Nathan said earlier is going to be 1st Samuel chapter 17.
A very well-known text to us.
It's the story of David and Goliath.
We've heard this story taught in our own churches that we've been a part of throughout the years.
You know, we've all come from different places, walks of life,
and this is a text that is touched on a lot from a lot of different circles,
a lot of different people, in a lot of different ways.
We often hear expressions like conquer your Goliath or throw your stone of faith.
Those are references to this text, and it's a way for us to kind of conceptualize,
communicate this idea of overcoming trial, overcoming problems in our life.
I think it is almost always well-meaning when people say these things,
but the reality is I think there's so much more going on in this text than just that, as good as that is.
And so my hope and my prayer is that we'll be able to walk through that today
and see more of the true glory of this story, the truly good news that we have in Christ in 1st Samuel 17.
So we're going to walk through this text together and just kind of highlight that ultimate reality,
that redemptive historical reality that is meant to be displayed throughout this text.
So again, starting in 1st Samuel 17, verse 1.
Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle,
and they were gathered at Soca, which belongs to Judah,
and encamped between Soca and Ezekiah and Ephesdamun.
So this is near Bethlehem, about 15 miles from the town.
In verse 2,
And Saul, he's currently king, right, King Saul,
and Saul and the men of Israel were gathered and encamped in the valley of Elah.
And they drew up in the line of battle against the Philistines.
And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side,
and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side,
with a valley between them.
And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath,
whose height was six cubits and a span.
He had a helmet of bronze on his head,
and he was armed with a coat of mail.
The weight of the coat was 5,000 shekels of bronze,
and he had bronze armor on his legs.
And a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders,
and the shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam.
And his spear's head,
this is just the head of the spear, not the whole thing, the head,
weighed 600 shekels of iron.
And his shield-bearer went before him.
So a couple notes here so far.
This is the only passage in the Bible where the word champion is used.
It's used twice in this passage, and it's the only time it occurs.
It literally means the man between two,
referring to this big man, this Goliath of Gath.
He's between the two armies on the two mountains.
He was six cubits in a span.
Now, most scholars have agreed a cubit is about 18 inches,
which means Goliath rings in at 9 feet 9 inches.
This is a big boy, right?
Pretty big.
The coat that weighs 5,000 shekels of bronze is 125 pounds.
Now, I'm not a very big guy to begin with,
but that's just 15 pounds shy of me.
So he's essentially wearing me.
He's got like an adult, smaller male on his back.
Okay, so this is a real big guy.
And he wore it.
I mean, he's running around.
He's going in battle, wearing 125 pounds.
Now, most people in this room, even some of the bigger ones,
would have struggle just carrying 60-pound packs,
much less fighting with a 60-pound pack.
And yet, Goliath doubles that, 125 pounds.
And on top of that, he's carrying the spear that the head of which,
the end point, and anybody who's ever lifted anything,
you know a pole, if it's heavier at the end, it's harder to balance.
And his weight of his spear is at the end.
It's in the head of the spear.
And that spear is going to be roughly 15 pounds.
And so here's this guy running around, 125-pound armor,
15-pound spearhead, and he's thrusting it out to stab people.
Again, this is a big man, okay?
And to have the strength and endurance to fight in war with that armor,
that spear, I mean, this is insane.
You know, I like sports.
In the sporting world, college football, basketball,
they give athletes these rankings, you know, one through five-star,
five-star being the best.
If Goliath was a recruit today, they would create a six-star.
I mean, he's that big.
He's a difference maker, right?
We've never seen anything like this.
It's picking back up in verse 8.
So this man, this big man, this nine-foot, nine-inch man,
he stood, Goliath, and he shouted to the ranks of Israel,
Why have you come out to draw up for battle?
Or why have you not come out to draw up for battle?
Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul?
Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me, right?
This is taunt.
This is, hey, you're best against me.
I'll kill him any day of the week, right?
And know the distinction Goliath makes right away between Philistine and Israelite.
This is a huge threat in this, and we're going to pick up on this in a bit.
Back to the text in verse 9.
If he is able to fight with me and kill me, meaning the Israelite,
if your best champion can fight me and kill me, then we will be your servants.
But if we prevail against him and kill him, then you should be our servants and serve us.
And the Philistine said, I defy the ranks of Israel this day.
Give me a man that we may fight together.
This is bull talk.
When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
I would be afraid, nine foot, nine inches.
Now David was the son of an Ephraite, of Bethlehem and Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons.
In the days of Saul, the man was already old and advanced in years.
The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to battle.
And the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eli, the firstborn,
and next to him, Eben-Nadab, and the third, Shammah.
But David was the youngest.
The three eldest followed Saul.
But David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem.
Verse 16,
For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.
So for forty days and forty nights, this nine foot nine man, this beast of a man,
he's taunting Israel, saying, send me your best, bring him out, I'll kill him right now.
For forty days, forty nights, evening and morning.
He's relentless.
And I want to say, this is a temptation the Israelites are facing, right?
It's a taunt, but it is a temptation, right?
What kind of temptation?
Temptation to fear, temptation to focus on the things of earth and not the things of God.
The men of Israel not only failed as they caved to their fear and worldly thinking,
but even Saul.
And mind you, Saul, contextually, this is supposed to be Israel's champion.
You know, he's a pretty big guy.
He stood head and shoulders above the men of Israel.
And yet, even he is cowering before Goliath.
He's scared out of his mind.
But he, too, had fallen away from God along with the rest of the house of Israel
by focusing on this Goliath, his armor, his spear, his size, the things of this earth, right?
Self-preservation is kicking in.
But in the midst of all these failing men who are not obeying God in faith,
who are not striking down this Philistine where he stands,
we see David highlighted as someone who is from Bethlehem, from the tribe of Judah.
Very important to note.
So verse 17.
And Jesse said to David his son,
Take for your brothers an ephaph of this parched grain and these ten loaves,
and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers.
Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand.
See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.
Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah fighting the Philistines.
And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper,
and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded them.
And he came to the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry.
And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army.
And David left things in charge of the keeper of the baggage,
and ran to the ranks, and went and greeted his brothers.
And he talked with them,
Behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name,
came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke the same words as before.
And David heard him.
All the men of Israel, when they saw the man,
they fled from him and were much afraid.
And the men of Israel said,
Have you seen this man who comes up?
Surely he has come up to defy Israel.
And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches,
and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel.
I'm going to pause here for a moment.
It is so significant, I think,
that the men of Israel are recorded first as seeing Goliath,
and then fleeing in fear.
This is a clear indication, as I already alluded to earlier,
that these men are thinking in worldly terms.
They're not thinking about God.
They're thinking about this nine-foot, nine-inch monster, right?
Their focus was out of place.
And Israel, like Goliath, like the Philistine,
they thought it was merely Israel being defied here, right?
Goliath said, I will defy Israel this day,
and now Israelite is confirming that and saying he's defying Israel,
the nation, the people.
And yet, no mention is made of this Philistine defying God by the men of Israel.
They had forgotten the lesson of Joshua,
where Israel feared many giants when they were about to enter the promised land, right?
Many giants, they came back, 12 spies, two said, let's do it.
The other 10 said, no, no, those are some big guys.
And we all know how that story goes.
Because of their sin, because of their lack of faith in God,
and trusting the promise to take the land,
they end up spending 40 years in the wilderness.
It's similar, right?
Goliath, for 40 days, morning and night, tempting Israel,
saying, come out, fight me.
This is similar to Eve, right?
The fruit was a delight to her eyes, we know from Genesis,
because she focused on the fruit.
She looked at the fruit.
She was considering the fruit in the words of the serpent,
and not the words of God, right?
Which was temptation that led to sin.
So just as in 1 Samuel 17,
the men of Israel set their eyes on Goliath,
a man, and it consumed them.
But he was just that, a man.
In fact, Samuel has set the stage for this in chapter 16, verse 7, right?
The prior chapter, where God says,
for the Lord sees not as man sees.
Man looks on the outward appearance, right?
The 9 foot 9 inch man.
But the Lord looks on the heart.
So this is a big theme.
But picking back up in verse 26,
And David said to the men who stood by him,
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?
And the people answered him in the same way,
So shall it be done to the man who kills him.
So again, we just saw how Israel reacted to Goliath,
but now we're seeing how David's reacting to Goliath.
And what does David do?
Well, he talks right back.
He says, this is an uncircumcised Philistine
who's defying the living God.
Right?
Now, this is not mere trash talk.
This is a serious reminder of the Abrahamic covenant for Israel.
Right?
The Israelites, along with the Philistines,
all believe this is a conflict merely between two countries.
Right?
They both said that this is a defilement of Israel.
But David says it's a defilement of God.
Right?
It's a worldly concern for both armies, Philistine and Israelite,
but a spiritual, God-centered concern for David.
And this is why he says uncircumcised Philistine relates to the Abrahamic covenant.
In other words, David is reminding the men of Israel that,
hey, we are the seed of Abraham.
We have promises from the God of Abraham, our father,
who carried us through the wilderness,
who carried us out of the house of Egypt, out of slavery.
He helped us cross the Jordan.
He helped us conquer this land that we're now trying to defend.
Right?
Rise up, men.
Do you not believe in the promises of God?
It essentially is what he's saying.
Right?
But more than that,
he's also recognizing that Goliath is outside of those promises.
He's uncircumcised.
Genesis 17, 8, where this covenant is made with Abraham.
Right?
God says to Abraham,
I will give to you and to your offspring after you
the land of your sojournings,
all the land of Canaan,
for an everlasting possession,
and I will be their God.
It's an everlasting possession.
They don't have to worry about losing it,
regardless of what giant Philistine comes at them or what.
Have you?
And yet the men are cowering,
but David remembers.
He remembers.
This is an uncircumcised Philistine.
He's outside of those promises.
Let's take hold of the promise.
Right?
So this promise,
this land,
it includes Soka,
it includes Azekah,
it includes Ephesim,
where the battle is taking place that we read about in verse 1.
Further on in the covenant, though,
with Abraham,
it's important to note,
God warns,
any uncircumcised male
who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin
shall be cut off from his people.
He has broken my covenant.
That's Genesis 17, verse 14.
Now, of course,
Goliath was never in the covenant to begin with,
as I've already said,
but the warning stands nonetheless.
He's outside the covenant.
So all is to say,
David is the only one in the narrative,
not Saul,
not the men of Israel,
certainly not any of the Philistines.
David's the only one
who's recognizing this
and who's trusting in the promises of God.
He's clinging to the covenant.
Right?
Not himself,
nothing,
but God.
So he has every reason to obey this.
He has every reason to have this faith,
to have this confidence,
because, again,
God made the covenant with Abraham.
He made his promise.
And up to this point in redemptive history,
you know,
David has read the law.
He knows the stories of Moses
that he's written down.
He knows the story of Joshua,
the judges, right?
This is just shortly after the period of the judges.
So David's able to look at all this history
and see God keep his promises
time and time again.
He's got every reason
to have this sure faith.
Right?
God led the Israelites out of slavery.
Despite the delay of the conquering of the land,
they see that the world can provide
to overcome this man,
this Goliath.
Right?
And similar,
that's what he was looking at
when he looked at Goliath himself.
They're both placing trust in the armor,
the helmet,
the coat,
the sword.
Whereas David is placing his trust in God
and not these material things.
Hence,
he put them off.
And we'll see this contrast even more
in the next section.
But this is all part of a buildup
leading to the exaltation of David
and the lowering of Saul.
So verse 41.
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,
there it is again,
he's looking,
he sees David,
he disdained him.
He was but a youth,
ruddy and handsome in appearance.
In other words,
he was small,
he was a runt.
He's young,
inexperienced.
Verse 43.
And the Philistine said to David,
am I a dog
that you would come to me with sticks?
Like,
who is this would-be poser?
Who's this challenger?
Right?
This pretender.
Right?
Verse 45.
Then 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.
Third time,
he's charging him with that.
You've defied God.
The author of 1 Samuel
further sets the stage
by referencing Goliath's gods.
Right?
He swears to strike down David
by his gods.
Right?
He cursed him in verse 43.
In verse 44,
he's saying,
I'm going to kill you
by my gods.
And David,
no, no.
I've come in the name of my God.
Right?
So this is very much
a spiritual battle.
Physical, indeed, yes.
But spiritual, nonetheless.
So the author's pushing
harder and harder
to draw our attention
to something greater
than this mere historical account.
Right?
There's something
more important going on
than poor little shepherd boy
beating nine foot nine Goliath.
Right?
There's something grander
going on.
But let's continue
our reading first.
So verse 46,
David's continuing,
and he says,
This day the Lord
will deliver you
into my hand,
and I will strike you down
and cut off your head.
And I will give
the dead bodies
of the hosts
of the Philistines
this day
to the birds of the air
and to the wild beasts
of the earth,
that all the earth
may know
that there is a God
in Israel,
and that all this assembly
may know
that the Lord saves
not with sword and spear.
God doesn't save
with sword and spear
the things of the world.
But the battle is the Lord's
and he will give you
into our hand.
Verse 48,
When the Philistine arose
and came
and drew near to meet David,
David ran quickly,
right,
without hesitation.
David ran quickly
toward the battle line
to meet the Philistine.
And David put his hand
in his bag,
took out a stone,
slung it,
and struck the Philistine
on his forehead.
The stone sank
into his forehead
and he fell on his face
to the ground.
So David prevailed
over the Philistine
with a sling
and with a stone.
And he,
excuse me,
then David ran
and stood over the Philistine
and took his sword
and drew it out
of its sheath
and killed him
and cut off
his head with it.
When the Philistine
saw that their champion
was dead,
that's the second time
the champion word
occurred,
except this time
he's dead,
right,
their champion's dead.
They fled.
Philistines fled.
They were afraid.
Verse 52,
And the men of Israel
and Judah rose
with a shout
and pursued the Philistines
as far as Gath
and the gates of Ekron
so that the wounded Philistines
fell on the way
from Shirem
as far as Gath
and Ekron.
And the people of Israel
came back
from chasing the Philistines
and they plundered
their camp.
And David took
the head of the Philistine
and brought it
to Jerusalem,
but he put his armor
in his tent.
So David won.
So yes,
this is a rich story
of a man of faith
and we can certainly
learn from this,
right?
David as an individual,
we can learn
from his faith.
We can learn that
David was not consumed
with earthly things.
His mind was set
on the Lord.
In the section
we just read alone,
just that brief paragraph there,
I don't mean the whole chapter,
just that brief paragraph,
there are five direct
references to God
being the source
of David's strength
and victory
and so forth.
Second,
we can see
David's obedience,
right?
Multiple times.
Verse 48 says
he ran quickly,
but prior to that
we've already seen
he's running
all over the place.
There's no hesitation
with this guy.
He's moving,
right?
And if you're reading
the whole chapter closely,
you would notice
that Samuel mentions this.
He does it
in every phase
of the story.
David's running
all over the place.
No hesitation,
no doubt,
no pondering,
no second guessing.
But more than David,
this is a story
that is also about
the nation of Israel.
As we've already mentioned
the numerous stories
throughout the Old Testament
up to this point,
we have seen
in this point
in the Bible's history,
Israel act either faithfully
or faithlessly
and regardless,
God is faithful
throughout this entire thing.
He's always delivering them
always coming through,
always upholding
his promises.
And so this is very much
a call to the nation
of Israel.
Again, this book
was written for Israel
to hear it,
to read it,
to know it.
It's not merely
so they can know
who David was,
but it's a reminder
of God's commitment
to the covenant
that we mentioned
already with Abraham,
the covenant with Moses,
the covenant with David.
So any Israelite
reading this
would recognize,
hey, this isn't just
a story about
shepherd boy David.
This is a story
about us.
You know,
in a sense,
this is God's
salvific story
for the nation
of Israel.
You might ask,
how so?
So contextually,
as I alluded to earlier,
the events in 1 Samuel
occur at the end
of the Judges period,
right?
A time of great sin,
wickedness,
and judgment.
But now,
in 1 Samuel,
we see God
begin this work
of restoration,
redemption
for the nation
of Israel.
Right?
And how is he doing this?
Well,
Samuel the prophet
who anoints
King David,
right?
Soon to be King David,
not yet,
in this text.
But that process
is beginning now
through this battle
with Goliath.
He's raising up David
to be their king,
to be a means
of restoration.
In fact,
throughout all of
1 and 2 Samuel,
which largely
focused on David,
the reader will notice
that there is
this progression.
Now,
John MacArthur notes,
as 1 Samuel begins,
Israel was at a low
point spiritually,
right?
He's referring to
that end of the
judges period.
The priesthood was
corrupt,
1 Samuel 2,
17 through 12.
The Ark of the
Covenant was not
at the tabernacle.
We know that
from 1 Samuel 4,
3 through
chapter 7,
verse 2.
Idolatry was
practiced,
1 Samuel 7,
verse 3 through 4.
And the judges
were dishonest,
1 Samuel 8,
verses 2 through 3.
The 2 Samuel
concludes with
the anger of the
Lord being withdrawn
from Israel.
That's chapter 24,
verse 25.
So why was the
anger withdrawn?
What would cause
that anger to be
pulled back
in light of the sin?
I mean,
even in 1 Samuel,
we're still seeing
Israel's sin.
It's not as if
all of a sudden
they're a glowing nation.
Why is the anger
being withdrawn?
Ultimately,
for the same reason
that Goliath
is defeated.
Because the Lord
keeps his covenant
with Abraham,
with Moses,
and with David,
with his people,
his covenant people.
So this would have
stuck out to the
Israelites.
This is a national
redemptive story
for them.
But again,
there's so much more
that should pop off
of the page to us
with a story
as New Testament
readers.
So let's go ahead
and start reading
through the rest again.
Picking them up
in verse 55.
As soon as Saul,
Saul David,
go out against
the Philistine.
And I love this
because again,
it seems to me
like the author
is still trying
to hint at that
Saul is considering
David in a worldly
sense.
He saw David
go out against
the Philistine.
He said to Abner,
the commander
of the army,
Abner,
whose son is
this youth?
And Abner said,
As your soul lives,
O king,
I do not know.
And the king said,
inquires whose son
the boy is.
And as soon as
David turned
from the striking
down of the Philistine,
Abner took him
and brought him
before Saul
with the head
of the Philistine
in his hand.
And Saul said to him,
Whose son are you,
young man?
And David answered,
I am the son
of your servant Jesse,
the Bethlehemite.
So this means,
excuse me,
I got a little
ahead of myself.
We,
as readers of the
Old Testament,
that should just
pop out to us.
The son of the
Bethlehemite.
That's the last word
of this story,
right?
End of the chapter.
This is the son
of the Bethlehemite.
So we understand
that immediately
in connection
with Christ,
right?
From Bethlehem.
We know this
because the seed
of David
described in
2 Samuel 7,
verses 12 through 15,
is Jesus Christ,
the son of God,
which is confirmed
by the author
of Hebrews
in the New Testament,
who quotes
2 Samuel 7,
14,
as well as
Psalm 2,
7,
in Hebrews 1,
5.
It says,
For to which
of the angels
did God ever say,
You are my son,
today I have
begotten you?
Or again,
I will be to him
a father,
and he shall be
to me a son.
So the seed
of David,
this seed,
this is the Christ,
he's the ultimate
seed,
Jesus.
Right?
And David is listed
in Jesus' genealogy
in Luke 3,
verse 31.
So this means
that the Holy Spirit
himself,
who inspired
the scriptures,
who inspired
1 Samuel,
that Holy Spirit,
right,
intended David
to be seen
as a type
of Christ.
Right?
Nathan talked
about typology
a couple weeks back.
It's a simpler word,
it could be symbolism,
right?
This is a specific
type of symbolism.
Right?
David is symbolic
of the Christ to come.
So David,
you might ask,
in what ways
does he symbolize,
what ways does he
foreshadow,
right,
in what ways
does he prefiguring
Christ from an
earthly standpoint?
Well,
one,
we see that David
is a shepherd.
1 Samuel 17,
15,
right?
He was tending
his father's flocks
in the midst
of this battle,
running back
to and fro.
Right?
So,
Jesus said,
I am the good shepherd.
John 10,
verse 11,
right?
David was from
the tribe of Judah
in the town
of Bethlehem.
So was Jesus.
Matthew chapter 2,
verse 1,
Jesus was born
in Bethlehem
of Judea.
For 40 days
and for 40 nights,
David witnessed
the taunting
and temptation
of Goliath,
1 Samuel 17,
16.
Again,
this is similar
to Christ
who faced
the temptation
of Satan
in the wilderness
for 40 days
and 40 nights.
Matthew 4,
verse 1 through 2.
So you might be
asking yourself,
does this mean
that Goliath
is a type
of Satan
in the way
that David
is a type
of Christ,
right?
Symbolizing.
And the answer
is yes.
In fact,
the parallel
is striking.
1 Samuel 17,
49,
and David
put his hand
in his bag
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.
It seems
really repetitive,
right?
It seems kind of,
why is he mentioning
this forehead,
the face,
I mean,
three times,
right,
in one sentence,
one breath.
But I think
it's intentional.
I think the author
is trying to draw
our mind back
to what many
theologians call
the proto-longelion.
That's the first gospel,
so to speak,
which is back
in Genesis 3.
Genesis 3,
verse 14 through 15,
the Lord God
said to the serpent,
being Satan,
right,
God said to the serpent,
because you have
done this,
cursed are you
above all livestock
and above all
beasts of the field.
On your belly
you shall go
and dust you shall eat
all the days
of your life.
I will put enmity
between you
and the woman
and between your offspring
and her offspring.
He shall bruise
your head
and you shall
bruise his heel.
So you see,
it is the head
of Satan
that will be crushed
by the heel of Christ,
right?
We all understand
that.
That's what Genesis 3
is alluding to,
that ultimate
decisive moment
in which Christ
defeats Satan
and the power
of death
and hell
and all that,
right?
That's what that's
primarily about.
But at the same time,
David,
Goliath,
they are a type
of this.
They're showing this,
right?
David is a seed
of the woman,
right?
Goliath is a seed
of the serpent
and the author
goes out of his way
to mention that forehead,
right?
The serpent will be
on his belly,
right?
Well,
when you're on your forehead,
you're also on your belly,
right?
And the author goes
out of his way
to show this Goliath.
He's fallen down,
face down.
His head gets cut off
by David,
right?
And David,
David strikes him
with a stone,
right?
Small like a heel.
So this is imagery
that they're picking up on.
There's something
greater it's pointing to.
And the final parallel
that we have time to know
is that David
was an anointed king.
So 1 Samuel,
the prior chapter,
verse 16,
or chapter 16,
verse 13.
Samuel,
the prophet,
took the horn of oil
and anointed him,
referring to David,
anointed David
in the midst
of his brothers.
And the spirit
of the Lord
rushed upon David
from that day forward.
Now,
in the Greek Septuagint,
which is a Greek translation
of the Hebrew Old Testament,
the word for anointed
in this passage
is ekrisen,
right?
It's a verb,
which is the verbal form
of the noun
that many of us know,
Christos.
Now,
it sounds like the English.
Christos is Christ,
as in Jesus Christ,
Jesu Christu,
right?
And so Christos,
it means anointing.
David is an anointed king,
just as Jesus Christ himself,
an anointed king.
We see this in John 12,
verse 1 through 8,
in his triumphal entry
to the city of Jerusalem.
Jesus is anointed as king
just prior to his crucifixion,
just prior to crushing
the forehead of the serpent,
the head of the serpent,
and having his heel bruised
on the cross.
So this is partly
why it is so significant
that Matthew includes David
and Jesus' genealogy
in the Gospel account,
which is primarily focused
on proving Christ's kingship.
Right?
That's what Matthew's all about.
This is about
Jesus Christ is king and lord,
the son of God.
Right?
So this is all a buildup
to pointing to Christ.
This entire text
is not merely about David.
It's not merely about Goliath.
It's not merely about Israel.
It's not merely about
the things of this earth.
It's about Christ
and his plan to save
and his kingship,
his identity
as the son of God,
and his lordship
and him keeping his promises,
keeping his covenant.
So in closing,
I kind of want to draw this out more,
but we have noticed
the individual narrative of David.
We've noticed
the national narrative
for Israel.
And now we have seen
the narrative of David
and Goliath
is really much more than that.
It's a picture
of the overarching
redemptive plan of God
for all of mankind.
Right?
For all of his church.
For all of his faithful.
When we read this story,
we fail to really,
truly understand it
if our eyes do not turn
to the anointed King Jesus,
the Son of God.
Luke 24, 27,
Jesus is talking
to his disciples
and he tells them,
he says,
beginning with Moses
and all the prophets,
Jesus interpreted to them
in all the scriptures
the things concerning himself.
So if we read this text
without considering Christ,
we don't understand it
as Christ would have taught it.
Right?
For Christ,
this isn't a story about David.
And so it should not be
merely a story about David
for us either.
So let's not make it a story
where it's about David
and about us
being a hero
as so often is taught.
Right?
This is not merely a story
in which we learn
to just have faith
and overcome difficulties
as great as that is.
It's pointing to something
greater than that.
And we're so tempted
to do that by our flesh,
whether conscious
or unconscious.
But this would be
very bad news
because we as sinful
and dead men
cannot save ourselves.
Right?
David didn't save himself.
David's own trust
wasn't in himself.
Why are we constantly
trying to be like David
in that sense
when David himself
was relying on God?
That's how we should be
like David
by relying on God.
Right?
This would be bad news
if it's merely a story
of us
because it would put
salvation
and the redemptive narrative
in our hands.
But what can a dead hand grasp?
I mean,
this is bad news.
Right?
This is bad news
because this news
would not make
or announce Christ
as Savior and Lord.
And think about that.
Rather,
let the story
encourage us
to imitate the faith
of David
by trusting Christ
and his promises
to the point of obedience.
Right?
That is good news.
That is full grace,
real grace.
You know,
the other side
is what Bonhoeffer
would have called
cheap grace.
It saves you
from condemnation
but not your nature.
But this is a true grace,
a full grace.
It saves us
from the condemnation
and the nature.
We are able to obey Christ.
We are able to look to Christ,
follow Christ
and to do it rightly.
So in that,
we can cast off
all of our burdens
and anxieties
when we look to Christ.
We can face
the hardships
of this world
knowing that
our high priest,
Jesus,
has done the same
and that we will reign
with him in glory.
Just as he was raised,
we will be raised.
Jesus has defeated
the greatest Goliath
in our lives,
namely sin,
Satan,
and death.
And so we,
as Christians,
we can take heart
knowing the battle
was won.
And we,
by God's grace,
are victors
like David.
We didn't earn it.
We didn't accomplish it.
We merely
received it
by faith
in Christ.
So do not get
bogged down
like the men of Israel
like Saul
or even the Philistines.
Do not get bogged down
on the troubles
of this world
considering the things
of this world
but rather
listen to the author
of Hebrews
chapter 12
verse 1.
Therefore,
since we are surrounded
by so great
a cloud of witnesses,
let us also lay aside
every weight
and sin
which clings so closely.
Every Goliath,
so to speak.
Every distraction
and of course
every sin.
And let us
run with endurance,
the author goes on.
Let us run with endurance
the race that is set
before us.
Verse 2.
Looking to Jesus.
Not looking to Goliath,
not looking to Saul.
Looking to Jesus,
the founder
and perfecter
of our faith
who for the joy
that was set before him
endured the cross
despising the shame
and is seated
at the right hand
of the throne of God.
Christ is the ultimate
seed of the woman
who has defeated Satan.
But we too
by faith alone
through grace alone
Christ alone
are the seed
of the woman.
No Cain,
no Goliath,
no Judas,
no nobody,
no nothing
from the seed
of the serpent
will be able
to overcome Christ.
O death,
where is your sting?
Where grave thy victory?
Let's pray.