Knowing God’s Plan and Process
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Introduction
Last week we talked generally about David, and his revolutionary nature. We covered some topics that some folks might find touchy or political, but in reality there is truth, and then there is the rest. Sometimes truth is found in science or philosophy, and sometimes truth is found in politics, but wherever we find truth, we as believers are to champion the truth because in the end all truth comes from God.
But how does one become a champion of the truth. Was David born a hero? We know that something happened to him to transform him after he met the prophet, but what exactly was that? Today I want to take a closer look at David’s life, and see if we can’t figure it out together.
Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle, and were gathered at Sochoh, which belongs to Judah; they encamped between Sochoh and Azekah, in Ephes Dammim. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and they encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array against the Philistines. The Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, with a valley between them.
The Philistines are the descendants of what is known today as the Palestinians. They are one of the only remnants of the tribes that Israel was to drive out during the conquest of Joshua. They were never directly confronted, but were always used by God to punish or temper Israel. Even today, we see that the Philistines continue to harass the nation of Israel.
This constant harassment by the Philistines is probably what led Israel to desire a strong military ruler. They begged God for a king and despite His warnings, they persisted. He finally relented and gave them a king who ended up doing everything that He warned them about. In chapter 14 of 1 Samuel, Saul is partially successful in driving back the Philistines, but he only had limited success because of his moral failings, and this is the first point I want to make today.
If you do not have your life in order, you will not be able to resist the enemy. You may have occasional battles, but you will not see a complete victory. The biggest problem the Israelites were having was that they wanted to be like the other nations of the earth and have a human king to lead them. Today we call that type of thinking humanism and saints I want to tell you it’s the direct opposite of what God calls us to. Humanism leads to moral weakness because everything is relative. We lose our standing because we move from battle array to cowardice. Just look at the nation of Israel as they dealt with just such a situation:
And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. He had a bronze helmet 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 bronze javelin between his shoulders. Now the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels; and a shield-bearer went before him. Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the 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. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” And the Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.” When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
Fear creeps in when we are not sure of our standing with God. When we are living our life according to God’s direction and God’s plan, we know that the enemy cannot defeat us, but when we move and live according to the designs of man, we are dismayed when somebody bigger and badder than us comes along. Why?
It’s easy really, if you’re big, there’s always somebody bigger. If you have a gun, there’s always someone with a rifle. If you have tanks, there’s always someone with missiles, and sometimes they’re nuclear!
BUT! If you stand with God, and God is with you, then who can be against you? And this is the attitude of David. Let’s compare David to his brothers, and this is fun because if you remember your Bible history, Samuel came looking for God’s anointed amongst Jesse’s sons, and nobody imagined it could be David, in fact, his very own father didn’t even consider bringing him out to meet the prophet. He certainly didn’t look like a king physically, but as we will begin to see in this story, he certainly had the makings of a king.
Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse, and who had eight sons. And the man was old, advanced in years, in the days of Saul. The three oldest sons of Jesse had gone to follow Saul to the battle. The names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. David was the youngest. And the three oldest followed Saul. But David occasionally went and returned from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.
David is doing the most spiritual thing David can do. He’s being faithful to the task that God has him doing. He’s being a faithful son. Feeding his father’s sheep. This in addition to his other job, and that was chief harp player for the king. You see, the king was tormented by a spirit sent from God because he disobeyed the word of the Lord. King Saul was actually going crazy!
And the Philistine drew near and presented himself forty days, morning and evening.
The Philistine does what the enemy does best. He shows up! Nothing else, he just showed himself to the Israelites and they went running.
There are some very spiritually aware people in this congregation, so much so that they can see the enemy coming. If we are not careful, we are at risk of just standing there, and much like the Israelites, we are apt to tremble in our boots!
Then Jesse said to his son David, “Take now for your brothers an ephah of this dried grain and these ten loaves, and run to your brothers at the camp. And carry these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and see how your brothers fare, and bring back news of them.”
Notice David’s obedience to the mundane. Sometimes all God wants us to do is basic chores. Everyone wants to jump up and be a champion for the kingdom. I tell you, you will never get your opportunity to be a champion if you don’t jump at the opportunity to serve. David was just serving.. Being obedient, taking luch to his brothers. But that is exactly when opportunity knocks. When you are obedient, you put yourself in the middle of God’s will, and it is then that you realize that it is God Himself that has brought you to this very place and time, to give you your opportunity to step up.
If you are waiting for ministry opportunities, and feel like you have been waiting forever, then good for you! You are exactly where David was. But pastor, you don’t understand, I have a call of God in my life! And David didn’t? Wasn’t it Samuel the prophet who had anointed David to be king over Israel? How was it then, that David was still delivering lunch to his big brothers, and acting as his father’s own personal Headline News Channel? If you are patient and obedient with where God has you, then God will eventually present opportunity for ministry to you—in HIS time, not yours.
Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.
So David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, and took the things and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the camp as the army was going out to the fight and shouting for the battle. For Israel and the Philistines had drawn up in battle array, army against army.
So much like us, we stand there and yell at the enemy. We rebuke him, we bind him and we stand there and shake our fist, but in the end nothing everh happens. They were drawn up in battle array, but not going at it. They were like two Jr. High boys puffing their chest out, getting into each other’s face and talking smack, but not willing to take that next step.
1 Samuel 17:22-27Notice how fearful everyone is? Everyone is quaking in their boots. In fact, the king attempts to bribe the soldiers offering them fame and fortune if they will go out and defend the honor of Israel. But there are no takers, only quakers and shakers. Well David hears all of this, and even about the reward. While I don’t think he was particularly interested in the reward, I think he was a bit intrigued what kind of bounty (value) the king had placed on this assignment.
Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger was aroused against David, and he said, “Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.”
And David said, “What have I done now? Is there not a cause?” Then he turned from him toward another and said the same thing; and these people answered him as the first ones did.
Here is where we get to see what God saw in David’s brothers, and why David was chosen over the rest. Imagine with me God having a conversation with Eliab, “Well I’m sorry son, I chose your brother instead of you. I know you’re handsome and tall and fit, but I didn’t choose you to be king. Instead I would like to give you an opportunity to be immortalized in the Bible. I will let you say a few words and whatever it is you say, I’ll put that in my book!”
Poor Eliab. The only thing we have to remember him by is his call to 911 and his ride on the waaaaaambulance!
But David shows a little of his youth as well, look at what he says:
“What did I do now?” but he comes right back and says “Is there not a cause?”
You know, the people closest to us may show up and try to dissuade us from pursuing God with our whole heart. But after all is said and done, we have to say like David, “Is there not a cause?”
What cause do you serve? What cause is there? What is the whole purpose of your life? Do you know what God’s business is? Are you about doing it? Is there not a cause for New Song Foursquare Church? Is there not a cause in Tucson, AZ?
Think about it a while. Are you busy serving your cause, or God’s?
Now when the words which David spoke were heard, they reported them to Saul; and he sent for him. Then David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”
And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.”
But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.” Moreover David said, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”
And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”
Notice David had what everyone else lacked. He had the confidence that comes from faith. He didn’t trust in his own hand or his own strength, he trusted in the Lord to deliver him from the hand of the Philistine. The thing is, David had been in bad situations before. Bears and Lions can be a lot more deadly than the human animals. David has survived his encounter with these but acknowledged that his strength was not from him. The victories belonged not to David, but to the Lord! And he took it a step further.
So Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.” So David took them off.
David had to have confidence in his own experiences, and the tools that God had given him. If you get the opportunity to minister to God, don’t just mimic what you’ve see pastors and preachers do, do what you’ve been doing all along, oh and that brings up another point. David only had a testimony of God’s faithfulness because he was faithfully fulfilling the tasks which God assigned to him and was learning how to trust God in the process.
Saints of God, do not despise the Lord’s timing, nor scoff at His process. If you do, you will heap upon yourself grief that God never intended for you. Don’t walk around in other people’s experience. God has given you your own armor that is custom made for you!
Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. So the Philistine came, and began drawing near to David, and the man who bore the shield went before him. And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was only a youth, ruddy and good-looking. So the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”
Do not expect that the enemy is suddenly going to play nicey nice with you. He will taunt you, he will call you names, and he will threaten you. You must simply take the testimony and the tools that God has given you, and draw near and prepare for the battle.
Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, 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. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”
David was not afraid to use fighting words because he had confidence that God was going to deliver him. He knew whom he served. If you serve God faithfully you will have the same confidence in the tools that God has placed in your hand to defeat the enemy.
So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it.
And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.
David ran toward the battle, not away from it. If the battle belongs to the Lord, then we need to be pressing forward. Putting the enemy on the defensive. We need to be running to the front lines to affect the will of God upon our enemy.
Now the men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines as far as the entrance of the valley and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell along the road to Shaaraim, even as far as Gath and Ekron. Then the children of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their tents. And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.
When Saul saw David going 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.”
So the king said, “Inquire whose son this young man is.”
Then, as David returned from the slaughter 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?”
So David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”
Conclusion
When we are faithful to confront the enemy, when we stand in battle array, we must be willing to do more than shout and scream, whine and complain. WE must be willing and ready to move forward, to RUN to the front lines of the battle field. This is the only way for us as Christians to have any effect on the world around us.
And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.
We must be willing to violently advance the kingdom of heaven! Not like Muslim jihadist, but like David; refusing to bow to the threats of the enemy. He knew that the battle was the Lord’s do you? He had a testimony of faithfulness, do you? He had developed the tools of the trade, have you? By his obedience, he had placed himself in the right place at the right time, have you? Finally, he refused to whine about his circumstances, and was bold enough to ask, “Is there not a cause?” So my question for you this morning is: “Is there not a cause?”
Benediction
“The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.” ’