[0:00] Well, a very good morning to everybody today as we seek to worship God and we pray that wherever you are that you will know God's blessing.
[0:11] And as we have this great opportunity to meet with our God, we pray that we will know his presence and his power in our lives.
[0:21] We're going to begin with a word of prayer. Lord our God, we pray to bless us today. We give thanks for a new day and for all the potential and opportunities that a new day brings into our lives.
[0:34] We give thanks Lord for the Lord's day and this day that you've given to us one day in seven, which is special because it is a reminder to us of the fact that you rested from your creation on this day.
[0:47] You set it apart and you gave it to us. And it is a day where we are able to recharge the batteries and to come aside from all the normal duties and challenges of each day of the week.
[1:02] And we give thanks Lord that above all, it is a spiritual day for the nourishment and well-being of our souls. And we neglect this at our peril.
[1:13] We are never the better of abandoning or turning our back upon your day because it is a day that is good for our bodies and good for our minds and above all good for our souls.
[1:27] We pray today that we may meet with you and that you will bring the light and love of the gospel into our hearts and you, that we may hear your voice, that we may know that we are in the presence of the living and through God.
[1:43] And as we thought last week of how even where the twos and the threes meet together, that you are there. You're there with your people even when they're on their own. And we ask Lord that you will bless us.
[1:54] We pray for any today who don't know you, as in a personal way, that they will come to come to realize that you are the great God of heaven and earth and that they will come to know your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the great saviour, and that they'll be able to close in with you, trust their life to you and receive all the blessings that are found in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.
[2:18] We pray, Lord, that you will keep every single one of us. You will bless every home and every family. And we pray for those who mourn, again, those among us who are mourning the loss of loved ones.
[2:31] And it's always a sad time when loved ones are taken away, those who are so integral to our lives. And we pray then for each family today as they mourn the passing of those who are precious to them and to us all.
[2:46] We pray, Lord, that you will dry up the tears, although tears are not only legitimate, they are a necessary part of our dealing with the pain and sorrows of life.
[2:58] Yet, Lord, we give thanks that you talk of a day for your people when tears will be no more, where God will wipe away every tear. And that's a concept that's almost too hard for us to imagine in a world that produces so many tears.
[3:14] And yet we believe that that will be so when we are walking with you in the new paradise and the new heavens and the new earth, wherein dwells righteousness.
[3:27] Lord, oh God, we pray then that you will watch over us and that you will bless us nationally and internationally. Lord, we pray that you will grant us your peace and help our governments and those who rule over us, to rule over us well and wisely.
[3:44] We ask, Lord, that you will restrain us nationally and internationally, so that we will seek to live lives which are for the good of others, and that we will seek, Lord, to live responsibly before you every single day of our lives.
[4:03] We pray, Lord, again, for the virus that is sweeping our land and sweeping the nations of this world. We pray, Lord, that it might please you that a cure will be found soon, a vaccine will be found soon, and that you will help all those who have given so much and have been working tirelessly at the risk of their own lives.
[4:28] And so, Lord, we pray that you will bless and that you will help. We pray for all the heartache throughout our nations at this time, as so many have lost loved ones in very heartbreaking circumstances.
[4:41] Lord, our God, hear the cry that goes up to heaven and bring in your healing and your help. And so, Lord, we pray that you will be with us.
[4:51] Help us to be sensible as lockdown measures might be relaxed a little as time goes on. And we pray, O Lord, that you will continue to protect us here.
[5:02] We give thanks, Lord, for how you have done so. And we ask, Lord, that you will continue to do so, that it might please you that your hand will be upon us for good, not according to our discernment, but according to your mercy.
[5:16] O Lord, and in wrath remember mercy. Cleanse us, we pray, from our every sin. Do us good. Lead us in the right way. For giving us our sins, in Jesus' name we ask it.
[5:27] Amen. Now, I'm just going to say a wee word to the young folk. Today, we're going to look at the story of David and Goliath when we come to reading the Bible and our service.
[5:43] And everybody knows about David and Goliath. Goliath was a great big giant. He wasn't far off, 10 foot tall, about 2 metres 90 or thereabout.
[5:55] I can't even begin to imagine that. I'm only 5 foot 6, so he banged on another 3 foot 3 inches on top of that. And you'd be, my head would be hit in the ceiling.
[6:06] It's extraordinary. Big, massive. And here's little David. And everybody knows the story of how David killed this giant, the great champion of the Philistines.
[6:20] And while you might not be, or I might not be, not going to meet a giant every day, or any day in fact, we often meet giants in our own lives. Giants of things that worry us.
[6:32] Giant things that upset us. Maybe nobody knows about it but you, but it's big in your life. It's something that makes you sad, it makes you worried.
[6:44] And you say, Lord, I need help. Well, the wonderful thing is that what David did, really, is an example to us of what we can do.
[6:56] Although it's in a different way, yet some of it is the same. Because you remember when David went to fight Goliath, he didn't take the armour that Saul offered him.
[7:06] He didn't take the helmet or the shield or anything. And Saul offered him his huge sword. You've got to remember, Saul himself was a big man. And we're told he was head and shoulders above anybody in Israel.
[7:18] So he was a big, big man. David didn't want that. And he went and he went out just with a shepherd's rod and a sling, slingshot, sling.
[7:29] And he went to the river. There was a wee river. And he picked up five smooth stones. He took these five smooth stones. He put them in his shepherd's bag.
[7:41] And he went out to meet big Goliath with that. Goliath was angry. Goliath thought it was a joke. Is this a joke that you're coming to me? Am I a dog, he said.
[7:53] And he was, of course, cursing David and cursing everything about David and Israel. And David, of course, said, I'm coming to you in the name of the Lord.
[8:07] And I've seen it that these five smooth stones that David had talks of five different things that we should all have. And the first stone we should have in our life is courage.
[8:19] In a sense, courage is a kind of a choice. Some people are born more courageous than others. Some people are born very daring. Some are very timid. But, you know, every day we should ask God for courage.
[8:34] To give us courage as we go through life. And if we ask God for that, God will help us. Because some of us can be quite afraid of things.
[8:45] And there are many things that you say, oh, I don't know if I can do that. You should say, Lord, give me the courage. Give me the courage to be strong so that I can do that.
[8:56] So the second thing then, David, the second stone that David had, we believe, was confidence. Not in himself. But confidence in God.
[9:08] He knew that God would help him. That God would enable him. If you have confidence in something, you believe that this is going to work for you.
[9:21] If you get a new car, you go out to it and you have confidence because it's new that it's going to start every day. And if you have a car that starts every day, every day you go to it, you have confidence that when you turn the key, the car will start.
[9:36] If you have an old banner, sometimes I have an old banner, and you go out and you'll be saying to her, I don't know if this will start today. I remember I had a car for a while. We were living somewhere else. We were on a hill. I used to, on a slope, I used to have to leave it at the top because I often had to jump start the car in the morning.
[9:52] I didn't have confidence in that car because I didn't know whether it would work or not. But when we have confidence in something, it really helps us.
[10:03] And so David didn't have confidence. It wasn't in himself. His confidence was in God. The third stone is called preparation. He prepared.
[10:14] David didn't just run out to face a giant with nothing. Many shepherds long ago were brilliant with a sling. Suppose today you would call it more like a catapult.
[10:27] But the sling wasn't a catapult. It was something you swung around like this and let go. One part of it, a stone would fly out. And they used to spend hours and hours and hours.
[10:40] Shepherds often had slings way, way back. And they would practice for hours and hours. And they could get really accurate with a stone.
[10:53] Really precise. So David had done the preparation beforehand. He knew what he was about. But for us, our preparation every day is that we need to prepare before we go out on a day with God.
[11:12] And that means that we have to speak to God in prayer and ask God to speak to us as we read his word. Just a wee bit of his word every day. And that way we're prepared for the day.
[11:24] Very important. The next thing, the next stone was trust. Because David trusted the Lord completely. In fact, he wasn't even seeing the giant.
[11:36] He was seeing God behind the giant. That's who David's eyes were upon. And David said to the giant, I come in the name of the Lord. I don't come in my own name.
[11:49] I come in God's name. And so that's the way that we are to go. We're to go trusting God all the time. And then the last one, stone is victory.
[12:01] And it's God who gives the victory. And if we have the courage and the confidence in God, and we prepare with God every day, and we trust God every day, God will give us the victory.
[12:17] Because the battle, as David said, is the Lord's. It's not ours. You love the Lord and trust the Lord, then the battle of your life is the Lord's.
[12:29] Let's see the Lord's Prayer. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day your daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
[12:43] Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever. Amen. I'm going to read God's Word.
[12:55] We're going to read from 1 Samuel chapter 17. Now it's a long chapter, so we will maybe miss out a few verses here and there.
[13:07] So 1 Samuel chapter 17. Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered and encamped in the valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines.
[13:24] The Philistines stood on the mountain on one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, and the valley was between them. And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
[13:41] He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders.
[13:56] The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and the spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And his shield-bearer went before him. And he stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, Why have you come out to draw up for battle?
[14:11] Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants.
[14:24] But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and service. And the Philistines said, I defy the ranks of Israel this day.
[14:35] Give me a man that we may fight together. When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistines, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
[14:48] Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem and Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. And three of the boys, the oldest boys, they were away at the army with Saul to fight the Philistines.
[15:02] So Jesse said to his son to this day, Take your brothers and Ephah of this parched grain and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers.
[15:16] Also take ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them. Now Saul and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah against the Philistines.
[15:32] And David rose early in the morning, and left the sheep with the keeper, and took the provisions, and went as Jesse had commanded him. All the men of Israel, when they saw the giant, when he came out, they fled from him and were much afraid.
[15:52] And the men of Israel said, Have you seen this man who has come up? He has come up to defy Israel. And David said to the men who stood by, What shall be done for the man who kills the Philistine, and takes away the reproach from Israel?
[16:06] And the people answered him in the same way. So shall it be done to the man who kills him, that the king will give his daughter to the house of Farah.
[16:21] The king will enrich the man who kills him with greater riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel. Now Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard when he spoke to the men.
[16:36] And Eliab's anger was against David, and he said, Why have you come down? And with whom have you left these few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.
[16:49] And David said, What have I done now? Was it not but a word? And he turned away from him. When the words that David spoke were heard, they were repeated before Saul, and Saul sent for David.
[17:03] David said, Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant would go out and fight this Philistine. Saul said, You are not able to fight with him for you, but a youth.
[17:16] David said to Saul, Your servant keeps sheep for his father. Once a lion and a bear took a lamb from the flock.
[17:26] I went after and struck him, and delivered him out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and the circumcised Philistine shall be like one of them.
[17:42] For he has defied the armies of the living God. And David said, The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine.
[17:57] And Saul said to David, Go, and the Lord be with you. Now Saul gave his armour to David, and David, when he tried it on, he said, I can't go with these.
[18:08] So David put them off. Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in a shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.
[18:21] And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David with his shield-bearer in front of him. And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance.
[18:33] The Philistine said to David, Am I a dog that you come to meet with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.
[18:49] And David said to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
[19:04] This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand. And I will strike you down and cut off your head. And when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.
[19:24] And David put his hand in his back and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead and he fell on his face to the ground.
[19:37] So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and threw it out of the sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it.
[19:54] When the Philistine saw their champion was dead, they fled. Amen. And may God bless to us this reading of his own Holy Word. And we're going to look at this, just this story, the story of David and Goliath.
[20:10] But maybe if we could home in on the verse that David says in verse 45, David said to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel.
[20:34] Now David was somebody who was an incredible believer in the Lord. When you, if we were to study the life of David, we see a man who put the Lord really at the front of everything that he did.
[20:49] He had his faults, he had his failings, he was very human, he was very passionate in life. But he was an incredible man of faith. He stands out as one of the great men of faith in the Bible, but as we say, also incredibly human.
[21:05] He had his dark times. There were times when David was despondent and down, but he was also somebody who was incredibly positive. And if you were to look at David's life, you would see that the positives far outweighed the negatives.
[21:22] And he always saw difficult opportunities and dark times as opportunities for God to work. And David's life was a great lesson to us all, and he displayed these characteristics really from a very young age.
[21:40] And David is showing us how important it is to have God at the centre of our lives. Because if we leave God out of the picture, then inevitably our life is not going to be complete.
[21:53] Now the story of David and Goliath is probably one of the best known stories anywhere. And the people who have very little knowledge of the Bible still know about David and Goliath.
[22:04] Even if they don't know the whole story, they certainly have an idea of what it's about. And a lot of biblical stories and concepts and individuals have found their way into everyday language.
[22:17] You often hear of David and Goliath and they might talk about it sometimes in a sporting context. You'd hear phrases like the writing was on the wall when the inevitable end for somebody or something is coming, which of course comes from the story of Daniel and Belshazzar.
[22:39] Somebody who cannot be trusted, somebody who's deceitful and somebody who's a backstabber is a Judas. So a lot of biblical things have come into everyday language and everyday conversation.
[22:52] And of course here's this story of David and Goliath. Now we're just going to pick up one or two things as we go along because it's a big chapter. And we see that the Philistines came up to fight against Israel.
[23:06] There was a long running sort of military campaign one with the other. And so they'd come up and they had met here for battle with the Valley of Elah kind of running between them.
[23:22] And the Philistine army had this man mountain amongst them. This great giant from Gath named Goliath. And he was almost like a human juggernaut.
[23:35] He was just massive. We were talking to the young foe 2 metres 90 which was nearly 10 foot tall about 9 foot 9. And it's what you see he was covered in armour and the body armour was so heavy that it weighed between 175 pounds and 200 pounds.
[23:57] like about 13 to 14 stone of weight was the armour that he had on which you just realise just how huge he was. He had this massive spear and the head of the spear weighed between 20 and 25 pounds just the head of it.
[24:15] And this man carrying a huge shield went in front of him. And so he must have been a frightening spectacle.
[24:27] And every day he caused total panic in the hearts of Israel because he would go out into the valley and he would challenge he would roar defiantly at Israel and send out a man to fight man to man and here's the deal if I kill him then you will be our servants.
[24:49] If and you can almost hear him laughing if he kills me then we will become your servants. And every day for 40 days he came out and he roared this challenge and Israel were absolutely petrified.
[25:06] There was not one man in Israel who was prepared to go out to fight not even King Saul who we're told was head and shoulders above anybody in Israel. So Saul himself was a big big man.
[25:18] Saul he couldn't or he wouldn't go out. And we see the impact it had on Israel tells us in verse 11 when Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
[25:33] And you know giants come up in our lives too. Giant despair pokes his head out far more frequently than we would want. And it's amazing how often in the morning and at night and through the night these giants of worry and anxiety can creep in and suddenly just grip us.
[25:56] And often our fears can be irrational. But we've also got to remember that Satan who works behind the scenes knows our make-up, he knows what worries is, he knows how to get to us and often he will just put a little arrow in and all of a sudden these irrational fears grow greater and greater.
[26:17] Because we've got to remember that Satan is termed the disturber of our peace. He hates to see any, particularly any of God's people at peace. He will do anything and everything to try to disturb.
[26:31] And so we face our giants, our own particular giants in our own life as well. people. But the wonderful thing about David was that he is teaching us here that it's imperative that we are looking to God and not to the giants.
[26:48] If we don't look to God, the giants will cripple us. The giants will bring us down. We will find ourselves incapable of doing work. We will find ourselves incapable of carrying on in the way that we should.
[27:02] That's why it's so important to look to the Lord. Lord, help me. Help me to see you rather than to see them. Anyway, we find that David's three older brothers are in the army.
[27:13] And one day, David's father, Jesse, said to David, look, get somebody to look after the sheep. I want you to go and see your brothers. And here's some bread and some roasted corn and some cheese for the commander of the army.
[27:25] Take them and see how they're doing. We're in phones in these days. Couldn't get messages except personally. And so David goes. Now, as we know, the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord and he will turn it whichever way he chooses.
[27:42] And this is the day that God has chosen. Yes, of course, there's a fatherly concern, rightly so. But it's at the years after the 40 days that God is saying, the time now, this is where I am going to work.
[27:58] For all that period of time, Israel will held in absolute fear, crippled by fear. But the time has now come for their deliverance.
[28:09] And it's going to be through this young lad, David. And so David is sent by his father to see how things are doing. And you know, when Goliath got up that day, Goliath thought, today is the same as every other day.
[28:24] I am the champion. There is nobody like me. He was full of his own importance, his own power. He was obviously a bully. He was a kind of person who ruled his own world.
[28:38] And there was nobody that was going to stand up to Goliath. The problem for Goliath is that God was not in his thoughts. And God behind the scenes is saying to Goliath, this is the last morning, Goliath, that you're going to get up and walk in this world.
[28:58] Because before the night is out, you're going to be a dead man and your soul will be in eternity. Goliath gave no thought to that. And that is something that we should always give thought to because the Bible tells us very clearly, prepare to meet your God.
[29:16] And that's something that we should give number one priority to in this life. Because it's only in this life that we can make that preparation, that preparation of meeting God.
[29:26] Because we all have to, we're told, we all have to give an account of what we have done here in this life, whether it is good or bad. And so we have to make preparation for death.
[29:38] And the way we make preparation for death is by accepting the Lord of life, the one who has conquered the worst of death, the one who has taken the sting out of death, the one who has beaten the grave.
[29:52] And the Lord is saying to accept, Jesus is saying to accept me. Make me Lord of your life. And then death will not be the awful thing that it can be, the enemy that it can be, because I will make it for you a defeated enemy.
[30:11] The worst way possible to leave this life is the way that Goliath left it. Goliath left this life cursing, cursing the armies of the living God.
[30:22] Really, basically he was cursing the people of God and cursing God. And he was going out into the great eternity in that way. And you know, it's an incredibly solemn thing.
[30:36] It's a reminder like of the rich fool that Jesus talks about. Remember that man who had got on so well in the world? And he got on so well in the world, he said, you know, he was congratulating himself.
[30:49] He had done so, so well. I want to take my ease now. I want to enjoy the luxuries of life. I want to enjoy life. At one level there's nothing wrong with that.
[31:00] But the problem for this man was that he was going to enjoy life without God. The God who actually had helped him to get all that he built. God wasn't in his thoughts or in his equation.
[31:12] salvation. And the Lord was saying over him, you fool, tonight your soul is going to be required of you. And then who's going to get all these things?
[31:25] All these things that you've given your all to getting and now you're going to enjoy, you're not actually going to enjoy them because you are going to die tonight. And so it's a solemn thing. That's why we always have to get our priorities right.
[31:38] I'm not trying to be dramatic or anything. But the Lord says your soul is your number one priority. Get that sorted first. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all the other things will be added to you.
[31:53] Anyway, back to the story. And we see David had arrived and what David saw was really quite a strange thing. All the soldiers are ready for action.
[32:05] They've got their armor on, they've got their spears, they've got their swords, they've got their helmets, they've got their armory on, they're all ready for action. They've given the battle cry, there was all this kind of sin.
[32:19] It looked impressive, but it was an army that was going nowhere and an army that was doing nothing. And an army, although it looked brilliant, was actually crippled by fear.
[32:34] And, you know, that can actually be a picture sometimes, sadly, of the church. The church can appear to be really orthodox, to be a really, it can appear to be vibrant.
[32:50] It's a full church and everything, if you looked in, you'd say, whoa, that's a prosperous church, that church is doing really, really well. But it's actually not.
[33:01] All the I's are dotted and all the T's are stroked. But it's a church that's actually going nowhere. It's a church that, although it's giving the shout and it's doing the things, it's not really going anywhere.
[33:14] It is spiritually dead. And you can have that. The church in Laodicea, the Lord found fault with it. There was a church that was congratulating itself and saying, we have needed nothing.
[33:29] We are a really vibrant, prosperous church, and the Lord said, you're anything but. You're dead and you don't know it. And in a sense, this is this picture that we have of the Israelite army.
[33:45] They looked apart, they gave the shout, they were dressed for it, everything but, they were going nowhere and they were crippled in the face of the enemy. So that's a warning.
[33:57] It's so important that our focus is upon God, that we're focused on God, not on anything else. It is him and his glory. Whatever we're doing, we should never be seeking to fill churches just to have numbers.
[34:11] We should never be seeking to have the best givings so that people would say, look how much they give. Of course we ought to give as much as we can. Of course we want as many people to come to church, but always it's got to be for him, for his glory.
[34:26] Lord, may you take glory out of this. That's got to be our aim. If not, then we're going in the wrong direction. Our vision is impaired.
[34:37] God has to be at the centre. And then the other thing we see is David's brother, Eliab, the oldest brother, he was really angry with David.
[34:48] Really, really angry with David. He found fault with David for coming to the battle. And when David asked someone, why isn't anybody going to fight with a giant? Eliab goes off the head.
[35:00] Why have you come? You're no gooder. Who's looking after the few sheep bag at all? That's where you should be. I think Eliab's nose was really there to join.
[35:12] Remember when in the previous chapter, Samuel had come to anoint one of Jesse's sons. Eliab, we're told, was a big, powerful, handsome man.
[35:25] And when Samuel saw Eliab coming, he said, surely this is the Lord's anointed. But God said, don't look on the outward appearance. I don't judge by the outward appearance.
[35:37] I judge by the heart. And Eliab wasn't chosen. It was David who was chosen. So no doubt Eliab's nose was out of joint. And he's really got it in for David.
[35:47] David's only come to bring him a present and to find out, to tell him, your dad's asking after you and how are things, I have to report back to dad. But Eliab is mad.
[36:00] But I love David's attitude. What does David do? He walks away. David doesn't get into an argument with his brother. It would be very easy for David to get hot under the collar as well.
[36:12] What are you picking on me? I'm only coming to do my duty. No, David just turns away from his brother. And that's a great lesson to us as well.
[36:24] Because sadly so much that goes on in the church that shouldn't. So often there have been divisions and fightings and infightings in the history of the church.
[36:35] And very often it can sometimes be over irrational things. Yes, I know we can disagree strongly over principles and various things. But there is so much infighting within churches, within congregations, when we should learn from David the attitude to turn away.
[36:54] Jesus is turning a virtue. David is a great example because very often, so positive, you know, the church can lose sight of who the enemy is.
[37:06] The real enemy is not within your own ranks. The enemy is out there. The enemy, of course, is satanic and within, and our own heart, of course, is an enemy. But we've got to remember, the church is living in enemy territory.
[37:21] But the church forgets that and so often begins to fight one with another. Well, David is an example of how our attitude should be. And David got it right because his eye was fixed upon the Lord.
[37:36] That's why he got it right. Then, eventually, somebody told Saul about David and what he was saying, that he would fight the giant. So, to cut a long story short, Saul says to David, David, you can't.
[37:50] You're only a youth. It's the enthusiasm and energy of youth that's talking. You can't go out and fight. David said to Saul, I can. And he told him about the lion and the bear that had come and taken alarm and how he had gone after and killed the lion and the bear.
[38:07] And he said, the Lord that helped me against the lion and the bear will help me against this Philistine as well, who's cursing the armies of the living God. And he said, I will go.
[38:17] So in the end, Saul agreed. David, as we were talking to the young folk, he went out and he picked up the stones and the five stones and the sling.
[38:29] And of course, Goliath at first thought it was a joke. Are you for real? Am I a dog that should come to me with sticks? And Goliath is incensed.
[38:42] And David, it's beautiful what David says to Goliath, because David tells Goliath and he says to him, you know, I come, this is what he says, I want all the assembly that they will know that the Lord saves not with sword and with spear for the battle is the Lord's and he will give you it to my hand.
[39:05] That's what he says. See, David focuses on the Lord. David isn't doing this for personal glory. David's not doing this to make a name for himself. It's for the honour of God. David loves the Lord and he wanted that God's name would be known in all the earth.
[39:20] And how dare this giant defy God. So this is where David is coming from. And of course the Lord, David knew that Saul's armour wasn't going to help him.
[39:34] David knew if he analysed the situation, he hadn't a hope physically, man to man, to fight the giant. But his trust was in God. he knew that God would enable him.
[39:46] And David had the only weapon that really knew how to work. He was a master of his slingshot. And so he fires it with a tremendous aim. And of course it's the Lord who helped that stone go with accuracy deep into the forehead.
[40:00] The only part really of Goliath that wasn't covered by armour. And he falls down in a heap and David brushes over, pulls out Goliath's sword and cuts off his head.
[40:12] You know, when you look at the story of David and Goliath, there's even a bigger picture. Because David and the Bible shows us how in the Old Testament some of the great people of God are representatives, they're pointers, they're pointing to Jesus and what Jesus has done.
[40:31] And David there is a great pointer to us of what Jesus has done. David was there as representing Israel. If David won, Israel had won.
[40:44] If David lost, then Israel lost. And so David is pointing to exactly what Jesus did. Jesus came as our representative to do for us what we couldn't do ourselves.
[40:59] And Jesus on the cross and out of the grave, he won. He won the victory. And so he's giving that victory over to us.
[41:10] And all we have to do is to believe in him, to accept him and to trust him. Because a great giant is a hold of our lives. The great giant of sin has a grip upon us.
[41:24] And that giant will not let go. And there's only one power that is able to defeat that giant. And that is the power of the blood of Jesus Christ.
[41:36] The blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses from all sin. There is no other way. And that's what we must do today, all of us.
[41:46] Say, Lord, here I am in the grip of my sin. May Jesus come into my life and break that power so that I will discover the cleansing and the wonder of any sin forgiven, and to know the freedom and peace that is found in Jesus.
[42:08] We're going to conclude our service singing from Psalm 34. And this is in Sing Psalms, Psalm number 34 in Sing Psalms. We're going to sing verses 5 to 10.
[42:21] They look to him and shine with joy. They are not put to shame. This suffering man cries to the Lord. From him deliverance came. The angel of the Lord surrounds and guards continually all those who fear and honour him.
[42:35] He sets his people free. Come taste and see the Lord is good. Who trusts in him is blessed. Oh, fear the Lord, you saints with need. You will not be oppressed.
[42:47] And so on Psalm 34 verses 5 to 10 from Sing Psalms. They looked to him and chied with joy, they are not good to shame.
[43:09] The suffering man cried to the Lord, from him deliverance came.
[43:23] The angel of the Lord's arrived and guards continually all those who fear and honour him he sets his people free.
[43:53] come kiss and see the Lord is good who trusts in him is blessed.
[44:10] Oh, fear the Lord who sings with me, you will not be oppressed.
[44:26] The lions may grow weak and faint and hunger for their food but those who wait upon the Lord will not lack any good Now, may the grace, mercy and peace of God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit rest and abide upon each one of you now and forever more.
[45:06] Amen. Amen.