In this sermon, the preacher uses the analogy of a boxing match to illustrate the story of David and Goliath. He emphasizes that Saul, like a boxer looking at the "tail of the tape," only saw the physical differences between David and Goliath and believed there was no way David could win. However, the preacher highlights that God's perspective, represented by the "tail of God's tape," showed that David could not lose because God was with him. The preacher encourages young people to not let others despise their youth but to be an example in their words, conduct, love, spirit, faith, and purity. He concludes by discussing David's boldness in offering to fight Goliath and how it was not arrogance but rather a genuine trust in God.

First Samuel chapter 17, we've been making our way through this wonderful book of First Samuel on Sunday mornings, and lastly, we saw this great confrontation between David and Goliath and how David had the courage to suggest that somebody should fight this enemy of God's people. And so now the story continues on. We'll just pick it up right here at verse 31. And when the words which David spoke were heard, they reported them to Saul and he sent for him. Then David said to Saul, let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servants will go and fight with this Philistine. You see, David, we saw this last week had spoken boldly against Goliath. Other people looked at Goliath and they saw a big man. David looked at Goliath and saw an enemy of God and an enemy of the people of God. I mean, the armies of the Philistines and the armies of the Israelites were opposing each other, centering around a place that's called today and back then as well, the Valley of Elah. You can go to the Valley of Elah today and see the same layout of the land as it was in the days of David. You'll see large rolling hills and the army of Israel was assembled on one large hill. The army of the Philistines assembled on another one. And in between them in the valley would be the place where they would do battle. And every day the armies of each opposing nation would stand and assemble and get ready to fight one another. But before the battle could begin, a man named Goliath, the huge man, a man some nine feet tall, would arise and walk in front of the battle ranks of the Israeli army. And he'd say, let's forget this business of battling nation against nation. I'm one man. You send out one man and the winner of their nation will win. Excuse me. Well, the children of Israel were terrified of this, terribly frightened at the prospect of sending forth one man, excuse me, to fight against Goliath. So. In the midst of their fear, they chose not to do anything, they turn their tail and ran, they slunk back, back to their army camp every day. And this went on for 40 days. David came on an errand from his father visiting his brothers. And when he came into the army camp, he heard about this whole situation. David was incensed. Look at his response here in verse twenty six. Then David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, what shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? I want you to notice something here. David did not say in verse twenty six, I'm going to fight Goliath. He didn't say he was going to kill Goliath. His statement was simply somebody should do something about this. Now, that's not amazingly bold. Doesn't take a lot of courage to say somebody should do something about this. But even that was so courageous among the people of Israel at the time that it came to the attention of the king. I guess what I'm trying to say is that David didn't show a lot of backbone, but he showed a lot more than anybody else had. So they brought him the king. They bring David before King Saul and say, well, this man says somebody should do something about Goliath. Saul says, well, say on what do you propose to do? David says in verse thirty two, then David said to Saul, let no man's heart fail because of your servant will go and fight with this Philistine. I find this fascinating. Saul's been waiting to hear these words for some 40 days. Here, someone say, I will go and fight this Philistine. But when Saul hears it now, it seems like a cruel joke from those good news, bad news kind of situations. The good news is somebody is willing to go fight Goliath. The bad news is it's a teenage kid who's never been at war before. So what good is this? This is humiliating. It's embarrassing. We'll send David out and anybody would get killed. We all know where we send out against Goliath is going to get killed. But at least send out a guy who's going to give a good showing and die a noble death. Not some kid is going to scream and yell as Goliath is cutting into pieces. David's words to Saul almost make the matter worse. You see what David says in verse thirty two. This is great. Let no man's heart fail because of him. That's like saying, all right, everybody, calm down. I've got the situation under control here. Just leave it to me. Nobody needs to be afraid. I'm here now. It would sound arrogant, seems ridiculous coming from this teenage boy. Would it seem like youthful pride and overconfidence in the extreme? But it wasn't because David was really trusting in God. So what does David say? Says, I will go and fight the Philistine. Now, again, these are bold words. Do you understand the huge step it is between saying somebody should do something about this and saying, I will do something about this? That's what David was saying. Now I'll do it. Well, look at Saul's response here. Verse thirty three, Saul said to David, you're not able to go against this Philistine to fight him. You're but a youth and he is a man of war from his youth. Well, there's two reasons why he can't do it. First of all, he's too experienced and you're just a kid. You're just a youth. Saul thought David was disqualified because his young age, his size, didn't experience. This shows that Saul was looking at the battle purely in natural outward terms. That's all Saul saw the battle as. One man against another. You ever watch boxing on television? Sometimes I watch it. Before the fight, they always have the tail of the tape. They show the two combatants in the boxing match, you know, combatant one, combatant two. And here's one guy, you know, he's so tall and the other guy is this tall. He weighs so much and he weighs so much. He's he's got a reach of so long. He's got to read his chest is this size, his arms are this size. And you look, you're supposed to tell something from the tail of the tape. Well, look, this guy's got 20 pounds on the other guy. He must be able to hit a lot harder. Well, look, this other guy, he's got a reach six inch longer than the other guy. So, whoop him! Six inches away, he can stand further and just hit him in the jaw. And he can't hit him because his reach isn't that long. You're supposed to be able to tell something about the fight from the tail of the tape. Friends, if you know boxing, you know that the tail of the tape doesn't show the match a lot of times, does it? Well, it's the same way with this battle. Saul was just looking at the tail of the tape. Well, here's Goliath. He's so big. He's so experienced as David. He's so small. He's so inexperienced. The battle's over. Goliath's going to kill him. But no, you see, what Saul wasn't looking at was the tail of God's tape. The outward tail of the tape said that there was no way David could win. The tail of God's tape said that there was no way that David could lose, even though he was but a youth. A lot of times, young people hear that, don't they? You can't do anything. You're just a youth. You're just a kid. You don't know anything. Well, friends, God can really use you even if you're just a youth. God can. But might I say that it's up to you? God's not going to use you just because you're young. That doesn't give you any special privilege status before God's sight. But if you'll receive the kind of advice that the Apostle Paul gave to Timothy in First Timothy four, where he said, let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word and conduct and love and spirit and faith and purity. Paul was telling Timothy, live in such a way so that no one would have occasion to despise you. You God can use you when you're young, but you have to be serious about him and serious about your Christian life. So David says, well, I know I'm just a youth, but look at verse thirty four. David said to Saul, your servant used to keep his father's sheep and when a lion or bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it. And delivered the lamb from its mouth. And when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard and struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both lion and bear. And this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God. Moreover, David said, the Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear, he will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine. Saul said to David, go and the Lord be with you. Well, you almost get the sense of Saul there at the end of verse thirty seven. Right. Good luck, buddy. God bless you on your way. But David had confidence and it was not a foolish, presumptuous confidence. David knew something. He knew that God's power had been real in his life before. You get the feeling that for Saul, God was just a theory, an idea, a big name written in the sky. For David, God was a person and God had seen the Lord had done miraculous things in David's life before and he'd do it in David's life now. David says, one time when I was a shepherd and a lion came and snatched his sheep, I went out after that lion. I used a stone and put it in my sling and I hit the lion in the head with the stone. Then I came and grabbed that lion by the throat and thrust a dagger into its heart. I did the same thing with a bear. Friends, that was a miraculous work. A boy doesn't take on a bear or a lion without a miraculous empowering from God. Last night at our evening service, when I was sharing this, the guy came up to me after surgery and said that how he used to go hunting for bears in northern California. He said, you just can't believe what awesome, powerful creatures bears are, how they send out dogs after the bears to sort of entrap them. And if a bear got a hold of a dog and swatted him with his paw, the dog would be cut to ribbons just because of the razor sharp claws on that bear. David went after the bear and he went after the lion and David knew what it's like to have God work in his life. I want you to understand that this trusting God in an impossible situation, it didn't start in David's life with Goliath. God was working in his life long before that. And that's always God's pattern of preparation in our life. We often say, well, I'll just skip over the lion, I'll just skip over the bear, send me straight to Goliath, Lord, send me there. I'll take on Goliath when the time's right. But God says, no, I'll bring smaller, significant challenges in your way, along the way. And then I want you to trust me in those. And then I'll give you more and then I'll give you more. David wasn't bragging. He was simply declaring what God had done in his life before. And now he's standing for us all and said, I've seen God do it in my life before. I can say that God will do it now. And that lion, when that bear came against David, David didn't have stamina. Now, Lord, am I called right now to battle against this bear? Lord, what's your will in my life with this lion? Lord, won't you show me right now, David? No, he was a shepherd. That was the sheep. It was time to kill the lion. It was time to kill the bear. David went out with a holy daring and did what God wanted him to do. And then he says, you know what? Just as much as I saw the dead carcass of that lion, the dead carcass of that bear. Look at what David says in verse 36. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear. And this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing that he's defied the armies of the living God. David just keeps getting bolder and bolder as the story goes on. First, he says, somebody should fight that Philistine. Well, anybody could say that, right? Then he says, I'll fight that Philistine. Well, that's a big step up in boldness. Now, now he's not talking about fighting him. He's saying, killing him. I'm going to kill that Philistine. David says, well, I just hope to go out and make a noble showing for God and hope. No, David says he's going down. The Lord has delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear. He will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine. David didn't know it, but when he was a shepherd, God was preparing him to fight Goliath. God was working that in his life. When we're in a time of preparation, we usually have no idea what God is preparing us for. And I think maybe the Lord wants me to be a lion tamer. Maybe that's it. I don't know. That wasn't it. God had a plan, a destiny for him that David knew nothing about. But he started to be faithful right where he was so that God could use him. David knows. David knows. Did you see that in verse 37? He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. David had no doubt this wasn't a presumption. This wasn't a guess. This wasn't a well, I'll do the best I can. Sometimes we have to say that. But David had an assurance in his heart from God that he would deliver him. And do you believe that in your own life that God will deliver you? He's promised. You think of delivering of somebody taking a package to a destination. God has promised to take his people home to their heavenly destination. He will deliver you your package. He's going to deliver you. He who has begun a good work and you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. God may deliver you from trials. God may deliver you in the midst of trials, but God will deliver you. David had that assurance, and so can we. Saul isn't as confident. You really get that sense at the end of verse 37. Go and the Lord be with you. God bless you, mister. We'll send a letter home to your family. Tell me how brave you are. Verse 38, so Saul clothed David with his armor and he put a bronze helmet on his hand. Zechariah also clothed him with a coat of mail. And David fastened his sword to his armor and he tried to walk, for he had not tested them. David said to Saul, I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them. So David took them off. Friends, what we have here is just another example of what was real to David and what was real to Saul. God was real to David. He wasn't real to Saul. You know, it was real to Saul. The armor was real to Saul. We're going to go fight Goliath. May as well make a good showing of it. Go out looking like a hero. Let's go fix you with some of my armor. Come on, David. Come to my tent. We'll put my breastplate on you. We'll put my helmet on you. But it doesn't fit David. First of all, it doesn't fit him physically. Saul was a big man. David wasn't a very big man. He was a young man at this point. We don't know how old David was. Estimates anywhere from 15 to 22, 23. We don't know exactly. David's a fairly young man at this point. Not exceptional in size like Saul was to put the breastplate on it. David can't move his arms around, right? Because the breastplates and put the helmet on. It keeps falling over his eyes. This doesn't fit me. I can't work with this. But Saul says, you have to have it, don't you? That's the only way you can win this battle. David says, no. So the armor may be real to you. But God is more real to me even than this armor. I'll go out there with the armor God provides. You see, it wasn't just that the armor didn't fit David physically. It also didn't fit him spiritually. Armor, military technology, human wisdom. That would not win this battle. The Lord God of Israel was going to win this battle. So David says, listen, Saul, you've got a bronze helmet. I'll go out with the helmet of salvation that the Bible says I have. You've got a breastplate made of bronze, but I'll use the breastplate of righteousness. Saul had a sword. But David says, I'll go out with the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Now, I think there's two important applications for us here. First of all, remember that the armor that David had spiritually, that armor could have been Saul's armor also. That armor was available to Saul. Why didn't Saul go forth in the confidence that the Lord had for him? Because Saul was unwilling to. We also see that oftentimes people try to fight with another person's armor, don't they? There's a lot of times you think that, you know, God made a mistake when he made one of you, that he really wanted to make two of somebody else and none of you. But he didn't. God made one of you and one of you and one of you. He made you all as an individual. He doesn't want you to wear another person's armor. God has a race for you to run, a course for you to finish. He's called you to a particular call, a particular destiny. He doesn't want you to wear another person's armor. Maybe you tried to be just like somebody else in your life and your ministry. You're imitating them too much, not just learning what you can learn from them, but sort of slavishly following them. God doesn't want that for your life. He's made you for a specific calling and a purpose. Don't try to wear another person's armor. Then again, I also consider here that the spiritual armor that we can have in God, the trust and the confidence and the things that flow from that, if you notice here, what did David say about this armor? If you notice here in verse thirty nine, he says he tried to walk for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, I cannot walk with these for I have not tested them. I think a lot of people would sadly say that about the spiritual armor that they can wear in God. I don't know how to use this breastplate of righteousness, helmet of salvation, sword of the word of God. What's that? I can't wear these. I haven't tested them. There's other people who try to wear both. Well, I'll wear Saul's armor and the armor of God. I'll put them both on. Right. That's double protection, isn't it? No. Look at what David had to do with the end of verse thirty nine. It says, so David took them off. He had to renounce Saul's armor. He had to vow. I will not fight with man's armor. I will trust in the Lord and his armor instead. Oftentimes we kind of want a safe middle ground, don't we? Where we try to wear both kinds of armor. But God wants us to trust in him and in him alone. So what does David do instead? Look at it here at verse forty. Then he took his staff in his hand and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the book brook and put them in a shepherd's bag and a pouch, which he had in his sling, which was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine. David goes and he renounces Saul's armor. He goes out as an unarmed man, except for the tools that he would carry every day as a shepherd. Lord, you've used these things in my life before. I trust you'll use them again. I don't need a new plan. I don't need a spectacular plan. I'll just do what you've done in my life before. Here's my shepherd's staff. Here's my bag. Here's my sling. Let's go. As he's walking by, he sees a brook flowing through the Valley of the Law. You can go to the Valley of the Law today and see that same brook. You can see that the wash where there's these smooth stones, by the way, there's a little tourist tip here. You ever get to visit Israel, go to the Valley of the Law, take some rocks home with you, pick up a few, put them in your luggage, take them home, give them to people as souvenirs, save some money that way. They don't mind you taking rocks. They got a lot of rocks in Israel. They don't mind you taking some. Then you can say, you know, this could have been the rock that killed Goliath. I don't know. It was in the Valley of the Law. A little red paint or ketchup on it. Say, well, this could have been the one. I don't know. I'm not saying it is, but it could have been. Make that story. Now, when you go there, you see there's this brook and David went down and he picked up five stones. Why five? He only needed one. I don't know. You can make all kind of speculation. Could I say he took five? Because the Bible tells us in 1st Samuel, chapter 21, that Goliath had four brothers. And maybe David said, well, you know, I get one. Maybe the other ones come after me. I'll play it safe. I'll take five stones. Of course, there's an old, charming, but purely legendary rabbinical story that says that as David went to the brook to look for the stones, that the stones got a voice and called out to David from the stream and said, by us, you shall overcome the giants. So they all I need to pick those ones. And so they picked those five stones. So David grabbed him, put him in the pouch. And if you notice, it's just remarkable what it says at the end of verse 40. And he drew near the Philistine. That's where it matters, doesn't it? David could have said the bold words, he could have renounced Saul's armor, he could have trusted in God's armor. He could have gathered the shepherd's tools. But if he never went into battle, what would it matter? Ultimately, David had the faith not just to talk, not just to renounce, not just to prepare, but to actually draw near the Philistine. That's real faith, friends. These have sidelined faith, preparation faith. Let's work hard on it. Let's work all these things. David had battle tested faith and he would walk in and face the battle. And so let's go look what happens in verse 41. So the Philistine came and began drawing near to David and the man who bore the shield went before Moses and fair. Not only does Goliath have the size advantage and the weapon advantage, he's got another guy out there with him carrying his shield. And Goliath looks around, look at it says there in verse 41, it says the Philistine came, began drawing near to David and the man who bore the shield before him. Verse 42. And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him. I like that. He looked about and saw David. It's like he had to look around to find him. Where is this? I hear this voice. Where is this guy? Oh, that you look, at least send me a tough man. Don't send me. It says here in verse 42, for he was but a youth, ruddy and good looking. But David, David didn't have a mean face, didn't have that countenance of intimidation. You know, I'm tough, I'm mean. I guarantee you would never have a photograph of David, of course. I guarantee you, David did not have a mean face. You don't sing the Psalms of praise and worship to God like David did. You don't have the kind of relationship that David had with God. And you don't have that and have a mean face. David had kind of a sweet looking face, I bet people like what this. What are you making fun of me? You bring him. Am I a look at verse 43. The Philistine said to David, am I a dog that you come out to me with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his God. So you get that picture here. Here's Goliath. Now, not only is he ready for battle, but he's mad. I've been insulted and his voice booms. Goliath's a big man. He's got a big voice. You know, it's that it's that, you know, amped up James Earl Jones kind of voice, you know, booming across. What am I, a dog that you come after me with sticks? It's echoing off of the hills, striking terror in the hearts of the Israeli army. They're afraid of this man. It says there at the end of verse 43, the Philistine cursed David by his gods and the Philistine said to David, come to me and I'll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the air. Beasts of the field. Come, come to me, little boy, I'll rip you apart. I think maybe the most telling statement is at the end of verse 43, it says he cursed David by his gods. Shouldn't have done that, Goliath. You could say a lot of things. Don't do that. Don't start saying, you know, our Philistine gods, they can whoop your Israelite gods, your Israelite gods and nothing. What is this Yahweh? Who is he? Our Philistine gods are way better. Shouldn't have done that. You just lost it there, Goliath. Your mouth got you in all kinds of trouble. Remember way back in 1st Samuel, chapter five, when the Ark of the Covenant was taken into the table of the temple of one of the Philistine gods, Dagon. This god that was a big statue, half man, half fish. And all the Philistine priests were all excited. Yes, our God is better than the God of the Israelites. Yes, we've triumphed. There's the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. We put it in there. Our God, Dagon, has triumphed over them. They come to the temple the next morning. Where's the God Dagon? Fall on his face before the Ark of the Lord. They set him up. They do it again. Falling on his face again. You know what's going to happen to Goliath? Falling on his face before the Lord. Well, let's see here. Verse 45. Then David said to the Philistine, you come to me with the sword, with the spear, not the javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom you've defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand and I will strike you down and take your head from you. And this day I'll give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth. And all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then the assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord's and he will give you into our hands. Wow. Now, if I was filming this, I know just how I would direct this, OK? OK, you have Goliath and his booming, deep voice, big man, big voice, echoing. Then you have David. I paint David as a teenager, 16, 17 years old. I'd say kind of late adolescence here. His voice hasn't fully changed yet. He's got that cracking thing going on. And he practically has to scream to make himself heard. He looks at Goliath and he screams with his voice cracking. You come to me with the sword and the spear and the javelin. And all the Philistine army just laughs they hear this voice. Israelite army, they're mortified. Oh, man, you know, they're thinking, why did Saul ever? It's bad enough the kid's going to get killed. He's humiliating us. Just go out there, take it like a man, kid. You know, it's just embarrassing. David was dead on, right? Just listen, Saul, Goliath, you've got a lot of fancy weapons. You've got the shield, the spear, the javelin. It doesn't matter. I've got a better weapon. I come in the name of the Lord of hosts. I come as a representative of the Lord of hosts. The God who has heavenly armies at his command. I'm a sent man. I'm a man on a mission from God. And this day, the Lord's going to deliver you into my hand. David just keeps getting bolder and bolder. It's one thing to say somebody should fight Goliath. It's another thing to say, I'll fight Goliath. It's another thing to tell King Saul, I'm going to kill Goliath. But when you go to Goliath and look at him in the eye and say, I'm going to kill you, that's bold. I remember watching boxing matches from my back. I won't even tell you the name of the boxer because he's a man of disrepute. But I used to remember watching boxing matches, this boxer would walk into the ring and how he would look at that other boxer. He'd look at him and he would look so tough and so mean. I would be afraid just watching the television. And you would look at this man's opponent in the ring. This is before a single punch was thrown. When the referee was bringing two boxers together and you'd see that man's opponent, he'd start melting before the gaze of this other boxer. It's like, man, this is scary. Goliath was like that frightening boxer. And he used to stare down and frighten all the other opponents. And they used fear and intimidation. David said, I'm not taking this. You know what, you say you're going to kill me? You say you're going to kill me and feed me to the birds and the bees of the field? I'll tell you what, not only am I going to kill you, I'm going to feed your army to the birds of the air and the bees of the field. I like the nice touch he adds in there. He says, I'm going to cut your head off. That's not, I'm not just going to kill you. Take your head down from you. Nice emphatic touch there from David. But you know, David was careful to say, the Lord will deliver you into my hand. David was bold, but he was bold not in himself, but in God. He knew that the battle belonged to the Lord. If you notice here that he says in verse 46, at the end of the verse, he says, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Friends, remember something. I don't want to, David wins this battle. I don't want to spoil the story for anybody here, but he wins. And he becomes very famous from this battle. But he didn't battle this, he didn't go into this battle for fame. He went into it for the glory and the honor of God. He wanted all the earth to know that there was a God in Israel. But look at what he says in verse 47. He says, then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear for the battle is the Lord's. David says, listen, not only does all the earth need to know that there's a God in Israel. Israel needs to know that there's a God in Israel. They seem to have forgotten it. They're not bold. They're not trusting. David was a man for whom God was real. He knew that there was a God in Israel and God was more real to him than Goliath was in front of him. Let's do it. The assembly shall know that the battle belongs to the Lord and he'll give you into our hands. Verse 48, and it was so when the Philistine arose and came near and drew near to meet David, that David hastened and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. Friends, I love that verse. You know why? What a scene here. Goliath's enraged at David's boldness. He's furious now. And so he drew near quickly to kill David. He said, I'm going to pick that kid up. I'm going to rip him limb from limb. David didn't run away. David didn't hide. David didn't kill David. David didn't panic. And you know what else he didn't do? David didn't drop to his knees and pray. OK, Lord, you said you'd kill Goliath now. I guess now's the time for you to do it, Lord. Just a lightning bolt from heaven, a earthquake, open up the ground in front of him. Send a couple of lions out from nowhere. I don't care, Lord. Just whatever you want to do, Lord. You just know David knew God's going to win this battle, but he's going to use me to do it. So what did David do? He ran to meet Goliath. You're running at me. I'm going to run at you. David knew that the battle belonged to the Lord. But when Goliath ran at him, he didn't just look up into heaven and say, well, Lord, now it's time for you to do it. He knew that it was the Lord's battle, the Lord's victory, but that there was something for him to do in the battle. Many Christians struggle at this exact point. They spend their whole lives asking the question, well, is God supposed to do it or am I supposed to do it? I don't want to get in God's way. Maybe I'm not supposed to do anything, Lord. Just whatever you want to do. Is God going to do it or am I going to do it? The answer is yes. God's going to do it and you're going to do it. You're supposed to trust in God and rely on him and trust in God as if the work is all his. And you get out and you go and work as if the work is all yours. And that's how the work of God is done. You trust God, you rely on him, and then you get to work and work as hard as you can. Charles Spurgeon said, the lazy bones of our Orthodox churches cry, God will do his own work. And then they go out and find the softest pillow they can and they put it under their heads and say, the eternal purposes will be carried out. God will be glorified. That's all very fine talk, but it can be used with the most mischievous design. You can make a drug out of it, which will lull you into a deep and dreadful slumber and prevent you of being of any kind of use at all. David wasn't like that. Goliath ran at him. He ran right back. And what did he do? Verse 49, David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and he swung it and struck the philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead and he fell on his face to the earth. One man, there, a sling, a stone. He sends it forth and Goliath's down flat on the ground. I know what you think. You're thinking, anybody could have done that. A whole army of Israel. I meant any one of them could have done that. Why didn't they? Oh, it's just because David's smarter than them all. That's it. No, it's not because David's smarter than everybody. You know why? You know why David could do this when no other person could? Well, first of all, it really mattered that God was more real to David than Goliath was. Let me say it again. For all the army of Israel, Goliath was more real than God. But for David, God was more real than Goliath. Therefore, when Goliath ran at him, he didn't panic. David ran back at him. He stopped. He planted his feet. He put his hand in that bag. He drew out a stone. He put it in the sling. He swung it around his head and he let go of one of the straps. Friends, you can't do that when you're paralyzed by fear, when your hands are shaking. You couldn't find the stone in the bag. First of all, you couldn't put it in the pouch. Next, you couldn't swing it around your head and make an accurate, true aim. David trusted in God more than any other man. So his hand was calm. His aim was true. And that reality of God in his life, it didn't begin here when he started fighting Goliath. It began on those many days, those many nights, the weeks, the months when David was all alone with the sheep out in the wilderness, just him and the Lord tending the sheep. That's where the battle was won. David didn't have that depth of a relationship with God. He would have never had the calm hand and the steady eye to be able to shoot that stone right where it needed to go. Another factor is you know that when David was out with the sheep, you know he messed around with that sling a lot. There's a sheep going off the wrong direction. I'll scoot him back. I don't want to walk over there. I'll shoot a rock right by him and spook him back the other way. There's an apple hanging from the tree. I bet I can hit it. He practices and practices until he can hit it. You see, it was that time when David was just all alone with God, him and the sheep out in the Judean wilderness. That's where the battle was won. If David hadn't have done that, then he would have been dead meat in front of Goliath. Now, friends, it was God's work and David before this that won the battle. So when he came to the day of battle, everybody else thought, man, Goliath's so big, I can't beat him. David thought, Goliath's so big, I can't miss him. Look at the size of that guy's forehead. Man, his forehead's as big as my whole head. I can't miss that. And he had the calm hand and the steady faith to be able to do it. If you notice here, verse 49, it says that the stone sank into his forehead and he fell on his face just as much as the god Dagon fell on his face before the ark of the Lord. So Goliath falls, he could feel the crash of him to the earth. Philistine armies terrified. What does David do? Look at verse 50. So David prevailed over the Philistine with the sling and the stone, but he instruct the Philistine to kill them. But there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore, David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. And when the Philistine saw that their champion was dead, they fled. I'd love to film this. There's David, you know, going to that sword is as big as he is. He runs over and it's not like the movies. You know, you watch some movie on television, some dumb cops and robbers shoot him up thing. And they go in and shoot some guys. They're laying on the ground. And you think and go over and check that guy. He's not dead. He's not dead. Check him, check him. And they don't check him. And the guy comes up and he, you know, attacks the guy again. David wasn't leaving anything to chance. You know, when God has an enemy in your way, a sin, a temptation, whatever, you cut it down. David went over there and there's Goliath. He's laying down on the ground. There he is. He pulls out that big sword and he cuts his head. He can barely lift the sword. It's so big, but he lifts it up. And then the weight of its own momentum carries it down. It chops off Goliath's head. He needs two hands to pick up that big head and he lifts it up. And the Philistines are just terrified. They run away. Oh, wait, they're not keeping their end of the bargain, are they? They were all supposed to give up, weren't they? Right, Goliath? Their champion's dead. They're supposed to. Well, we'll be your slaves now, Israelites. They don't do that, do they? Friends don't ever expect the devil to keep his bargains. The Philistines running off. What does David do? Look here, verse 52. Now the men of Israel, Judah, rose and shouted and pursued the Philistines. As far as the gates of Ekron and the wounded of the Philistines fell along the road to Sherem. Even as far as Gath and Ekron, the children of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines and they plundered their tents. And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem. They put his armor in his tent. Well, that sort of Goliath is going to come into play later on in the book of 1st Samuel. And we talked about David with the head of Goliath put in Jerusalem. This means many years later, many years later, when David was king, he conquered Jerusalem and made that his capital. You could walk into the palace of David and you'd see a deer's head up on the wall. You'd see a moose head. You'd see the head of Goliath pickled up there on the wall. Yeah, I killed that guy. Look, man, that's a big guy, everybody would say. Yeah, that was Goliath. He's gone now, no more. Verse 55. Saul saw David going out against the Philistine. He said to Abner, the commander of the honor, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, as your soul lives, O king, I do not know. The king said, inquire whose son this young man is. And as David returned from the slaughter of Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before the before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. I love that. Look, King, it is. Verse 58. David probably carried that around with him for a week, just showing everybody. Man, did you see what I did? Look at this thing. OK, we saw it, David. Fine. Verse 58. And Saul said to him, whose son are you, young man? David answered, I'm the son of your servant, Jesse, the Bethlehem. Well, this has caused a lot of difficulty for some people. They say, now, wait a minute. Wait a minute here. How could this be? How could this be? How could Saul not recognize who David was? I mean, in the previous chapter, 1 Samuel 16, David was a court musician for Saul. And I don't understand how Saul doesn't recognize him. But I don't think that's the case at all. I think Saul fully recognized who David was. What he didn't know was who David's father was and what his background was. This is what Saul asks David. Whose son are you, young man? Well, why would he be interested in David's family background? Because Saul had promised the hand of his daughter in marriage to whoever killed Goliath. He said, I better get to know this guy's family. He's going to be the in-laws. So whose son are you, young man? Tell me about your father. Tell me about your family. David does. Friends, we've come to the end of 1 Samuel 17. What an amazing, amazing chapter. Everything's great, right? What a victory for Israel. Goliath's dead. Israel triumphed over the Philistines. David and Saul are like this. It's just wonderful. How long is that going to last? Well, just check in next week when we get in chapter 18. But you know, the application to our lives is pretty clear, isn't it? This isn't a big mystery, is it? You know, God allows what seem to be impossible circumstances in our life where only a miracle will make the difference. Only a miracle can strike down the Goliath in our life. And you might be standing here today and say, you know what, David? I wish I had a giant like Goliath coming after me. That would be a lot easier than the pain and the difficulty that I'm going through right now. That's easy. You know, you should face my burden. You should bear what I have to bear. That's really hard. What David had was easy. Friends, no, you might be saying that was fine for David, but you don't know the trouble I've seen. Let me read you what Charles Spurgeon said. He said, you don't know my trouble, dear sir. True, my dear friend, and you do not know mine. And I'm not going to tell you. It would not comfort you if I told you my distresses and certainly would not comfort me if you told me all your earrings and moanings and signs. I expect that we have each to suffer the best trouble that could have been appointed to us. If you had my cross, it would be an unsuitable burden for you. And if I had yours, it would be a grievous load for me. No, friends, God's given you your Goliath, your difficulties, your challenges. And God has suited you to face. You see, no, it's too big. That's what everybody said about Goliath. God can equip you. God can train you. You say, but I'm not ready to face that right now. Well, whatever God brings before your way right now, he'll make you ready to face. He'll prepare you. He'll make you ready. You can trust God that he will deliver you. Look at his past goodness in your life. God has been good to you. And you can trust that because God has been good to you in the past, he'll continue to be good to you in the future. Just as David could say, he saved me from the lion and the bear. You can say, I know the Lord will save me now. He will deliver me because of his past deliverance in my life. No, friends, God has great victories to win in your life, even if they seem to be against impossible odds. He can strike down the Goliath facing you. But even more importantly, I want you to see that even though David won a great victory, it was not greater than the victory that Jesus Christ won on our behalf. You know, it's not without accident that one of the most glorious titles given to Jesus in the entire scriptures is son of David. Because David's victory over Goliath is a picture in advance of the victory Jesus won for us. I mean, both David and Jesus represented their people. Whatever happened to the representative would happen to God's people also. Both David and Jesus fought the battle on ground that rightfully belongs to God's people, ground that they had lost before. Both David and Jesus fought when their enemy was able to dominate the people of God through fear and intimidation. Both David and Jesus went to the battleground alone. Both David and Jesus were sent to the battleground by their father. Both David and Jesus were scorned and rejected by their own brethren. Both David and Jesus fought the battle without concern with human strategies or conventional wisdom. What could be stranger than defeating death by dying on a cross, by defeating sin, by taking upon you the sin of the world? Just as unlikely as David's victory over Goliath was, so was Jesus's victory over sin and death and Satan. And both David and Jesus won the battle, but saw that their enemies did not then give up willingly. And both David and Jesus fought a battle where victory was assured even before it was started. Friends, the same victory that David won, Jesus won on our behalf. And I want to show you one last little word in one verse that we can look at together. Turn back a few places and take a look at verse 47 at what David said. At the end of verse 47, David says, For the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands. What are you talking about, our? You're all alone out there. How can you say our? The army of Israel, they're embarrassed to have you out there. No, but David says, you know what? They're my army. And my victory is their victory. It's our victory. Friends, you know, Jesus Christ says the same thing. When he died on the cross, it was us dying with him. When he rose from the dead, it was us rising with him. He looks at us and he says. The battle and the victory is our victory. All you got to do is put your trust in him. Take it off yourself. Put your trust in him. You can share in that same exciting victory that Jesus won on our behalf. Let's pray. Father, we love you this morning. We thank you for your word in our midst. Pray, God, that you give us courage to stand alone and fight against whatever Goliath you put in our way. But even more than that, Lord, we don't want to see ourselves just in the picture of David. We want to see ourselves, Lord, in the picture of those troops of Israel. Watching from afar and seeing our champion battle for us. We see what Jesus Christ has done for us when he battled on our behalf. And Lord, together this morning, we rejoice in that victory. Seal it in our hearts, Lord. Give us courage and faith and trust in that victory. We pray in Jesus name.