Will you turn with me to 1 Samuel,
chapter 17? Keep in mind the passage of scripture
we opened with, where there were two men. Keep that in mind as
we look at this passage of scripture together. Now the Philistines, 1 Samuel
chapter 17, now the Philistines gathered together their armies
to battle, and were gathered together at Shoko, which belongeth
to Judah, and pitched between Shoko and Azekah in Ephesdamim. And Saul and the men of Israel
were gathered together and pitched by the valley of Elah. and set
the battle in array against the Philistines, and the Philistines
stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain
on the other side, and there was a valley between them. 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,
approximately 11 feet tall. He would have bumped his head
on that chandelier if he walked in here. That's how large this
man was. And he had a helmet of brass
upon his head and 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 you come out to set your battle in a ray?
And not I of Philistine, and you servants to Saul, choose
you a man for you, and let him come down to me? And if he be
able to fight with me, and kill me, then will we be your servants. But if I prevail against him,
and kill him, Then shall you be our servants and serve us."
And the Philistines 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 greatly
afraid. Now we read here of a war that
was to be fought between only two men. Two representative men. If Goliath of Gath wins, the
Philistines win. If Israel has a man who wins,
they win. The word Philistines is taken
from the word which means to wallow in the flesh. What a name for the Philistines.
Goliath is taken from the word which means to denude, and indeed
he is humanity denuded. And what a formidable foe he
is, the champion of the Philistines. I've already said he's over 11
feet tall. He would have bumped his head
on that chandelier walking through here. He had armor that weighed
180 pounds. I weigh 180 pounds. His armor
weighed that. What size was this man? He had a spear the size of a
weaver's beam, 26 feet long, and the spearhead was over 20
pounds. And what an insolent, arrogant,
proud, self-confident man. Goliath. Then we read in verse 12, Now, David was the son of that
epithet of Bethlehem, Judah, whose name was Jesse. I want to talk for a few moments
about David and what we learn about this man in the 16th chapter
of 1 Samuel. Look in verse 1. And the Lord
said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul? seeing I
have rejected him from reigning over Israel." Now Samuel evidently
was very impressed with Saul and loved Saul, and he was mourning
greatly that God had rejected him. He says, "'Fill thine horn
with oil, and go, and I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite,
for I have provided me a king among his sons.'" David is the
king of God's providing. He is the David of whom Christ
is said to be David's son and David's Lord. And he was a very
special man. Now, he was a sinful man, just
like you are, just like I am. David was a sinful man, but two
times in the Word of God, it said regarding David, he's a
man after my own heart. Now, what greater commendation
can there be? God said regarding this man,
David, he said, his heart beats with mine. Now, I know of no
greater commendation you could give anybody than that, and he
was the man of God's own providing. And in this description of him,
we're given a beautiful description of the Lord Jesus Christ, of
whom David is a type. This is the mighty Savior of
Israel who's going to fight Goliath. Now, remember, in that passage
of scripture, we read of two men that fight the battle, the
first man and the second man. And you and I are going to be
in one of those two men. If we're in the first man, he
loses and we lose. If when the second man, the Lord
from heaven, he wins, we win. If Goliath wins, Israel loses. If David wins, all of Israel
gain the victory. Now look in verse 6 of 1 Samuel
chapter 16. 1 Samuel 16 verse 6, And it came
to pass, when they were come, that he looked unalive, this
was Jesse's firstborn son, and said, Surely the Lord's anointed
is before him. But the Lord said unto Samuel,
Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature,
because I have refused him. For the Lord seeth not as man
seeth. For man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord
looketh on the heart. And remember, this is the man
whom God said, he's a man after my own heart. Men look on the
appearance, and you don't really learn much from that, do you?
Not really. But the Lord Look at all the
heart, verse eight, didn't call Jesse, called Abinadab and made
him pass before Samuel. He said neither had the Lord
chosen this. And Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said neither
had the Lord chosen this. And again, Jesse made seven of
his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, the
Lord hath not chosen these. And Samuel said unto Jesse, are
these all your children? Now, I think it's interesting.
Jesse knew one thing. It wouldn't be David. It wouldn't be David. Let's go
on reading. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Or
hear all thy children? He said, Well, there remaineth
yet the youngest. And behold, he keepeth the sheep. I love to think about David out
keeping the sheep while his brothers are parading before Samuel. He didn't think he'd be one.
He's out there keeping the sheep. That's something about him that
is repeated over and over. David had a great interest in
sheep. Samuel said unto Jesse, Send
and fetch him, for we will not sit down till he come hither.
And he sent and brought him. Now he was ready. He was ready. Now this is where
the word Adam comes from. He was earthy. He was a man. And it says next, he was with
all of a beautiful countenance. If you would have looked at David
just looking at his countenance, you would have been captured
by it. A beautiful countenance. And then it says regarding him
that he was goodly to look on. And the Lord said, Arise and
anoint him. This is he. Then Samuel took
the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brethren,
and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up and went to
Ramah. Now, I love this description
of David. First, he's ruddy. Our Lord Jesus Christ is ruddy. He is a real man, bone of our
bones and flesh of our flesh. He's got real flesh like me and
you. He is a man and he is a beautiful countenance. Oh, the beauty of
the Lord Jesus Christ. The only way I can describe,
well, I can't describe his beauty when it comes right down to it.
I can't. But the only, the closest we can come to describing the
beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ is to, is to describe his wonderful
attributes. You know, when you look at somebody
that's beautiful, there's certain characteristics about them and
you say they're beautiful. Well, we talk about his soul.
We don't know what he looks like physically. But what about his
sovereignty? What about his power? What about
his holiness? What about his justice? What
about his wisdom? Go on and on talking about the
Attributes of the Lord Jesus Christ. What about his immutability?
He's the same yesterday, today, forever. He never changes. He's
utterly faithful, faithful to his father, faithful to his covenant.
You could go on and on talking about the beauty of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And then it says he was goodly
to look upon. So good to look upon that he
says, look unto me and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth
for I'm God and beside me is none else. That's goodly to look
upon. He's so goodly to look upon, that if you and I ever
see him, we'll be just like him. That's how goodly he is to look
upon. The Spirit of the Lord came upon
him from that day. Now, look what's pointed out
about David in this passage of Scripture. In 1 Samuel, verse
11. Chapter 16, and Samuel said to
Jesse, Here are all thy children. He said, They remain yet the
youngest, and behold, he keepeth the sheep. Look in verse 19. Wherefore, Saul sent messengers
unto Jesse and said, Send me David thy son, which is with
the sheep. He was always with the sheep.
Look in chapter 17, verse 15. And David went and returned from
Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. Look in verse 20. And David rose up early in the
morning and left the sheep with the keeper. He wouldn't just
leave them alone. He left them with the keeper. God, the Holy
Spirit, that's what he does when he leaves. He leaves the sheep.
You know, the Lord never leaves us alone. He leaves us with the
keeper, even God, the Holy Spirit. He's so concerned about his sheep. Look in 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, Whither comest thou
down hither? And with whom hast thou left those few sheep in
the wilderness? You're no more than a keeper
of a few sheep. Look in verses 34 and 35 of the
same chapter. 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 out of his mouth. And when he arose
against me, I caught him by the beard and smote him and slew
him to save his father's sheep. Now you think about that. This
lion rises up against it. He grabs the thing by the mane
and hits it and kills it. to protect the sheep. Look in
verse 40. And he took a staff in his hand
and chose him five stones out of the brook, and he put them
in a shepherd's bag, which he had. You see, David was a shepherd
greatly concerned over his sheep. Now, this tells us who our Lord
Jesus Christ is. He has a great you can't separate
him from his sheep. That's what he thinks of his
sheep. He cannot be separated from his sheep. He said, the
good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Now, we see something
of our Lord Jesus Christ in the character of David. Look back
in 1 Samuel 16, verse 18. Then answered one of the servants
and said, behold, I've sent a son of Jesse, the Bethlehemite, that
is, cunning in playing. Now, as you go on reading in
this passage of scripture, he was a musician. He played a harp,
and that would soothe Saul. Saul would be troubled by an
evil spirit, and this would soothe him. Our Lord Jesus Christ has
the ability and the power to soothe the troubled soul with
the playing of his glorious harp. Verse 18, it next, it says, he's
a mighty valiant man, a mighty man, all-powerful, all-powerful,
valiant, a man of war, defeating our enemies, and prudent in matters."
Prudent, my marginal reading says, in words. You think of
the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every word that comes out of
His mouth is the Word of God. He didn't have the Spirit by
measure, and His words are spirit and life. And then it says he
was a comely person, altogether lovely, and the Lord was with
him. Now, what a commendation of David. Can he defeat Goliath? Is Goliath any match for this
man? who could take a lion by the
beard and slay him with his fist? Was Goliath any match to this
man whom the Lord was with in this unusual way? The Spirit
of the Lord came upon him." Now, David's three oldest brothers
were in this army. And David's father, Jesse, sent
him to see how they were and to bring them some food. Let's
go over in the first Samuel 17, beginning in verse 23. Now, as he talked, David has
just come on the scene. He hasn't heard Goliath yet.
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." He heard these words. And all the men of Israel, when
they saw the man, they fled from him. They were scared to death
of this man and were sore afraid. And the men of Israel said, have
you seen this man that's come up? Surely to defy Israel's,
he come up and it should be that the man who kills him, the king
will enrich him with great riches and will give him his daughter
and make his father's house free in Israel. Now, how would you
like to fight this man? 11 feet tall with a 26 foot long sphere,
how do you even get close to him? And yet, whoever defeats
this man. The king is going to enrich him
with great riches. He's going to give him his own
daughter, and his house will be free in Israel. And that's
what our Lord accomplished by defeating our enemy. He was enriched
with great riches. Everything was his anyway, and
yet somehow through all this, he had more. And he saved the
elect, the king's daughter, and all of his people were made free
in Israel, absolutely free. That's what he accomplished on
Calvary's tree. Verse 26, And David spake 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?
And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall
it be done to the man that killeth him. And Eliab, his eldest brother,
heard when he spake unto the men, and Eliab's anger was kindled
against David." That's his little brother. Why camest thou down
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." And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause? He had no duplicity of motives.
Is there not a cause? The glory of God, the exaltation
of the Lord Jesus Christ, is there not a cause? Yes, there is. His motives were questioned,
but he says there is a cause. So let's go on reading. Verse
32. Now, somebody tells Saul, about
David. They hear him speaking how he'll
fight this Philistine and they tell Saul about it. Verse 32. Now he gives Saul his credentials.
And David said to Saul, let no man's heart fail because of him.
Thy servant will go and fight with the Philistine. And Saul
said to David, thou art not able to go against this Philistine
to fight with him for you're but a youth and he a man of war
from his youth. 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 after him, and smote
him, and delivered him out of his mouth. And when he rose against
me, I caught him by the beard, and smote him, and slew him.
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." David said, moreover, the Lord that
delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of
the bear, he'll deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.
And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee. David gives his credentials.
He's well able. He's well able to defeat Goliath. The Lord Jesus Christ is well
able. Here's where our confidence is.
He is well able to defeat all of our enemies. He is well able
to put away my sins. He is well able to make me perfect
in God's sight. He is able to do this. He lets
Saul know of his ability. 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 was saved 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. Saul gives David his armor,
and David refuses it. It is not needed. Human strength. is not needed. You know, I got to thinking about
this, about him refusing Saul's armor. You know, in this thing,
preaching the gospel, a man claims to be a preacher. I claim to
be a preacher. You know, the greatest detriment
to a preacher is his natural gifts. God doesn't even use them. He doesn't use natural gifts.
He uses spiritual gifts. David said, I don't need this
armor. I don't want this armor. The Lord does not use our help. He doesn't need our help, nor
will he accept it. I will not take this armor. Don't want it. All the methods
and the means we come up with to help the cause do not help
the cause. Look over in verse 45. of this
same chapter. 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, the God
of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will
the Lord deliver thee into mine hand, and I'll swat thee and
take thine head from thee, and I'll give thy carcass of the
give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto
the fowls of the earth, and to the wild beasts of the earth,
that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and
all the assembly shall know that the Lord saith." Isn't that what
we believe? The Lord saith, not with sword
and spear, for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give
you into our hands. Human helps are not needed. I'm not going to take that armor. So let's look at verse 40. And he took his staff in his
hand. And chose him five smooth stones. Out of the brook. And put them in a shepherd's
bag, which he had even a script and his sling was in his hand.
Five smooth stones. Why five? Why not four? Why not six? Why five? Now, I would be tempted
to say, well, this represents the five points, but I'm not
going to say that. I think maybe I might be stretching
things a little bit if I try to do that. But the significance
to this number five, what is the significance? Listen up. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are called
according to His purpose. For, number one, whom He did
foreknow. Number two, then He also did
predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that
He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, number three, then he also called. And whom he called, number four,
then he also justified. And whom he justified, number
five, then he also glorified. Now, if God be for us, if he
be for us in foreknowledge, behold, I have loved you with an everlasting
love. If He'd be for us in predestination,
His predestination is absolute. He can't predestinate something
and not come to pass. If He predestines that I win
and that I be conformed in the image of His Son, I'm going to
be. If He calls with irresistible grace, if He justifies me, if
He glorifies me, The salvation of Christ is so
sure that I'm already glorified. Everybody he died for is already
glorified. Now, those are five powerful
stones, aren't they? Five powerful, the five golden
links of salvation that were given in Romans chapter eight.
Somebody says, well, I think, I don't know if that's what it
means. Well, that's OK. I think that's what it means.
There's some kind of significance to five. And I think it's a reference
to something, and I believe that's what it is. Well, he takes these
stones. 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. There ain't no way this young
boy with no armor, no sword, no shield is going to be able
to defeat me. He disdained him. He felt utter
contempt toward David. Verse 42, he was but a youth
and ruddy and of a fair countenance. He was a pretty boy. You're going
to send him against me? And the Philistine said unto David, Am
I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine
cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David,
Come to me, and I'll give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air
and the beasts of the field. 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,
the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defiled, defied,
this day will the Lord deliver thee into my hands." And I'm
going to smite thee, and I'm going to take your head from
off you, and I'll give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines
this day unto the fowls of the air and to the wild beasts of
the earth, that all the earth may know that there's a God in
Israel." That was his cause. Is there not a cause? Here it
is. I want everybody to know that
God is God. Verse 47, and all this assembly
shall know that the Lord saveth." You know that? Salvation is of
the Lord. He saved us, and it was without
our help. And all the assembly shall know
that the Lord saveth, not with the sword and spear, for the
battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands. 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.
I love to think about this. That big, giant man starts coming
to David. David takes off after him, swinging at him. He's not
a bit afraid. He knows the Lord's going to deliver him into his
hands. And the way he comes at this giant so willingly, it makes
me think of the Lord's willingness in saving us. He said, no man
takes my life from me. I lay it down. i.e., everything
he did, he did willingly, and he hasted to do it. And David,
verse 49, put his hand in his bag and took thence a stone and
sling it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead. Evidently that
stone crushed through his skull and into his brain, and he fell
upon his face to the earth. 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. He had
no human being. You know, the Lord directed that
stone. I mean, that would be pretty
easy to think about doing a sling and getting it right there. The
Lord directed the flight of that stone right into the place where
it was going to kill him. David did not use man's sword,
no sword in his hand. And that reminds us of how the
Lord saves without our help. No sword in his hand. He by himself
purged us of our sins. Verse 51. Therefore David ran
and stood upon the Philistine and took his sword and drew it
out of the sheath thereof. He took the Philistine's sword
and slew him and cut off his head therewith, and when the
Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. He cut off Goliath's head with
Goliath's sword. Christ defeated death with its
own sword, death. He put to death death by dying. He defeated Goliath. Now here's where we come in. And when the Philistines saw
their champion was dead, they fled. And the men of Israel and
Judah arose and shouted and pursued the Philistines until they came
to the valley and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of
the Philistines fell down by the way to Sharon, even unto
Gath, unto Ekron. And the children of Israel returned
from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents."
Now, when did they go after the Philistines? Wouldn't they have
already won? when Goliath was defeated. And that's what we do. Our victories
already won. And we take the spoils, the spoils
of what he accomplished. What are the spoils? Well, every
blessing of the gospel. You name it. It's one of our
spoils. Perfect justification. Beloved,
believe that you stand before God without sin because of your
great champion. Right now, even the sin that
troubles you, that you don't have any. You stand before God
without guilt. You're holy in God's sight. And that means you really are
holy. You have all God's providence for you. Take all the spoils
that come to you from your mighty victor. They ran and chased the
Philistines after they were given the victory. And David took the
head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem. And he put his
armor in the tent. And when Saul saw David go forth
against the Philistines, he said unto Abner, the captor of the
hoes, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As thy
soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell. I don't understand this.
He ought to have known David. But it was Saul. It was Saul.
There's all kinds of problems with Saul. I mean, David had
plagued the heart for him. He had seen David, but he just
couldn't continue to recognize him. And the king said, Inquire
thou whose son the stripling is. And as David returned from
the slaughter of the Philistines, Abner took him and brought him
before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. And
Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, young man? And David answered,
I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Bethlehemite." So all of
Israel wins because of the victory of one man. Goliath is defeated. And all Israel wins. And when we take the Lord's table. There is some warnings. Associated
with taking the Lord's table. As a matter of fact, the scripture
actually says, if a man eat or drink unworthily. He's guilty
of the body and the blood of the Lord. Now that is sobering. If you take the wine or eat the
bread in an unworthy manner, you're guilty of the crucifixion
of Christ himself. Now that ought to make us examine
What does it mean to eat the bread and drink the wine in an
unworthy manner? To eat the bread and to drink
the wine in an unworthy manner, first of all, is to think you're
worthy. If you can look over your life
and say, well, I think I'm fit for this, you've missed the entire
point of the Lord's table. You missed it. Don't take it
if you think that way. I've seen people do that. They
say, well, you've got to look and see if there's any sin in your life
and see if there's any allowed sin. And if you've got any of
that going, you better not take the Lord's table. You're not
worthy. Gosh, that's so hypocritical. So you think you're good? That's
missing it altogether. To take the Lord's table. is
to really believe that everything in your worthiness is in the
broken body and shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the
only way you can take of his table is because he won the victory
for you. And when we eat the bread and
drink the wine, we're saying the son of David won my victory
won my right, and I'm relying completely, 100% on him. Now, who should take the Lord's
table? Everybody who believes the gospel. That is the one requirement. If you believe the gospel, you
should take the Lord's table. And if you're not ready to take
the Lord's table, let me say this. If you're not ready to
take the Lord's table, you're not ready to die. Isn't that
so? If you're not ready to take the
Lord's table, you're not ready to die. Who is to take the Lord's
table? All who believe. That is the
one requirement. Do you believe the gospel? If
you do, Christ died for you. We're celebrating His death.
We're showing forth His death, what it accomplished. We say
my salvation is in who He is and what He did. Who should take
the Lord's table? All who believe. Now, if you
don't believe, don't you dare take the Lord's table. But if
you believe, take the Lord's table. He said, let a man examine
himself and so let him what? Eat. May the Lord enable us to do
this in remembrance of him. Let's pray together.