Why David?

God is always working. Always

Opening Diaologe

it would be easy to look at the story of David and Goliath with a group of youth and tell you all that “Oh look David was just a teen” and “look what puny little David did,” but I think we would be missing so much more from the story if that’s what we did

Yes David was a “youth” but the bible actually describes him as a “man of war” (1 samuel 16:18) So let’s pivot this picture in our heads of who David was and how we’ve all been taught that he was this puny little “runt” if you will

There’s a much bigger point to the story of David & Goliath that goes well beyond David and his 5 smooth stones

We are going to read through the story of David & Goliath and as we do, I want you to think through these 3 questions:

Who is King Saul? Where did he come from? Is he a good dude? What are his characteristics?

Who is David? Where did he come from? Is he a good dude? What are his characteristics?

So what if David kills Goliath? Why is this victory such a big deal??

Pray over Message

Play Bible Project Video

King Saul, and David. Let’s see who they were

So who is King Saul? Where did he come from? Is he a good dude? What are his characteristics?

READ 1 Samuel 10:17-24

Saul proceeds to lead the israelites through battles against the Moabites, the Ammonites, the nation of Edom, the kings of Zobah, the Phillistines, Amalekites

But hold on… Read 1 Samuel 15

What would you say about Saul’s Characteristics knowing now what we know?

Cocky

Prideful

thinks he knows better than God

Wants all the glory to go to himself

Puts his own success and reputation above everything else

So who is David? Where did he come from? Is he a good dude? What are his characteristics?

Read 1 Samuel 16:1-13

So Samuel goes at the Lord’s command and finds the next king of Israel. He goes to Jesse, of Bethlehem, and finds David

Next thing we know, “the spirit of the Lord departs from King Saul” (ch 16:14) and he wants someone to play him some music to help soothe his torment. One of his servants speaks up and says “hey I heard theres this guy named David who can play a mean lyre.”

So David is brought into the servant hood of king Saul to play the lyre for him. 1 Samuel 16:22

So before we get to the battle of David & Goliath what do we know so far about the current state of affairs in the nation of Israel?

They have decided that they feel it is best that they have a King (not God’s design)

A king is chosen for them, who turns out to be a cocky, arrogent, greedy king who only wants to better himself and not necessarily lead the people the right way

They are constantly at war with the surrounding nations. Bloody, nasty, hand to hand combat is nothing out of the norm for the Israelites. Either being attacked by or attacking other nations all of the time

Israel is not really in that great of a spot here…

Read 1 Samuel 17

Do you see now how HUGE it was that David wins this battle?! Not only does this hand a huge blow to the phillistine army from a tactical stand point, but it is now the first steps in God redeeming his people, yet again, by calling David as the next King of Israel.

We get so caught up in the details of the story,

Goliath was 11 feet tall

David was just “a youth”

the armor didn’t fit him so he went in without it

he chose 5 smooth stones

he kills Goliath, cuts off his head etc

But lets take a look at the BIG picture here! GOD WINS!!!

Closing Dialogue. Why David? Because by choosing David, God proves that:

God is always in control. He’s always working.

Yes we can take a great lesson from the fact that David may have been smaller, and younger, and the underdog in the story, but theres so much more here! Sometimes it just feels like things are stacked up against us. We know that we are in the boat that we are in because of the decisions that we’ve made, but that battle that is in front of us is already won!

At this…very…moment, God is working. He’s working in our nation, he’s working in our schools, he’s working in your homes, he’s working in your families, he’s working in your small groups

For one reason or another, God has given us this ability to make decisions on our own. Even when sometimes those decisions are’t the right ones. The crazy part is that he still puts us in those positions to make those decisions, even when he knows we will make the wrong one!

Look at the nation of Israel

God allowed them to make so many wrong decisions, but in the end, He won. With His guy. In His way. At His time.

Are you trusting Him that he’s going to win that battle today?

Let’s pray