Trust God For The Victory - Week 2

Week 2 of Trust God For The Victory

Sermon Series: Trust God For The Victory

Sermon Title: The God of the Unexpected

Today’s Passage: 1 Samuel 17:11-30 (ESV)

Main Idea: When we trust God for the victory, we can expect the unexpected.

INTRO:

The movie, The Sixth Sense, with Bruce Willis hit theaters in 1999. Now, if you were lucky enough to see this movie before any of your friends ruined it for you, you witnessed one of the most unexpected endings in movie history!

The plot of the movie is a troubled young boy who “sees dead people” seeks help from a child psychologist, Bruce Willis. They spend most of the movie together trying to figure out what to do.... of course we find out at the end of the movie, Bruce Willis’s character has been dead the whole movie and he is just one of the spirits that the boy sees!

Unexpected events thrill us.... leave us saying, “can you believe that happened?!?!”

it’s one of the reasons we love sports so much.... right?

the underdog that has NO chance somehow pulls out the victory

Doug Flutie’s hail mary to beat Miami

The Kick-Six Auburn/Alabama Game

crazy, unexpected endings!!

one of the reasons I love The bible is because it is full of stories where God acted in unexpected ways

Manna.... huh… i mean come on.... bread from heaven???? that’s like Ainsley’s dream!

Balaam’s donkey can talk???

Daniel gets thrown in the lion’s den and somehow the lions can’t open their mouths that day???

how about crossing the red sea on dry ground?

a few fish and loaves of bread feeds 5000 people??? not at my house!

God is the God of the unexpected! God is all-powerful and there is no power in the universe that can match God’s power, however, God’s power is also made perfect in weakness.

he shows his power differently than the way the world shows power

God will defeat everyone of his enemies

God will rescue everyone who calls on his name....

but he does this through the shameful death of Jesus on a sinners cross

isn’t that incredible...

he does this through the preaching of the Gospel which is foolishness to the world because it is so unexpected

so even when we are faced with the impossible… with the most terrifying of situations, we are called to put our trust in God… even though, there’s a good chance he’s going to completely surprise us with how he moves!

i mean, who would think the answer to all the world’s problems would be the death of an innocent man more than 2000 years ago?

do you believe that?

or do you, like the world, believe that wealth, power, and position can rescue you?

over the last handful of weeks, we’ve been celebrating our 15 year old birthday at Heritage!

God has acted in unexpected ways at Heritage over the last 15 years… he loves to provide houses! :

multiple houses to choose from for me & brooke

house for Sharon for less than she agreed to pay for

house for the heritage family in fruitland park (11 acres, building, food pantry… debt free!)

house on that property for Melvin, Brian and Allison & Travis to live in?

marriages rescued

people overcoming addictions

children, teenagers, adults and even 90 something year old coming to know Jesus and finding a new life in Him!

let’s get to act 2 of our story in 1 Samuel....

BODY:

before we pick up where we left off in chapter 17… i want to take you back to chapter 16, where God had sent Samuel the prophet to Jesse’s house in Bethlehem to anoint a new king because he had rejected King Saul. i want us to remember that the choosing of David as the next king was also another unexpected act of God but it sets the scene for us when david shows up in chapter 17

look with me in verse 6 of chapter 16:

1 Samuel 16:6–13 (ESV)

6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 10 And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest (smallest), but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” 12 And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

David was so young, so small, that his own father didn’t even think to bring him before Samuel.

but God had already chosen his new king, it was an unexpected choice, but the young, small David would allow God to show that his strength is made perfect in weakness…

and God was at work doing something here… setting something up… not just the 2nd king of Israel but a line of kings, coming from young, small David… culminating 1000 years later.... in bethlehem… in a young, small baby who would be KING forever!

so on to act 2 of our story… we left Saul and the Israelites dismayed and greatly afraid of the Philistines and their “man of the between”, Goliath

as act 2 opens in verse 12.... we have an obvious scene change.... we are picked up from the action in the valley of elah and dropped off about 12 miles to the east in a little town called Bethlehem… read with me...

1 Samuel 17:12 (ESV)

12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years.

David - of course we have met David already… we know he is the next king… already anointed by Samuel… and chosen by God to be “a king for myself”

we also know that the Spirit of God had rushed on David from that day forward

here, we are also reminded that David is one of 8 sons… we don’t know much about David’s seven brothers… we know they were passed by for the role of king… even though, at least some of them, really looked the part

our narrator is just introducing this new character to us....

we’re told that David’s father Jesse is an old man at this point.... kind of interesting if you’ve been reading the story of 1 Samuel

- the sons of old men so far in the book of 1 samuel have not fared well.... do you remember the sons of old man Eli? see chapter 2 later today

what about the sons of old man Samuel? see chapter 8 this afternoon in your study

so if we’re paying attention, we might ask ourselves… “i wonder if the son of old man Jesse will fare any better?”

*******

in verse 13 we find a little more detail about some of David’s brothers....

1 Samuel 17:13 ESV

13 The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.

so 3 of David’s brothers were actually soldiers in Saul’s army…

the oldest, Eliab, if we remember, was the one with impressive height and stature....

not chosen as the next king… but

they were over in the valley of Elah.... fighting with Saul… part of the group on one side of the valley that was afraid and dismayed…

*******

1 Samuel 17:14–15 (ESV)

14 David was the youngest (or smallest). The three eldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.

David was not at war with the other Israelites

he was too young and too small to have gone to battle

i think it’s important to say here that the smallness and youngness of David compared to his older brothers has been made very apparent so far in the story.... on purpose I’m sure… because God is at work doing the unexpected...

we know, from chapter 16, that despite his age… despite his stature.... David is the one who has been chosen by God to be the next king!

*******

all of a sudden… as we’ve been learning about our new character, our narrator takes us quickly back to the battle scene...

1 Samuel 17:16 ESV

16 For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.

40 DAYS!!!! this is the funniest part of the story to me..... Goliath is now stepping out from the front line twice a day… morning and evening… saying the same thing… “choose someone and send them out to fight me… whoever wins will win for their whole side”

and that’s it! the israelites are scared and trembling… and i guess Goliath just goes back and hangs out at his tent

40 days???? i mean, what are the Israelites doing each day???,

“i’m scared” “me too” “who’s going to fight for us” “i don’t know” ..... “you wanna get some breakfast??” “yeah ok”

and then that evening.... Goliath comes out and starts yelling again...

“i’m scared” “me too” “who’s going to fight for us” “i don’t know”..... “you wanna get some dinner before we go to bed?” “yeah ok”

nothing changes… for 40 days.... why don’t the Philistines with Goliath in the front, just rush the scared and dismayed Israelites????

because God is at work… doing things in His timing… and he’s about to send a most unexpected hero...

*******

Back to Bethlehem....

1 Samuel 17:17–20 (ESV)

17 And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers. 18 Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.”

19 Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20 And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him....

it was a trivial errand.... david had probably made this kind of trip before but not in the last 40 days… because it doesn’t seem that Jesse knew anything about the specifics of the situation.... nothing about Goliath anyway… he wants a report on his sons.... bring a token back… let me know their good

and David was an obedient son…

*******

1 Samuel 17:20–22 (ESV)

20 ....And he came to the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry. 21 And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. 22 And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers.

David gets to the battle scene and just like any young boy, can’t wait to see what’s going on.... leaves the food with someone else… and runs to the group of soldiers to find his big brothers...

interesting i think… 2nd time in 3 verses that david left things he was responsible for with a keeper… he left the sheep with a keeper in vs. 20 and now he left the food with a keeper in vs. 22

maybe just a little foreshadowing… that this was the beginning of David laying down old responsibilities and picking up new, kingly responsibilities

David finds his brothers… without a doubt wants some fighting stories… vs. 23....

*******

1 Samuel 17:23 (ESV)

23 As 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.

here we go! 40 days… same message … twice a day from Goliath… the only difference this time was that DAVID HEARD HIM

we see this in the text… but no one else noticed that day i’m sure.... this had been going on for 40 days.... none of the soldiers… none of david’s brothers… not king saul cared that david had heard goliath’s threat this time.... but we know.... this would be the turning point....

*******

1 Samuel 17:24 ESV

24 All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid.

Israel’s fear —

again… when the israelites SAW goliath, they were afraid… MUCH afraid it says

remember the theme of seeing or not seeing as God sees in 1 Samuel....

so the question is.... if the soldiers who are scared and fleeing are seeing Goliath as man sees… what would Goliath look like to someone who is seeing as God sees?

*******

1 Samuel 17:25–27 (ESV)

25 And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come 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.”

40 days this has been going on… did king Saul draw up a plan? did king Saul volunteer to fight Goliath? nope.... saul lets this rumor out… just to see if anyone would take up the fight against Goliath and save his tail.... little david heard the rumor there in the camp… 2 questions from david....

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?” 27 And the people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.”

david’s 2 questions

[first words spoken by David in the Bible]

1st question was to clarify this rumor.... and the people answered, “yeah, that’s what will be done for whoever kills the Philistine champion

2nd question was showing us something… this question sounded nothing like anything we had heard from Saul or the rest of the army.... this question sounded like it was coming from a man who was seeing differently!

sounds like a man ready to put an end to this mocking of God’s army and God himself. .... “who is this man… this uncircumcised philistine.... defying the one, true, living god....” (we know something of the philistine gods… do you remember Dagon the philistine god from chapter 5 of 1 samuel? definitely NOT a living god!!!

David wasn’t afraid, he wasn’t shattered or dismayed… i think we’re beginning to see the effects of the spirit rushing upon david

and as far as an answer to david’s 2nd question???..... bunch of nothing from the soldiers on that one.... “who is this man????”

why is he not scared like we are????

******

actually, there was a response… it came from David’s brother, the person who probably knew him best:

look at verse 28...

1 Samuel 17:28–30 (ESV)

28 Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.”

anyone here a younger brother? younger brothers never get the benefit of the doubt do they?

and david certainly wasn’t going to get it on this day....can’t you just hear Eliab the older brother? “we’re at war… that dude’s a giant.... and we’re all afraid… you have no idea how stupid you sound… you know nothing!”

there may have also been some sort of a sibling rivalry going on here.....

i mean, Eliab had been passed over by Samuel.... he saw David anointed as the next king.. kind of reminds me of the story of Joseph and his older, jealous brothers...

but in fact, this was not evil in David’s heart, David was full of the Spirit.... David had been chosen by God.... it was Eliab that KNEW NOTHING! Eliab was still seeing as man sees....

little David responds to his brother…vs. 29

29 And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?” (can’t I even speak???”

30 And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before.

here.... at the end of act 2 of our story.... we can picture David, just going from huddle to huddle… asking these ridiculous, presumptuous questions.... running around the camp.... you can imagine what all the soldiers were thinking about this annoying little boy.... but God didn’t see David that way...

CONCLUSION:

God has always been a god of the unexpected! no one in the valley that day could have seen what was coming.

no one would have expected that israel’s rescue would come from a young, small shepherd boy running around the camp bothering everybody!

but God was at work… doing the unexpected.... putting into action a sequence of events that we can trace throughout the old testament and right into the book of Matthew...

when a descendant of David, another obedient son.... showed up on the scene saying things that sounded even more presumptuous than anything David was saying that day in the valley of Elah!

and those who knew him best looked at each other and asked in Mattew 13 verse 55:

Matthew 13:55–57 (ESV)

55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57 And they took offense at him...

we can’t really blame them can we? i mean, how often have God’s unexpected ways caught us off guard? how often have we been offended when God acts differently than we’d like Him to… or on a different time table than we had in mind???

but here’s what we know...

When we trust God for the victory, we can expect the unexpected.

are you comfortable with that? or are you still living each day hoping for the comfortable.... using prayer to try and bend God’s will to yours... rather than bending your will to God’s?

where are you placing your trust?

money?

success?

a certain relationship?

each of these, at some point, will let you down

but for me, i put my faith in the unexpected ways of jesus.... cause he’s never let. me. down.

PRAY