Well, brothers and sisters, if you come to worship this morning with a few disappointments. Disappointments about your failures, maybe a bit distressed about your inability to put away a particular sin. Maybe a bit disgusted with your cowardice that you fail to speak up for the name of Jesus Christ. Maybe you come here even this morning feeling like you're a lousy excuse for a Christian. If that's you at all, ever or today, there's good news because there's a savior for people like you. There's a savior for people like me. There's a savior for us. And God, in the text we've just read, is revealing him that we might put our hope in him. This morning, what we have here in first Samuel 17 is not a story about human bravery meant to inspire our self-confidence so that we of ourselves should should be more brave. So often it's approached that way. David, a moral example for all the young boys. And if they would just look at David, they would find strength and and they could be courageous like him. Now, what we have here is something far greater than that. What we have here is God's revelation of a deliverer, God's revelation of a king, God pulling back the curtain as it were to to show to his people who their deliverer is. Up to this point in the history of Israel, No one really knew David was going to be the next king or hardly anyone, although he's been anointed by Samuel. It's Saul who is king. It's Saul who's out with the army facing the Philistines. The people surely assume that Saul's son, Jonathan, would be the next king when Saul died. And after all, who is David, the youngest of a unknown family? He's a nobody. But this was the one whom God had chosen to deliver his people. This was Israel's next king. And in this battle against Goliath, God was revealing to his people the identity of their deliverer. But more than that, God was revealing not just Israel's next king, but God was revealing Israel's future king. He was revealing to his church the coming Lord Jesus Christ. But as you see, brothers and sisters, in David we have kind of a vague outline. We have something of a shadow of the Christ, the King who stands behind Him, who is working in Him and through Him, and who is going to come to earth in human flesh. The story isn't simply a call to be brave like David, but it's about a King who is zealous for the glory of the Lord, and in that zeal, He restores God's people to service to their Lord. God reveals Israel's king here and he reveals him as one who is clawed in the rugs of jealousy, jealous or zealous for God's glory. Well, the first thing God shows his people. Is there a great need for a king before God pulls back the curtain and says, here is your next king? God, first of all, causes his people to see that they need a true king and their pathetic site without such a king. The situation is this serious military conflict about 12 miles to the west of Bethlehem at this town just inside Judah's territory. Remember, the Philistines live along the Along the coast of the Mediterranean and the plains, Judah lives up in the hills and here they're facing off. The Philistines want to take some of the land from Judah and make them their slaves. And here we've got this valley with this brook or this may be a dried riverbed between them. But the armies are facing off the Philistines on one hill and the Israelites on another. And each day they come and they stand in battle position against each other. But neither side day after day, week after week, neither side charges the other. No one attacks, except Israel is being beat up by words every day and God's name is being mocked and drugged through the mud because with these two lines standing opposed to one another and facing off each day, there is one soldier who dominates the scene. This great champion of the Philistines, Goliath. Boys and girls, Goliath is a giant, right? He stands some 9 1�2 feet tall. He has some giant weapons. The point of his spear by itself weighing 15 or 16 pounds. Goliath clothed in some 126 pounds of armor. He is a fearsome sight. A hero no one can defeat. And with his imposing size and his taunts and his mockery, he is terrorizing the Israelites day after day. He says, send out a champion to fight me. We'll have a duel. And if he beats up on me and you guys win, then we'll be your slaves. But if I beat up on him and kill him, then you guys will be our slaves. The future of the church is at stake, but something even more, the glory of God's name is at stake when Goliath says in verse 10 that he defies the ranks of Israel. Goliath knows very well the ranks of Israel. This is the this is the people of Jehovah. He's saying, I mock your God. If your God is anything, send someone out to fight in his name. Let's go. Am I not a Philistine? Are you not the servants of Saul? Is your God worth anything? Then send someone out and fight. But what a pathetic sight. Here is the army of the Lord. Here is the Lord being attacked. And what do the soldiers of the Lord God do? They do nothing at all except tremble in fear. No word of reply, no one to face off against Goliath, but the men backing up and running away. It's a pathetic sight. We ask, is there no one who is offended for the glory of God's name? Is there no one who will stand up for the Lord? Even Israel's king here, Saul, doesn't go out against Goliath. He only offers a reward to the man who will kill Goliath. Saul, the one who had been anointed to be king to deliver of Israel, the one who stood ahead above all the other Israelites, the one who had great weaponry and skill, he refuses to go out against Goliath. He has no desire to do so. And after all his promises of reward, not a single man among all the ranks of Israel is motivated to go to battle. We look at this disgraceful spectacle and we ask, is there no faith in Israel? Is there no one who relies upon the Lord? Is there no one with with the courage that the Lord will provide, the Lord will deliver? Does anyone pray anymore in Israel for God's grace to this army? What has happened even to Jonathan? Remember, we've we've seen earlier in Samuel. That incident where Jonathan, the king's son, decides to go against the Philistine garrison alone, just with his armor bearer. And he tells his armor bearer, the Lord can save by many or by few. Let's go. Let's go take him. And yet we read nothing of Jonathan arising to the occasion here. Was there no faith in Israel? Yes, you graph and promise of deliverance rights. That faith was not gone, no, but its effects were stifled by Saul's self-seeking spirit and by the Lord's anger at Israel because of Saul, the people were being punished on account of their king. See, the spirit had departed Saul. The now distressing spirit was bothering Saul. And this was the situation as God's people faced off against the Philistines. And they're seriously affected here by the king they have, who is no king at all. He's a self-seeking coward. He cares about Saul and Saul's safety and Saul's well-being, not about the glory of the Lord. And now faith in Israel is being stifled. Faith does not thrive beneath this kind of leadership. Not even Jonathan, who had been valiant in battle before, has a faith that is at work to fight Goliath. Brothers and sisters, what a sad sight here. Here we see what life is like when God's people don't have a king who leads them in battle in the name of the Lord. Everything that we will see in David that he brings to the scene is lacking here in Saul and lacking in these soldiers. There is no jealousy for God's glory. These are indifferent and apathetic soldiers. There is no motivation in Saul to seek the Lord. They're concerned with preserving their own life and not with the Lord. And God is revealing here the the desperate need for a king who will lead them in the name of the Lord. It's in this opening section that we also have a mirror of our own lives, don't we, of what we are like when we are not led by Christ, of what we are like when we are not living in communion with with our king clinging to him. Then we are a lousy excuse for a Christian. Then we are a pathetic sight. Then we lack a zeal for the glory of the Lord. Then our faith shrinks back and we're pushed around by sins. We're terrorized by fears. What if I get sick? What if I lose my job? What if I lose my reputation? We become cowards. This is what life is like when we are not led by a faithful king. Then the elders come to us on a family visit and they ask us about our family devotions or they ask us about our worship attendance or they ask us about our tithing and we say, well, no, I'm not doing so good there. I should do better. But they come again the next year and all we can say is, well, no, didn't really improve, but I guess I should do better. We don't have a zeal for the glory of the Lord. We're not really moved. We're not really motivated. We're not really bothered. We find this in our lives, don't we? Oftentimes we get very angry at the person who cuts us off on the road. We're zealous. We're jealous for ourselves. But when we see the world violating God's commandments, it doesn't really bother us. If we look at our marriage or our children, not in terms of what am I doing here with my wife or children for the glory of God, but what happiness does it bring me? Maybe we're not very zealous for the evangelistic enterprise. We're not moved by the glory of God that is not given to God in the life of that unbeliever. Maybe young people, we think about what we can get away with in terms of entertainment or the way we dress, how we act, what we can get away with under our parents instead of saying, how can I bring honor to the name of my Lord? Do you see, brothers and sisters, how pathetic we look? We don't look any different than these Philistines when we are not living in communion with Christ. We are these cowering, selfish, apathetic soldiers. We need desperately a king. And that's exactly what the Lord provides. Notice that in the second place here that the king appears on the scene, the coming king and God reveals him. David is different from all the other men. David is deeply troubled by what he hears. He asked him, verse twenty six, not simply what's going to be done for the man who kills the Philistine. But David says, For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? That is the issue in David's mind, that is the thing that troubles him as he comes out with supplies for his brothers and runs to the lines and meets his brothers and Goliath comes out and brings those taunts. I defy, I challenge, I insult the army of God. David is deeply offended for the Lord's sake. Anger is aroused. David says, doesn't it matter to anyone here that the living God of Israel is being insulted and slurred? But not everyone is impressed with David's. Concern, he lied, his brother, his older brother speaks as perhaps a. Perhaps typical older brother tone here says, what have you come down here for? I know that you don't. mean anything good, you just want to come watch the battle. David goes against Goliath here, not with widespread report and cheering here, but David faces challenges before he ever gets to Goliath. Somebody has said that David really faces three Goliaths in the chapter. First, he He meets the scorn of Goliath and his older brother Eliab. Then he meets the mind of Goliath and Saul who says, ah, can't do it. You're but a youth. Not experienced enough. And then he meets the physical embodiment of Goliath out on the battlefield. David meets opposition. Reminds us somewhat of our Lord Jesus Christ when He comes to the scene, our true King. He meets family members who scorn Him, despise Him. He meets religious leaders We tell him he doesn't have the authority, doesn't have the right. Before he ever comes to the cross, Jesus Christ faces the shame, the scorn of men. But David presses on here as Christ will press on. David keeps asking about the situation. Finally, David's words make it to to King Saul. They notice that someone is stirred up here. King Saul, we've got a man over here is quite bothered by what he hears. Maybe he'll do something for us. And David's brought before King Saul. And David says in verse 32, let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine. David is proclaiming, I will be the deliverer of Israel. I will lift up the hearts of this people. I will take on this Philistine. Saul says you can't do it, and David says, oh, but I've already done it. When I was a shepherd, lions and bears used to attack the sheep and I would go after them, even kill them with my bare hands. Your servant is 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. Verse 37, and David said, The Lord who has delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. Boys, when we read this story, our hearts are stirred, right? Because the Lord wants of his men to be warriors. And it's right that our hearts should be stored. But don't make the mistake to think David was brave and I can be brave like David. David fought Goliath and I'll be strong to fight Goliath. Because, you see, David confesses that even when he's a shepherd and he killed lions and bears and now will kill Goliath, he does so in the strength of the Lord. It's the Lord who made him courageous, the Lord who gave him faith. It's the Lord who gave him the skill and the power to kill. And remember something else here. Especially young men. The way in which God gave David strength was not a way that appeared to be much outwardly. David doesn't look like much. in the eyes of the army, in the eyes of Saul. And the warriors of Christ's army today don't look like much. I don't imagine if you go to work and tell the guys that you're going to go to church on Sunday that they look at you and say, man, you're really, you're really tough guy. Maybe if you got large biceps and a few tattoos, motorcycle or a nice truck, maybe if you have money or athletic ability, then people might think, wow, you're really something. But if you tell him, you know what, I go to church and I'm faithful in reading my Bible and in praying and I try to help out with the widows and rake their leaves. Not too many guys are going to think, man, you're you're really something. Might think you're a big sissy. Lots of people think the same thing about Jesus Christ today, don't they? Jesus's weaponry and his methods didn't look like so much in the eyes of the world. But in the midst of that is the Lord's way and the Lord's victory. David lays down Saul's armor and he goes to face Goliath with a staff, five rocks and with a sling. He knows the real issue. The name of God is at stake here. Goliath mocks him. What is this? You send me a little kid with a stick? What's he going to do? Beat on me? Am I a dog? Philistine cursed David in the name of his gods. But David says to the Philistine in verse 45, you come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin. When 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, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel." Do you see what God is doing here, brothers and sisters? He is revealing the identity of Israel's coming king As he pulls back the curtain, he reveals him as the one who is clawed in a robe, not an extravagant robe of of expensive material. Not even clawed in. A great deal of glorious armor. But the coming king is to be recognized as one who is robed in jealousy for the glory of the Lord. God's King is recognized by the zeal he has for the name of the Lord. Do you see it? So it is with our Lord Christ. How do we know our King? How do we recognize Him? Look for the one clawed with jealousy. Look for the one who says, zeal for your house has consumed me. Look for the one who gets angry when people are sinning against the Lord and defiling His temple. That's your King. David runs out to meet the Philistine, runs at him. He pulls a rock out of his pouch. He slings it at this giant. By the power of the Lord, that rock penetrates into his head and he falls dead. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone and he struck him and killed him. And then David takes Goliath's own sword and cuts off Goliath's head. What a victory, huh? Can you imagine the army watching this? Can you imagine David's brothers and King Saul? Big eyes, can't believe what they have just seen. The shepherd boy with a staff and a sling has just taken down the mighty champion of the Philistines whom no one could defeat. What a victory, not simply for David and not simply for Israel, but for Israel's God. The slurring mouth of this insulting Goliath has been shut. his head detached from his body, that all men might know there is a God in Israel, that Israel's God is true God. And yet, as marvelous as this victory is, it's just in a small way, just in a veiled way, a picture of what was yet to come in great David's greater son, Jesus Christ. Because you see, it's the spirit of Christ who is active in David here, giving him courage, giving him skill, causing that rock to penetrate his head. Christ, who was active in David's heart, has now come in our flesh. He has come down to earth, been born of a woman, take up our human nature to die on the cross in our place and to win the victory over sin and death and hell. The cross of Christ didn't look like much, right? People scorned him. People despised him. Worthless. And yet, at that cross was the greatest victory this world has ever known or will ever know. Because there, the power of death, which is the thing that terrorizes our souls, was overcome. Because the power of death is rooted in sin and God's curse on sin. And Jesus bore our sin. He bore that curse. He removed the accusation and therefore he took away the power of death. What a glorious, glorious victory. And it's that Christ who's taken away our sin, who saved us from our enemies, who leads us into battle. Can you imagine how delighted these troops were? After feeling like cowards for 40 days, after thinking, I'm a pathetic excuse for a soldier of Jehovah, now they raise their shout and they charge at the Philistines. Because the coming King has pioneered the way. He has overcome the enemy. And he has opened the doors for God's people to know the life of victory. Are you thankful for the king that you have this morning? I know it's not always so dramatic, is it, to live the Christian life? We wish at times it was that clear. Battle lines are here. It's obvious. I can see Jesus Christ and the victory over Satan, and now I can charge forth with all this emotion. We know instead that the battle for the Christian is often wearisome. Often the battle lines in our minds don't seem so clear. We like to let the lines be blurred. Often it doesn't seem so exciting, does it? It doesn't seem so exciting just to shut our mouths, just to turn off the TV, just to turn away from those wicked thoughts. It doesn't seem so exciting. It doesn't seem so exciting just to put away my interest and to serve my wife. It doesn't seem so exciting just to walk up to a visitor at church and to greet them. But brothers and sisters, do you see it? We're in a spiritual battle, the very same battle lines, David versus Goliath, God versus Satan, very same battle line is active this morning. And we're involved. And God has given to us a king who is a warrior more mighty than David ever was, who has brought down Satan, who has brought down death, who has overcome and taken away the fear of death from our lives so that we are not owned by the Philistines. We are no longer owned by Satan. We are not owned by the power of sin or the power of death. We have been delivered, set free, restored to be zealous for God's glory. We have a true warrior, a faithful shepherd. A valiant deliverer who says, not as David said, let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight. But one who says, let no man's heart fail. I have. I have fought. I have overcome. I have won the victory. And all of our frustrations with sin. And all of our failures. As we find within ourselves how pathetic we are of ourselves, our calling is to look to Jesus Christ and to put our hope in that King and that deliverer and to follow Him into the battle. Will we do that? Will we do that? We'll consider finally this morning the various reactions to this victory of David. There is, of course, The immediate reactions of the soldiers who, as soon as Goliath's head has been cut off, they charge and chase the Philistines and plunder their tents. And you can imagine that this word quickly spreads throughout the kingdom of Israel, this incredible deliverance, its front page news. God was making clear the identity of Israel's future king. God was making clear his spirit was with David. But what about the long term reactions? How would people respond not in the heat of the moment, but as they have time to contemplate this and to consider what it means? Well, there are three reactions we find in chapter 18. There is first the reaction of Saul. It actually begins at the end of chapter 17. Saul is so inquisitive about who David is, who his father is. Now, David had been playing the harp for Saul already. He may well have known that his father was Some man that lived in Bethlehem. But Saul now is very curious as to the lineage of David. Who does he come from? Has there been a mighty warrior in David's line? How do we explain what's happened on the battlefield here? And who is this David? Who is his family? Do they pose a threat to my reign? When the ladies praise David over Saul, Saul is furious. What more can David have but my kingdom? Here is Saul who wants now to kill David. Here is Saul still not bowing to the Lord to seek the Lord's glory, but still concerned with Saul. And then we have a second reaction. We find the reaction of these women who sing praises and it seems a bit more positive, but as we examine it, we discover it also is lacking in faith. Apparently many in Israel see the outward glory. Oh, we're so glad that we're not slaves in the Philistines today. We're so glad we've got a champion in David. But they apparently don't see the deeper issue either, because their song of praise does not ascribe the victory to the Lord. It doesn't sing of the Lord's glory. But apparently it's the I'm thankful for a king like this so I can have a nice, safe life. But then thirdly, we have The right reaction found in Jonathan. At 18, verse one, as soon as he had finished speaking to Saul. Soon as David has been through this interview with Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David. And Jonathan loved him as his own soul. Verse three, then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as his own soul. Jonathan has apparently heard David speak to Saul and explain, look, it's not that I come from this great lineage of mighty warriors. It's not that I have this inherited skill for battle. What's happened on the battlefield cannot be explained in those terms, O King Saul, but it is the victory of the Lord who has anointed me. It is God's grace that he has saved his people. Jonathan must have heard something like that, David's faith. And Jonathan loves David and he makes a covenant of friendship with him. But what is more, Jonathan seals this covenant with David by giving to David his own clothes and weapons. Verse four. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David and his armor and even his sword and his bow and his belt. A marvelous thing. Here is Jonathan. He's the prince of Israel. He is the heir apparent. He is the one who who is appointed to sit next on the throne, at least in the eyes of Saul. And he takes off his robe. And he takes his armor. And he takes his weapons and he gives it all to David. Jonathan sees in David the Lord's anointing, he recognizes apparently that that God is doing something. God is raising up David to be the King of Israel. And Jonathan, by giving all that he's saying, I am willing to yield and to surrender to you. Even my claim. Even my claim to the throne. David, I give it to you and I bow before you. Because you see, in David, David is a type of the Christ. He is the deliverer, so to speak, of Jonathan. And Jonathan is willing to surrender to him. Jonathan, and this is making a choice for the redeemer choice for the king that God provides. You know, brothers and sisters, as this shadow becomes reality and this victory over Goliath gives way to the victory of Christ at the cross, we find these same three reactions in our world when Christ walked upon the earth and still today. On the one hand, you've got the people who are downright hostile. Like the religious leaders who who think that their position is threatened, and so they want to kill Jesus. And then you've got those who say, sure, I'll take a king who delivers me from my enemies. You got the people who follow Jesus for bread. And these people still exist today, don't they? Sure, I'll take a Jesus who keeps me out of hell. That's nice. But the heart of the true believer. Finds its representation in Jonathan. Yielding whatever supposed claim we thought we had. To bow at the feet of God's appointed king. To say you have all the preeminence, the place is yours. And I will follow you. Have you done that? Does your life proclaim that you've made a choice for the Redeemer? Does the very character and the choices of your life announce that you have seen the King as God has pulled back the curtain? You have recognized that one who is exalted for the glory of the Lord, and you have fallen at His feet, bound yourself in love to Him, and you've said, I will follow you No one can do that, but by faith. To the eyes of the world, Jonathan's a fool, Jonathan, you're going to give up your position. You're the prince. Only by faith could one say, Jonathan, you've made a wise choice. You gave up what you could not keep. To gain what could never be taken away. You have wisely lost your life. So that you can find your life in David and in David's greater son. Brothers and sisters were engaged in a multitude of battles this morning. But the question is, how are you engaging them? You worried about protecting your life, protecting your reputation, worried about self preservation, Are you worried about your glory and your position like Saul? What about me? Or are you consumed by the glory of God's great name? That that is the thing that weighs upon you. That is the thing that you want exalted in your marriage, in your children, in the congregation you're a part of. You want the glory of God's name. You want all men to know that there is a God in the church of Christ Jesus. You see, your king is recognized by the robes of jealousy he wears. But his children and his warriors are recognized. By the same thing, are you robed this morning in a zeal for the glory of God? If you are, rest assured, that comes not from yourself, but from the king who lives in your heart. Amen. Let's pray together. Oh, great and glorious God, we acknowledge. And we have often failed you, and that is pathetic, as the army of Israel appeared on the slopes near Soka. So pathetic we have often appeared, even in this past week. Worried about self. Fearful of our enemies. Faith. not vibrant, but weak. But, Father, we pray that even in this Lord's Day, the revelation of Your King would appear before our eyes again, and we would be lifted up with fresh courage and with renewed zeal for Your glory, rejoicing in the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ at the cross and charging forward in His name. Grant us hearts like Jonathan, we pray, to give up all of our claims, all of our supposed rights to die to ourselves and to surrender to the Lord Jesus, the Lord of Glory. We pray this, O Lord, for the great honor of your name. Amen.