1030. David: A Servant Chosen and Equipped

Welcome to The Daily Platform. Today's speaker is Dr. David Doran, Senior Pastor at Intercity Baptist Church in Allen Park, Michigan. We're so grateful for his ministry. If you were here last week, you heard him mentioned by our speaker, Pastor Tom Fuller, in appreciation for his emphasis on exposition. So we're grateful that he's going to come now and address us from God's Word. I am going to be focused on David. When they were offering up opportunities to address someone, I snagged David right away.

Now, here's the problem. To cover any kind of a biography of David would be impossible to do in the short amount of time that we have. So what I actually want to do is zero in on, I think, perhaps one of the most pivotal passages in understanding why God chose David, the kind of leader that God was looking for. And the reason I say that is if I just set quickly the backdrop and encourage you. Obviously, David and Goliath is a familiar story.

I don't want you to just zone out on me because it's a familiar story. The chapter 17 actually sits, what I would say, is at the pivot point between two different trajectories. On one hand is Saul, who was the king, and is actually on a trajectory downward where you come to him at the end of 1 Samuel and he's absolutely a mess, right?

And David is actually on the other trajectory upward. And in 1 Samuel 17 is precisely where they crisscross on that, right? The beginning of that was actually back in chapter 13 where God said that he was seeking a man after his own heart. Saul had actually disobeyed God and offered sacrifice that he wasn't allowed to and God said that the dynasty is going to be taken away from you. That's in that passage.

It's a couple chapters later when he actually doesn't kill the Amalekites and Agag, that he says not just the dynasty is going to be taken but your very kingdom is going to be taken from you. And so Saul is progressively going downward while David begins to rise as a leader in Israel as God's chosen leader because he's a man after God's own heart. And so the question before us would be, so what is a man after God's own heart? And 1 Samuel 17 actually gives us the answer to that, right? So the David and Goliath thing is not written for us so how you can prepare to face the giants in your life, right? It's not written to give us techniques for slaying giants. It actually is written to expose for us the kind of heart that God wants in his leaders and the kind of heart that God uses among his people, right?

And so what I want to do is assume a certain familiarity with the details of the text so I'm not going to read the entire chapter, right? Have any of you ever heard the story of David and Goliath? Okay, a few of you have. So I think we're good.

I didn't see any faculty raise their hands. I'm a little worried about that. So you're familiar with the details. What I would like to do is walk through the narrative in a way that I think helps us understand the point of it. And as narratives often do, they communicate their point via the tension and conflict in the story and also fill that in by the characters. And so when we identify what the conflict is and see what is said about the characters, we'll understand the point of the narrative.

And so that's what we're going to do. So I want to just start with the challenge of Goliath, right? And look if you would, verses 8 through 11, because here we see the immediate challenge that comes out. This man, this massive man of the Philistines comes in verse 8. He stood and cried unto the armies of Israel and said unto them, Why are you come out to set your battle in array?

Am I not a Philistine? And ye servants of Saul, choose you a man and let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. If I prevail against him and kill him, then shall ye be our servants and serve us.

And the Philistines said, I defy the armies of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight together. Alright, so the immediate one is this massive guy, right?

Probably like nine and a half feet tall, so think of a basketball rim. He's six inches below that, right? You see the description of him? He's huge, he's powerfully strong, and probably would scare the daylights out of any of us if he walked into the room and said, Who's going to fight me? Alright, so that's the immediate issue, but actually the deeper issue is what he says in verse 10. I defy the armies of Israel, and then look if you would, verse 26. In 26, he comes out again and, or David's talking and says, Who's going to take away this reproach from Israel in the middle of the verse? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? In verse 36, he hath defied the armies of the living God.

In 43 is really a key text. The Philistines said unto David, Am I a dog that you comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The end of verse 45, I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. So the immediate circumstance looks like this gigantic guy against somebody from Israel, but it actually is a battle of the gods.

Goliath was coming out and cursing Israel by his gods. In other words, he's saying, My gods are better than yours. That's the whole point of the defy the army of the living God, right? That army was the army of God, and if he says he can beat them, he can beat God.

So the issue wasn't just about who's going to fight the big bad dude. It was about whose god actually is powerful and mighty here. Who's the god that can win? And God is jealous for his own glory.

We know that, right? What Goliath is doing is taunting God and saying, My gods are greater than the God of Israel. And God is jealous for that glory, and his people should have been too. And that leads us to the second thing I want us to see, the cowards of Israel, if I could just put it that way. All right, look at verse 11.

Just look at the description of the army. Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. And that then is repeated again in verse 24, right? It says, And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were sore afraid. And then verse 32, it says, David said, Let no man's heart fail. So that's what we mean by they were dismayed and afraid. Their heart was failing. The Israelite army encounters this man in this test of whose god is greater, and they are filled with fear and dismayed.

They withdraw from the field of battle instead of engage it. But look at Saul. Saul's mentioned in verse 11. In verse 33, look at Saul's response. And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. So Saul also was filled with fear and dismay and evidenced a lack of faith.

You're not able to do this. David, you can't do this, right? And so while their fear might be natural, like I said, a nine and a half foot guy walked through the door and challenged you to a fight, it might provoke some fear in you.

That is not an unnatural response. It was actually rooted, though, in unbelief. And this is the part that usually, often, in looking at this passage, it somehow gets disconnected from the ground biblically on which it stands. Because if you were to go, and I'd encourage you to do it, we're not going to take time this morning because of time, but if you were to go back and read, for instance, Deuteronomy chapter 9, verses 1 through 3, and Deuteronomy chapter 20, verses 1 through 4, you would find that God had actually told Israel that they would defeat larger armies and men just like Goliath.

Right? So God had promised to them that they would win in these kinds of fights. So when they withdrew in fear, it wasn't just a natural fear, it was actually also a fear that was rooted in unbelief. They didn't trust God about it. In fact, in Joshua chapter 11, verses 21 and 22, Goliath is exactly the kind of warrior that God was speaking about. Because they had already encountered giants, and they had beaten them in the land of Israel and driven them up to Gath.

Right? So the very kind of person that Goliath is, God had actually already enabled Israel to defeat and had told them that he would enable them to defeat. So it was an act of faithlessness on their part. They had clear revelation from God that promised them victory, and they were not believing the promises of God about it.

That's crucial. And now think of Saul himself, right? Think of it on one hand. What's the description of Saul? Remember how he's described physically? He's a head taller than everyone else in the land.

So if there's a giant to be fought, who do you think should be the guy stepping up to fight him? Right? Just on a human plane you'd go, Saul, this is your guy. Right?

You get them. But also, Saul had been told in chapter 9, he will deliver my people from the Philistines. That God had said, Saul, you will deliver my people from the Philistines. And here's a Philistine saying, if you defeat me, we'll be your servants.

Right? God hand-delivers him the fight that would fulfill the promise. And Saul is full of fear and dismayed and lacking in faith. He is prepared by his response to let God's glory be trampled on. I mean, Goliath comes out day after day after day and says, my gods are better than your god.

We can beat your god. And instead of stepping up to guard the glory and name of his god, Saul shrinks back. Because Saul was about himself. Remember back in chapter 14, people are starting to scatter. So in chapter 13, they're starting to scatter. And Samuel shows up and he goes, well, the people were all afraid and they were leaving. In chapter 15, you know, I've obeyed the voice of the Lord.

What means this bleeding of the sheep in my ears? Well, the people wanted to keep the best of it. So Saul was always worried about himself and his standing and his acceptance with the people over his responsibility of obedience to God. Right? Because he did a sacrifice he shouldn't do. He didn't obey God's command to wipe out the Amalekites. Right?

His well-being and his standing with other people kept trumping God and his glory and his will. And along comes this little guy David. And you know what his response is?

How's this guy getting away with this? Right? He's defying the armies of God.

He's nothing. What is this Philistine? Right? And so the courage of David that shows up here is the fact that his heart is lined up where it should be and ought to be. Look at verses 45 through 47, because here's the foundation of it.

Right? The foundation of David's courage. Then David said to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword and a spear and a shield. I come to thee in the name of the Lord God of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand, and I will smite thee and take thine head from thee, and I will give the carcasses of the hosts of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air to the wild beasts of the earth. Notice that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

Okay, so stop right there. Why is David going to do this? So all the earth knows that the God in Israel is God.

Right? So it's going to be a testimony to all of you pagans out there. When I beat this guy because it's the battles of the lords, you're going to all know that our God is the true God.

But it's not actually just all the people out there. Look at the next verse, verse 47. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord, and He will give you into our hands. So David is also saying, so everybody here right now is going to know that it's God who can do this. I don't have to put on Saul's armor.

I don't have to be a mighty warrior for my youth. The battle is the Lord's. He's not going to let Himself be defied, and I'm going to trust Him and He's going to accomplish this victory.

That's the foundation of it. The battle is the Lord's. Who is this Philistine compared to the Lord? That's the way he saw it. He didn't see a massive man that was more powerful than him.

He saw a man who was nothing compared to God. The battle is the Lord's. Now, there's this sort of section in here that I think that's where sometimes we get, how to beat the giants in your life. In 34 to 37, when Saul says, take my armor, and David goes, no, I'm not going to do this.

I was shepherding, and I encountered a lion and a bear, and God delivered them into my hands, so this Philistine will be no different than there. So I think sometimes you'll get the little homiletical jewels about. Take care of your responsibilities.

Do all that stuff. You'll be ready for the giant. I don't want to deny it entirely. What I would say, though, is that what you probably have is a little bit of deeper sense of David. Now, since his anointing, because this is all post-his anointing, that God's hand is actually on him. He has been chosen to be the ruler. He has responsibilities before God, and he's going to trust God to exercise those. He's going to be the shepherd of Israel, and he's not going to betray his responsibilities at all. He's going to trust God to do the thing he's supposed to do and allow God to work.

He trusted God at each challenge on the way, so he was ready in this particular case, and I think that's the contrast with Saul, who seems to be retreating at each challenge, and David is actually stepping forward at each challenge. Then, ultimately, the motivation is the glory of God. He's more concerned about God's glory and his own safety, and here's what I'd say, bringing it back to where I started. I think I'll just say for myself, I came to Christ as an eight-year-old boy, went to a Christian school, came down here to college, went to seminary, and went to seminary, and went to seminary, so piled them all up. I honestly think that man after God's own heart is like a cliché you hear, but not necessarily explained.

What does that mean? I think this text helps us understand something about it, and here's the way I would say it, and you might have to wrestle through what I'm saying, but here's what I would say. There is nothing closer to the heart of God than his own glory. God made everything for his glory. God is doing all things for his glory because that is right. He's all glorious, and actually that is the best thing for his creation. If God begins to make us more important than him, then the whole thing's in trouble.

God is the center. His glory is the highest, most important good there is. He is actually at his heart to guard his glory and advance his glory, declare his glory, preserve his glory. His glory is it, and David is a man after that.

And that's what this story shows. He is prepared to die in the defense of God's glory. He doesn't think he will, but I think like Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego, remember, we're not going to hesitate to answer you. Our God's able to deliver you, but if not, we're not going to bow down anyway because God matters more to us than we matter to us. And David is saying, listen, this guy has chosen to take on God. God will take on this fight, but why are you stepping up? Somebody's got to step up. Isn't this a cause to step up to?

Isn't there a reason that this should happen? Because David's heart burned with a love for and commitment to God's glory and a trust in God's protection of his glory. David said, I'll step up.

I'll step up. That's the kind of person that God's looking for. That's the kind of person that God uses. That's the kind of people he wants us to be. We love his glory so much that we want to see it proclaimed to the ends of the earth. We're willing to be zealous in the defense of his glory. We're willing to lay ourselves down for the sake of that glory. That's the kind of person God wants his people to be led by, wants his people to be. Do you love God and his glory so much that you're willing to step out in trust that he will do what he said he will do? Like Abraham, be strong in faith, giving glory to God. Because there's places around this globe that unless somebody's willing to say, they need to hear about Jesus and I'm going to step out there even if it might cost me my life. The glory of God in the face of Christ won't be proclaimed there. So it's God's glory in the face of Christ that drives us to go into those places and say, there's a redeemer.

Let me tell you about him. If your personal well-being matters more to you than the glory of God, when it gets tough serving Christ in the local church, you're going to bail. When it gets tough in a marriage, you're going to bail. When it gets tough, if you're more wired for yourself than God's glory, you'll bail. You'll be filled with fear and dismay and withdraw from the fight rather than say, hey, this battle is the Lord's. I'm going to be true to him and trust him to carry out his promises on my behalf. That's what God wants us to be.

That's what God wants us to do. And by God's grace, he can give us the strength because here's a little boy, young man who just believed God, loved God, and that's the call for us. Let's pray together. Lord, please help us to guard our hearts against the kind of self-love that would cause us to back down from the challenges to your glory. Help us to love you and love your honor that we're ready to stand up for it, to not allow the enemy to defy your glory. Lord, I pray for all of us in this room this morning that we might have a heart like David's that is after your heart, and we know that we cannot love you like we ought until we've come to appreciate your love for us. And so, Lord, please help us to realize that and not assume that, that we have come to understand the love that you have for us through your son as the foundation of us loving you the way that we ought. And may we grow in that love that we long to honor you and protect and promote your honor as well. We ask it in Jesus' name.

Amen. You've been listening to a sermon preached in Seminary Chapel at Bob Jones University by Dr. David Doran, Senior Pastor at Inner City Baptist Church in Allen Park, Michigan. I'm Steve Pettit, President of Bob Jones University, and I invite you to join us at our beautiful campus in Greenville, South Carolina, to see how you can be prepared academically and spiritually to serve the Lord through one of our more than 100 undergraduate and graduate programs.

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