God gives us courage

What’s up everyone. I’m Pastor Mark and I am very excited to be hanging out with you all this week.

We have four churches with us this week. We have Daybreak! We have North Side! We have Fellowship! And we have Rez!

Call up the leaders.

What is courage? Merriam-Webster defines courage as the mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.

Tonight, we are going to be talking about that. We are going to be learn about how God gave courage to David.

Open your Bible to 1 Samuel 17

We open up with two large armies forming on two hills with a large valley between them. On one side, we have the army of Israel and King Saul. On the other side, we have the Philistine army. At this time in history, both sides would have a champion. A soldier that was better than most and won in battle all the time. And what the armies would do they would send out their champions to taunt the other armies with one-on-one battles.

The problem with the Philistine champion was that he was a giant. I’m 6’3, and I would be short compared to him. Historians say he was somewhere between 7’6” and 9’ tall. Needless to say, the Israeli army was scared so they were in a standoff. They were across a valley just staring at each other.

Let's pick up in verse 12

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. 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. 14 David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.[1]

So David was the youngest of eight boys that Jesse his father had. His older brothers were on the battlefield with King Saul. David also went to the battlefield but he couldn’t stay there because he had to feed the livestock.

Verse 16

16 For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening. [2]

But Goliath was still there, and there was no champion for God’s people.

That is what happens in our life, right? We have a giant facing us and we try to continue with our life like nothing is happening but after 40 days it is still there.

That is what is going on here.

In verses 17 and 18 David’s dad was missing his sons and was worried for their safety. So he asked David to go to the battlefield and find his brothers and give them some food and find out how they are doing. He also told him to bring cheese to the commanders.

So off David goes with some bread, wheat, and cheese to find his brothers. When he gets to the camp the Philistine army advances so all of the men of Israel run to the front line.

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. 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.

24 All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid. 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.” 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.” [3]

Can you imagine this little kid talking smack about Goliath to all these soldiers. For months they had seen Goliath step up and challenge the army and they were all so scared they would run away. Once his brothers saw this they pulled him aside and got made at him. Basically telling him to go home and to stop being a distraction.

Lets get back to our lives. We know there is a problem/enemy that needs to be taken care of. We see people that are supposed to be taking care of the problem not doing anything because they are scared of what might happen.

But King Saul ended up hearing what David was saying and he sent for him.

Verse 32

32 And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”[4]

This Kid told the King you should not be so scared of Goliath. Then he said I will go kill him.

At this point, I can imagine all the soldiers and King Saul laughing at this kid. King Saul tells him he is just a kid and Goliath has been a warrior since he was a kid. But David responded with this.

34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 36 Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 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 this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!” [5]

David told Saul exactly why he would defeat Goliath. Back home on the farm, I have to protect the flock even from bears and lions. I have fought them and beat them with God’s help. If he would help me protect our family's sheep of course he would help me defeat his people’s enemy.

So Saul, wanting to protect David the best he could got all of his own personal armor and put it on David. Can you imagine a grown man's armor and his sword? David could barely move with all this stuff on.

David had to tell Saul this isn’t going to work. And he asked Saul to let him use what he was used to using. It wasn’t a sword or knife. It was a wooden staff and slingshot.

You see that is what ends up happening to us. We see a big problem and the world around us thinks we need something big and spectacular to defeat the problem. But that is simply not true. The only thing we need is God and the gifts he has given us. You see, if God calls us to battle then he will equip us for battle. David knew this truth, he had lived this truth in the past. As a shepherd, he was only equipped with a staff and a slingshot. He knew how to use them, and he knew how to kill with them. On the farm, he didn’t have any special armor when fought the lions and bears. He used the speed and quickness that God had given him.

David knew he had a duty to protect and he knew God would give him the strength to succeed because God had done so in the past. You see God uses our past experiences to give us Courage.

So, David runs out to the battlefield but before he gets there he runs to a stream and grabs 5 rocks. He then has the baddest lines in the Bible.

43 And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 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.” 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. 46 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 host 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, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the Lordsaves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.” [6]

Goliath then charges David all kinds of mad. Which played right into David’s hands. David grabbed one of the rocks, put it into the sling and let it fly. He hit Goliath right between the eyes and he fell right onto his face.

When I was in High school I played football, I sang in choir, and each year I was asked to run for student government. In a school of a couple thousand people everyone knew me and liked me. I was a nice guy not a bully so I had a pretty good reputation. But I also had a weakness, I needed everyone to like me. It was what mattered the most to me. So, I didn’t do anything that would cause someone to not like me.

I didn’t run for student government because if I won the person who I ran against wouldn’t like me. And if I didn’t win I would be crushed because that would mean people didn’t like me.

I remember one day after football practice in tenth grade, a senior was bullying a much smaller guy Josh. Now Josh was my friend, and while he was being pushed against his locker, he looked to me for help.

I knew I could help him, but I also knew I could make an enemy, and all his friends would hate me, so I just turned away. I could see the hurt in Josh’s eyes, but what could I do?

The next day after practice this same bully ended up in our locker room and again started to push around Josh. This time a couple of us tried to talk to this guy but he bowed up in our face so we backed down.

So the next day after practice the same bully was back in our locker room pushing Josh around. Now I was about the same size as this bully but I didn’t want to fight him but I wanted to protect my friend and my teammate. The strength that God had given me wasn’t fighting it was making friends. And my whole team was friends with me. So I asked a few of the other players to walk with me as I talked to this guy.

So I yelled at the bully to leave him alone. When he looked up, he didn’t just see me. He saw our whole team coming to protect our friend. When he saw what was happening, he backed away, and I told him he wasn’t welcome.

I knew I had to protect my friend. I didn’t think fighting was the way. To be truthful, I was a little scared to fight because I wasn’t a fighter. God didn’t call me to be a fighter he called me to be a friend to people. He actually gave me the strength to make friends. And I knew if I asked, I would have people help me protect Josh just because I asked. I had courage in the way God had created me because of all my prior experiences with my friends. I didn’t have to become someone I wasn’t because of a problem. Instead, I had courage in God giving me strength in the way he made me.

There is not always a literal Giant that we are facing in life. But, there will be some giant obstacles from time to time. The world will tell you to take the easy way out by either turning away from it or tell you to change everything about you to face it. But the truth is God has perfectly made you to face any giant in your life. God is not surprised by the giant and has already prepared you to face it by the talents and strengths you already have.

David didn’t need to have fancy armor or a special sword. He needed a rock and a sling and God on his side.

What Giants are you facing today? How has God specially made you to be able to face it?