Shepherd as King and Leader
Leadership under the Spirit • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction
Introduction
We’re continuing this morning our sermon series in Samuel looking at Leadership under the Spirit
Last week (You can catch up online) we saw that David was anointed King
David who was an unlikely leader, the youngest in the family and a shepherd is annointed king. Whilst the current king is still alive
This week we’re looking at one of, if not the most famous David Story
Many sermons present this account as if it’s some sort of parable
My problems in life = Goliath
David and his slingshot = Me
The problem is this kind of thinking will not help you.
This kind of teaching which basically makes you the main character in the bible will ultimately lead you to lose your trust in God.
Because you will come up there and look your “Goliath” your problems in life and you will fire your sling shot at them and your problems will stand firm.
That’s because this story isn’t about that. This is actual history and there are lessons we can learn about how David leads in this context. We can seek to use David as an example and a role model. But like any role model we shouldn’t seek to just copy his actions under totally different circumstances and expect the same results.
This passage gets right to the heart of biblical leadership though in that the leadership enacted here is different. The kind of leadership exercised here is seen in an even greater way in the person of Jesus Christ.
Goliath
Goliath
let’s take a look at whats going on here
David has now become a servant in the household of Saul. He’s been annointed king and has proved very useful to Saul who is suffering terribly without the Holy Spirit in his life. David is not yet able to recieve the authority of the king despite being the annointed one - because Saul is still alive.
1 Samuel 17:1 (ESV)
Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle.
This is where we pick up the narrative the army of Israel is engaged in a battle with a neighbouring kingdom.
Now in 1 Samuel 16, whilst Saul still had the Holy Spirit with him, Saul was engaged in a battle which as we heard last week he chose to disobey God and make his own arrangements.
Now we have the army engaged in yet another battle but they are a bit clueless how to handle it. Perhaps because they’re still being lead by Saul - who without the Holy Spirit is a bit useless.
So let’s read on
And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
Here we meet Goliath who is six cubits and a span. Depending on who you ask this means Goliath was somewhere between 6” 9’ and 9 foot tall
He is described as a champion. This is the only time in the entire Old Testament that this word is used.
But it seems to imply that Goliath stands apart from other soldiers in the Philistine army. Not just because of his height but also he seems to operate on his own. He also seems to believe he can fight battles single handedly.
We then continue with this impressive description of Goliath let’s remind ourselves
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. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And his shield-bearer went before him.
Here’s the big guy wearing a coat which weights about the same as a small woman
He must have moved incredibly slowly but intimidatingly around the battlefield.
Now here’s the first thing we get to hear Goliath say
He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you 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. 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.”
When I was younger we used to play would you rather.
Would you rather be attacked by 1 duck-sized horse or 1,000 horse-sized ducks?
That kind of madness
Would you rather fight the entire Philistine army or fight just one Philistine (who happens to be 9 foot tall)?
If you beat Goliath you can go home with the entire Philistine Army as servants but if you lose then they will make you into their servants.
And the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks 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.
They didn’t stick around to weigh it up very much did they. No debate. Just “crikey this guy is massive,’
So here we have Saul and the Israelite army cowering in the shadow of Goliath
Godly Leadership
Godly Leadership
Where’s David amongst all of this?
David is at home in Bethlehem tending his fathers sheep
But his 3 eldest brothers are facing the Philistines and Goliath in the battle
So Jesse their father sends David with supplies out to the battle.
Which amusingly includes ten cheeses for the commanders of the army
David heads over he checks with his brothers how the battle is going
Now we’re told that whilst David is speaking with his brothers
1 Samuel 17:23 (ESV)
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.
David has now heard the same challenge as the rest of Israelite army
Then we have a bit of backwards and forwards between David and the soldiers who are telling him about Goliath. Which leads to him ending up in front of Saul
And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”
Really interesting out on the battlefield is Golliath curising the army of Israel, cursing God’s people.
Sauls’ army and Saul himself are terrified.
The shepherd boy, David, filled with the Holy Spirit turns up and stands before he king, doesn’t say hello or anything. But I will go and fight him.
And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” 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, 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. 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.”
Saul has no creativity in his leadership. We’ve seen this before - he’s not able to imagine victory. That’s because he, if you remember, is trying to be a king like all the other nations.
David however is growing into being a king after God’s own hearts. So here’s point number one if you’re taking notes… godly leaders do things differently.
1 Samuel & 2 Samuel Commentary
So Saul and David, the two anointed ones, had two very different perceptions of the situation with which Israel was confronted. Saul, from whom the Spirit had departed, could see only the physical power of the Philistine giant, while David, upon whom the Spirit had come, had a vision for the power of the Lord, who was able to deliver him from the hand of the giant.
David is a visionary. Being a visionary is one of the things which separates leaders from just about everyone else.
I’ll say that again. Being a visionary is one of the things which separates leaders from just about everyone else.
Israelites and Saul terrified in the shadow of Goliath.
David - totally unfazed.
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!”
David knows that the God who can save him from, lions and bears (oh my), is not scared of Goliath.
God is not scared of Goliath. God can defeat him. That’s vision.
Shepherd King
Shepherd King
I can use the skills I’ve learned, with God’s help to defeat this guy. That’s vision
And as we see Saul sends him off
Before he does this Saul attempts to equip David
Then Saul outfitted David as a soldier in armor. He put his bronze helmet on his head and belted his sword on him over the armor. David tried to walk but he could hardly budge.
David told Saul, “I can’t even move with all this stuff on me. I’m not used to this.” And he took it all off.
Your boy can’t move in someone else’s armour. It’s yet another example of Sauls lack of creativity lack of ambition.
I’m sending someone off to war, doesn’t matter that they’re not a soldier here’s my armour.
But David is clever he takes it all off
He knows that he didn’t defeat lions dressed as a soldier. he defeated lions dressed as a shepherd
David knows who he is. He knows what will work for him. He knows how to lead differently.
Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.
Some of those silly sermons that we talked about earlier fall into a trap of saying wow it’s amazing that David used just a sling shot to defeat Goliath - imagine how you can face your problems just fire your sling shot (I have suffered this particular sermon at least twice in my life)
Here’s the thing about slingshots
1 Samuel & 2 Samuel Commentary
in those days the sling was an important weapon of war. Judges 20:16 speaks of 700 elite troops who were left-handed and “each of them could sling a rock and hit a target within a hairsbreadth without missing.”
So this is not some feeble weapon that David goes up against a giant with in some sort of reckless way. David isn’t tempting God here.
Sometimes we get carried away and say that because Jesus can feed a few thousand with some loaves and fishes then that’s what we can bring before God just loaves and fishes.
But that’s kind of crazy if I invited all of you around for a (socially distant) lunch I make sure I have enough. I don’t need to tempt God with some loaves and fishes.
However, you can never be 100% certain things will go well right.
Whoever watches the wind will not plant;
whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.
We do have to take risks
David wasn’t blindly reckless. But he wasn’t looking for the safest possible route.
Like a farmer waiting for the perfect weather conditions. I’ve been watching Clarkson’s Farm on Amazon Prime and he shows that the weather is a constant battle for farmers. But they still take the risk and plant.
Godly leaders aren’t reckless but they do have risk taking ambition.
and that ambition leads David before Goliath dressed as a shepherd with his staff in hand and his slingshot
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.
Goliath is laughing. Underestimating the Lord’s anointed
But David
1 Samuel 17:45–47 (ESV)
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 Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.”
You can do all the prep in the world. You can have enough confidence in your own personal competence. But eventually you simply have to trust God.
David isn’t reckless but he does totally and utterly trust God. The battle is the Lord’s. The God of angel armies is with me. You’re just a big man.
But look at what the purpose of David’s actions was
1 Samuel 17:46–47 (ESV)
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. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.”
There is a God in Israel… the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD’s
It’s not about us. Godly leadership is visionary, it’s ambitious, but most of all godly leadership is for God.
This wasn’t for David’s fame and renown. This wasn’t to make David look good. It wasn’t to make Israel look good. This was to make God look good.
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.
There is a God in Israel. The LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD’s.
Application
Application
So how then shall we live right? If we’re not David? If this story isn’t about us? How can we apply this to our lives?
Well we can finish where I started we can look to David as an example. We just need to avoid silly myths.
Like David - we must have the Holy Spirit with us
Like David when God calls us to a task we should dare to have the vision to believe it is acomplishable
Like David we mustn’t be reckless but we can be ambitious.
Like David we must know that when God calls us it’s not for our fame it’s for his.
But I know some of you are still worried about your problems in life. So let me offer you this.
Our problems in life are huge. Goliath is 9 foot tall. Your problems make Goliath look like a pebble.
Problems of sin and death, of corruption, problems of addiction and illness. Those are the giants we are surrounded with and yet
God doesn’t send a soldier, he doesn’t send you, he doesn’t even send a man with a slingshot.
Hebrews 11 reminds us of people like David who have been brave and have exhibted great faith in their lives.
But
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
He doesn’t send a soldier to deal with your problems he sends Jesus Christ, a rabbi from Nazareth, born in Bethlehem and on the cross all our giants are defeated.
This morning if you’re looking for liberation from your goliaths. Don’t go out there and do battle come to Jesus Christ the author and perfector of our faith.
Amen.