Good, good hymn. Great hymn. Alright, let's turn in our Bibles
to the book of 1 Samuel chapter 17. And as I told you, I'm going
to be referring to Hebrews chapter 2 quite a bit too, because I
believe that we have in those few verses that I read and a
few more around that, that we have what I would call a commentary
on the picture that is given in the battle between David and
Goliath. And that's what we're going to
talk about tonight. The battle between David and Goliath. I've
called this message, entitled it, God's Victory Over Sin. Because that's what David's victory
over Goliath represents in pictures. God's victory. God the Son, His
victory over sin. And here we have in this battle
a picture of Christ on the cross. But we have three pictures here
that I want to deal with tonight. The first picture that I want
to show you has to do with the problem of sin and the fear that
it brings. The problem of sin and the fear
that it brings. That is the picture that is set
forth in King Saul and the army of Israel. Think about the scene. Here they are on a hill in the
valley of Elah, and that valley in between them, Goliath and
the Philistine armies on the other side, and Goliath comes
out and he challenges them, this giant of a man, this great infamous
warrior who nobody has defeated, who thinks nobody can defeat
him, and, of course, Saul and Israel are thinking the same
way. And here's the people of God, the people of the covenant,
the people whom God delivered with a mighty hand out of Egypt,
the people whom God led across the Red Sea and covenanted with
at Sinai through Moses. The people whom He defeated enemies
and protected and provided for in the wilderness, the people
to whom He gave the land of Canaan with a miracle of His power and
His goodness. Here's the people of God on the
other side, listening to this man curse God and curse Israel,
and they're quaking with fear. They're cowering. They're quaking
from the top of their heads to the bottom of their feet. The
greatest warrior in Israel and the least warrior in Israel is
quaking fear. And that is a picture of fallen
man by nature, right there, in the bondage of fear, in the bondage
of sin. Goliath challenging Israel. As
I said, not only cursing Israel, remember that now, When Goliath
challenges Israel and curses Israel, he's not only challenging
that nation, he's challenging God Almighty. He's cursing God
Almighty, trembling Israel back into the tents, cowering in fear. And that's a picture of a sinner
awakened to his helpless estate. They knew they couldn't defeat
this man. They knew they couldn't do anything about it. They're
trying to figure out what to do. What are we going to do?
How are we going to get out of this mess? Now, that's man by
nature, isn't it? You see, that's the problem.
What are we going to do to save ourselves from this enemy? And the answer is nothing. There's
nothing you can do to save yourself. What a great picture of man fallen
in his fallen state. When God allows us to look into
ourselves pricks our conscience with the law. What's the first
thing we do? What are we going to do to get
out of this mess? What am I going to do? Well, I better go join
the church, or I better get baptized, or I better start doing some
good works to at least outweigh my bad work. All those things
that men come up with in religion and in human morality that will
do them absolutely no good to cure and rid them of the problem
of sin and the fear that it brings, the bondage of sin. And remember
now, these are God's chosen people, chosen out of all nations. God
chose this bunch out of all nations. Why? Not because they were better
or more in number, not because they were good, but because it
seemed good in His sight. This is the people that God made
His covenant with. They had the promises of God,
the promise of the coming Redeemer. Their past history, think about
it. Now, they were a rebellious people. They were a weak people,
they were helpless, but God delivered them anyway for His purpose,
out of His sovereign goodness, and He provided for them. The
law of Moses was given to them to show them their sinfulness,
not so that they could tremble and quake in fear and despair,
but it was given so they would look to God and beg for mercy,
claiming, I don't deserve anything, I haven't earned anything from
God, and ultimately as a schoolmaster to lead them unto Christ. for
salvation, the promised Messiah, and His blood and righteousness
for all their salvation. You see, the Jewish nation as
a people picture the kind of people God saves. Sinners. That's the kind He saves. The
sinner who's helpless, with only one hope. And that one hope is
the one who is appointed, the one who's able, and the one who's
willing to come up and fight for. The one person. Even Goliath
ignorantly expressed that. Look at 1 Samuel 17, look at
verse 10. Even Goliath knew that. He says,
and the Philistines said, this is verse 10, I defy the armies
of Israel this day, give me a man that we may fight together. Goliath
in his ignorance, as unbelievers so often do, expresses a truth
there. That was their only hope, to
find a man, one appointed of God, One who was able, enabled
by God, and one who was willing to come up and fight for them.
Think about it. Think about our situation. Back
over here in Hebrews chapter 2, in verse 14, or verse 15 rather,
it speaks of deliverance. What's the kind of people that
God has delivered by His Son? It says, "...them who through
fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."
Now that's the picture of Israel quaking in fear, cowering in
their tents. It's a fear of death. It's a
fear of punishment. It's a legal fear. that keeps
them in bondage, the bondage of sin and Satan and the curse
of the law, trying to figure their way out of it. And you
think about our situation by nature. What does God require
of us for salvation? Think about that. God requires
perfect righteousness. And in ourselves, in our natural
state, the law of God stands as our enemy. For by deeds of
law shall no flesh be justified in God's sight." God requires
perfect right. He requires you and me to be
perfectly righteous and holy, to be accepted before Him. But you see, we're nothing but
sin. Is there one for us? Is there one who can come up
and fight for us? Who can stand in the face of
the law? and keep it perfectly, who can
take the full brunt of its justice and drink damnation dry. Is there
one who can come up before us and defeat sin and Satan and
the curse? Now, Israel here, back here,
they desired to be saved. And I'll tell you something,
they willed to be saved. People say, well, man just has
to be willing. Well, all men are willing to
be saved, but not God's way. Israel at this time had no idea
how God was going to deliver them. King Saul didn't know.
Abner, the general, he didn't know. They didn't know how God
was... David's brothers didn't know.
They had no idea. They just wanted to be saved.
That's what they wanted. But you see, that couldn't make
it happen. Man's will cannot make salvation
happen. I don't care what anybody says.
It cannot do it. There's got to be a fight, you
see. You just can't will it so. There's got to be a fight. There's
got to be a battle between righteousness, that is justice, and sin. God must be just when He justifies. That's what that means. God must
be holy as well as a loving God. He must be a righteous judge
as well as a loving Father. He must be truthful in all His
character as well as merciful. There's got to be a fight here.
The challenge has been issued. And there's got to be a fight.
And when there was no one to fight for them, there was no
one to fight for them, who steps up? A shepherd. A shepherd named
David steps up. And that's the second picture
that we're going to see here. David pictures our Savior, the
greater Son of David. David pictures Christ. And you
remember what David said? Look back at verse 29 that we
read last time. David said, what have I now done
in defending himself against the charges of his older brother?
And he asked this question, is there not a cause? And there
is a cause. The cause is the glory of God
Himself. His glory is at stake here. He
chose these people. He redeemed these people. He
promised in covenant to these people, and His glory is at stake. Just like in the salvation of
spiritual Israel, the salvation of sinners, God's glory is the
issue. You see, that's the problem with
religion today. When they preach what they think
is the gospel, it's really geared toward man's reputation, man's
efforts, and man's goodness. But you see, that's not the issue
in salvation. That wasn't the issue that was
settled at the cross of Calvary. The issue and salvation, and
that was settled at the cross of Calvary, is the glory of the
triune Godhead. God must be glorified. The righteousness,
the justice of God against sin, and the righteousness and justice
of God in the salvation of His people. And here's the point.
If our cause is truly the glory of God in Christ, then we cannot
fail. We cannot fail. This is the story
of Christ, David's greater Son. David's cause was not the cause
of David. He wasn't in it for himself.
It wasn't the cause of the nation Israel. It wasn't the cause of
any man. It was the cause of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter
1. This is a summation of the cause right here. This is what
it's all about right here. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and look
down at verse 27. Paul sums it up here as it is
expressed and testified of in the preaching of the cross and
the testimony of his people, believers. He says in verse 27
of 1 Corinthians 1, "...but God hath chosen the foolish things
of the world to confound the wise." A shepherd boy? Now, didn't
they have any strong warriors, experienced warriors in Israel? who could at least make a stab
at it, try to go up against them, but a shepherd boy, the youngest
of his family, that's foolish to man. But God hath chosen,
you see, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world,
the world looked upon David as weak, to confound the things
which are mine. He did confound them all, didn't
he? We read it last time, how he confounded his brothers, he
confounded Saul, and verse 28 says, the base things of the
world. and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things
which are not to bring to naught nothing things that are." Why? Now, here it is. Read these last
verses. "...that no flesh should glory
in His presence." No flesh. And he says, "...but of Him,"
that is, of God the Father, "...are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God
is made unto us." Wisdom. Man's wisdom doesn't mean anything
in this thing. It's God's wisdom. And righteousness. Man's righteousness doesn't count
for anything. It's the righteousness of God
in Christ. And sanctification. Man's holiness
doesn't mean anything here. It's God's. And he says, and
redemption. What man can pay is nothing,
less than nothing. It's the redemptive price that
Christ paid with His blood. And he says in verse 31, that
according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord. That's the issue. That's the
cause. Is there not a cause? Yes, there is. It's the glory
of God. I think about this, you know,
Moses. When he received the law and
he was appointed to be the leader of Israel, God told him this
in Exodus chapter 9 and verse 16 before he got the law at Sinai.
It says, "...and in the very deed for this cause have I raised
thee up." Here's why I raised you up, Moses. He says, for to
show in thee my power, that my name, not Moses' name, but that
God's name might be declared throughout all the earth. It's
His glory. The Lord said in His troubled
hour, when He was agonizing over the impending suffering that
He was going to go through in His flesh, He said this in John
12 and verse 27. He says, Now is my soul troubled,
what shall I say? Father save me from this hour?
He says, But for this cause came I unto this hour. There's a cause.
And that cause is the glory of God and the salvation of His
people. Look back at 1 Samuel 17. Look at verse 30. David comes
before Saul with the heart of a shepherd. It says, "...he turned
from him toward another, and spoke after the same manner,
and the people answered him again in the former manner. And when
the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before
Saul. They told Saul what David said,
and he sent for him." Saul sent for David. David said to Saul,
"...let no man's heart fail because of him. Thy servant will go and
fight with the Philistine." There's the heart of a shepherd. He becomes
a warrior. the heart of a shepherd who becomes
the heart of a warrior. And that's what he's telling
Saul. He said, don't fear. I think about our Lord when he
told his disciples, fear not, fear not, for I am with you always. And David said, let no man's
heart fail because of Goliath. He said, thy servant, talking
about himself, I'll go and fight with his Philistine. He was willing
to do so. Our Savior was willing. He wasn't
taken by force. You remember when they approached
him in the garden to take him and arrest him, and they said,
we're looking for Jesus of Nazareth. And he said, I am. And what happened? You remember? They fell back.
And then he said, well, now get up and come on. That's what he
was doing. He was led as a sheep to the
slaughter. He opened not his mouth. He told
them, he said, I give my life up willingly, readily for this
cause. And here David is appearing before
Saul the king. I think about our Lord when He
first appeared before His Father in the everlasting covenant of
grace. God chose a people and gave them to Christ and put all
the responsibility of our salvation upon His Son. And that is what
King Saul is doing here. He is going to put all the responsibility
of the deliverance of Israel upon this boy, upon this shepherd. If David qualified, look at verse
34. Now, 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. Now, is David qualified? Well,
first he goes back to the Lord's work through him in the past.
Think about what God has done. Can God save us from our sins? Well, think about what He has
done. Think about the former things of old. That's what he's
doing here. And David says, well, when I
was tending my father's sheep, there came a lion, there came
a bear, and they took a lamb out of the flock. And he said
in verse 35, and I went out after him and smote him, and I 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 the lion and the bear. And this uncircumcised Philistine,
this unbeliever, this idolater, This one who is outside the covenant
shall be as one of them, just like the lion and the bear, seeing
he hath defied the armies of the living God." He's defied
the armies of the living God. But look at verse 37. He says,
David said, moreover, the Lord that delivered me out of the
paw of the lion. Now, who delivered him out of the paw of the lion?
David said, look at me, look how big I am. About like that guy who who bragged
about cutting the tail of a lion off with a penknife. You heard
about him, hadn't you? He said, he's bragging around,
he said, I cut the tail of a lion off with his penknife. And somebody
said, well, if you're so big, why didn't you cut off his head?
He said, well, somebody else had already done that. Well,
David didn't have to say that. David wasn't bragging about himself
and what he'd done. What did he say? He said, the
Lord, that's Jehovah, the covenant God, the Savior, 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 hands of this Philistine. He
is going to do it. And Saul said unto David, Go,
and the Lord be with thee. David the shepherd, David the
poet, David the warrior, the sweet psalmist of Israel, the
man after God's own heart, now David the man of war. And he's
a picture of Christ in all his offices and duties to perform
the mighty work that he was sent by his Father to do. You see,
Christ is all. David was qualified. Why? Because
the Lord was with him. Christ himself was uniquely qualified
for the task that God sent him to do. How? Well, look back at
Hebrews chapter 2. Listen to what he says here in
verse 14. For as much then as the children,
his children, God's children, his elect, his church, his sheep,
as they are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise
took part of the same. That's how he was qualified.
He's God and man in one person. He is the God-man. That's the
qualification for the salvation of the children. He must identify
perfectly and equally with God, for He must be God, for only
God can give and sustain life. Only God can bring forth an everlasting
righteousness of infinite value that can never be taken away.
But He is God. But he also must identify perfectly
with his children, with his brethren, in flesh and blood, without sin. For only man can die. Only man
can suffer and bleed and die under the sentence of the law,
and he is man. Somebody said this, He is as
much God as if He were not man, and as much man as if He were
not God. He's both God and man. He's not
half God and half man. He's 100% God and 100% man without
sin. I can't explain all that, and
I don't know how to. I don't know if I'll ever be
able to. But I know it's so. He's not
a mixture of God and man. There's no mixture of the two
natures. There's the union of the two natures. But that's who
he is, and he was well qualified to stand in the place of his
children as their representative, as their substitute and surety,
and do for them what they could not do for themselves. We notice
here that David, when he fought the lion and the bear, you know,
why did he do that? You know why? Because he was
a shepherd, and his interest was in the flock. And that's
the way our Lord was. He's the Good Shepherd, and He
giveth His life for the sheep. He loves His sheep. They're His
sheep. And He laid down His life for
the sheep. His interest in glorifying God
was in the salvation of His sheep. David's looking to the past.
I always think about Isaiah chapter 46. Let me just read this to
you. When I think about that, people referring to the past.
When God said through the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 46, 9, remember
the former things of old, for I am God and there is none else.
I am God and there is none like me. Look at what God has already
done. Now, don't doubt what He will
do. He says in verse 12, hearken unto me, you stout-hearted that
are far from righteousness. I bring near my righteousness,
it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry,
and I will place salvation in Zion. for Israel, my glory."
That's the coming of Christ. David could not, of his own human
strength, defeat Goliath any more than he could, of his own
human strength, defeat the lion or the bear. But the Lord was with him. That's
the issue, isn't it? That's the key. That's the key. Our Savior did not look as if
he could win any battle. Think about it. And in his humanity
alone, he could not. But he's not just man, he's God-man. God-man. And therefore we can
say with the Apostle Paul as he wrote to the Hebrew believers,
wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come
unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for
them. Over there in Hebrews chapter 2 again, it says that He took
part of the same, that is, flesh and blood, without sin, verse
14, that through death he might destroy him that had the power
of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them who through
fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
For verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but he
took on him the seed of Abraham." He did that to save his people
from their sins. Now look at verse 38. Here David
prepares to fight Goliath. Look at his preparation. He says
in verse 38, "...and Saul armed David with his armor, and he
put a helmet of brass upon his head, and 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." Now, the first thing
you see there is David's going to go to do battle, but he cannot
go with Saul's armor. And you know, a lot of times
when you hear this story, people describe it this way, well, David
was so small and Saul's armor was so big that he couldn't handle
it. That is not the case. David was a 20-year-old man by
this time. David just recognized that his fight with this Philistine
was not going to be with Saul's armor, with man's armor, with
man's work or works. You see, you cannot do battle
with sin in the flesh and win. And he says these things have
not been proven. These things have not been tested
well against such an enemy, and they will not hold up. That's
the issue. That's the issue here. It's not
with man's weapons. It's not with man's armor. It
has to be with the power of God alone. That's the only way that
this enemy is going to be defeated. It couldn't hold up against this
Philistine. Now, I think about our Savior.
He was well prepared in his person as both God and man in the incarnation. But you see the preparations
that he went through as he walked among men, how he was tested
on the Mount of Temptation with Satan, and he passed every test
with flying colors. How men tested him all the way
through his three and a half years of ministry here on this
earth, and he passed every test. Every time they tried to trap
him, you see, he won the battle. He won those battles until he
went to the cross and won the big battle. He could not fight. this battle in the arm of the
flesh and with human works and human concoctions. And neither
could David. That's why our Lord was God Himself
in human flesh. That's why He had the power of
the Father upholding Him. That's why He had the Spirit
without measure in helping Him endure in His humanity through
the pain and the sorrow and the suffering that He would go to
do. And so David, it says in verse
40, it says he took his staff in his hand, he chose him five
smooth stones out of the brook. Now many commentators say that
David chose five stones because Goliath had four brothers. We
don't know for sure that that's so, but there are four other
giants mentioned over in 2 Samuel, so that may have been the case,
I don't know. But I'm going to leave that with you theologians. You can figure that one out.
But that might have been. But he chose five smooth stones
out of the brook and put them in a shepherd's bag. I like that
language, don't you? Put them in a shepherd's bag.
He never stopped being the shepherd. And that's the way it is with
our Lord. When He became the warrior, you see, against sin
and against Satan, He still was the shepherd. He still had the
shepherd's heart. It wasn't just a powerful warrior
that stood in our place, it was a loving shepherd dying for the
sheep, keeping the sheep. So he placed 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. Now it says, and the Philistine
came out, now listen to this, he says, he drew near unto David,
and the man that bared the shield went before him, here comes Goliath,
And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained
him. That means he derided him. He
looked upon him with no respect, no fear, the proud, sinful, unbelieving
idolater. And that's just exactly the way
men by nature, including ourselves by nature, look at and view the
Lord, the true Savior. Not this false Jesus that's being
preached around here that tugs on men's heart strings but cannot
save anybody unless you let him. But the true sovereign Savior. Men like Goliath look upon Him
with disdain. It says, for He was but a youth
and ruddy and of fair countenance. That's how Goliath looked. This
is a weakling. This is an easy target for me. I'm going to make minced meat
of this young man. And it says in verse 43, And
the Philistines said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest
to me with staves? And the Philistines cursed David
by his gods. They say the Philistines had
two main gods, Dagon and Ashtaroth. And we learn that under Samson,
you know, when we see his life. But they were idols. And he cursed
David in the name of his gods. Am I a dog? What do you all think
of me? You see, it was common, if you
wanted to respect a warrior, you'd send one that he would
see at least as his equal. He didn't look at David as his
equal. He looked at David with disdain. And verse 44, it says,
And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy
flesh unto the fowls of the air and to the beasts of the field.
You see, he's expressing hatred of David. which pictures our
natural hatred of Christ. He expressed his love for himself.
What do you think of me? Am I a dog? That's what he's
expressing here, self-love. You haven't respected me enough
to bring one in who's my equal to fight with me. And then he
boasted in himself and his own works. Here's what I'm going
to do. That's what he did. You know, that's man by nature,
isn't it? Right there. Hates the Lord Jesus Christ.
hates the gospel of God's grace, because it will not exalt the
flesh, loves himself, and then boasts about what he can do.
He can save himself. I can make myself righteous by
my work. That's Goliath. Right there.
Identification with Goliath. That's Goliath's story. But look
at David's reply. Look at verse 45. Now notice,
Goliath, what he expressed, is the true character of sin and
self-righteousness and unbelief. But what David expresses here
in the beginning of verse 45 is the true character of humility
and faith in God. Listen to him. He first starts
out, verse 45, Then said David to the Philistine, 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." David's first
defense against this evil giant is the glory of God. That's God's
name. His name is His glory. His name
is that which identifies and distinguishes him from the false
gods of the Philistines, from every false god. I come to you
in the name of the Lord of Hosts. This is Jehovah who is invincible. This is Jehovah who saves sinners
by the grace of God in the promise that He made to send a Redeemer.
I come to you in His name. I come to you in the name of
the covenant God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And He said, the God of the armies
of Israel whom thou hast defied. Look at verse 46. So the first
thing He speaks of is the glory of God. Here's the second thing,
verse 46, "...this day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand."
Now he's going to boast in confidence in the Lord's work. Now what
will Goliath say? Here's what I'm going to do to
you. I'm going to give your flesh to the birds of the air and the
beasts of the field. I'm going to. I'm going to. Here's
what David said, "...this day the Lord's going to." The Lord
is going to deliver you into my hand. And he says, I will
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. You see, God was going to use
David as his instrument, but God is going to do it. And he
says, and to the wild beast of the earth, that all the earth
may know that there is a God in Israel, thee one and only,
true God. And he says in verse 47, "...and
all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with
sword, not with spear, for the battle is the Lord's." There's
the kid. It's not our battle. It's the
Lord's. And He will give you into our
hands. My friend, this battle against sin, it's not our battle. It's the Lord's battle. And I'll
tell you what, you better thank God every day for that. Because
you see it being the Lord's battle, that means what? Victory. Victory
over sin. Victory over Satan. Victory over
death. Victory over the curse. How? By the death of the Son of God.
If it was my battle or your battle, what would that mean? Defeat.
At every turn. We were studying Romans chapter
7 this morning, how Paul made this statement. He said, what
I want to do I do not do. He can't even have victory there. And so he comes up with this.
This is the last out of his desperation in that battle against sin, even
as a believer. He says, O wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Who's
going to do it? Mom and Daddy can't do it. The
preacher can't do it. The church can't do it. He said,
I thank my God. I thank the Lord my God through
Jesus Christ my Lord. He's the only one who can win
this battle. And David knew that. And he said, when it's all over,
he said, this whole assembly is going to know that David is
a great guy. Well, there are going to be some
who will applaud David. But here's what's on David's
mind and on David's heart. He says, they'll know that the
Lord saved us, not David. The Lord saveth. The battle is
the Lord's, and He will give you in time." Our hands. You
notice he said our hands there? He didn't say my hands. You see,
David stood as a representative. And that's the way it is with
our Savior. You see, He didn't die as a private person for Himself. He died as a representative person
for His people. And what He earned In His work,
His obedience unto death, in the shedding of His blood, in
the establishment of righteousness, you know what? It's ours. It is ours. And He said so. He said so. Well, now David defeats
Goliath. Look at verse 48. It says, And
it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came, and drew nigh
to meet David. And David hasted, and ran toward
the army to meet the Philistine. Wasn't timid, you see. It's like
our Lord, he set his face like a flint to the cross. And David
put his hand in his bag and took then to stone and sling it and
smote the Philistine in his forehead. That was the only place his armor
didn't cover. That bare forehead. And the stone
sunk into his forehead and he fell upon his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine
with a sling and a stone and smote the Philistine and slew
him. But there was no sword in the hands of David, no weapon. You see, those stones, man didn't
make them, God did. Anything that man made, anything
that man touched, anything that man had anything to do in bringing
forth was not used. It was just those stones, and
it sunk right into his forehead. And look at verse 51 here. He
says, Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, took
his sword, the Philistine's sword, and drew it out of the sheath
thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when
the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. Look at
verse 52, And the men of Israel and Judah arose, and shouted,
and pursued the Philistines, until thou come to the valley
and to the gates of Echreth. And the wounded of the Philistines
fell down by the way of Shearim, 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." The power of God unto salvation
through Jesus Christ our Lord is pictured right there, isn't
it? Somebody said that stone hitting that forehead, that one
spot where the Giant didn't have any armor. They said that wasn't
coincidence. That stone was a guided missile,
guided by the hand and power of God. David won a great victory,
but he didn't win a greater victory than our Savior won on Calvary.
David's victory over Goliath is a picture in advance of the
victory Christ has won for His sheep, for His covenant people,
Both David and Christ represented their people. Whatever happened
to the representative would happen to God's people also. Both David
and Christ fought the battle on ground that rightfully belonged
to God's people, ground that they had lost, just like we fell
and lost our first estate. Christ stood in our place, and
He regained that and more. Both David and Christ fought
with their enemy, and was able to dominate the people of God,
the enemy who was able to dominate the people of God through fear
and intimidation. Both David and Christ were sent
to the battleground by their father. Jesse first sent David
in. Both David and Christ were scorned and rejected by their
own brother. Both David and Christ fought
the battle without concern with human strategies, fleshly wisdom,
or earthly armor. Both David and Christ won the
battle. Both David and Christ fought
a battle where victory was assured even really before it started. There was no doubt. Never was.
And here we can see this. Let me conclude with this. David
pictures the believer going forth with the gospel of God's power
and grace in Christ. Like David, think about this.
We're to go forth in the power and wisdom of God with a message
of Christ. who has already defeated our
great enemy, sin. It's just waiting in the wings
right now for the complete and final deliverance in glory. And
our message is first and foremost of a battle that's already been
won. Christ and Him crucified, buried,
and risen again. And this is our victory over
sin and over Satan and over the world in all matters and areas
of life. Someone may ask you, what's the
greatest giant you're facing right now in your life? I can
tell you exactly what the greatest giant you're facing in your life. It's sin. It's sin. How do we turn that giant back? How do we defeat that giant?
Well, Revelation chapter 12 tells us. We do it by pleading the
blood of the Lamb of God. That's how we do it. That's the
stone. that sails towards Satan and
sin and strikes it right in the bare spot, the forehead, and
fails it over. Christ and His blood and righteousness,
so that when we cry out in despair, O wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? We can always
take comfort and peace and assurance in the fact that we can thank
God through Jesus Christ our Lord.