All right, let's look at 1st
Samuel 17. What we have here, and this is
a pretty lengthy chapter divided into 58 verses, and it's the
story of what we normally called David and Goliath. And that's
who it's about, David going up against the giant Goliath. Normally, I know growing up when
I would hear this story, it was a story of David's courage. And
of course, David's courage is in here, but what was left out
for so many years as I read this story is where did David's courage
come from? And what it is, it's a story
of David defeating Goliath, but really behind all of this, it's
the story of the Lord. in his victory to keep his people
safe and to be faithful to his promise to Abraham and all the
way through. And so we're gonna look at it
in that sense. And I've entitled the lesson,
Christ Our Champion. That's what this is about. Because
as we see that it's really the story of God's victory, God's
power, In type, it's a picture of Christ who is our champion,
who has defeated all of our enemies in the realm of eternal salvation
and final glory. Here in the first part of this
chapter, the story, it's a factual account. that the Bible gives,
demonstrating how the Lord fights for us and how he intercedes
for us. And we can see David, the champion of Israel, as a
type of Christ. We can see Goliath, the champion
of the Philistines, portraying all the enemies of Christ and
his church, everything that comes against us. And so anything like
we can think of, I've got listed here, sin is against us, death
is against us, the devil is against us, the law is against us in
the sense of salvation based on our works. The law would curse
us. And Goliath sort of represents
every bit of that, that would defeat us and condemn us, but
Christ our champion has stepped in as our representative. as our champion and defeated
all of our enemies. Because as our surety, I love
this, as our surety, as our substitute, as our redeemer, and then as
our preserver, Christ has accomplished all that God requires of us. And he's won all the battles
for us because he's brought in an everlasting righteousness
of infinite value. by which God justifies the ungodly. He paid our debt to God's law
and justice. He conquered death in the grave.
He conquered sin and he conquered Satan. Remember when he spoke
of going to the cross, he said, now there's the prince of this
world cast out. He's put down. So that any accusation
that Satan would bring, you remember Satan brought accusation against
Job and Christ interceded for Job. Well, now Satan has no power
to accuse anybody because Christ died on the cross. And so the
accusations cannot stick because what does the Lord say? He says,
who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God
that justify it. So Christ is as our champion,
has fought all of our spiritual battles against principalities
and powers beyond our abilities, and he spoiled them. and He spoiled
them completely for us. Now, in these verses here, we
see the armies of King Saul and Israel on one side, on a mountain
on one side of this valley. And then we see the Philistines
on the other side. And look at verse four of 1 Samuel
17. It says, and there went out a
champion out of the camp of the Philistines named Goliath of
Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. Most scholars agree
that's about nine feet. Pretty big guy. And it says here
he had a helmet. He was well clad in armor. He was a warrior. And it looked
invincible. Nobody in their right mind would
go up against this guy individually. And here he was, he had an arm
with a coat of mail. The weight of the coat was 5,000
shekels of brass, greaves of brass upon his legs. So here
stands this nine foot warrior. It says here he had a shield,
a man bearing a shield went before him. He had a staff of his spear,
which like a weaver's beam, And so you get this picture of an
invincible enemy that no man, no regular man could defeat. And so Goliath, he stood, look
at verse eight, he said, he stood and he cried unto the armies
of Israel and said unto them, why are you come out to set your
battle in a ray? Am not I a Philistine? Now he's
bragging. Look at who I am. And you servants
of Saul, choose you a man for you and let him come down to
me. And if he be able to fight with me and to kill me, then
will we be your servants. If this man comes down and fights
me and kills me, then we'll be your servants. But if I prevail
against him and kill him, then shall you be our servants and
serve us. And the Philistine said, I defy
the armies of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight
together. And verse 11, look at this, it
says, when Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine,
they were dismayed and greatly afraid. Now the idea there is
that Saul and the armies of Israel, they're looking at it this way. We can't defeat this guy. If
it's up to us, which they're thinking it is, we can't defeat
him. But one of the things that I
thought was interesting here is the battle is set up And the
way it is set up, it typifies our salvation. Because here what
Goliath is saying is the victory or the defeat is going to depend
upon one man. Their victory depended upon one
man, Goliath. And the victory of Israel depended
upon one man, whoever they could find. Really it's who God chose,
we're gonna say. And isn't that the way of our
salvation? Our whole salvation depends upon one man, one God-man,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Adam was our foe. You might say
Adam was our Goliath in that sense. We fell in Adam for as
by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin for that
all have sinned, all sinned in Adam. But the Bible goes on there
in Romans chapter five to speak of by one man's obedience, all
were made righteous. And that's the way it is. The
Bible teaches that the government of God's grace, God's kingdom,
God's salvation is squarely upon the shoulders of Christ. It's
not upon our shoulders. If it were, we'd be defeated.
We can't go up against Goliath and defeat him. We can't defeat
sin. We can't defeat it now. Even as sinners saved by grace,
you can't defeat it. Determine in your mind that the
next minute you're not gonna sin at all and you'll be defeated.
We can't defeat death. Physical death teaches that.
I was talking to a fellow the other day about that. He's talking
about how they say the average lifespan is growing. And I told
him, I said, well, it may be. But I said, if they can get it
up to 969 years like Methuselah, it's still going to save the
epitaph for all of us. And he died. We can't defeat
physical death, and certainly we can't defeat eternal death,
but the one man, the one God-man, the one surety, substitute and
representative who defeated it all is Jesus Christ, the Lord
our righteousness. And I love the way that was set
up for this. Well, as it goes on, you recall that David was
a shepherd. He was the youngest of eight
sons of Jesse. And as, you remember when Samuel
went to Jesse's house looking for the anointed one whom God
would bring to be king of Israel, David was the last person they
were thinking of. Because Jesse didn't even bring,
Jesse had eight sons, he brought seven sons to Samuel. And Samuel
said, well, none of these. The last one they were thinking
of was David. Well, When Goliath challenges Israel here and say
bring one man, nobody certainly was thinking about David the
shepherd. He was out tending his father's sheep. And of course
he came in and he went to the battlefield where three of his
brothers were. He brought them food and things
like that. And he began to hear what was being said here. He
saw this scene of what was going on. And so here this young shepherd
boy, who was the anointed of God to be king, but nobody would
have picked David to be Israel's champion. And isn't that like
the Lord Jesus Christ? What did Isaiah say about him?
He was like a tender plant. No man had any esteem for him. You know, he was all that, nobody,
his outward appearance, no beauty about him. The Jews, the unbelieving
Jews, would never have picked this person who was born in a
manger who appeared weak outwardly to them to be the Messiah, the
King Messiah, the champion of salvation. You know, Israel,
when their view of the Messiah was really skewed because they
thought, well, the Messiah, when he comes, he's gonna come like
on a white horse in the clouds, and he's gonna conquer their
enemies, he's gonna set up his kingdom in Jerusalem and rule
through them. Pat them on the back and say,
good job, guys. You all kept it together till
I got here. That's the way they thought of the Messiah. But one,
to come out of Bethlehem and be born in a manger, and one
who had no outward appearance of a king, who came into Jerusalem
riding a donkey, that was the last one they would have picked
to be their Messiah. Well, David was the last one
they would have picked to be their champion. And so David
asked this question, if you'll look over in verse 26. Now, when
David's surveying all of what's going on, there's this nine foot
giant out there and he came out every day. I think they said
it was like 40 days, all total. It said, in verse 26, it says,
David spoke to the men that stood by him saying, what shall be
done to the man that killeth this Philistine and taketh away
the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised
Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?
You see that? Now, you remember Saul and all
the armies of Israel back over in verse 11, they were dismayed
and greatly afraid. David comes up there and he says,
who is this guy that he would defy the armies of the living
God? Now, what's the difference? David
already, right here, he says, he's showing us, just like what
Moses showed the children of Israel when they were getting
ready to cross the Red Sea, and they look back and they saw the
armies of Pharaoh, and they begin to complain and be afraid. And
you know what Moses told them to do? He says, stand still and
see the salvation of the Lord. for he will fight for us. This
is not our battle. That's what David is saying.
This guy out here, I don't care how big he is. I don't care how
many they are. They're defying the armies of the living God.
And that's what David understood right from the beginning. This
is not our battle. This is not our power. This is
not our goodness. This is God. And boy, what a
picture of our salvation. That's the way it is. You know,
we fight and we battle. You know, we're in a warfare.
The scripture says that. We're gonna be engaged in that
warfare. But if we fight that warfare in our own power, or
by our own goodness, trying to establish our own righteousness,
what's gonna happen? We're gonna lose. But there's
no way that we can lose. It's like Christ told his disciples
when he said, in the world you'll have tribulation, but be of good
cheer, for I have overcome the world. Did you notice there,
that's John 16, what, 33 I think it is? He didn't say be of good
cheer because I'm going to enable you to overcome the world. And
that's what a lot of people think about salvation. It's what God
enables us to do. That's what a lot of people think
about justification. That I'm justified because of
what God enables me to do. Like the Pharisee outside the
temple. Lord, I thank God that I'm not like other men. I thank
God. Well, God, listen. God enables us to do many things
that we were not able to do before He entered into our lives. We can believe in Him. We didn't
believe in Him before we were born again. We can repent. We can obey Him, not perfectly,
but in a way of grace. But that's not defeating our
enemies. Christ alone defeated our enemies. And so when he said, be of good
cheer for I have overcome the world, Paul was talking about
in Romans 7, the battle of the flesh and the spirit. And he
comes down to this point, he says, oh, wretched man that I
am, who shall deliver me from this body of death? Well, God's
gonna enable me to do great things. No, he said, I thank God through
Jesus Christ my Lord. What is the establishment of
righteousness in the gospel? Is it what God does in us or
what God enables us to do? No, it's the righteousness of
God. Christ came as our surety. Our sins charged to his account. Christ took our place to pay
our debt. He died on that cross, shedding
his blood as the full payment for all our sins. He redeemed
us by his blood. And in that he established righteousness
and came out of that grave. That's the defeat of the grave.
That's the defeat of death. That's the defeat of our sin.
And so who is this that comes against the armies of the living
God? And look down at verse 29. As David went on, he's looking
at these guys and he says, David said, his brothers got on to
him for talking like that. He said, David, his older brothers. And they said, David, you're
out of your place, son. This is King Saul in his army,
and you're walking around here like we're doing something wrong.
And so David's answer, look at verse 29. David said, what have
I done? What have I done? Is there not
a cause? You bet there's a cause, and
you know what the cause was? It's the glory of God in his
faithfulness to do what he promised to do through this nation. That's
the cause. And that's what it is in our
salvation. It's all for the glory of God. It's not for our glory
or our reputation. It's God. And so David, he's
understanding here. And look at verse 32. David said
to Saul, now they brought David before Saul. He said, let no
man's heart fail because of him. Thy servant will go and fight
with this Philistine. David said, I'm volunteering.
I'll go fight with this Philistine. And Saul questions him. He says,
good night, son, look at you. Here's a nine foot giant out
here, full armor, a warrior, and here's a shepherd boy named
David. Well, David goes back to the
past. Look at verse 36. Thy servant slew both the lion
and the bear. This is what David tells Saul.
Now, when you look at that, you might think David's bragging,
but he's not bragging, he's just telling the facts. He said, when I was a shepherd,
he said a lion and a bear came out, probably not at the same
time, but they came out to get the sheep and he killed them.
He killed the lion, he killed the bear. And he said he slew
him, he smote him, he slew him, you see. And he says in verse
36, thy servant slew both the lion and the bear, and this uncircumcised
Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the
armies of the living God. And David said, moreover, the
Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of
the paw of the bear. Now, what's David saying here?
When I fought the lion and the bear and slew them, it was the
Lord who delivered me. It wasn't my strength or my goodness,
it was the Lord. And it says, he will deliver
me out of the hand of this Philistine. God's going to do a work here.
Well, how do you know that, David? Well, because God revealed it
to him and God had made a promise that this nation would survive
until the Messiah would come. And so he says, and Saul said
unto David, go and the Lord be with thee. So Saul said, go on. But the key to this is that David
is looking to the Lord God. He's not looking at the enemies
and shaking in his boots. He's not looking to his own strength
or his own goodness. He's looking to the Lord. God's
gonna do this. And he refers back to the past.
I thought about this in the book of Isaiah, chapter 46. You remember
when Israel was afraid of their enemies, of being conquered,
And I think at that time it was the Assyrian Empire. And when
they were commanded by the Lord to depend upon God, to look to
God for their relief and their deliverance and their victories,
what did they do? Well, instead they wanted to
go back and form an alliance with Egypt. Let's get some allies
here. And God had forbidden them to
do that. You know what Egypt is, that's a symbol of bondage,
idolatry. And God's telling him, he says,
you don't go back to bondage and idolatry to defeat the enemies,
you look unto the Lord, look unto me and be you saved, all
the ends of the earth. And that's the way it is with
salvation. Don't look to the church, don't look to the preacher,
don't look to yourself, look to Christ for salvation, for
victory over our enemies. Well, and one of the ways that
God reminded them is, is he talked about history. And in Isaiah
46, remember verse nine, he said, remember the former things of
old, for I'm God, there's none else, declaring the end from
the beginning. Remember when I delivered you
out of Egypt? Remember when I parted the Red
Sea and drowned Pharaoh's armies? Remember when I kept you through
the wilderness? All of that. And of course, Isaiah applies
that to salvation. You remember in Isaiah 46, verse
12 and 13, he said, you who are stout hearted and stiff necked,
he said, bow down. He said, I bring near my righteousness. It shall not be far off and Israel
shall be saved. And that's a picture of our salvation.
He's talking about Christ. And that's who we look to for
salvation. Well, Saul, thinking like a military leader, He said,
bring the armor and put it on David. And they gave David, down
here in verse 39, or verse 38, Saul armed David with his armor,
put a helmet of brass upon his head, armed him with a coat of
mail. And there's David the shepherd.
Probably the armor and all that was bigger than him. But what
did he do? He took it all off. I don't need
that armor, that's what he's saying. Verse 40 says, he took
his staff in his hand, chose him five smooth stones out of
the brook. Now a lot of commentators will
go off on a tangent saying, why did David get five stones? I'm
going to tell you exactly why David got five stones. I don't
know. And the reason I don't know is
because it's not stated here. There are all kinds of people
that say, well, maybe Goliath had some brothers, or maybe David
was apprehensive. He thought he'd need more than
one stone. I don't know why he got five
stones, but he got five stones. We can spiritualize that, however
you want to do it. But I just don't know, because
there's nothing in the Bible that tells me about that. And
if I'm wrong, somebody will point it out to me, I'm sure, and that's
OK. Once in a while, I can be wrong. I don't know why David
got five stones, but he did. He put him in a bag, a shepherd's
bag, which he had, even in a script, and his sling was in his hand,
and he drew near to the Philistines, to the Goliath. So here the battle
is about to begin. And look what happens here. Verse
42, or verse 41, and the Philistine came 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 fair countenance. And the Philistine
said unto David, am I a dog that thou comest to me with stays
or with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David
by his gods. He cursed you by my idols. Of course, the Goliath didn't
think they were idols, but they were. The Philistine said to
David, come to me and I will give thy flesh into the fowls
of the air and into the beast of the field. And then David
said, now listen to David's words here. David said 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. Now, anytime
you see the phrase, the Lord of hosts, attributed to God,
what that means is the Lord of a great army that cannot be defeated. That's what he's talking about.
The invincible God, the Lord of hosts. And it says, the God
of the armies of Israel whom thou hast defied, Listen, he
said, this day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand and
I will smite thee and take thine head from thee and I will give
the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day into
the fowls of the air and to the wild beast of the earth that
all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Now those
sound like boastful words, don't they? David, are you bragging? Is he like that Muhammad Ali?
You remember how when he first come out on the scene, you know,
how he bragged and boasted, I am the greatest. No, he's not the
greatest. But he bragged about it. He played
on people's minds. But why does David brag so much?
Well, he's not bragging on himself. What is it? Here's the key. That
all the earth may know that David is strong and killed. No, that
all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. You know
that's what salvation is all about? I'm gonna talk about that
in the message on God's power to save. Salvation is not our
power to save. It's God's power to save. And
whenever we speak of our salvation, what do we desire? We desire
that people know that there is a God in spiritual Israel. That our God is sovereign and
powerful and glorious. And even in our good works, I
know people argue about that, we don't have any good work.
Well, the Bible says in Matthew 5 and verse 16, let your light
so shine before men that they may see your good works. The
light there is not our works, the light there is the gospel
now. And glorify thy father which is in heaven. That's what we're
here for. We're not here to draw attention to ourselves. We're
not here to brag about ourselves, we boast in Christ. God forbid
that I should glory, that I should boast, save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ. I talked about it last week on
how do we glorify God. We glory in him, let he that
glorieth glory in this, glory in the Lord. And that's what
David said, look at verse 47. He says, and all this assembly
shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear, for
the battle is the Lord's and he will give you into our hands. You're not coming up against
me, Goliath. You're coming up against the
Lord God. And that's what we can speak
of in our victories of sin and death and Satan. He's not coming
up against me, he's coming against my savior, my representative,
my Lord, my God. And he can't defeat him. Well,
look at verse 49. David put his hand in his bag
and took fence of stone and sling it and smote the Philistine in
his 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 with a stone and smote the Philistine and
slew him, but there was no sword in the hand of David." No sword. Therefore David ran and stood
upon the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of
the sheath thereof and slew him and cut off his head therewith.
And when the Philistine saw their champion was dead, they fled."
You can read the rest of the chapter, but there's the story. And one thing, let me just leave
you with this. David used that stone, that sling,
to kill Goliath by hitting him in the weakest point, the only
exposed point, which was what? His forehead. And I thought about
this, and I'm just making an application here. This is not
a type or a picture. Necessarily, I'm not saying that
this is what when the Holy Spirit inspired the author of Samuel
to write this, which may have been Samuel, I don't know, but
probably not, but it doesn't matter. This is God's word. But his exposed forehead, the
forehead in the Bible often typifies the mind. And you think about
us coming up against a false religion in the mind. All of
that, they may appear outwardly beautiful like Goliath, but in
their mind is a false gospel. And all we have to do is throw
the stone of the true gospel to their minds, and it exposes
them like Goliath. And that's how he killed Goliath.
All right.