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Speaker 1: This morning, we're continuing our look at the book of

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Speaker 1: 1 Samuel. And today we're going to be coming to

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Speaker 1: a passage that is probably, if I had to guess,

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Speaker 1: certainly top 10, but maybe even top three as far

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Speaker 1: as cultural familiarity in the Bible. Today we're going to

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Speaker 1: be in 1 Samuel chapter 17. And in 1 Samuel

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Speaker 1: chapter 17, this is the passage that actually talks about

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Speaker 1: David's defeat of Goliath. So if you would take your

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Speaker 1: Bibles and turn there with me. First Samuel 17, I

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Speaker 1: will tell you as you're turning there that oftentimes when

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Speaker 1: I've heard this passage conveyed, sometimes the main point gets skipped.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes the main aspect of it gets missed because it's

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Speaker 1: so popular in just cultural discussion. And today I'm going

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Speaker 1: to do my best to not miss the main point

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Speaker 1: of this passage. And I hope that if this is

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Speaker 1: a passage that you've never thought about, maybe some of

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Speaker 1: the broader implications of what's being communicated here, I hope

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Speaker 1: today that we do a good job of conveying those

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Speaker 1: broader things. So again, 1 Samuel chapter 17, starting with

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Speaker 1: verse 1. I'm just going to start off by reading

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Speaker 1: the first 11 verses, and they say this. Now, the

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Speaker 1: Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered

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Speaker 1: at Soka, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Soka

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Speaker 1: and Azekah and Ephes Damim. And Saul and the men

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Speaker 1: of Israel were gathered and encamped in the Valley of

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Speaker 1: Elah and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines.

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Speaker 1: The Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side,

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Speaker 1: and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side

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Speaker 1: with a valley between them. There came out from the

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Speaker 1: camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath

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Speaker 1: whose height was six cubits and a span. He had

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Speaker 1: a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was

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Speaker 1: armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of

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Speaker 1: the coat was 5,000 shekels of bronze. And he had

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Speaker 1: bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze

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Speaker 1: slung between his shoulders. The shaft of his spear was

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Speaker 1: like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed 600

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Speaker 1: shekels of iron. And his shield bearer went before him.

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Speaker 1: He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, Why

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Speaker 1: have you come out to draw up for battle? Am

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Speaker 1: I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul?

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Speaker 1: Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down

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Speaker 1: to me. If he is able to fight with me

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Speaker 1: and kill me, then we will be your servants. But

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Speaker 1: if I prevail against him and kill him, then you

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Speaker 1: shall be our servants and serve us. And the Philistine said,

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Speaker 1: I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me

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Speaker 1: a man that we may fight together. When Saul and

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Speaker 1: all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were

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Speaker 1: dismayed and greatly afraid. Let's pray. Lord, thank you so

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Speaker 1: much for your word, and thank you for the privilege

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Speaker 1: to be able to look at this portion of scripture

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Speaker 1: together today. We know, Father, that this is a portion

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Speaker 1: of your word that gets referenced all the time. People

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Speaker 1: reference it in sports contests. People reference it when facing

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Speaker 1: challenges in life. People reference it when something surprising overcomes

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Speaker 1: something that seemed magnificent. And so often when this portion

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Speaker 1: of your word gets referenced, the greater point of what

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Speaker 1: you were trying to communicate through these historical activities gets missed.

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Speaker 1: And so, Lord, today as we do so, as we

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Speaker 1: look at this portion of your word, we pray that

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Speaker 1: you would help us not to miss the important things

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Speaker 1: that you want us to understand. We pray that we

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Speaker 1: would grow from what you've revealed here. And we thank you, Father,

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Speaker 1: for giving us access to it. Father, as we look

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Speaker 1: at your word, we pray that you'd point our hearts

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Speaker 1: to your son, Jesus Christ. And we pray this all

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Speaker 1: in Jesus' name. Amen. So years ago, for a season,

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Speaker 1: for about eight years, my wife and I lived in Plymouth, Pennsylvania.

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Speaker 1: And when we were living there, much of the time

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Speaker 1: while we were living there, we lived in a house

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Speaker 1: that my wife and I bought that backed up to

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Speaker 1: a wooded mountainside. I very much like the setting that

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Speaker 1: this house happened to be in. Very nice setting to

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Speaker 1: live in. But when you're living in a context like that,

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Speaker 1: when you're in a house that backs up to a

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Speaker 1: wooded mountainside, that also often meant that we had to

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Speaker 1: deal with wild animals on our property. And so that

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Speaker 1: was kind of the trade-off that we, I guess, accepted

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Speaker 1: for living in that context. But the biggest nuisance of

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Speaker 1: all the wild animals that we had to deal with

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Speaker 1: was actually a bear who would frequently enter our carport.

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Speaker 1: We had an open carport on the side of the house.

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Speaker 1: That's also where we would keep our trash cans. And

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Speaker 1: so he would get in there and he would tear

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Speaker 1: apart our trash and he would leave a huge mess

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Speaker 1: for us to clean. And I remember at the time

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Speaker 1: looking at this situation, I'd get so annoyed with it.

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Speaker 1: Like I can't even tell you how annoyed I would

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Speaker 1: get with this. And I tried all sorts of options

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Speaker 1: to keep that bear out of our trash, but the

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Speaker 1: problem persisted. And every time I try something new, he'd

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Speaker 1: figure it out. Every time I try something new, he'd

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Speaker 1: figure that out as well. Well, one evening we were

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Speaker 1: driving our minivan with the kids in it. We came

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Speaker 1: home sort of late. And as we pulled into the driveway,

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Speaker 1: I caught him in the act. And I was like,

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Speaker 1: there he is. And we pulled in. He's right in

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Speaker 1: front of us. He's ripping up bags, and he's dragging

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Speaker 1: a lot of it through our yard and into the

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Speaker 1: woods behind our yard, making a complete mess. And I

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Speaker 1: remember in that moment, I just about lost my mind.

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Speaker 1: And I parked our van with my wife and our

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Speaker 1: four little kids inside, and I jumped out of the van.

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Speaker 1: And I grabbed a broom that was leaning up against

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Speaker 1: the side of that carport. And then I ran as

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Speaker 1: fast as I could run toward the bear while swinging

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Speaker 1: the broom. And the bear didn't even put up a fight.

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Speaker 1: It was a total wimp. And he ran away from

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Speaker 1: me and he ran back into the woods. And I

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Speaker 1: was like, you wimp. And I'm like yelling at the bear.

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Speaker 1: And my wife, meanwhile, is mortified, right? She's in the van.

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Speaker 1: And she told me that the entire time that I'm

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Speaker 1: attempting to engage this bear in combat, that she's there

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Speaker 1: praying for me. She's like, what am I witnessing? She's like,

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Speaker 1: am I going to have to witness what I don't

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Speaker 1: want to witness? And then after I chased him away,

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Speaker 1: and I'm feeling somewhat accomplished with having done that, I

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Speaker 1: then had to face her. And I remember her saying,

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Speaker 1: and I'm pretty sure that this is just about exactly

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Speaker 1: the quote she said. She said something to the effect of,

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Speaker 1: did you ever stop to consider that if he fought back,

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Speaker 1: that I'd be raising these children alone? And I thought,

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Speaker 1: you know what, you make a good point. She made

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Speaker 1: a good point. And as I recall, she put up

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Speaker 1: a stronger fight than the bear did. And you might

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Speaker 1: even say that I beat the bear and then she

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Speaker 1: beat me. And you can interpret that statement however you want, okay?

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Speaker 1: Maybe I mean it just like verbally. Maybe I don't.

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Speaker 1: Someone help, right? But then you get to 1 Samuel 17.

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Speaker 1: And this is one of the most popular and familiar

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Speaker 1: events in all of Scripture that And it's a portion

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Speaker 1: of scripture that it's been repeated to children for, like,

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Speaker 1: just about every child in the world has heard this

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Speaker 1: thing for almost 3,000 years. And here you have a

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Speaker 1: young shepherd, and he has to face this warrior. And

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Speaker 1: it tells us that he defeats him with a sling

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Speaker 1: and a stone as we work our way into the

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Speaker 1: chapter a little bit further. But this story is frequently

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Speaker 1: presented as maybe an encouragement to face our personal giants

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Speaker 1: with courage. Have you ever heard this story presented that way?

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Speaker 1: You know, just face your personal giants. Like it's just

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Speaker 1: a self-help section of scripture or something like that. I've

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Speaker 1: heard it referenced that way. And it's like, oh, that's

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Speaker 1: all cute and everything. But it's not really what this

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Speaker 1: passage is trying to get at on the deeper level. Now,

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Speaker 1: it is a passage that certainly teaches about faith. But again,

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Speaker 1: its primary lesson is, is much more than just overcoming

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Speaker 1: intimidating circumstances. It's much more than that. Here you have

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Speaker 1: David acting as Israel's representative in the midst of this conflict,

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Speaker 1: and he defeats an enemy that the nation is powerless

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Speaker 1: to overcome, and he delivers God's people from fear, and

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Speaker 1: he delivers God's people from oppression. Here it tells us

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Speaker 1: that the Philistines gathered their forces for battle in the

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Speaker 1: Valley of Elah, and Israel assembled their army opposite the

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Speaker 1: Philistine army on the other hillside, the opposite hillside. And

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Speaker 1: so you have this valley right between both of those hillsides.

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Speaker 1: And instead of beginning with a traditional battle where everybody

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Speaker 1: just sends their entire force toward each other, they did

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Speaker 1: what is sometimes done in ancient warfare, probably even sometimes

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Speaker 1: done to a degree in modern warfare as well. You

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Speaker 1: have the Philistines sending out a champion named Goliath. So

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Speaker 1: they don't all run out. They send out one guy,

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Speaker 1: their biggest guy. They send out Goliath. Now, scripture describes

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Speaker 1: him with some detail. It tells us that he's a

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Speaker 1: massive man, tells us that he's heavily armored. So he's

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Speaker 1: wearing all this armor. He stood about, so if you

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Speaker 1: do the math based on what it's telling us his

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Speaker 1: height was in this portion of scripture, it would result,

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Speaker 1: it'd be just under 10 feet tall, be about nine foot,

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Speaker 1: nine inches tall. So just like, like this far under

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Speaker 1: 10 feet tall. So that's pretty huge. It also tells

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Speaker 1: us that he had a spear with an iron point

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Speaker 1: on it that weighed what would be approximately like 15 pounds.

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Speaker 1: Just that point on the end of his spear. And

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Speaker 1: I actually was kind of curious this week as I

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Speaker 1: was looking at some of these details. I thought, okay,

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Speaker 1: if that's how tall he was and that's how heavy

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Speaker 1: some of the weapons he's using happen to be, I

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Speaker 1: wonder how heavy the guy was. I thought, has anyone

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Speaker 1: done some calculations based on what they assume his girth

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Speaker 1: would be going along with his height? What are the

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Speaker 1: estimations on how much he weighed? And some of the

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Speaker 1: best estimations I found indicate that he probably weighed somewhere

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Speaker 1: between 500 and 650 pounds. And we're told that an

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Speaker 1: armor bearer walked ahead of him carrying his shield. And basically,

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Speaker 1: when you look at this, everything about Goliath was designed

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Speaker 1: to produce fear. So when people saw this guy, when

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Speaker 1: the Philistines saw him, they cheered because they thought he

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Speaker 1: represents us. And they were thrilled with just kind of

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Speaker 1: his massive presence. They would stand behind him and they'd

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Speaker 1: be like, Goliath, you go out and You intimidate the Israelites.

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Speaker 1: And others would see Goliath and they would cower in fear.

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Speaker 1: They would shrink in fear. But Goliath would play into

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Speaker 1: this because he knew how people saw him. He knew

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Speaker 1: how people observed him. He'd play into this. And when

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Speaker 1: you look at verse 8, it tells us that he

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Speaker 1: shouted across the valley. He says, why have you come

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Speaker 1: out to draw up for battle? Am I not a

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Speaker 1: Philistine and are you not servants of Saul? He says,

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Speaker 1: choose a man for yourselves and let him come down

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Speaker 1: to make. Choose your guy. So Goliath proposed something that's

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Speaker 1: called representative combat. He says, send your guy. We'll do

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Speaker 1: some representative combat. You send your best guy and I'll

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Speaker 1: be the guy representing the Philistines here. So one man

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Speaker 1: from each army, he's saying, one man from each army

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Speaker 1: would fight. And then the outcome will determine the fate

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Speaker 1: of both armies. Instead of us all dying in that battle,

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Speaker 1: one guy, you send your best guy, we send our

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Speaker 1: best guy. And if an Israelite defeats Goliath, then the

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Speaker 1: Philistines say, all right, we'll serve you. But if Goliath wins,

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Speaker 1: and everyone's like, Goliath's going to win. Like, the guy's

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Speaker 1: a giant. He's obviously going to win. He's also covered

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Speaker 1: in armor. He's going to win. And so they're saying,

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Speaker 1: all right, Goliath's saying, if I defeat you, then you

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Speaker 1: guys serve us. And that's how it's going to be.

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Speaker 1: And it's interesting as he's calling these things out, because

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Speaker 1: keep in mind some of the things that we've talked

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Speaker 1: about in previous chapters. In previous chapters, you have the

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Speaker 1: Israelites saying, we would like to be like the other nations.

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Speaker 1: We would like a visible king who can lead us

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Speaker 1: in battle and help us to operate in such a

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Speaker 1: way that other nations might be intimidated about us. But

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Speaker 1: when you have Goliath calling this out, he's actually exposing

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Speaker 1: the weakness of Israel's king at the time, isn't he?

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Speaker 1: Because think about some of the other things that scripture

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Speaker 1: tells us. We also were told that when Saul was

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Speaker 1: chosen as king, he was basically head and shoulders higher

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Speaker 1: than everyone else. So he was kind of like their

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Speaker 1: giant in many respects. Saul was bigger than the other

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Speaker 1: people were typically, you know, the stature of the other

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Speaker 1: people in the Israelite community. And so they would look

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Speaker 1: at Saul and they're like, he's our giant. He looks

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Speaker 1: like a king. This guy's super, super big. But you

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Speaker 1: have Goliath now calling out the people of Israel and

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Speaker 1: you have Saul, who's taller than everyone else in Israel,

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Speaker 1: chosen to lead the nation in battle. If anyone was

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Speaker 1: going to be qualified to face Goliath, people would have

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Speaker 1: assumed it was Saul. But instead, what does Saul do

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Speaker 1: at this point? He's standing right there in the midst

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Speaker 1: of frightened soldiers. In fact, in verse 11, we're told this.

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Speaker 1: When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine,

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Speaker 1: they were dismayed and greatly afraid. So he's supposed to

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Speaker 1: be leading them. He's supposed to be inspiring them. But

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Speaker 1: the scripture tells us that Saul himself is dismayed and

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Speaker 1: greatly afraid. And then Goliath would repeat this challenge over

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Speaker 1: and over and over again. He would mock them with it.

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Speaker 1: Every day he'd come at them with it. He did

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Speaker 1: this every morning and every evening for 40 days. Can

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Speaker 1: you imagine having to hear that for 40 days? He

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Speaker 1: does it every day. Mocks the army in the morning,

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Speaker 1: mocks the army in the evening, but he's not just

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Speaker 1: mocking the army. He's also mocking Israel and he's mocking

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Speaker 1: their God. And he's saying, your God can't stop me.

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Speaker 1: Your army can't stop me. Your king can't stop me.

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Speaker 1: Send a man. And every day it was like, they

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Speaker 1: didn't have TV, so they had to do something for

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Speaker 1: their entertainment. So they're like, hey, Goliath, it's evening. It's

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Speaker 1: time for the evening show. Go out and mock them.

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Speaker 1: Say something different today. Be like, all right, I'll mix

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Speaker 1: it up a little bit. Hey, Israel. And then he'd

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Speaker 1: come out there and he'd mock in a new way.

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Speaker 1: And you do it over and over and over again.

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Speaker 1: And each appearance, what it ended up doing is it

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Speaker 1: reinforced Israel's fear. They felt embarrassed. Like, as each day

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Speaker 1: is going on, they're thinking, what can be done about this?

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Speaker 1: We deal with this every day. And morale is starting

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Speaker 1: to get low, and people are getting frustrated because nobody

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Speaker 1: was willing to face him. And honestly, can you blame them?

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Speaker 1: I don't know too many people that would be willing

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Speaker 1: to stand up against this 10-foot-tall warrior who It looks

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Speaker 1: like a brick wall right there in front of you

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Speaker 1: with a reputation for being fierce in battle. Basically, what

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Speaker 1: people were illustrating was that nobody thought victory was possible.

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Speaker 1: Nobody thought that if they even did, they thought if

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Speaker 1: they faced him, they would basically be the person who,

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Speaker 1: you know, lost it all for Israel. Anyone watch the

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Speaker 1: World Series this week? Anyone feel bad for the last

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Speaker 1: guy at bat, right, when the World Series is won?

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Speaker 1: It'd be like you're the last guy at bat and

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Speaker 1: your army loses facing Goliath. You're going to be that guy.

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Speaker 1: Israel's going to remember you as the guy that lost

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Speaker 1: to Goliath. Do you want to be remembered that way? Well,

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Speaker 1: in the midst of all this taking place, you've got

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Speaker 1: Saul's standing army there, you've got Saul himself there, but

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Speaker 1: there's one guy that's not part of that standing army

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Speaker 1: when you look at the greater context of this chapter.

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Speaker 1: We're told elsewhere, it's revealed to us that David was

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Speaker 1: not part of Saul's standing army. In fact, his three

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Speaker 1: older brothers, his three oldest brothers specifically, had followed Saul

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Speaker 1: into battle, but David had not followed Saul into battle. David,

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Speaker 1: in fact, moved back and forth between serving Saul, which

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Speaker 1: we see happening in the earlier chapters. So he's moving

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Speaker 1: back from serving Saul and serving his father, Jesse. So

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Speaker 1: he's serving Saul for a period of time, and he's

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Speaker 1: serving Jesse now. for a period of time, taking care

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Speaker 1: of Jesse's sheep in Bethlehem. But Jesse looks at David

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Speaker 1: at one point and he eventually says, David, I need

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Speaker 1: you to go to the Israelite camp and I want

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Speaker 1: you to do something. I want you to bring some

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Speaker 1: food for your brothers. So bring some food for your brothers.

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Speaker 1: And I also want you to bring some provision, some

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Speaker 1: food for their commander as well. Make sure that he's

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Speaker 1: well taken care of. And so David, being the obedient

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Speaker 1: son that he was, said, okay, I'm going to do this.

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Speaker 1: David arrives and right as the army moves into position

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Speaker 1: to shout its battle cry, but it's kind of bluster here.

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Speaker 1: And from a distance, you might have thought, all right,

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Speaker 1: Israel sounds a little bit courageous in this moment. The

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Speaker 1: soldiers assemble, they make plenty of noise, and then their

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Speaker 1: confidence disappears like it's done every day for 40 days.

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Speaker 1: Goliath steps forward, he intimidates them, and they flee from

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Speaker 1: him in fear. They've been doing this over and over

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Speaker 1: and over again, and it's reinforcing something about the army.

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Speaker 1: It's reinforcing something about their king, Saul, and it's making

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Speaker 1: them feel absolutely terrible. And David's hearing this challenge. Now,

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Speaker 1: I don't know if word of this has gotten back

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Speaker 1: to him to some degree, but here he's now hearing

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Speaker 1: this with his own ears. He hears Goliath's challenge, and

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Speaker 1: he learns that Saul has actually offered a substantial reward

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Speaker 1: to anyone who would defeat Goliath. The king promised him wealth,

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Speaker 1: The king promised him his daughter in marriage, and the

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Speaker 1: king promised something else that would absolutely appeal to any

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Speaker 1: one of us living in this generation of time as well.

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Speaker 1: Freedom from taxation. You would no longer be taxed. Wouldn't

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Speaker 1: that be great? That might cause many of us to say,

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Speaker 1: you know, maybe I take a shot. You know, let

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Speaker 1: me take a shot at this guy. If I win,

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Speaker 1: then I don't have to pay taxes anymore? Correct. You

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Speaker 1: don't have to pay taxes. So that was like a

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Speaker 1: pretty big prize. You know, you're going to be wealthy.

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Speaker 1: I give you a daughter in marriage and no more taxes.

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Speaker 1: You just have to defeat Goliath. Not a small task.

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Speaker 1: But Saul had been offering that and it's a very

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Speaker 1: generous reward, but it still wasn't enough to motivate anyone

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Speaker 1: to actually do it. Because even though this reward is

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Speaker 1: hanging out in the air, they're thinking, yeah, but none

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Speaker 1: of that's good to me, dad. So maybe I don't

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Speaker 1: do that. But here you have David stepping into this.

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Speaker 1: And he's hearing this. He's seeing his brothers. He's seeing

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Speaker 1: the soldiers. He's seeing Saul. These are people he knows

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Speaker 1: up close. These are also people that, in other contexts,

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Speaker 1: he thought of them as brave, and he watches them

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Speaker 1: all quaking. He's thinking, why are you guys so afraid? Like,

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Speaker 1: everybody's so afraid. And then in verse 26, David confronts

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Speaker 1: this whole thing, and he says it this way. He says,

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Speaker 1: for who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy

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Speaker 1: the armies of the living God? He's saying, who is

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Speaker 1: this guy who does not live under the covenant of

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Speaker 1: the true and living God, the sign of the covenant

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Speaker 1: being circumcision? He's like, who is this uncircumcised Philistine that

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Speaker 1: he should defy the armies of the living God? Right away,

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Speaker 1: by the way, when you see David saying that, who

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Speaker 1: can you tell that his confidence is ultimately in? The

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Speaker 1: Lord himself. He's like, yeah, Goliath's bigger than us, but

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Speaker 1: he's not bigger than the one who created us. He's

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Speaker 1: saying you would defy the armies of the living God,

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Speaker 1: those who are here representing his name. So David here

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Speaker 1: is seeing the same exact warrior that everyone else is seeing,

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Speaker 1: but he looks at this situation and he interprets it

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Speaker 1: completely differently. He says, my eyes see it differently. And

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Speaker 1: I'll tell you one thing that I've noticed the longer

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Speaker 1: that I've walked with the Lord, and maybe you've noticed

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Speaker 1: this about yourself, or if you're new to walking the Lord,

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Speaker 1: you wait and see. You're going to notice this at

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Speaker 1: some point. You will start to see everything differently. You

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Speaker 1: will see everything differently. The longer you walk with Jesus Christ,

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Speaker 1: you will see everything differently. The more you walk with him,

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Speaker 1: the more he's going to open your eyes and your

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Speaker 1: heart and your mind to start seeing and perceiving things

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Speaker 1: in a very different way than you once did. You

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Speaker 1: once saw the way this world sees, but now you're

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Speaker 1: going to see things differently. You're going to see people differently.

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Speaker 1: You're going to see circumstances differently. You're going to see

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Speaker 1: your trials differently. You're going to see any challenge that

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Speaker 1: you face differently. You're also going to see your temptations differently.

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Speaker 1: And there are certain things that once appealed to you

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Speaker 1: that will stop appealing to you in the same way

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Speaker 1: because the Lord's going to change your perspective. He's going

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Speaker 1: to change your eyes. And you can see that the

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Speaker 1: Spirit of God was doing that kind of miraculous work

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Speaker 1: within David because everybody else is seeing this giant and

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Speaker 1: they're cowering in fear. And David sees the giant. And

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Speaker 1: he doesn't see what everybody else sees. He interprets the

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Speaker 1: situation completely differently. You have Saul and the soldiers focusing

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Speaker 1: on Goliath's size. And they're focusing on his weapons. And

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Speaker 1: they're focusing on his armor. And there's something said here

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Speaker 1: that also shows they were focusing on his experience as well.

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Speaker 1: They're like, this is a guy that could take us

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Speaker 1: all out. We got to be careful here. But you

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Speaker 1: have David focusing on something different. David focuses on God's identity.

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Speaker 1: Like God's identity. not our limitations. He focuses on God's identity.

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Speaker 1: And he makes it clear, Goliath isn't just insulting Israel.

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Speaker 1: He's defying the armies that belong to the living God. Now, Eliab,

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Speaker 1: David's oldest brother, looks at David's response here. Now, if

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Speaker 1: you have any older siblings, I'm sure you could think

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Speaker 1: of moments where they have maybe said something antagonistic to

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Speaker 1: you or didn't really feel like hearing what you had

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Speaker 1: to say. Some of you interact with your siblings with regularity.

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Speaker 1: I could tell you, you know, I turned 50 this summer.

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Speaker 1: I have a sister that is a year younger than me,

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Speaker 1: and then another sister that's five years younger than me,

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Speaker 1: and we're extremely close. So close that we speak to

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Speaker 1: one another with great liberty. And we'll just tell each

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Speaker 1: other whatever's on our mind. So if I don't like

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Speaker 1: something that my sisters are doing, I will just say it. Now,

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Speaker 1: I'm the oldest, so I'd be like the Eliab in

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Speaker 1: this story. And he doesn't look super good there, which

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Speaker 1: often happens to us oldest children. Solidarity, oldest people, right?

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Speaker 1: But the truth is they'll say whatever they want to

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Speaker 1: me too. Siblings speak without a filter. So other people

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Speaker 1: are being polite to David. They're listening to David. They're

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Speaker 1: giving him the time of day. They're answering his questions.

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Speaker 1: But Eliab, David's oldest brother, looks at David and he

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Speaker 1: gets irritated when he hears David speaking to the other soldiers.

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Speaker 1: gets really, really irritated. In fact, he even accuses David

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Speaker 1: of pride. He accuses, or he basically claims that you're

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Speaker 1: just coming out here to watch a spectacle. You're not

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Speaker 1: here to help. You're just out here to watch whatever happens.

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Speaker 1: That's all. You just want to see a battle. You're

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Speaker 1: just so bored with taking care of sheep. You want

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Speaker 1: to watch people fight. That's why you're here. But David's

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Speaker 1: question also did something else. And I think that this

424
00:22:21,869 --> 00:22:24,810
Speaker 1: is part of why it was so irritating to Eliab.

425
00:22:25,530 --> 00:22:29,570
Speaker 1: David's question exposed the army's failure. Like, why are we

426
00:22:29,590 --> 00:22:33,110
Speaker 1: letting this guy talk to us like this? And Eliab

427
00:22:33,130 --> 00:22:35,910
Speaker 1: was like, you don't even know what you're talking about. Quiet, brother, right?

428
00:22:36,970 --> 00:22:40,899
Speaker 1: We have Eliab responding by attacking his character. He attacks

429
00:22:40,920 --> 00:22:45,060
Speaker 1: his character. David looks at this situation, and he's like,

430
00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:46,700
Speaker 1: all right, there's a lot of ways I could respond.

431
00:22:46,740 --> 00:22:50,139
Speaker 1: I could argue. I'm not going to argue. And he

432
00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:54,090
Speaker 1: actually didn't allow Eliab's criticism to silence him. He starts

433
00:22:54,170 --> 00:22:56,470
Speaker 1: pursuing things. Because keep in mind, what does Scripture also

434
00:22:56,530 --> 00:22:59,510
Speaker 1: told us about David? At this point, the Spirit of

435
00:22:59,590 --> 00:23:02,649
Speaker 1: God has come upon David. So David is seeing and

436
00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:05,780
Speaker 1: saying and perceiving and doing things, not just in his

437
00:23:05,859 --> 00:23:07,780
Speaker 1: own wisdom, not just in his own strength. He has

438
00:23:07,820 --> 00:23:11,300
Speaker 1: the strength of God and the wisdom of God guiding him,

439
00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:15,550
Speaker 1: nudging him forward, giving him courage, where naturally speaking, you

440
00:23:15,570 --> 00:23:18,590
Speaker 1: would expect him to be fearful. And so David keeps

441
00:23:18,630 --> 00:23:21,270
Speaker 1: talking to people, and his words, as he's kind of

442
00:23:21,310 --> 00:23:25,660
Speaker 1: confronting David, what he perceives, the limitations of Goliath, those

443
00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:28,620
Speaker 1: words eventually reach Saul. And so Saul finally is like, hey,

444
00:23:29,660 --> 00:23:31,850
Speaker 1: get over here. Let me talk to you for a second.

445
00:23:32,310 --> 00:23:34,129
Speaker 1: And David told the king, he's like, listen, no one

446
00:23:34,150 --> 00:23:37,109
Speaker 1: should lose heart because I'm willing to fight that Philistine.

447
00:23:37,910 --> 00:23:40,210
Speaker 1: Stop losing heart. I'll go fight that guy. And Saul

448
00:23:40,250 --> 00:23:44,010
Speaker 1: replied this way in verse 33. He says, you're not

449
00:23:44,090 --> 00:23:47,370
Speaker 1: able to go against this Philistine to fight with him.

450
00:23:47,630 --> 00:23:50,430
Speaker 1: For you are but a youth. He's been a man

451
00:23:50,470 --> 00:23:55,840
Speaker 1: of war from his youth. You are but a youth.

452
00:23:57,020 --> 00:23:58,659
Speaker 1: He's been a man of war from his youth. I'm

453
00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:00,840
Speaker 1: looking around this room and I see some of you

454
00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:04,220
Speaker 1: who are at a younger season of life. Let me

455
00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:08,350
Speaker 1: give you a little encouragement. There will be people, especially

456
00:24:08,390 --> 00:24:11,350
Speaker 1: if you decide to offer yourself to do things for

457
00:24:11,390 --> 00:24:13,990
Speaker 1: the Lord, that the Lord's calling you to do, but

458
00:24:14,010 --> 00:24:15,689
Speaker 1: you're still at a young season of life, there are

459
00:24:15,710 --> 00:24:17,729
Speaker 1: going to be people that question your ability to do

460
00:24:17,770 --> 00:24:21,260
Speaker 1: it because of your age. Let me testify to you

461
00:24:21,500 --> 00:24:24,600
Speaker 1: that you don't need to worry about that. Still do

462
00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:26,159
Speaker 1: the thing the Lord asked you to do, even if

463
00:24:26,180 --> 00:24:30,050
Speaker 1: you're really, really young. Still do it. Your age is

464
00:24:30,090 --> 00:24:33,570
Speaker 1: of no consequence to the Lord. Some of the most

465
00:24:33,630 --> 00:24:36,010
Speaker 1: amazing people he uses in Scripture are people that are

466
00:24:36,030 --> 00:24:38,510
Speaker 1: at a very young season of life. It's estimated that

467
00:24:38,550 --> 00:24:42,040
Speaker 1: Mary was probably about 15 years old. The prophet Jeremiah

468
00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:44,240
Speaker 1: was a teenager. There's other people in Scripture that were

469
00:24:44,260 --> 00:24:46,440
Speaker 1: very young. David was still at a young season of

470
00:24:46,500 --> 00:24:49,800
Speaker 1: life here as well. Don't be intimidated by your age,

471
00:24:49,859 --> 00:24:52,260
Speaker 1: and don't let somebody tell you that that's a disqualifier

472
00:24:53,060 --> 00:24:54,920
Speaker 1: from the Lord using you in a variety of ways,

473
00:24:54,940 --> 00:24:57,280
Speaker 1: because he absolutely could use you. It used to drive

474
00:24:57,320 --> 00:24:59,080
Speaker 1: me nuts when I was in my late teens and

475
00:24:59,100 --> 00:25:01,980
Speaker 1: early 20s. I was getting very serious about my faith

476
00:25:02,020 --> 00:25:03,570
Speaker 1: at the time, and I wanted to serve the Lord

477
00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:06,310
Speaker 1: in a variety of capacities. And sometimes I'd meet people

478
00:25:06,350 --> 00:25:09,290
Speaker 1: that supported those ideas, but often I would meet people

479
00:25:09,330 --> 00:25:12,689
Speaker 1: who would basically mock the idea. They would mock the

480
00:25:12,810 --> 00:25:14,639
Speaker 1: idea because And I was like, that's not something you

481
00:25:14,660 --> 00:25:16,880
Speaker 1: should be mocking. Like, I'm saying I want to use

482
00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:18,859
Speaker 1: my life for the Lord's glory, and you're going to

483
00:25:19,020 --> 00:25:21,360
Speaker 1: mock it? And they would mock it. And the main

484
00:25:21,380 --> 00:25:24,220
Speaker 1: disqualifier was, you're just not old enough. It's like, okay,

485
00:25:24,270 --> 00:25:26,710
Speaker 1: so should I wait till like five minutes before I'm dead,

486
00:25:27,070 --> 00:25:29,650
Speaker 1: before I actually do something meaningful? Or should I use

487
00:25:29,690 --> 00:25:32,830
Speaker 1: the time that the Lord's given me right now? So again,

488
00:25:33,410 --> 00:25:36,230
Speaker 1: your age is not a disqualifier. And don't actually put

489
00:25:36,290 --> 00:25:37,949
Speaker 1: up in your mind with anyone who tells you that

490
00:25:37,990 --> 00:25:40,980
Speaker 1: it is, because it's not. And here you have David

491
00:25:41,020 --> 00:25:43,420
Speaker 1: being told something similar to maybe what you've been told

492
00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:46,280
Speaker 1: at some points of your life. Again, Saul says you

493
00:25:46,340 --> 00:25:48,359
Speaker 1: are not able to go up against this Philistine to

494
00:25:48,380 --> 00:25:50,780
Speaker 1: fight with him, for you are but a youth. And

495
00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:53,850
Speaker 1: he's been a man of war from his youth, meaning

496
00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:58,630
Speaker 1: he's got clothing older than you are. And again, most

497
00:25:58,650 --> 00:26:00,010
Speaker 1: people would look at this and they'd be like, Saul,

498
00:26:00,050 --> 00:26:02,430
Speaker 1: that's a reasonable assessment. David is on the young side

499
00:26:02,450 --> 00:26:06,490
Speaker 1: of life. But understand this, David wasn't a little child,

500
00:26:06,750 --> 00:26:09,570
Speaker 1: like some of the retellings of this story happen to indicate.

501
00:26:10,710 --> 00:26:13,929
Speaker 1: David was young, and you could also even say that

502
00:26:14,100 --> 00:26:17,320
Speaker 1: at this point he was somewhat inexperienced in military combat.

503
00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:21,159
Speaker 1: Those things are true. He was a young man, and

504
00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:25,540
Speaker 1: he was inexperienced in many aspects of military combat. And

505
00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:27,020
Speaker 1: you would look at Goliath and you'd say, all right,

506
00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:32,919
Speaker 1: Goliath possesses every visible advantage. But then David remembered something.

507
00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:37,109
Speaker 1: He's remembered the things that the Lord's already walked through

508
00:26:37,140 --> 00:26:40,220
Speaker 1: with him on. different things that the Lord's already demonstrated

509
00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:43,480
Speaker 1: his presence in his life. He remembered all those times

510
00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:46,830
Speaker 1: that the Lord helped David protect those sheep. When a

511
00:26:46,950 --> 00:26:50,109
Speaker 1: lion or a bear would come at those sheep and

512
00:26:50,150 --> 00:26:52,810
Speaker 1: would try and threaten them or try and carry them off,

513
00:26:52,850 --> 00:26:56,650
Speaker 1: what would David do? He would chase it. He would

514
00:26:56,730 --> 00:26:59,900
Speaker 1: pursue it. Scripture tells us that he would strike those

515
00:27:00,020 --> 00:27:04,200
Speaker 1: animals and then he'd rescue the sheep. And then if

516
00:27:04,240 --> 00:27:08,260
Speaker 1: the predator turned against him, what would he do? David

517
00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:11,189
Speaker 1: would seize it with his hands and he'd kill it.

518
00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:15,369
Speaker 1: And so these are experiences that the Lord allowed David

519
00:27:15,410 --> 00:27:18,330
Speaker 1: to have earlier in his life while he's taking care

520
00:27:18,369 --> 00:27:22,510
Speaker 1: of sheep. But these were also experiences that helped prepare

521
00:27:22,530 --> 00:27:24,550
Speaker 1: him for a challenge that nobody believed that he could

522
00:27:24,609 --> 00:27:27,290
Speaker 1: face even in this moment here. And David explained it

523
00:27:27,330 --> 00:27:29,750
Speaker 1: this way when you look at verse 37. He said this,

524
00:27:29,810 --> 00:27:31,889
Speaker 1: the Lord who delivered me from the paw of the

525
00:27:31,930 --> 00:27:36,169
Speaker 1: lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver

526
00:27:36,210 --> 00:27:41,890
Speaker 1: me from the hand of this Philistine. And I love

527
00:27:41,930 --> 00:27:45,790
Speaker 1: the fact that when you parse David's words here, when

528
00:27:45,810 --> 00:27:48,190
Speaker 1: you look at what he's actually saying, his confidence isn't

529
00:27:48,270 --> 00:27:54,700
Speaker 1: rooted in his skill or his ability to twirl a

530
00:27:54,820 --> 00:27:59,600
Speaker 1: sling and kill a giant with a stone. He's trusted

531
00:27:59,700 --> 00:28:01,980
Speaker 1: God who has delivered him in the past. That's what

532
00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:05,740
Speaker 1: he's doing here. So the lions, And the bear, these

533
00:28:05,820 --> 00:28:08,840
Speaker 1: creatures that David has dealt with in the past, they

534
00:28:08,859 --> 00:28:11,820
Speaker 1: taught David that his safety and his success did not

535
00:28:12,100 --> 00:28:14,609
Speaker 1: ultimately rely on his own power. It relied on the

536
00:28:14,650 --> 00:28:16,730
Speaker 1: Lord who protected him and guided him and gave him

537
00:28:17,010 --> 00:28:20,070
Speaker 1: his power, divine power to do what God was calling

538
00:28:20,130 --> 00:28:23,970
Speaker 1: him to do. Goliath, humanly speaking, was stronger than David.

539
00:28:24,450 --> 00:28:27,430
Speaker 1: But Goliath wasn't stronger than the Lord. And the Lord

540
00:28:27,510 --> 00:28:30,290
Speaker 1: lived within David. Oh, by the way, the Lord also

541
00:28:30,330 --> 00:28:34,100
Speaker 1: lives within you. He lives within you. The indwelling presence

542
00:28:34,119 --> 00:28:37,070
Speaker 1: of the Holy Spirit under the new covenant, every believer

543
00:28:37,220 --> 00:28:40,030
Speaker 1: indwelled with the Holy Spirit the very moment we trust

544
00:28:40,090 --> 00:28:44,690
Speaker 1: in Jesus Christ. He lives within you. Coming back to this,

545
00:28:44,770 --> 00:28:47,130
Speaker 1: Saul looks at David and he finally gives him permission.

546
00:28:49,310 --> 00:28:52,150
Speaker 1: And he dresses him in his own armor. He takes

547
00:28:52,190 --> 00:28:54,209
Speaker 1: his armor and he puts it on David. And by

548
00:28:54,230 --> 00:28:58,180
Speaker 1: the way, this is by the way, further indication that

549
00:28:58,220 --> 00:29:02,709
Speaker 1: David wasn't a little boy. Saul's not stupid in the

550
00:29:02,750 --> 00:29:04,850
Speaker 1: sense of saying, well, let me put this on a

551
00:29:04,870 --> 00:29:08,050
Speaker 1: 12-year-old and put this giant armor where he's walking around.

552
00:29:08,150 --> 00:29:11,810
Speaker 1: I can't move my arms, right? It's not like that.

553
00:29:13,310 --> 00:29:16,170
Speaker 1: He's a man. And so he puts man armor on

554
00:29:16,210 --> 00:29:19,350
Speaker 1: another man. And the reason David takes the armor off

555
00:29:19,450 --> 00:29:24,530
Speaker 1: isn't because he can't function in giant armor. The scripture

556
00:29:24,570 --> 00:29:27,010
Speaker 1: tells us that he realizes, look, I'm not accustomed to

557
00:29:27,050 --> 00:29:30,060
Speaker 1: wearing this. I haven't spent a lot of time wearing armor.

558
00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:31,790
Speaker 1: This would be silly for me to wear this armor.

559
00:29:32,370 --> 00:29:34,270
Speaker 1: You've got to practice with this stuff. I am not

560
00:29:34,310 --> 00:29:36,750
Speaker 1: accustomed with this stuff. So he actually takes it off.

561
00:29:37,970 --> 00:29:40,820
Speaker 1: And then he takes his staff, his shepherd staff. He

562
00:29:40,860 --> 00:29:43,780
Speaker 1: takes five smooth stones from the brook. He's only going

563
00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:46,060
Speaker 1: to need one, but he takes five. I guess you

564
00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:48,690
Speaker 1: could say it's an insurance policy. Maybe if you want

565
00:29:48,710 --> 00:29:50,330
Speaker 1: to like have one in your hand to threaten the

566
00:29:50,370 --> 00:29:52,950
Speaker 1: Philistines if they come after you take out Goliath, right?

567
00:29:53,550 --> 00:29:57,410
Speaker 1: And he approaches Goliath with the sling. Now, one other

568
00:29:57,430 --> 00:30:01,020
Speaker 1: thing I'll say about David rejecting Saul's armor He wasn't

569
00:30:01,060 --> 00:30:05,800
Speaker 1: rejecting Saul's armor to somehow prove that preparation or equipment

570
00:30:05,900 --> 00:30:08,830
Speaker 1: aren't sometimes necessary tools. That's not the point of what

571
00:30:08,870 --> 00:30:10,810
Speaker 1: he was doing here. But what he was trying to

572
00:30:10,850 --> 00:30:12,910
Speaker 1: do is he's saying, I'm not going to pretend I'm

573
00:30:12,950 --> 00:30:15,990
Speaker 1: something I'm not. I'm not going to pretend I'm something

574
00:30:16,030 --> 00:30:18,150
Speaker 1: I'm not. I'm going to face Goliath with the skills

575
00:30:18,190 --> 00:30:21,709
Speaker 1: that God's actually developed within me. During those years as

576
00:30:21,750 --> 00:30:24,210
Speaker 1: a shepherd, he's developed some skills within me. And I'm

577
00:30:24,230 --> 00:30:27,170
Speaker 1: going to use those skills. And even greater than that,

578
00:30:27,210 --> 00:30:29,830
Speaker 1: I'm going to trust God's power as I use those skills.

579
00:30:30,430 --> 00:30:34,740
Speaker 1: But Goliath looks at David as David comes out. And Goliath,

580
00:30:35,140 --> 00:30:38,320
Speaker 1: keep in mind, for 40 days, in the morning and

581
00:30:38,340 --> 00:30:40,719
Speaker 1: in the evening, over and over and over again, he

582
00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:43,740
Speaker 1: mocks Israel. And now Israel finally sends a guy out.

583
00:30:44,380 --> 00:30:47,850
Speaker 1: And the guy he sends out is a very regular-shaped guy,

584
00:30:48,350 --> 00:30:53,530
Speaker 1: very regular-sized guy. And Goliath finally looks at the guy

585
00:30:53,590 --> 00:30:55,110
Speaker 1: right there in front of him. He looks at David,

586
00:30:55,370 --> 00:30:58,040
Speaker 1: and he's actually insulted by this. He's like, that's who

587
00:30:58,060 --> 00:31:00,930
Speaker 1: you picked? That's who you send out to face me?

588
00:31:01,470 --> 00:31:05,010
Speaker 1: You send a young shepherd, this young man instead of

589
00:31:05,030 --> 00:31:09,280
Speaker 1: an experienced soldier? He's like, haven't you, like, do your

590
00:31:09,400 --> 00:31:11,640
Speaker 1: eyes not function enough that you can see me? Have

591
00:31:11,660 --> 00:31:14,200
Speaker 1: you not heard my words? Are you not familiar with

592
00:31:14,240 --> 00:31:18,460
Speaker 1: my reputation? And so Goliath curses David. And then he

593
00:31:18,530 --> 00:31:21,690
Speaker 1: also threatens to feed his body to the birds and

594
00:31:21,710 --> 00:31:24,670
Speaker 1: the wild animals. He's laying this on very, very thickly.

595
00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:26,700
Speaker 1: And you would think, all right, David, what are you

596
00:31:26,730 --> 00:31:28,850
Speaker 1: going to say? Anything? Like, sometimes you don't have to

597
00:31:28,890 --> 00:31:31,690
Speaker 1: say anything at all. But David, I believe inspired by

598
00:31:31,750 --> 00:31:34,930
Speaker 1: the Spirit of God, responds to Goliath. He says this

599
00:31:34,990 --> 00:31:37,190
Speaker 1: to him. And I often think in a moment like that,

600
00:31:37,290 --> 00:31:39,150
Speaker 1: what would we say? Like, what would I say? What

601
00:31:39,170 --> 00:31:41,830
Speaker 1: would you say? David says this, you come at me

602
00:31:41,890 --> 00:31:45,270
Speaker 1: with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin,

603
00:31:45,790 --> 00:31:48,290
Speaker 1: but I come at you in the name of the

604
00:31:48,390 --> 00:31:51,630
Speaker 1: Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel,

605
00:31:52,120 --> 00:31:56,710
Speaker 1: whom you have defied. That's what I come at you with.

606
00:31:58,170 --> 00:32:01,770
Speaker 1: So here, David doesn't deny the reality of Goliath's weapons,

607
00:32:02,630 --> 00:32:04,190
Speaker 1: but he knew that those weapons were not going to

608
00:32:04,230 --> 00:32:07,190
Speaker 1: be decisive in this kind of battle. Goliath came with

609
00:32:07,210 --> 00:32:09,890
Speaker 1: the finest instruments of war. He's got armor. He's got,

610
00:32:10,120 --> 00:32:12,080
Speaker 1: you know, all sorts of things that he could use here.

611
00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:14,720
Speaker 1: But David has something better. He comes in the authority

612
00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:17,360
Speaker 1: of God. He's like, I'm going to depend on God's power.

613
00:32:17,380 --> 00:32:19,540
Speaker 1: And then he continues when you look at verse 46,

614
00:32:19,540 --> 00:32:22,700
Speaker 1: says this, this day, the Lord will deliver you into

615
00:32:22,740 --> 00:32:25,080
Speaker 1: my hand. And keep in mind, Goliath said, I'm going

616
00:32:25,100 --> 00:32:27,480
Speaker 1: to feed your body to the wild animals. I'm going

617
00:32:27,500 --> 00:32:29,160
Speaker 1: to feed your body to the birds. They're going to

618
00:32:29,220 --> 00:32:36,870
Speaker 1: pick you apart like you're pulled pork. Maybe I should

619
00:32:36,890 --> 00:32:44,070
Speaker 1: have said pulled chicken. He's Jewish. Pulled chicken. We'll go

620
00:32:44,090 --> 00:32:47,570
Speaker 1: with that. But this day the Lord will deliver you

621
00:32:47,630 --> 00:32:50,090
Speaker 1: into my hand and I will strike you down. David's

622
00:32:50,110 --> 00:32:51,890
Speaker 1: saying this to Goliath. I will strike you down. I'm

623
00:32:51,910 --> 00:32:54,200
Speaker 1: going to cut off your head. And I will give

624
00:32:54,220 --> 00:32:56,660
Speaker 1: the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this

625
00:32:56,700 --> 00:32:58,180
Speaker 1: day to the birds of the air and to the

626
00:32:58,220 --> 00:33:01,000
Speaker 1: wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may

627
00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:07,310
Speaker 1: know that there is a God in Israel. I love that.

628
00:33:08,310 --> 00:33:12,150
Speaker 1: So David's primary concern here isn't personal fame, even though

629
00:33:12,190 --> 00:33:14,020
Speaker 1: that's been offered to him through Saul. It's also not

630
00:33:14,060 --> 00:33:18,040
Speaker 1: Saul's reward. That's not his primary concern. What he wanted

631
00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:20,240
Speaker 1: to be the end result of what takes place here

632
00:33:20,770 --> 00:33:23,290
Speaker 1: was he wanted the nations to know that Israel's God

633
00:33:23,370 --> 00:33:26,910
Speaker 1: is real, and Israel's God is powerful. And he also

634
00:33:26,930 --> 00:33:31,710
Speaker 1: wanted Israel's army to learn that, in verse 47, the

635
00:33:31,750 --> 00:33:34,510
Speaker 1: Lord saves not with a sword and spear, for the

636
00:33:34,570 --> 00:33:36,690
Speaker 1: battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into

637
00:33:36,810 --> 00:33:39,590
Speaker 1: our hand. That's what David wanted everyone to be aware of.

638
00:33:39,610 --> 00:33:42,350
Speaker 1: And so Goliath now moves toward him. He's like, fine,

639
00:33:42,650 --> 00:33:45,830
Speaker 1: it's time to fight. Now we fight. Goliath moves toward him,

640
00:33:46,210 --> 00:33:48,870
Speaker 1: and the scripture tells us that David ran quickly toward

641
00:33:48,890 --> 00:33:51,570
Speaker 1: the battle line. He places one of those stones in

642
00:33:51,590 --> 00:33:53,110
Speaker 1: that sling. And by the way, when we're talking about

643
00:33:53,150 --> 00:33:56,100
Speaker 1: a sling, it's not a slingshot. There's a very big difference.

644
00:33:56,440 --> 00:33:59,580
Speaker 1: A slingshot, they're fascinating. They do a lot of stuff.

645
00:33:59,620 --> 00:34:01,840
Speaker 1: Maybe you've even owned one, put one on your wrist,

646
00:34:01,860 --> 00:34:04,280
Speaker 1: you're flinging stuff there, but you're stretching it back and

647
00:34:04,300 --> 00:34:07,840
Speaker 1: you're springing it. That's a slingshot. That's not what David's using.

648
00:34:08,160 --> 00:34:10,379
Speaker 1: David's using one of those pouches that has the two

649
00:34:10,420 --> 00:34:13,670
Speaker 1: long straps and he's swinging it around in a circle.

650
00:34:14,030 --> 00:34:16,370
Speaker 1: And then as you get good at this, you know

651
00:34:16,450 --> 00:34:19,530
Speaker 1: when it's time to release one part of the strap

652
00:34:19,910 --> 00:34:23,890
Speaker 1: You release that, and then the stone goes forward. That's

653
00:34:24,190 --> 00:34:26,810
Speaker 1: what David is using. And he runs quickly to the

654
00:34:26,850 --> 00:34:29,580
Speaker 1: battle with that sling. He places a stone in it,

655
00:34:30,430 --> 00:34:33,779
Speaker 1: and he struck Goliath with one of those stones right

656
00:34:33,820 --> 00:34:37,940
Speaker 1: in the forehead. Now, a skilled slinger like David, I

657
00:34:38,020 --> 00:34:39,759
Speaker 1: actually read up on this this week because I was

658
00:34:39,820 --> 00:34:42,419
Speaker 1: kind of curious. I was curious about two particular things.

659
00:34:42,460 --> 00:34:45,660
Speaker 1: How much did Goliath weigh? So I found some stuff

660
00:34:45,680 --> 00:34:47,500
Speaker 1: that talked about that, but I was also curious about

661
00:34:47,910 --> 00:34:50,840
Speaker 1: How fast do we think that stone was going? And

662
00:34:50,860 --> 00:34:52,880
Speaker 1: so I looked to see, like in that era of

663
00:34:52,940 --> 00:34:56,239
Speaker 1: time with the tools that they had, a skilled slinger,

664
00:34:57,180 --> 00:35:00,219
Speaker 1: how fast could he whip that thing? And I found

665
00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:03,600
Speaker 1: out that you could whip that maybe about 90 to

666
00:35:03,600 --> 00:35:07,060
Speaker 1: 120 miles per hour. You're skilled at it. If you're good,

667
00:35:07,060 --> 00:35:10,219
Speaker 1: 90 to 120 miles per hour. That's the stone that

668
00:35:10,239 --> 00:35:12,940
Speaker 1: went at Goliath's head. And the scripture tells us it

669
00:35:13,140 --> 00:35:16,380
Speaker 1: sunk right into his forehead and he fell down face forward.

670
00:35:17,219 --> 00:35:20,340
Speaker 1: And then David used Goliath's own sword to kill him.

671
00:35:21,380 --> 00:35:26,130
Speaker 1: And he removes that head, that dented head. And when

672
00:35:26,150 --> 00:35:29,970
Speaker 1: the Philistines look at all this, they're like, our champion's dead.

673
00:35:29,989 --> 00:35:32,670
Speaker 1: And the scripture tells us that they fled. And Israel's

674
00:35:32,710 --> 00:35:35,200
Speaker 1: soldiers at that point, they find their courage and they

675
00:35:35,260 --> 00:35:40,359
Speaker 1: pursue them. And so you look at this victory. It's

676
00:35:40,400 --> 00:35:42,540
Speaker 1: a victory that's shared with the entire nation of Israel.

677
00:35:44,080 --> 00:35:45,780
Speaker 1: But it was a victory, or it was a battle,

678
00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:48,080
Speaker 1: we would say, that David was the one who fought.

679
00:35:49,070 --> 00:35:53,870
Speaker 1: So David fights it, and it's shared with Israel. Israel's

680
00:35:53,930 --> 00:35:58,110
Speaker 1: soldiers didn't help defeat Goliath. They stood at a distance.

681
00:35:59,850 --> 00:36:03,190
Speaker 1: They were unable, and also you could say unwilling, to

682
00:36:03,250 --> 00:36:07,330
Speaker 1: save themselves. David won on their behalf. Do you see

683
00:36:07,350 --> 00:36:10,260
Speaker 1: where I'm going with this? David won on their behalf,

684
00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:14,959
Speaker 1: and they share the benefits of the victory. So what's

685
00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:18,160
Speaker 1: the point of this story? Why is this included for

686
00:36:18,219 --> 00:36:20,259
Speaker 1: us in Scripture? What are we supposed to learn that

687
00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:23,890
Speaker 1: has eternal consequence? Well, this is the spot right here

688
00:36:24,469 --> 00:36:28,690
Speaker 1: where this account points very, very obviously and naturally toward

689
00:36:28,770 --> 00:36:32,830
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. Because David was anointed to become king, but

690
00:36:32,870 --> 00:36:37,030
Speaker 1: his kingship was not yet publicly recognized. And he enters

691
00:36:37,070 --> 00:36:41,900
Speaker 1: here into a battlefield as an overlooked son from Bethlehem,

692
00:36:41,960 --> 00:36:46,489
Speaker 1: we can say. And he faced Israel's enemy as the

693
00:36:46,570 --> 00:36:52,700
Speaker 1: nation's representative. And then his victory becomes Israel's victory. When

694
00:36:52,739 --> 00:36:54,840
Speaker 1: you look at what Scripture tells us about who Jesus

695
00:36:54,900 --> 00:36:57,830
Speaker 1: Christ happens to be, Jesus is the greater son of David.

696
00:36:59,770 --> 00:37:04,890
Speaker 1: He's the king God promised. Scripture tells us that like David,

697
00:37:04,969 --> 00:37:09,960
Speaker 1: Jesus came from where? Bethlehem. And when he entered this world,

698
00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:12,000
Speaker 1: he entered a world that was under the power of

699
00:37:12,140 --> 00:37:14,580
Speaker 1: sin and under the power of death and living in

700
00:37:14,760 --> 00:37:18,000
Speaker 1: fear of those things. But when he did so, many

701
00:37:18,060 --> 00:37:21,569
Speaker 1: people did not recognize his royal identity, very much like

702
00:37:21,610 --> 00:37:24,930
Speaker 1: we see illustrated in David's day-to-day life up to this point.

703
00:37:24,950 --> 00:37:27,950
Speaker 1: In fact, in John 1, verse 11, it says of Jesus,

704
00:37:28,350 --> 00:37:30,410
Speaker 1: he came to his own and his own people did

705
00:37:30,469 --> 00:37:34,250
Speaker 1: not receive him. Very much like Eliam. David comes and

706
00:37:34,310 --> 00:37:36,669
Speaker 1: Eliam's like, what are you doing? Just stop talking and go.

707
00:37:39,170 --> 00:37:42,310
Speaker 1: He came to his own, Jesus did, and his own

708
00:37:42,350 --> 00:37:45,330
Speaker 1: people did not receive him. Jesus faced enemies that were

709
00:37:45,370 --> 00:37:48,170
Speaker 1: far greater than Goliath, by the way. When you look

710
00:37:48,190 --> 00:37:50,350
Speaker 1: at what Scripture tells us about the enemies that Jesus

711
00:37:50,390 --> 00:37:53,410
Speaker 1: came to conquer, think about it in threes. He came

712
00:37:53,450 --> 00:37:57,670
Speaker 1: to conquer sin, sin which condemns us before God. He

713
00:37:57,730 --> 00:38:01,819
Speaker 1: came to conquer Satan, Satan who accuses us before the

714
00:38:01,860 --> 00:38:07,940
Speaker 1: Father and also deceives, right? Satan deceives us. And thirdly,

715
00:38:08,590 --> 00:38:11,989
Speaker 1: You have death. You have death standing as an enemy

716
00:38:12,030 --> 00:38:15,529
Speaker 1: that no human being can defeat. And what did Jesus do?

717
00:38:15,590 --> 00:38:20,089
Speaker 1: He defeated it. So we don't overcome these powers through

718
00:38:20,140 --> 00:38:22,140
Speaker 1: standing up to them on our strongest day. We don't

719
00:38:22,219 --> 00:38:25,279
Speaker 1: overcome these powers through courage or through discipline or through

720
00:38:25,340 --> 00:38:28,180
Speaker 1: religious effort or through human strength or any of those

721
00:38:28,219 --> 00:38:30,419
Speaker 1: things that sometimes people, I think, are tempted to use

722
00:38:30,520 --> 00:38:33,810
Speaker 1: as basically the be-all, end-all to save the day. We're

723
00:38:33,830 --> 00:38:36,190
Speaker 1: basically like Israel's frightened army. So if you want to

724
00:38:36,230 --> 00:38:38,950
Speaker 1: find yourself in the story of David and Goliath, Find

725
00:38:38,989 --> 00:38:42,730
Speaker 1: the frightened army, and that's us. And we need a

726
00:38:42,790 --> 00:38:47,090
Speaker 1: representative to fight on our behalf, and that's Jesus. David

727
00:38:47,130 --> 00:38:49,730
Speaker 1: defeated Goliath with a sling and with a stone, but

728
00:38:49,790 --> 00:38:53,819
Speaker 1: Jesus ultimately won his victory through what appeared to be weakness. Now,

729
00:38:53,840 --> 00:38:55,460
Speaker 1: what do I mean by that? Well, he allowed himself

730
00:38:55,500 --> 00:38:58,480
Speaker 1: to be arrested. He allowed himself to be condemned and

731
00:38:58,520 --> 00:39:01,880
Speaker 1: mocked and crucified. Jesus endured all of that. And his

732
00:39:01,960 --> 00:39:03,660
Speaker 1: enemies looked at him, and they believed that they had

733
00:39:03,700 --> 00:39:05,770
Speaker 1: defeated him in that moment. you would say that the

734
00:39:05,810 --> 00:39:09,000
Speaker 1: cross looked like the collapse of his claim to kingship.

735
00:39:11,580 --> 00:39:14,000
Speaker 1: But what Jesus was doing was he was actually accomplishing

736
00:39:14,040 --> 00:39:17,500
Speaker 1: God's saving purpose. And in doing all of that, he

737
00:39:17,640 --> 00:39:20,140
Speaker 1: carried our sin. In doing all of that, he endured

738
00:39:20,200 --> 00:39:22,870
Speaker 1: judgment in our place. And he did something else that

739
00:39:22,930 --> 00:39:25,630
Speaker 1: sometimes gets skipped when we talk about what Christ accomplished

740
00:39:25,690 --> 00:39:30,319
Speaker 1: on our behalf. Jesus also disarmed spiritual powers that stood

741
00:39:30,360 --> 00:39:33,280
Speaker 1: against us. Again, look at what it says in Colossians 2.15.

742
00:39:33,280 --> 00:39:38,120
Speaker 1: It says of Jesus, he disarmed the rulers and authorities

743
00:39:39,180 --> 00:39:43,049
Speaker 1: and put them to open shame by triumphing over them

744
00:39:43,410 --> 00:39:48,000
Speaker 1: in him. through the work of Jesus Christ, the spiritual authorities,

745
00:39:48,040 --> 00:39:51,600
Speaker 1: the demonic forces, Satan himself, all of these beings that

746
00:39:51,620 --> 00:39:54,600
Speaker 1: stood against God's people have been completely defeated and have

747
00:39:54,620 --> 00:39:57,440
Speaker 1: been triumphed over them. They've been put to open shame,

748
00:39:58,360 --> 00:40:02,140
Speaker 1: very much like we see happening to Goliath. You look

749
00:40:02,180 --> 00:40:03,969
Speaker 1: at Goliath again, you see that he fell by a

750
00:40:04,010 --> 00:40:06,570
Speaker 1: weapon that David carries into the battle. You know, he

751
00:40:06,670 --> 00:40:11,870
Speaker 1: uses that sling, the stone damages his head, and then

752
00:40:12,270 --> 00:40:16,400
Speaker 1: David finishes him Goliath off with Goliath's own sword. Then

753
00:40:16,420 --> 00:40:19,220
Speaker 1: you look at what Satan has attempted to do. Satan,

754
00:40:19,239 --> 00:40:23,800
Speaker 1: through the generations, goes to great pain and great effort

755
00:40:25,180 --> 00:40:27,660
Speaker 1: to destroy the work of Christ. And even before he

756
00:40:27,719 --> 00:40:32,060
Speaker 1: destroys the outpouring of Christ's work, he tried to destroy

757
00:40:32,120 --> 00:40:36,220
Speaker 1: Jesus through crucifixion. And then crucifixion becomes the very means

758
00:40:36,260 --> 00:40:40,759
Speaker 1: that Christ used to break Satan's power. It's fascinating how

759
00:40:40,800 --> 00:40:47,580
Speaker 1: that works. Goliath's own sword was used to kill him. Crucifixion,

760
00:40:47,620 --> 00:40:49,980
Speaker 1: which was meant to be used against Jesus, is the

761
00:40:50,020 --> 00:40:55,560
Speaker 1: very tool Jesus uses to disarm the power of Satan. Again,

762
00:40:55,600 --> 00:40:59,700
Speaker 1: I love what Hebrews chapter 2, verse 14 says of Jesus.

763
00:40:59,780 --> 00:41:02,250
Speaker 1: It says, through death, he might destroy the one who

764
00:41:02,290 --> 00:41:05,650
Speaker 1: has the power of death. That is the devil. Destroy him.

765
00:41:08,910 --> 00:41:11,170
Speaker 1: It's fascinating to look at this. It's fascinating to think

766
00:41:11,210 --> 00:41:14,080
Speaker 1: about this. You look at David's victory and you realize

767
00:41:14,120 --> 00:41:15,930
Speaker 1: it was confirmed, you could say, in the moment that

768
00:41:15,950 --> 00:41:21,210
Speaker 1: Goliath fell. Jesus' victory was declared when he rose bodily

769
00:41:21,290 --> 00:41:27,950
Speaker 1: from the grave. Death couldn't hold God the Son. And

770
00:41:27,969 --> 00:41:30,640
Speaker 1: his resurrection assures us that our sins have been paid

771
00:41:30,700 --> 00:41:33,860
Speaker 1: for and that death has been defeated and that eternal

772
00:41:33,900 --> 00:41:36,719
Speaker 1: life belongs to the very one who has offered it

773
00:41:36,760 --> 00:41:40,560
Speaker 1: to us. And he gives eternal life to everyone who

774
00:41:40,620 --> 00:41:43,719
Speaker 1: is trusted in him. And you look at this portion

775
00:41:43,739 --> 00:41:47,200
Speaker 1: of Scripture from 1 Samuel 17, and you recognize David

776
00:41:47,300 --> 00:41:54,339
Speaker 1: fought while Israel watched. Isn't that fascinating? David fought, Israel watched. Well,

777
00:41:54,380 --> 00:41:57,380
Speaker 1: when did Jesus accomplish our salvation? When we could do

778
00:41:57,440 --> 00:41:59,660
Speaker 1: something to contribute to it or when we were helpless?

779
00:42:01,060 --> 00:42:05,060
Speaker 1: We were helpless. We don't contribute to his finished work.

780
00:42:06,060 --> 00:42:09,660
Speaker 1: He did it for us. We received the benefits of

781
00:42:09,700 --> 00:42:11,799
Speaker 1: the work that he did for us, but he's the

782
00:42:11,880 --> 00:42:15,239
Speaker 1: one who deserves the credit. In fact, Romans 5.19 says

783
00:42:15,320 --> 00:42:17,839
Speaker 1: it this way, for as by the one man's disobedience,

784
00:42:17,900 --> 00:42:20,980
Speaker 1: the many were made sinners, that's speaking of Adam. So

785
00:42:21,020 --> 00:42:24,620
Speaker 1: by the one man's obedience, the many will be made righteous,

786
00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:30,080
Speaker 1: speaking of Christ. And the beauty is our union with

787
00:42:30,140 --> 00:42:35,440
Speaker 1: Christ means his victory becomes ours. Now we still face temptation.

788
00:42:35,560 --> 00:42:37,500
Speaker 1: You're going to still face temptation this side of heaven.

789
00:42:37,520 --> 00:42:39,950
Speaker 1: You're still going to face suffering. You're still going to

790
00:42:39,989 --> 00:42:45,760
Speaker 1: face spiritual oppression. We also face the prevalence of physical

791
00:42:45,820 --> 00:42:49,140
Speaker 1: death as well. These are things we still face. But

792
00:42:49,200 --> 00:42:52,819
Speaker 1: none of these enemies can reverse what Jesus accomplished. None

793
00:42:52,840 --> 00:42:56,020
Speaker 1: of them. In fact, in Romans 8.37, we're told this,

794
00:42:56,340 --> 00:42:58,910
Speaker 1: in all these things, we are more than conquerors through

795
00:42:58,950 --> 00:43:02,650
Speaker 1: him who loved us. We become conquerors because we're united

796
00:43:02,670 --> 00:43:04,870
Speaker 1: to him in his victory. Now, again, that doesn't mean

797
00:43:05,050 --> 00:43:08,589
Speaker 1: Christians will avoid hardship. It doesn't mean that Christians will

798
00:43:08,630 --> 00:43:11,670
Speaker 1: succeed in every single one of our goals. David's story

799
00:43:11,710 --> 00:43:15,130
Speaker 1: here isn't a promise that every difficulty will fall if

800
00:43:15,170 --> 00:43:19,790
Speaker 1: we just display enough confidence to overcome it or throw

801
00:43:19,890 --> 00:43:22,730
Speaker 1: rocks at whatever's threatening us. That's not the lesson of

802
00:43:22,770 --> 00:43:26,070
Speaker 1: this story. The lesson isn't face everything in your own confidence,

803
00:43:26,140 --> 00:43:28,380
Speaker 1: face everything in your own strength. Look at the giant

804
00:43:28,420 --> 00:43:30,860
Speaker 1: before you and recognize that you could stand against it

805
00:43:30,900 --> 00:43:33,900
Speaker 1: in your own power. That's how I often hear people

806
00:43:33,960 --> 00:43:36,919
Speaker 1: talk about this, That's not what this scripture is talking about.

807
00:43:37,020 --> 00:43:40,380
Speaker 1: Faith isn't confidence in our own ability to overcome something.

808
00:43:41,300 --> 00:43:46,000
Speaker 1: Faith rests in God's character and God's promises and God's

809
00:43:46,040 --> 00:43:49,910
Speaker 1: saving power. Faith rests in him. He's the one who

810
00:43:49,950 --> 00:43:54,089
Speaker 1: accomplishes it. He will accomplish it through you, but it's

811
00:43:54,130 --> 00:43:57,750
Speaker 1: him who accomplishes it. David was able to face Goliath

812
00:43:57,790 --> 00:44:00,489
Speaker 1: because he knew the battle belonged to the Lord. And

813
00:44:00,510 --> 00:44:02,089
Speaker 1: you and I, and I'll say this as we wrap

814
00:44:02,130 --> 00:44:07,239
Speaker 1: this up, We face life with courage because Jesus has

815
00:44:07,440 --> 00:44:12,080
Speaker 1: already won the decisive battle. We aren't trying to earn

816
00:44:12,140 --> 00:44:14,540
Speaker 1: our own victory over sin. We aren't trying to earn

817
00:44:14,600 --> 00:44:18,410
Speaker 1: our own victory over death. We live from the victory

818
00:44:18,719 --> 00:44:23,250
Speaker 1: that Christ secured. We live from the victory. So just

819
00:44:23,310 --> 00:44:25,830
Speaker 1: let that thought permeate your mind for a quick second.

820
00:44:26,450 --> 00:44:28,509
Speaker 1: When you look at your life, when you observe what's

821
00:44:28,550 --> 00:44:30,989
Speaker 1: going on in your life, can you honestly say that

822
00:44:31,030 --> 00:44:34,450
Speaker 1: right now you are living from the victory that Christ

823
00:44:34,489 --> 00:44:38,240
Speaker 1: has secured on your behalf? Or do you let yourself

824
00:44:38,300 --> 00:44:40,839
Speaker 1: believe that you need to succumb to the defeat and

825
00:44:40,860 --> 00:44:46,719
Speaker 1: the deception of Satan? Scripture is very, very clear that

826
00:44:46,760 --> 00:44:49,820
Speaker 1: the same power that rose Christ from the dead already

827
00:44:49,960 --> 00:44:53,240
Speaker 1: works within you. If you're united to Christ by faith,

828
00:44:54,560 --> 00:44:57,940
Speaker 1: that power, His power The power of the Holy Spirit

829
00:44:58,000 --> 00:45:00,880
Speaker 1: is already at work within you. You don't have to

830
00:45:00,920 --> 00:45:04,719
Speaker 1: go through every single day preaching something to your heart

831
00:45:04,760 --> 00:45:07,940
Speaker 1: that doesn't actually line up with what the gospel actually says.

832
00:45:10,200 --> 00:45:14,529
Speaker 1: We live from the victory Christ secured. We were the

833
00:45:14,770 --> 00:45:20,210
Speaker 1: fearful army. Now we're united with the victor. His victory

834
00:45:20,430 --> 00:45:23,450
Speaker 1: is our victory. The very things that threatened us, the

835
00:45:23,469 --> 00:45:26,540
Speaker 1: very things that mocked us, the spiritual forces that stood

836
00:45:26,580 --> 00:45:29,779
Speaker 1: against us, death itself that stood against us. You don't

837
00:45:29,800 --> 00:45:31,940
Speaker 1: have to go through your life fearful of everything that's

838
00:45:31,980 --> 00:45:33,899
Speaker 1: cast at you. You can have all sorts of things

839
00:45:33,940 --> 00:45:35,819
Speaker 1: cast at you. Don't be one of those people that

840
00:45:35,840 --> 00:45:38,359
Speaker 1: goes through life afraid of everything. That's not a healthy life.

841
00:45:38,420 --> 00:45:42,060
Speaker 1: It's certainly not a delightful way to live. Rest confidently

842
00:45:42,280 --> 00:45:46,180
Speaker 1: in Christ who operates within you in ways that when

843
00:45:46,200 --> 00:45:47,960
Speaker 1: you take those steps of faith and you allow him

844
00:45:48,000 --> 00:45:50,300
Speaker 1: to do his miraculous work through you, you will watch

845
00:45:50,340 --> 00:45:53,569
Speaker 1: him do a variety of things that will surprise you

846
00:45:54,860 --> 00:45:58,500
Speaker 1: but it will also delight you. Live in the victory

847
00:45:58,800 --> 00:46:05,219
Speaker 1: Christ has secured on our behalf. Let's pray. Lord, thank

848
00:46:05,239 --> 00:46:08,620
Speaker 1: you so much for the fact that as we look

849
00:46:08,640 --> 00:46:12,549
Speaker 1: at a portion of scripture like this today, so we

850
00:46:12,570 --> 00:46:14,650
Speaker 1: look at these things and think about these things and

851
00:46:14,690 --> 00:46:20,830
Speaker 1: wrestle with what it's like to walk with you in

852
00:46:20,850 --> 00:46:23,219
Speaker 1: the midst of a fallen world and what it What

853
00:46:23,239 --> 00:46:26,980
Speaker 1: was accomplished when you sent your son to represent us

854
00:46:27,140 --> 00:46:36,640
Speaker 1: in his obedience and likewise represent us in his atonement? Lord,

855
00:46:36,680 --> 00:46:39,400
Speaker 1: here we are as men and women who get to

856
00:46:39,440 --> 00:46:42,200
Speaker 1: share in a victory that we didn't do the fighting for.

857
00:46:44,320 --> 00:46:46,279
Speaker 1: Because of what he did on our behalf, we get

858
00:46:46,300 --> 00:46:51,480
Speaker 1: to experience what it means to live life already having won.

859
00:46:52,570 --> 00:46:54,169
Speaker 1: And it's not that we won, it's that you won.

860
00:46:55,730 --> 00:46:58,790
Speaker 1: So Father, thank you for securing that victory through your son,

861
00:46:58,850 --> 00:47:02,130
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, and doing so on our behalf and inviting

862
00:47:02,230 --> 00:47:05,980
Speaker 1: us to experience the joy of walking with you. Father,

863
00:47:06,060 --> 00:47:10,319
Speaker 1: I pray that we would just continue to live as

864
00:47:10,380 --> 00:47:12,780
Speaker 1: men and women who are confident that your son actually

865
00:47:12,920 --> 00:47:15,080
Speaker 1: is victorious, that we would be men and women who

866
00:47:15,540 --> 00:47:17,719
Speaker 1: approach our day-to-day lives in such a way that we're

867
00:47:17,760 --> 00:47:21,040
Speaker 1: not fearful of worldly things, that we're not fearful of

868
00:47:21,260 --> 00:47:24,339
Speaker 1: the mockery that Satan sometimes will speak to us through

869
00:47:24,400 --> 00:47:26,779
Speaker 1: other people, or sometimes will try and just permeate our

870
00:47:26,820 --> 00:47:29,350
Speaker 1: minds and our hearts with in our own thoughts. We

871
00:47:29,390 --> 00:47:33,110
Speaker 1: pray that we wouldn't allow that to have its influence

872
00:47:33,150 --> 00:47:35,870
Speaker 1: or its sway upon us. We pray that we would

873
00:47:35,910 --> 00:47:37,690
Speaker 1: be men and women who look at you, Lord, and

874
00:47:37,750 --> 00:47:41,160
Speaker 1: rest in the confidence that you fight battles for us,

875
00:47:41,170 --> 00:47:43,090
Speaker 1: that we can't fight on our own. You are present

876
00:47:43,150 --> 00:47:46,070
Speaker 1: with us in ways that we don't always recognize and realize.

877
00:47:46,790 --> 00:47:49,130
Speaker 1: You are giving us your strength because you know that

878
00:47:49,270 --> 00:47:52,109
Speaker 1: our strength wasn't sufficient. So you give us yours. But

879
00:47:52,660 --> 00:47:54,580
Speaker 1: now that you've given it to us, we actually have

880
00:47:54,820 --> 00:47:58,219
Speaker 1: your strength. We have your power. So since we have

881
00:47:58,239 --> 00:48:00,450
Speaker 1: your power, Father, we pray that we would utilize it.

882
00:48:00,820 --> 00:48:03,160
Speaker 1: The idea of you giving us the strength of your power,

883
00:48:03,219 --> 00:48:06,259
Speaker 1: the gift of your power, and then us not using it.

884
00:48:08,219 --> 00:48:10,560
Speaker 1: What a wasted way to go through life that would be.

885
00:48:11,440 --> 00:48:13,799
Speaker 1: So Father, help us to use the power. Help us

886
00:48:13,860 --> 00:48:16,469
Speaker 1: to use the strength that you've entrusted to us. as

887
00:48:16,510 --> 00:48:18,330
Speaker 1: we seek to be men and women who follow you

888
00:48:18,370 --> 00:48:21,450
Speaker 1: in all context. Father, we're just so grateful for who

889
00:48:21,489 --> 00:48:24,410
Speaker 1: you are. We're grateful for what you've accomplished on our

890
00:48:24,469 --> 00:48:27,630
Speaker 1: behalf through your victorious Son. And we pray that we

891
00:48:27,670 --> 00:48:30,350
Speaker 1: would walk with you faithfully each day that we live,

892
00:48:31,290 --> 00:48:33,320
Speaker 1: not threatened by the things that really have no power

893
00:48:33,450 --> 00:48:37,640
Speaker 1: over us. We pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen.