This morning we're looking here
in 1 Samuel 17 at one of the most familiar stories in the
Old Testament. When we were, most of us were
growing up, all children heard this story and knew this story
from our youth. Nowadays things are so haywire,
I dare say even most children know anything about it. It's
a beautiful story, David and Goliath. You say, well, I know
that story. Well, most of us know it somewhat. But I think
one of the things we fail to understand is that this Bible,
the word of God, is not just information to the intellect
that you just need to learn once and that's the end of it. No,
but it is food. for the inner man. It is food
for the spiritual man, the new creation. It is an ever needed
supply. And thank God it is an inexhaustible
supply. I've been studying it for a long
time now and hadn't scratched the surface, you know. And so
it's a continuous thing. It's continuous food, spiritual
food for the appetite of the spiritual man. Always need it. I mean, you offer me a steak
dinner and I won't say, oh, I've had that. No, I need that again. See? I need that again. My body needs daily food. My
spirit needs daily food. And though physical food satisfies
us for the moment, It also contributes to physical health, which is
going to create an appetite that you're going to be hungry again
after a while. And it works the same way in the spiritual. And
so I say this morning, the only people who don't need to be fed
from God's word are spiritually dead people. They don't have
an appetite. Entertainment religion is all
they need and all they want. But God's children require the
milk and the meat of God's holy word. Now this chapter, 1 Samuel
17, it's a lengthy chapter, 58 verses. We're not going to read
it all. We'll read just a few verses to begin with and refer
to some more later. And it's about the heroism of
a shepherd boy named David. And before we read the scripture,
I believe I'll read him a poem. I'm big on the bulletin today.
Turn to the backside of your bulletin. And this is a poem
the Lord gave me some years ago, and I just wrote it down and
never said much about it. But I want you to look at it
with me. I put the message in the words
of a poem titled A Pebble with a Purpose. I sure wish that I
could see just why God created me. We smoothed stones in the
brook did lay when a shepherd boy came down our way. He reached
out his hand for one, two, three. I sure wish he'd choose me. Then he reached for number four. I surely hope he wants one more.
Here comes his hand for number five. His touch made me feel
so alive. In the bag we all waited to see
what our future was destined to be. I'm the last one he did
choose, probably the one he'll never use. I did not know as
I felt the worst, the first shall be last and the last shall be
first. Then into the bag came his hand
once more. He laid hold of me and left the
four. I'm chosen for something I can't
resist. This must be the reason why I
exist. It's into a sling and round and
round. What a skillful shepherd by whom
I am found. Then out of the sling, me with
force he did send, sailing swiftly through the wind. I did not know
where I was bound. When a giant's forehead I did
pound. We both hit the dust on the side
of that hill. The shepherd boy had needed me,
this giant, to kill. Why, what about God? His purpose,
I say. He'd created me, a giant, to
slay. I'll never get to tell. Nobody
will hear. They'll wonder why a brook stone
is lying way up here. The shepherd boy could take the
praise. He's the one people will see, but somehow I don't think
he will. I sense he thinks a lot like
me. He knows to God the praise should be, for God chose him
and he chose me. Many years have come and gone
and I still lie here all alone. I heard God's son speak one day. This is what he had to say. If men won't praise me, The stones
will cry out. I've done it for centuries. That's
what my creation is all about. So we go now into the story of
David and Goliath. First Samuel 17. I'll pick up
reading in verse 4. 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, and he had an helmet of brass
upon his head. He was armed with a coat of mail,
and the weight of the coat was 5,000 shekels of brass. And he had greaves of brass upon
his legs and a target of brass between his shoulders. And the
staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed
600 shekels of iron, and one bearing a shield went before
him. And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said
unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array?
Am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? Choose you
a man this day, and let him come down to me. If he be able to
fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants. But if I prevail against him,
and kill him, then shall ye 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. When Saul and all Israel heard
those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and were greatly
afraid. Now drop down to verse 20. And David rose up early in the
morning and left the sheep with the keeper and took and went
as Jesse had commanded him and he came to the trench as the
host was going forth to the fight and shouted for the battle for
Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array army
against army. David left his carriage in the
hand of the keeper of the carriage and ran into the army and came
and saluted his brethren. And as he talked with them, behold,
there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by
name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according
to the same words, and David heard them. Now verse 28, And
Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men, and
Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest
thou hither, and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in
the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness
of thine heart. For thou art come down, that
thou mightest see the battle." David said, what have I now done? Is there not a cause? And we'll stop the reading there
with verse 29. The title of our message this
morning is, Conviction with a Cause. Conviction with a Cause. At the end of verse 29 here,
David responds to his brother with this brief question, Is
there not a cause? Now on the surface, he is answering
his brother as to why he's there. Our Father has sent me to bring
you this food package, this care package, and to check on you.
That's the cause. That's why I'm here. But there
is a greater cause. And this little question kind
of balloons. It gets bigger when we go to
looking at the overall cause of why He's there. It's a thousand
times bigger than the fact that His Father sent Him. It's that
God sent Him. So it's a big question. Is there
not a cause? For the first time in his life,
David is exposed to someone mocking and belittling God. And it has
a tremendous effect on his young heart. It should. It should.
And so he gets involved. His brothers are embarrassed.
They tell him in so many words to just keep quiet. and mind
his own business. But David is worked up, and he
begins to say, God is my business. If it concerns God, it concerns
me. Mind your own business. There is always the opinion that
those who take the Lord seriously, who want to live for His glory,
and who are willing to step up and get involved and who strive
to make a difference in any way in anybody, there's the opinion
that some say they should just mind their own business. After all, what is it to us that
immorality of all sorts should be allowed in our country? If
people want to destroy their lives with drugs and alcohols,
that's their business. What's that to you? If people
want same-sex marriage, why don't we just leave it alone? That's
their business. If people don't want children
and choose abortion and murder millions of the unborn, that's
their business, some say. It's not our business. Oh my,
that's what many would say. But now here, they would say
it to David and his own brothers did say it. This is not your
fight. Just butt out. Mind your own business. Go on
home now and tell dad thanks for the food. You forget about
what you just saw and heard on the other side of that hill over
there. He had heard Goliath raging and
belittling and blaspheming God. This whole story is painting
a picture. It's God painting a picture of
His Son coming into this world to conquer the devil, the greatest
Goliath of all. And just as Christ was rejected
of His own when He came, here David is rejected of his own
brothers. family, and nation. So the big
picture, the perfect picture, the projected picture, is the
gospel. Christ our Lord conquering Satan,
sin, death, hell, and the grave. But David is a man, he's a young
man, and he was part of Adam's race. He wasn't a perfect man.
He was a fallen sinner like you and I. So we're looking at it
from the standpoint here of the human side that's to be seen
and the inspiration and the example of this young man, David. So
I have several things to say about this, about seven if time
permits. Seven things I'll mention concerning
this Old Testament historical event of David and Goliath. And number one is the commission.
The commission. His father had sent him And in
perfect obedience, he showed up right where he was supposed
to be. His dad had called him in from
taking care of the sheep, left the sheep with somebody else,
and he said, son, I want you to go on a journey a few days
and go on this mission I've got for you, to visit your brethren,
to minister to their needs, to see how things are going and
take them this gift. Well, David does not get sidetracked. He does not let his mind run
wild. He does not stop off here and
there and explore in this direction and then that, like I like to
do. He stays on course. And in obedience to his father's
commission, he shows up right where he's supposed to be. What
a blessed thing that is. To see God the Father and His
Son in this story, in this commission, and this perfect obedience, it's
not hard to see. Christ showed up. He came into
this world and was perfectly obedient to the Father who sent
Him. Number two, not only the condition,
the commission, but also the conviction. He not only showed
up, He spoke up. He spoke up. He didn't go away
whining and say, well, I didn't like it, but I didn't say nothing.
No, he said something. There was a commission. He showed
up. And there's conviction. He spoke up in light of what
he had seen and heard from Goliath, that boasting giant. He said
to his brothers, Why are any of you here? You won't know why
I'm here. My question is, why are any of
you here? You, the king, the army, why
are we all here? Is it just to hear this uncircumcised
Philistine rant and rave and belittle our God? And David as
good as tells them, we need to do one of two things. Either
pack up and go home and let him have it, Let him keep invading
our territory and driving us back, pushing us back, or we
need to have the guts to face him, one or the other. Well,
none of them did. Not David's brothers, not King
Saul, not one in all the army of Israel. This had been going
on for 40 days. This man had been doing this
every day. So David was not silent about it. He showed up and he
spoke up. The conviction he had and he
said, is there not a cause? It's bigger than just why I'm
here. Why are any of us here? This
is not right that this giant boasts day after day for 40 days
and laugh and mock at our God. We shouldn't just be silent. The name of the Lord. And the
honor of our God is at stake here. And so with strong conviction,
David spoke up. And not only that, but then when
the time came, he stood up the challenge. David said, I'll take
him on. I'm not one bit afraid of him. Because it's not me, he's fighting.
It's God. That would be a pretty good lesson
for us to learn, wouldn't it? If he kills me, it's not me he's
defeated. It's God. And if he's bigger than God,
we're all going to hell anyhow. What's the difference? I've nothing
to lose. I'll take him on. So he stood
up the challenge. And the fourth thing is there's a comparison given
here, the comparison. He sized up the enemy. He sized
him up. And if you read all of this,
which we didn't read at all, you can read it. He was nine,
over nine feet tall, a descendant of the giants of Canaan. A descendant of those that the
spies had seen way back in Moses' time when he sent twelve and
ten of them said, oh, we can't do it. This fellow is a descendant
of them. Still around, his armor was of
brass. The coat of mail, verse five
said, went from the shoulders down to the knees. That coat
of mail was a canvas-like material. interlaced with overlapping pieces
of brass to protect him. A helmet of brass. He had greaves
of brass upon his legs. That's like leggings from the
knees down to the ankles to protect him. All this armor, they say,
weighed between 175 and 200 pounds. That's enough load for a man
to carry. And then we read also in this
chapter that the head of his spear alone was 600 shekels of
iron, about 20 to 25 pounds. And just to sum it up and to
state it bluntly, this Goliath was a giant. He was a giant. But little David sized him up.
And what did he come up with? What was his answer? He said,
I'm not impressed with his size. I'm not intimidated by his boasting. And I'm not insufficient to face
him. Because I come in the name of
the Lord. All his strength is in what you
see. All mine is in what you don't
see. I come in the name of the Lord. The comparison, he sized him
up. And then the fifth thing, the courage. He stepped up when
the time came. You see, it's one thing to stand
and say, well, you know, I can do that. I can handle that. I'm
not afraid of that. But when the crucial moment comes, It's time to step up. And David
did. I've heard so many, had so many
through the years, right here in this church, tell me, oh,
pastor, we're behind you, we're with you, you ever need anything,
just let me know. Anybody ever crosses you, yeah,
yeah, yeah, okay. They never stepped up. Most of
them didn't. Of course, any preacher would
tell you that. But the time came, the crucial moment came, and
David wasn't just talk. He stepped up. He stepped up. That's a blessed thing. Let any
person make a real effort to do something for the glory of
God, and there are always people stand back and say, well, what
he should have done, what she should have done, If it were
me, I would have... Yeah, but you look at that crowd
and it never is me. It's always them criticizing
how somebody else wants to go about something. All they do
is talk. They never have the heart and
the courage to step up. David wasn't just talk. He stepped
up. He stepped up. And he told this
story. He said, when I was caring for
my father's sheep. I faced this sort of thing. One time there was a lion came
rushing out of the bushes to take one of the lambs. Got a hold of him. Must have
been a big old he-lion. Because he said, I took hold
of his beard You know that lion's beard? I took hold of his beard
and I slew him. I killed him and took the lamb
out of his mouth. I imagine when David told that,
some of them snickered and said, I don't believe that. Well, David
didn't care whether he believed it or not. That was between him
and God. And this was between him and
God. And your life today is between you and God. Not about what anybody
thinks or says. Well, then he said another time,
there's a bear come out charging the flock. And he said, I slew
that bear. He didn't care whether they believed
that. He didn't care whether they believed
he could slay Goliath. He meant to do it just the same. God had
put it in his heart. The courage. He stepped up. And then number six, the conquest.
The time came. He settled up. Forty days was
enough. Goliath had been calling for
someone to face him. David hadn't been there the whole
40 days, but his brothers had. Saul had. The army had. But David says, this will be
settled today. He settled up. His brothers didn't
understand. David was not interested in making
a name for himself. That's not what an army is about.
That's not what battle is about. That's not what Christianity
is about, making a name for yourself. No. He wasn't interested in making
a name for himself. He wasn't interested in making
the coward King Saul look good. Uh-uh. And actually, the greatness of
the providence of God is so great here. He never really even came
to get involved. But when he saw what he saw,
and heard what he heard he was very involved he couldn't help
but be involved it became his business and that's what he told
Goliath beginning in verse 45 when he faced him then said David
to the Philistine thou comest to me with a sword and with a
spear and with a shield you're really fixed bud sword spear
shield but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts,
the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied." This
same one you've been criticizing for 40 days. I want you to know
that I'm out here facing you in his name and in his strength. This day, here's going to be
the outcome, bud. This day will the Lord deliver
thee into mine hand." If you read up earlier, the giant
had said, I'm going to make mush out of you, bud. But now, David
says, 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 unto
the fowl of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth. that
all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel that thou mayest know 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 it he will give you into our
hands. There is the greater cause here. It's not what King Saul thinks.
It's not what my brothers think. It's not even what you think,
Mr. Goliath. This is about the name and the
honor of the Lord my God. You're not going to talk about
Him in my presence the way you have without a fight. And that makes this valley worth
dying in. And I'm not hesitating one moment
to come at you. And then David expresses his
confidence in God. It's not me that's going down
this day. It's you. Understand this is not you and
me. It's you and God. And this day it's over for you.
You cannot defeat God. Verse 48, And 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.
And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone,
and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that 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. The conquest. David settled up with Goliath. And then number seven, the charge. The charge. When Goliath went down, Something the army of Israel
thought was impossible. David's brothers thought it was
impossible. King Saul thought it was impossible. But when Goliath
went down, David did something that stirred the hearts of Israel's
army. It came like a charge. Let's
go. Pursue the Philistines what did
what did David do that spake this charge look at verse 51
therefore David ran They're all standing back watching him 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 When the Philistines saw their champion
was dead, they fled. This stirred the army of Israel. It's as if David looked back, standing upon Goliath's fat body, with his head rolling down the
hill, and raising his sword, charge! And He calls them to
come on. And they do. Verse 52, the men
of Israel and of Judah arose and shouted and pursued the Philistines
until thou come to the valley and to the gates of Ekron. And
the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shariam
even unto Gath and unto Ekron. It's the story of Christ conquering
Satan on the cross. But on this human level, it's
about the Goliaths we all face. And we have these seven things
to consider ourselves. The commission. Commission. God don't tell us to flee from
the devil. He tells us to draw nigh to Him
and the devil will flee from us. That's the order. That's the commission to every
believer to show up on the battlefield. Be sure to show up wherever the
Father sends you, wherever He commissions you. Listen for that
still small voice. Be on the battlefield. The whole
world is a battlefield. but to go where he sends us is
of utmost importance. And then may God give each of
us a greater conviction as David had for God's honor in this world
to speak up at the right thing, to say the right thing when we
do speak. And then may we rise to the challenge
when the Spirit of God nudges us to stand up I mean, when there's an open
door to serve, before we go looking around and saying, now, who would
be good for that? Who would be good at that? No,
first you look in the mirror and say, Lord, is this for me? Am I supposed to do this? May
God give us the wisdom, the much needed wisdom, not to dive into
anything. appealing to the flesh, but to
size up the enemy. And ask the question, what will
this do to me? What will this do for me? Will this honor the Lord? Which
way should I go before I make a move and before I rattle my
tongue about this or that or about him or her? We need wisdom
from God for every situation of life. When we're confident in our hearts
what we're to do, what God wants us to do, then may He give us
this courage and grace to step up and face the challenge. I'm sure David never realized
in his earlier days as a young lad when he slew the lion and
the bear. He knew it was God protecting
him but I'm sure he never realized that in time to come this was
preparing him to face a giant named Goliath. The lion and the
bear weren't pleasant experiences But they were needed in his life. They were necessary experiences
for preparation. And so it is in your life and
mine. We often say about things, boy, I could do without that.
I didn't need that. I didn't ask for that. But whatever the Lord gives us
is right. And whatever your experience
Be it physical, be it family, be it financial, whatever disturbance,
whatever trouble, whatever trial, painful as it may be, it's needed. And it is designed and decreed by
God for you in order to prepare you for what lies ahead. That's who He is. And when you've stepped up, and
when you've committed to the Lord, I'm on board. I'll do this. I'm going through. When we step onto the battlefield,
God will give grace and strength to settle up, to slay that Goliath. He sure will. See, you don't
step onto the battlefield to negotiate. You're there to do
some damage. It may get loud in your life. On the stormy sea of your life,
the sea may get rough, the waves high. It may get loud. It may get ugly. It may get messy. But hang in there. God will slay
that Goliath. Serve God in your own life, just
what David did, in a way that will stir the other saints of
God into action. You see, this unregenerate world,
whether it be religious or non-religious, will not respond. But those with
life can and will be stirred in the
spiritual success of others. So you say, oh, I wish I could
have an influence. You're having a great influence,
either good or bad. No man lives to himself or dies
to himself. What's your life about? That's
what this is about. Influence for good, for the glory
of God is what it's about. And when God helps you to slay
a Goliath, don't be bashful about it and say, oh, it wasn't nothing.
It was God. You do like David. You stand
up in this assembly and say, Pastor, I've got something to
say. And you'll be standing on top of that giant when you stand
up. He's down. He's done. You stand
up on top of Him. And say, everybody look. He only
goes His head rolling down the hill. And this is His sword. And God delivered me. That's what this is about. And then cry, Charge! Charge! Our God's big enough. The war is on in our country,
in our society, in any church that tries to stand up for the
right. The war is on in our homes, in our families. The war is on
in your individual life. While God is urging us all to
lift high the banner of Christ and His gospel, The devil is
continually saying, quit. Look at this. Look at that. Look at how they've done. Look
at what's happened. This is not right. That's not right. Look
at him. Look at her. Why don't you look
at the Lord? Why don't you look at the Lord? Granted, there's
plenty that's not right in this world, but the cause of Jesus
Christ is right. And your testimony for Him, and
your life lived for Him, is worth more than you know. A lot of
things we don't understand but the old songwriter said he'll
guide us with his eye and we'll follow till we die and we'll understand it better
by and by. Oh Lord give us what you gave
David conviction with a cause. Is there not a cause? There sure
is. It's the glory and it's the honor
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Oh Lord, give me grace
and strength that discouragement not invade us, disadvantage not
be an issue, and defeat not be an option. God help us. Help us, Lord, to hold fast.
1 Corinthians 15, verse 57, But thanks be to God which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. You look at some
victorious Christian and you say, Boy, he's really something. Boy, she's really something.
No, they're really nothing. Because Christ is everything.
in their heart and life. That's the difference, see. It's
not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord. Stand with me. Thank you for your attention
this morning.