David and Goliath | Messiah: The Coming King

Sermon Transcript:

(transcribed with AI)

Good morning, church. A scripture reading this morning is 1 Samuel chapter 17, verses 1 to the end covering the story of David and Goliath. I know it's quite lengthy, but God will help us. Our tradition as a church is to stand in order to honor God's word. And if you're able, would you stand with me? This monitor text is much longer than normal and as it may be more distracting to continue standing, please feel free to sit down if needed in order to more fully pay attention to God's word.

So I begin.

Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines. And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 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. 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.” 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.

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. 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. David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul, but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.

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. Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.”

Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 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. And he came to the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry. And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers. 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.

All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid. 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.” 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?” And the people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.”

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.” And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?” And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before.

When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. And 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 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.” 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!”

Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. 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.

And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. 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. 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.” 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. 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, 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.”

When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 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.

So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.

As soon as Saul saw David go 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.” And the king said, “Inquire whose son the boy is.” And as soon as David returned from the striking down 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?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

The reading of God's word. You may be seated if you're not already.

Amen. Thank you Ayo for reading and well done. You've made it, give yourselves a round of applause, pat on the back. Well done. That was the longest reading we have ever done in this church, just to be very clear, and we have no plans on beating that, so well done, we did it.

The story of David and Goliath. This is an incredibly famous classic story. This is probably one of the stories in our Bibles that is most well known. If you talk to somebody who had never picked up a Bible, never come to church before, and you said, you know, this is a David and Goliath situation, most people actually would know what you're talking about. This story has become so famous and for good reason. It's an incredible story, even as we read through it, we see all the beats of just a well written story all put together. We see the drama, the intrigue, the build-up, and even the resolution. It's become well-known, so well-known, it's become just part of our vocabulary. David and Goliath, you hear it, as you listen to, if you listen to sports games and things like that.

Malcolm Gladwell, a well-known and actually quite insightful author, actually wrote a book called David and Goliath, where he looks at all of these underdog stories and he tries to understand, you know, what is going on, why do the underdogs come out on top. And in his book he writes this:

What the Israelites saw was an intimidating giant. In reality, the very thing that gave the giant his size was also the source of his greatest weakness. There's an important lesson in that for battles with all kinds of giants, the powerful and the strong are not always what they seem.

So he speculates that Goliath actually had what's called gigantism, this condition where you grow very large, but it's also quite painful, even debilitating, and so he postulates, well, Goliath was big, but he wasn't actually that fearsome. And so David wins the battle because he's smaller, faster, more agile, is able to move around.

So I point that out really to make the point that we've heard the story now so many times. We've heard it so many times in so many different ways that we have begun to treat this story more like an object lesson. It's a business management parable, it's a sports team situation, it's a fairy tale like the Brothers Grimm teaching kids not to wander off into the forest. We've begun to just assume that it has no real world impact anymore, it's just a lesson for us. Even if you've grown up in church, I'm sure you've heard the story before. And oftentimes we treat it in the same way, we spiritualize it somewhat. But so often the story of David and Goliath is, here's 5 smooth stones to defeat the giants in your life. And they range from everything from basic just sort of self-help talks all the way to, far better, but trusting God.

The question is, as we get so familiar with the story, I think sometimes we actually begin to lose it a little bit. We've heard it so many times, we assume we know what the point is, and we don't pay attention to what God is doing. See, this really isn't a story about how to defeat your giants. Because the truth is you're not David. In fact, actually as we read the story we realize actually where we stand in this story is far more the cowering Israelites hiding behind, helpless against the giants that surround. If anything else, we should see this is a story of God's determination to raise up a savior.

And so this morning as we're gonna walk through what is arguably one of the most famous stories in the Bible, I want us to realize this is a story of a battle, but not just one, but actually 3. It's the battle between David and Goliath that is the sort of miniature of the greater battle between Jesus and the serpent, the battle even we enter into as the believer against sin. The story of David and Goliath shows us what the victory of Jesus looks like over sin and calls us into the fight as well.

So if you do have a Bible, please I'll invite you to open back up to 1 Samuel chapter 17. I won't reread it, don't worry, we've just heard it, but we're gonna understand what is this story all about, as we look at the story of David and Goliath, what exactly is God trying to teach us?

If you go back to the beginning of the chapter, we're introduced to the Philistines. Now, if you remember, the Philistines have been bothering the people of Israel for quite some time. This isn't the first time they've shown up in the story. In fact, for a couple 100 years, they have been the enemies of Israel. In fact, even earlier in the book of First Samuel, they actually get into a fight with Israel, and the Philistines win. Back in chapter 4, we're told:

So the Philistines fought. And Israel was defeated and they fled every man to his home, and there was a very great slaughter for 30,000 ft soldiers of Israel fell. And the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hofni and Phineas, died.

I mean this is about as bad as it can go. The people of Israel get utterly defeated, 30,000 people are killed, along with the two sons of the priest, and the Ark of the Covenant is captured at the same time. So when we realize that the Israelites are afraid of the Philistines, it's not for no reason. By the way, if you know the story of what goes on afterwards, God ends up returning the ark all on his own. But certainly we can understand the Philistines, they've been victorious, they have been the problem, and now as they invade into Judah, out walks this guy Goliath.

He is bigger than anyone that they have ever seen before. We're told that his height is 6 cubits and a span. Now we kind of wonder, OK, what does that mean? And really in our sort of measurement, it's somewhere between about 7.5 to about 9.5 ft tall. The reason that it's a bit fuzzy there is because a cubit is from your elbow to your finger. That's 1 cubit right there. A span is your thumb to your pinky. That's a span. Now the question is, whose, because everyone has a different cubit and a different span that they're going to measure, but regardless of the exact size, Goliath is huge. He's way bigger than everyone else, and what we find as he, as they describe him, is that not only is he bigger, he is more technologically advanced.

Goliath is covered in this bronze armor. We're told he had a helmet of bronze armor, a spear, and a chain mail coat. Literally in Hebrew it's described as this coat of scales, you can almost think of like dragon scale armor that he is wearing. So not only is he the biggest guy they've ever seen, from the nation that is probably their biggest problem, he is now more technologically advanced than anything that they've got. And he comes out into the valley, bellowing a challenge. Fight me one on one.

Verse 10:

The Philistines said, I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight together.

Essentially, he walks out and says, I am your enemy. Who is going to fight? And what do we find? Verse 11:

When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

It's no wonder. Here is their enemy, now greater than they've ever seen possible. Goliath is the pinnacle of a problem they can't deal with themselves.

But even in all of this description, what we are meant to keep in mind is what we just read last chapter. If you remember back in chapter 16, God speaking says:

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 at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.

They were looking all at the outward appearance, this man looks intimidating, God is looking elsewhere, and into this scene walks little David.

We're introduced to David once again in this chapter, reminded where he comes from, and we're told that while his older brothers were off serving in the military, David is too young. 20 years old was the minimum age for military service in Israel, and so David is not even 20 years old, he's a teenager of some age. We remember last chapter, he wasn't even old enough to get invited to the feast. And David has been going back and forth, he's been working for Saul, you remember he was hired to be playing the liar in his court, and we find he's been going to Saul and then going back home, taking care of the sheep and back and forth.

But now Saul and his brothers are off at war, and so his dad, Jesse says, David, it's been over a month and I've heard nothing. Go, go find them, go figure out what's happening and then come back and report to me. And so David is sent. He leaves the sheep with a keeper, we're told, because he's a good shepherd. He makes sure the sheep are taken care of, and then he goes. And when he gets there, he hears the roar of Goliath calling out his challenge day after day, defying Israel to fight against him. Been 40 days now, and not a person has answered that challenge.

And so David begins to go around and he starts to ask everyone, what's going on here? I mean this guy is roaring out a challenge. What's gonna happen if someone beats him? And everyone walks around, they say, well, you know what? Saul, he's got quite the incentive program going on here. Anyone who goes, not only will he get rich, not only will he not have to pay taxes anymore, tax exempt for life, amazing. And guess what, you get to marry the princess. This is everything you could want, and David's going around and saying, how come no one's done this? What's going on, guys?

Saul's been trying everything he can to get somebody to go. But what's David's motivation? It's actually not the riches, it's not the princess. Verse 26:

David said to the man who stood by, 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?

Notice here, what's David's motivation? It's not the fame, it's not the wealth, it's not the riches. There is an affront to God that has been unanswered. Is no one going to go? Will no one deal with the insult before God? See, Goliath's taunt is not simply that he is bigger than all of them. It's that his gods are greater than the God of Israel. See, that's exactly what David is saying. How dare he defy God. God is the one that he has set himself against.

Now his brothers start hearing about David asking all these questions, and they come in and they come in hard. How dare you, David, come here? You're trying to get everyone to go fight cos you just wanna watch. Come on, David, stop that. David kind of brushes them off and goes, what, that's not what I'm doing. That's not at all. And before long, David's talk gets to Saul, they start hearing, OK, there's a guy who's talking a pretty good game out here. And so David gets brought to Saul, and we kind of wonder about this interaction because David met Saul last chapter. David's been working for Saul. They should know each other, and yet it seems sometimes like they don't.

And probably because we're seeing this all through the lens of David. David's the main character, but you have to remember, for Saul, this is a part-time teenage intern who works in his court. Might not have actually taken up so much space in his memory, especially during this desperate time, and here comes the guy who plays music and he's going to fight. And so Saul asks him, are you actually sure? You're gonna go fight Goliath, verse 32:

David said to Saul, let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight this Philistine.

David is not just talk. He is actually going to go and take on Goliath. And Saul is looking at him, he's going, David, you can't do that. You're not even old enough to be here, you shouldn't be here, but here you are. I can't let you do that, don't you understand? This guy has been fighting since he was a kid. And David responds and he goes, well, as it turns out, so have I. David starts explaining, yeah, I've been a shepherd, but I've been fighting lions and bears.

God has actually been preparing David for this moment for some time. God has helped him through these encounters over and over again, so that when David finally meets Goliath, he's not quaking because guess what, this isn't his first rodeo. David actually understands what it looks like to trust in God, because God's been preparing him. Now just as an aside, hear me, God does the exact same thing with us. So many times we go through these trials and tribulations, and as we go through them, as we learn what it looks like to trust in God through these things, so God is preparing us for greater and greater things. God does the same thing in our life. He's been preparing David and he prepares us as well.

And so David says, well, no, actually I'm gonna go. And Saul says, well, let me give you my armor. And it's very interesting, isn't it? Because the way that we get Saul's armor described is almost the exact same way as Goliath's armor is described. David tries it on and realizes he can hardly move, he hasn't done this before, he's not gonna wear it. Saul's armor doesn't fit David in more ways than one. David is anointed to be the next king, and we say Saul's way of being king really just doesn't fit him. He's not going to use Saul's methods to bring victory and he's not going into battle looking like Goliath.

So David simply takes the shepherd's staff and a sling. Now I know sometimes we hear sling and we think slingshot, little rubber. That's really the wrong idea. This was a sling that they spun, and actually you can go online, go find a video after and after service and then look at it, cause they're actually quite incredible. As you throw it, it snaps like a whip, and I actually found out you can easily have rocks moving at about 100 miles an hour. This was a weapon. David does actually not go into this unarmed, and he goes and he chooses 5 stones, and everyone wonders, why 5? Why did he choose, why not 6, why not 4? Why not just 1, he only needed 1.

And the honest truth is we're not told exactly his reasoning. Maybe he thought I probably got about 5 shots until Goliath kills me, so that's all I need. Or he's going, guess what, the Philistines have 5 lords. There's 5 kings of the Philistines, how about 1 for each of them? We're not told what his reasoning is, but he does go in to battle armed. Now the truth is, this is a little bit like going into battle with a bow and arrow against a tank. Goliath is way more equipped than he is. He's walking out without even armor on, he's just got a staff and a sling with a rock.

And what we're told is, as soon as Goliath sees him, he basically just looks at him and goes, what? This is your champion? This tiny kid is supposed to come out here with a stick and fight me. Goliath actually hates him for it. How dare you look down on me as if this little child could attack me. Verse 43:

The Philistines said to David, am I a dog that you come to me with sticks? The Philistine cursed David by his gods.

Once again, don't forget what this is all about. This was a contest between the gods of the Philistines and the God of Israel. And that is exactly the way David saw it. Verse 45:

Then David said to the Philistine, you come to me with a sword and 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 down and cut off your head and give the dead bodies of the hosts of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air, the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know there is a God in Israel.

This was it for David. Goliath was not simply his opponent, he was the enemy of God. And as soon as David realizes that, he goes, so Goliath is already a dead man walking. He has gone against God, this is no contest. God is able to defeat Goliath. And so David goes in as Goliath is cursing David by his gods. David realizes this is now God's enemy. See this was a contest to see who was greater, who is stronger, and David goes, I'll put my life on the line to show the greatness of God.

Goliath begins to approach David, and we're told David actually runs to the battlefield, down into this valley, he runs down to meet him and we find with one crack of this sling, the rock sinks into Goliath's head. That's it. No drawn out contest, no epic clash of titans in a grand battle for all time, no, in a moment, in a thunder crack, Goliath falls over dead. David runs over, takes the sword out of Goliath's sheath, and cuts off his head. I know we look at that and we're like that's quite the detail, David. Literal overkill at that point.

Partly, I think David wanted to be sure. Partly because the Philistines needed to see who the victor was. But as they would have seen this giant fall on his face, head cut off, it also would have been an unmistakable picture that they had already seen before. So you remember I told you the Philistines captured the ark of God. And what happened is they brought the ark and they put it at the feet of the statue of their god Dagon. And they left it there as a symbol that Israel's God was beneath theirs. The problem is every morning they woke up and the statue had toppled over. In fact, chapter 5, what we read is:

When they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold.

As the Philistines now looked at Goliath, their fallen champion, fallen face forward, head cut off, they would have had a very clear picture of what had just happened. This was the God of Israel who had conquered them. And what happens next is just pure panic. The Philistines had agreed, whoever wins this contest, they will serve, you know, or whoever wins gets the other as slaves and they run. They start running back to their to their home, and we find the Israel army chasing them down, chasing them all the way out of the land of Israel.

It is God who won the battle, his chosen king to defend the people of God, as opposed to Saul hiding in the background, trying to get others to fight for him. We find David has stepped in to protect the people of God. And in many ways we could really just stop the story right there. Done. I wouldn't actually even be wrong to do so. David has put all of his trust in God and so should we. We need to see God's superiority over all things. God protects David, we can trust him in every aspect of our lives.

But I think if we stopped there, we'd actually miss the most important aspect of this story. See this is not ultimately a picture of simply what somebody did by trusting in God. This is a picture of God's Messiah. This is a picture of the battle between Jesus and the serpent. See, David was no random person, he was the anointed king of Israel, God's anointed man to protect his people. And we need to realize actually God is demonstrating for us in this story, visual terms of what the greater David is yet to do.

See, the Bible tells us actually, Goliath is not the greatest enemy we face. In fact, Goliath was a very temporary problem. From the very beginning, we have an enemy we could not defeat. When God creates Adam and Eve, he creates this perfect world, but it's not long before Satan enters in, deceives Eve, and sin enters into the world. Now there is a problem that no one can deal with. Our ancient enemy, this serpent, stands against God's people. Try as we might, we cannot deal with the consequence, the problem of our sin before God, we are trapped and hopeless. Until God would raise up a savior.

And in fact that's exactly what God promised he would do. All the way back, Genesis 3, God says:

I'll put enmity between you, serpent, and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.

God promises one day a child would come who would crush the head of the serpent. And as Goliath comes to defy God, to stand as this new serpent opposing and seeking to crush the people of God, clothed in scale armor, taunting and cursing God's people, threatening them with slavery and with death. He stands anew the ancient enemy of God's people as they helplessly cower until God raises up a savior. We're meant to see this as a demonstration of ultimately what God is going to do in Jesus Christ because Jesus comes to deal with our greatest enemy, to deal with our sin before God.

Jesus is the reality of what David is foreshadowing. Jesus would come to defeat and crush sin. David's son, anointed king to be savior of God's people, he also will walk into a valley of death. Jesus is the one who is beaten, bruised and crucified. On the cross, all of the punishment for our sin was placed on Jesus and he died in our place. For a moment it seems as though the serpent had won the day, but Jesus did not stay in that grave. Jesus rose again because the punishment for sin was dealt with in full. Sin paid for and death no longer had any hold over him.

1 Corinthians 15 will say:

Death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting? Sting of death is sin, the power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Death is swallowed up in victory at the cross. As David went down into a valley of what looked like certain death yet comes out alive, so Jesus goes to death and is raised to life again, so that everyone who would trust in him would be saved. That while we were cowering before the enemy of sin, while we could not do it on our own, God has raised up a savior that we might be free.

See the good news of David and Goliath is it's not actually about David and Goliath. It's about a far greater picture of what God is going to do for our salvation, and we should see it's not done yet.

Revelation 20 tells us where the end will be. In its very apocalyptic terms, we read, when the 1000 years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the sea, and they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. The fire came down out of heaven and consumed them.

In a similar way as the battle between David and Goliath is over in an instant, so the final battle, Satan's final defeat shall be in an instant. There is no contest, there is no grand clash between God and Satan, but God shall be victorious entirely. This is a decisive victory over Satan. Jesus has defeated sin's hold over us at the cross, and one day he will return to finish the job.

The good news is that for everyone who trusts in Jesus Christ, for, for whoever who would confess their sins and place their trust in Him for forgiveness, we can say this is our King who fights for us. Let us resound in praise as we see King Jesus, who has crushed the head of sin that we might be free, who has done what we could not do. Jesus has gone before us that we would share in the victory over sin.

But hear me, this also means we are called into the story. Because as we place our faith in Jesus, we are called to take up this fight between the believer and sin. See, we see the story of David and Goliath, we see David's faith and trust in God, we see Jesus' victory over sin, but we also see a picture of how we are to fight against our sin. See, we can learn from David's example in our fight.

Make no mistake, for all who trust in Jesus, the giant is already dead. For everyone who places their faith in Jesus, we're not fighting giants in many ways we are the, we are the Israelites who are then chasing the Philistines out of their land. The battle is over. The giant is dead. Jesus has dealt with our sin, so clear the sin out of your life. That is our call.

And, and in fact, even in the New Testament, we are told because of what Jesus has done, Paul writes in Colossians. Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of what Jesus has done, now put your sin to death.

Right, you notice Paul's not using mild language. He doesn't say make a compromise, make a deal, or just learn to live with it. No, no, no, your sin, put it to death. Why? The giant's dead. There's no more. We don't have to worry about that, Jesus has already been victorious, so chase that sin out of your life.

And here's where we can actually see David as an example of what this looks like for us. Because David's trust was not that he could defeat Goliath. David's trust was that God could. God could deal with Goliath. God can deal with our sin, even as God calls us to put our sin to death, our trust is that God is the one at work. Trust that he will be using and working in your life, and then. Take the fight seriously.

Right, David does prepare. As much as sometimes we think that he goes in with nothing, no, he takes a weapon, he gets himself ready for the fight. Do you have sin in your life? Are you ready for that fight? So often we show up and we're totally unprepared, aren't we?

Right? We, we get angry with a co-worker, with our children, with our spouse, and it happens every single time, every single time, it happens over and over again, the same way, and every time we show up and we're like, I can't believe that happened. Where did that come from?

Actually, God calls us, would you be prepared to fight your sin? Use some strategies, talk to people. Do you have someone who holds you accountable as you fight against your sin? Do you know what you're going to do the next time that you are faced with temptation? Do you have a plan?

Right, I, I remember I was dealing with a friend. We were walking together as he was dealing with pornography. And he actually got to a place and he said, you know what, I, I, I was really struggling one night. And he said, I, I didn't know what to do, so what I, what I did was, uh, I took a sleeping pill and I went to bed.

Actually I was like, that's a great strategy. Genuinely, I mean, let's not do that every time, but. Whatever I can do to fight against my sin, because I do not want any foothold left.

Jesus has the victory over our sin, so in his victory would we go forward and put that sin to death, have no longer any place? Are we prepared for that fight? Until Jesus returns, we will take up that fight in our own hearts against sin, so be prepared.

Find someone, make a strategy, have a plan, planning ahead is not a lack of trust in God, it's just trusting God in advance. Place your trust in him. Take that fight seriously, and in it would we give all the glory to God.

What is David's motivation? It's that God would be glorified. It's that God would be known, so as we fight against our own sin, would we have the same goal, May God be glorified.

It means we don't hide it. It means that as we're struggling and we reach to God, we're gonna tell people about how good he is. That even though I can't do everything, even though I'm not perfect, my God is, and wherever I am weak, my God is strong. Should I fall, I shall be in his arms, and should I succeed, it is the glory of God at all times.

We're called into this. We're called into the fight against sin, but do not be afraid.

Paul writes in Romans 8.

What shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

As it's written, for your sake, we're being killed all the day long, we're regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come, nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Fight your sin because the battle is won. Because We already know God is in control over all things. Jesus has the victory secured. David looked and saw Goliath as a dead man walking. Hear me, our giant's already in the ground. Believer, take up the fight. Not because we need to conquer all of our giants, Jesus has dealt with it. Fight because the victory is assured.

So as we look at this story of David and Goliath, we see this picture of what it looks like to courageously trust in God. His power over all things, and we see God's victory. But even greater than David's, we see the victory of Jesus Christ, who has gone to the battle on our behalf and by him the power of sin is defeated, so that for all who would trust in him, we would be forgiven. Praise God, our savior has come.

And so as we take up that battle, let us put our sin to death, not as a desperate fight for God's approval, but because Jesus has already won. Let us use every effort for the glory of God.

Let's pray together. Our Heavenly Father, we are so thankful for the example of David. Lord, this courageous man who trusted in you went forward with the full assurance, knowing that you were with him. But Father, we thank you for the example that shows us Jesus, that shows us the victory of Jesus over our sin. Thank you that as we come to you, as we ask for forgiveness, as we confess our sins, we can be sure that our sins are forgiven. Because of the death and the resurrection of Jesus. Father, would we go forward in boldness, in courage, knowing you stand beside us, that the battle is won, that you are victorious. We ask all these things in your name.