He didn't laugh for long. Hard
to laugh when your head's cut off. David was a man that embodied
the foolish and weak things that the wise and mighty disregard
and ignore. But the Lord Jesus experienced
these things as the God-man who made himself of no reputation.
This is God we're talking about. There's not anything you could
say about me that's not true. If I haven't done it, I've thought
it, because that's what we are. We're sin. But this is God. This is God that took on the
body of a man, yet without sin. And don't miss the picture here
of David strikes the enemy's head and cuts it off. That's
David's victory. Here is the foreshadowing of
our Lord Jesus, who crushed the serpent's head the Lord prophesied
in the beginning of, right after the fall, though, and He did
so through His death and resurrection on the cross by substitution.
David's victory became Israel's victory. And Christ's victory
became our victory, friends. It's called substitution. It's
called mediation. It's called advocation. And fourthly
and lastly, we see that David pictures the child of God going
into this world and confronting the enemy with only the gospel. Verse 52, and the men of Israel
and of Judah arose and shouted and pursued the Philistines.
until thou came, come to the valley and to the gates of Ekron,
and the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Sherem,
even unto Gath, and unto Ekron, and the children of Israel returned
from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents.
And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to
Jerusalem. But he put his armor in his tent. And then Saul saw David go forth
against the Philistine. Now, when Saul saw, look at this,
when Saul saw David go against the Philistine, Goliath, he said
unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this
youth? God's people, God's Christ's
little flock, having suffered violence, they take the kingdom
of God by force. That's what we see here. They
reject the armor. They reject the gimmicks of this
world's false religion. They reject the altar calls,
the Roman road. Somebody asked me one time, said,
have you been down the Roman road? I said, I've never been
to Rome. That's not what it's talking
about. They try to walk you through the Scriptures, you know, get
you to say, well, I'm just a sinner, like Franklin Graham wants you
to do on television. Just preach this prayer after
me, and then you're good to go. We reject all these things that
are conjured up by men to give visible results, and that's all
it does. Tally of numbers, you know, way
to keep count. So what do God's people in this
world do? They preach the power of God
and the salvation. They hurl the stone and that
sling that the builders rejected and refused that's become the
head of the corner. That stone, that rock is Christ.
Gospel preaching is the sling. A sling is what hurls a stone. That's the definition of a sling.
If you look it up, it says, an instrument that hurls a stone.
That's what preaching is, isn't it, John? We hurl that stone
to the lost. It's God's business where it
lands. It's God's business where it
lands. We just hurl the stone. That's what David did. God directed
the stone. Jesus Christ is a stone. That's
what gospel preaching does. It hurls, it proclaims with power
the Lord Jesus Christ. And listen, only one stone is
needed. He's a tried stone. He's a sure
stone. He's a rejected and refused stone.
He's a stone of sunbeam. He's a rock of a fence. Paul
said, give ear to his own words. He said, that's why Christ came
into the world. It's a faithful saying, worthy
of all acceptation. Christ Jesus came into the world,
why? To save sinners. Isaiah 28, 16 says, Therefore
thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation,
a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation,
and he that believeth shall not make haste. This is talking about
Christ, the preaching of Christ. Jesus Christ and Him crucified,
that's the message. It's not by might, as we said
a moment ago. It's not by power, but by my
Spirit. Sayeth the Lord of Hosts, it's
what God said. And in verse 55, when King Saul
saw David go against the Philistine, he said unto Admiral, whose son
is this? That's the question of the hour.
That's the question of every hour. What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? Whose son is
this? Whose son is this? This man that
laid down his life voluntarily for the sins of those that God
gave him from the foundation of the world. Who is he? He's
God. He's God the Son. He's the Deliverer. He's the
Mediator. He's the Stand-Between. He's
the Substitute. He's the Sacrifice. He's the
only one that can save and God saves with a sling and a stone.