July 17, 2011
Dear friends in Christ.
Today we’re making a little bit of a change in the lineup when it comes to our windows. Though the roster of our windows has been printed in such a dramatic way for us, it was only a few days ago that I realized that the next two windows in our series are out of place, at least according to the narrative of the Biblical account. Though there is no problem with the window of Daniel in the Lion’s Den following after the window of Joseph, when it comes to the pattern of the Bible, it is the account of David and Goliath that takes place between these two. So today, even though our roster suggested that we would marvel at the Lord’s deliverance as we studied the account of Daniel in the Lion’s Den, instead, we will marvel at the Lord’s deliverance through the account of David and Goliath.
Now, I don’t know about you, but of all the Bible history lessons I learned in Sunday School and Lutheran Elementary School, David and Goliath was one of my favorites. Though you might think the whole reason I loved this lesson was because of the amazing similarity between my name and the main character’s name; the real reason I loved the account of David and Goliath is because even as a little child I was amazed and I marveled at how the Lord delivered a young boy from so many things. I marveled at how the Lord had delivered David from both the lion and the bear, not when they had attacked David, but when he had gone after them, grabbing them by the hair and killing them in order to rescue the sheep they had stolen! That always amazed me! Yet the thing that caused me to marvel all the more was how the Lord delivered David from the hand of the Philistine with a single rock to the forehead.
As it is, the story of David and Goliath is one with which we are all very familiar, because it is one of those Bible history lessons that has caused us to marvel at the Lord’s deliverance in one way or another. In fact, I would be willing to bet that if I asked you to, each and every one of you could recount the majority of what happened when David took on Goliath. But, instead of me asking you to take turns to recount different portions of our lesson today, I invite you to take a look at it with me in 1 Samuel 17. If you haven’t done so already, I invite you to open your Bibles to 1 Samuel 17 and we will take a look at exactly how the Lord delivered David from the hand of his enemy. As you are turning to 1 Samuel 17, let me give you a little history to get you up to speed with what is happening here. It wasn’t all that long before chapter 17 that the Lord sent Samuel to the house of Jesse in Bethlehem to anoint one of his seven sons to be the next king. Though Samuel anointed David on that day, it seems that he never told David, his brothers, or even his Father of the anointing. Shortly after that David was brought into the service of Saul to play for him when he was tormented by an evil spirit from the Lord. Now, as Chapter 17 begins, Israel is at war with Philistia. They had camped on opposite sides of the valley of Elah and had drawn up the battle lines to meet the Philistines. But it was Goliath whom they had not expected. Take a look at verse 4: “A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall. 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels; 6 on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. 7 His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him. 8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” 10 Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” 11 On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.” (1 Samuel 17:4–11, NIV84)
What a sight it must have been to see a giant coming forward from the camp of the Philistines. How terrifying it must have been for a man who was nearly twice the size of an average man, challenging just one man to step forward, to be the champion, and to meet him in single combat in order to decide the outcome of the entire war. How would you have reacted? Would you have stood up to fight without hesitation? Or would you have cowered with the rest of the Israelites who were trembling in fear? Though right here, right now, in the safety of this church it is easy to feel the passion of righteous anger coursing through our veins moving us to stand up against this unbelieving giant who is defying the Lord our God who saves us, watches over us, cares for us, and delivers us; once we actually pass through those doors to the outside, or sometimes even as stand up, fear begins to overtake us, and we run, trembling, to hide ourselves with the rest of Israel’s army. Just think about the last spiritual battle you were in and the last time an unbelieving “giant” caused you to run and hide. Was it the last time someone asked you about your faith or the church to which you belong? Was it perhaps the last time someone complained to you about how strict your church is and how your church doesn’t allow you to do this or to do that? Was it perhaps a time when a classmate, or a co-worker, or even a family member decided that it was time to argue with you about religion and you chose to go the other way? What happened the last time that a Goliath entered your life and defied the Lord your God? Did your faith prevail as you stood up for your faith? Or did fear reign in your hearts like it did in the hearts of the Israelites?
Sadly, the reason that fear reigned in the hearts of the Israel was because their King did not fully trust that the Lord would deliver them. Their King did not remind the Israelites of how the Lord had delivered them in the past, nor how the Lord delivered the Promised Land to them only a few generations earlier. Instead, the King cowered in fear until after 40 days of Goliath’s defiance, the Lord sent David to deliver the Israelites. Take a look at verse 17: “Now Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. 18 Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance from them… 22 David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and greeted his brothers. 23 As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. 24 When the Israelites saw the man, they all ran from him in great fear. 25 Now the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his father’s family from taxes in Israel.” 26 David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” …31 What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him. 32 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” 33 Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you.” (1 Samuel 17:17-18, 22-26, 31-37, NIV84)
The fear in the camp of the Israelites was so palpable that when the Lord brought David in to step up and conquer Goliath even the King himself sought to stop him. But David would not be stopped because he knew that the Lord would deliver him. He knew that in the same way that the Lord had delivered him from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear, he knew and believed that the Lord would deliver him from this Philistine as well; and that is what the Lord did, he delivered David without sword or spear or javelin, because the battle was not David’s. The battle was not David’s because it belonged to the Lord. (See 1 Samuel 17:45-52)
It is for this very reason that the Lord included the account of David and Goliath in his Word. He included it in his word because it is through the account of David and Goliath that the Lord teaches us that no matter what battles we might face in this life those battles belong to the Lord and he is the one who delivers us from the hands of our enemy. Let me say that again: it is through the account of David and Goliath that the Lord teaches us that no matter what battles we might face in this life those battles belong to the Lord and he is the one who delivers us from the hands of our enemy. Though we have all cowered in our tents as the Israelites did, it is the Lord our God who has already delivered us from it by forgiving us all our sins. It is the Lord our God who has assured us again and again that we are his dearly loved children through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior. It is the Lord our God who has taught us that in the same way that the rains and the street sweepers have cleaned away from the streets all the debris from last week’s storms, so also has the blood of our Savior cleaned away even all the fear and the guilt from those times we have hidden. But not only has the blood of our Savior cleaned our hearts, it has filled our hearts with the gift of the Holy Spirit who now lives in us and encourages and strengthens us through his Word. It is the Holy Spirit who lives in our hearts, and uses accounts of the Lord’s great deliverance of David from Goliath to help us to recognize and understand how the Lord will also deliver us when we face our own Goliaths in this life.
In fact, just think about how the Lord has delivered you when a Goliath entered your life and defied the Lord your God. How did if feel when someone asked you about your faith or about the church to which you belong, and you took the opportunity to confess your faith and to tell a little bit about your church? How did you feel the last time you took a stand on God’s Word about what you believe when someone else came at you complaining or even blaming you because your church doesn’t allow this or that? How did you feel the last time you stood your ground and confessed your faith even when a friend, a relative, or a co-worker decided that it was time to argue religion with you? How did you feel the last time you stood up like David did and marveled at how the Lord delivered you just as he delivered David? I know if felt good, because I’ve been through those same kinds of situation and found myself simply marveling at how the Lord has delivered me through a battle that never actually belonged to me. Rather, it was a battle that belonged to the Lord, in which he simply asked me to participate so that he could deliver me and so that I could marvel at that deliverance.
This is why the Lord has included the account of David and Goliath in our Bibles! He has included it so that he might teach us that no matter what battle you might be fighting, the battle belongs to the Lord and he will deliver you so that you can continually marvel at him. No matter what battle you might be fighting! Though you might be battling with health issues right now, and don’t see exactly how you are going to go through, remember, the Lord has promised to deliver you. If you are battling with financial issues and you find that you are being standing at a fork in the road and neither option in front of you is a good option, remember, the Lord will bring you through even this; he will deliver you. If your battle is with your family, with your friends, with your employer, with your vehicle, with _____________ (fill in the blank) remember what the Lord is teaching us today. He is teaching us that no matter what battles we might face, he will deliver us. He has already proven that by delivering David from the hands of Goliath. He has proven it by delivering us from our sin by the death and resurrection of his Son, and he will prove it again on the day he finally delivers us from this life to the life that is to come.
It truly is amazing how the Lord assures us again and again that he will deliver us from every trouble in this amazing account of David and Goliath. Though I don’t remember specifically catching that truth when I was in Sunday School or even Lutheran Elementary School, it is a truth that cannot be missed when we study this lesson. For today we have seen just how the Lord does deliver us so that we can praise him, thank him, and marvel at his amazing deliverance.
Amen.
Pastor David M. Shilling
