Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright.
That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series Son of David as presented at Rinaldin Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program today, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries. As you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at PastorAlan.org. That's PastorAlan.org.
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Here is Alan Wright. Turn with me today to First Samuel, chapter 17, as we continue our study of the life of David, which we call the Son of David, because it really is more about Jesus than it is about David. David is such an amazing figure in history, an amazing figure in the Scripture, must be very important because in the first place, there's so much attention devoted to David. For example, 14 chapters about Abraham, about 14 chapters about Joseph, 66 chapters about David. David is the most beloved king. He is a figure of affection and adoration for the people of God. And then Jesus comes in the lineage of David and is known as Son of David, which is a messianic term because the promise was that there would always be someone from David's family on the throne. So we're thinking about David in order to see Jesus. And we're going to be in First Samuel, chapter 17 today for not only one of the greatest stories in the Bible, but one of the greatest stories in history.
First Samuel, chapter 17. You ready for some good news today? We've already planned to go out with joy. We were reading the Scripture this morning that we should go out in joy. So we took it as a promise.
And we also took it as a command. The Lord said, Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice.
There is going to be a joyful cry of victory in the camp today because we all need a hero and we have one. His name is Jesus. First Samuel, chapter 17. Pick up reading at verse two. 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 5,000 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 the spear's head weighed 600 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 Philistines 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 Philistines, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. Verse 17.
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 of your brothers. Pick up at verse 26. And David said to the men who stood by him, What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away this reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?
Verse 32. 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're not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him for your buddy youth.
And he's 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 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 as he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. And then David said to Saul, I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.
So David put them off. And 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 a 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? Did you come to me with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. Verse 48, 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. That's a good story. David and Goliath.
It is true the bigger they are the harder they fall sometimes. It's a story that is so beloved because there's something that moves us whenever we see a hero in action. I was stumbling back through an old file 14 years ago of a news article that made national attention about a hero in Atlanta, Georgia. He was a firefighter who went on a daring rescue mission.
His name was Matt Mosley. What had happened? There was an old cotton mill that was being converted into apartments and the construction site for some reason had burst into flames and the entire place was engulfed in a raging inferno. Heat was intense and they had rescued everybody. 150 firefighters battling the flames and everybody was safe except one man, a construction worker named Ivar Sims. A 49 year old Sims was trapped up on the huge crane, 220 feet up above the construction site over the flames. He couldn't get down.
And they were concerned that not only had the crane been immobilized by this fire but that before too long the searing heat would cause the metal of the crane to buckle and Sims would certainly die. There was only one chance for his rescue. Somebody to be dangled on a 50 foot cord below a helicopter that would come against 25 to 30 mile an hour winds that day along with the severe updrafts and downdrafts that were being caused by the scorching heat.
And this fellow, a young man named Matt Moseley said, I'd like to do it. He would have to not only be dangled beneath this helicopter at risk of being slammed up against the crane but somehow he would have to land on the narrow crane. He would have to avoid being virtually mauled by the one he came to rescue who would probably be in a panic and somehow he would have to safely harness him in, strap themselves both in and then be hoisted back over amidst all those winds and be brought down to safety. The whole nation watched because there's something in the deep psyche of every human being that knows I need to be rescued.
Who will deliver me? Whether people have been able to identify it or not every culture and every form of religion has been trying to answer the question who could deliver us from our sins and what do I do about the approaching specter of my own death and the uncertainty that I have. Hebrews says that people have lived in slavery to the fear of death their whole lives until Jesus came. We all, whether we realize it or not, we are drawn to the hero stories because we all need to be rescued and so we come to David and Goliath and everybody loves the story of David and Goliath because it's a hero story. But the story of David and Goliath is really in the end a story about the son of David and his defeat of the Goliath of hell, of the enemy, the accuser. It is an incredible victory story of our unlikely hero, Jesus Christ.
It's a great story. That's Alan Wright and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. In a world that often feels overwhelming, we all seek moments of encouragement and hope as a heartfelt thank you for your partnership with Alan Wright Ministries. When you give today, we're excited to send you our blessing box featuring 24 beautifully crafted cards filled with encouraging blessings from Pastor Alan. Each card offers daily inspiration and scripture on themes such as hope, strength, your identity in Christ, thanksgiving and much more. This unique resource can be yours. Make your gift to the ministry today and get your blessing box.
These blessings are designed to uplift your spirit, providing encouragement whenever you need a boost. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. Now we are in our final days of offering this special product. Call us at 877-544-4860. That's 877-544-4860 or come to our website, PastorAlan.org. Today's teaching now continues.
Here once again is Alan Wright. Well, the setting is one that would have been familiar in ancient warfare. It was a battle scene where there were two opposing hillsides and a valley in between. It was the Valley of Elah. There may have been more regularly used battlefields between the eastern Judean mountains and the western side where the Mediterranean, but there was no more storied valley than that of the Valley of Elah. This is a place that many battles had taken place over the years. The Maccabean battles with Syria, the Knights of the Crusade fought in that same valley in the 12th century. Our battle takes place much earlier, a thousand years before Jesus. And the Philistines, a seafaring people, had come with their eyes on the kingdom that was being led by Israel's first king, Saul.
And they wanted to fracture that kingdom with an eye on taking it over. Saul, recognizing the threat, had positioned his army on a northern ridge and the Philistines were flanked along the ridge to the south. So imagine two hillsides with a valley in between, the northern slopes, the Israelites, the southern slopes, the Philistines. And they were stuck there because nobody really wanted to attack. In order to attack the other, you would have to move down into the valley taking the subordinate position, losing all strategic advantage, and then you would have to climb up the other hillside in order to try to attack the opponent. To move off of your strategic ridge seemed to be suicide to either army. And so nobody wanted to attack. Instead, they were stalemated there, a scene not uncommon in ancient warfare.
So what emerged from the Philistines was a strategic tactic. They sent their huge, skilled warrior, Goliath, down into the valley to call out and challenge Israel with what was known in ancient warfare as single combat. It would be a battle of champions. One representative from Israel and one representative from the Philistine army would fight each other.
Whoever won would win it for their army and thus for the whole nation. To understand the magnificent picture of the gospel and the story of David and Goliath, it must begin with this. There was going to be a battle of representatives.
The whole question is could Israel find someone to represent them? Did the people of God have somebody who could go out and do battle on their behalf in their name such that if they were represented in him it would be as though they were fighting? The idea of representation is absolutely essential to understand if you're ever going to know what it means to be in the covenant with Jesus Christ through the gospel. That there is a new covenant that has been established in Christ Jesus wherein He did for us what we could not do for ourselves. He lived a life of perfection that we could not live and He took upon Himself a penalty of infinite payment that we would have never been able to pay but He was fully representing us in doing so. You must understand Jesus became human for this reason. Humanity needed someone to represent us and we had no one. That's the predicament of Israel. No one to represent them. Goliath is huge. Huge.
Different estimates everywhere from seven feet to nine feet or plus. He is a giant of a man and he is adorned with huge armor and his fear tactics work. In reflection on the story and I've often thought why didn't Israel couldn't a King Saul or somebody have the courage to go fight him? But the more you read this story the more you realize it would have been sheer folly for them to try to fight him because nobody had the faith for it and nobody had the skill for it and nobody equaled Goliath.
If someone went out and fought on behalf of Israel and lost then all of Israel lost. There was good reason for their stagnation because their fear was grounded in a sense of reality but they didn't know about God. They didn't see the possibilities because their eyes were fixed upon Goliath. They're paralyzed.
They are dressed up for battle but never fighting. They are standing there day after day but doing nothing. This is the predicament of humanity without Jesus Christ. Living but not really alive. Existing but never moving forward. This is the predicament of every person that does not have a every person that does not have a hero. Don't know what to do about your own impending death and don't know what to do about your own sins.
And so people do everything in the world to try to not think about it but inwardly they are held captive by their own fear. They are paralyzed on that ridge and Goliath's taunts are working. Enter David. It doesn't take a Hebrew scholar or a Greek scholar to discover the similarities between this boy David and Jesus. In the first place he comes from Bethlehem. He comes as a shepherd who had been raised up in obscurity but anointed with the Holy Spirit upon him and no one asked for David to come.
His brothers weren't saying oh I hope David will show up. He could save us. Instead the story makes it plain the father sent him and the father sent him to take nourishment to his cowardly brothers and their fellow comrades.
He was on an errand of mercy in the first place and he came. Malcolm Gladwell, New York Times best-selling author of books like The Tipping Point has written a recent book that is called David and Goliath Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants. A very interesting book in which each chapter tells the story of a real-life person who had to face a big opponent who had outsized him or her. But in all of those stories in these lopsided conflicts the giants tend to in the end not be as fearsome as they appeared to be. That often the qualities that make a giant look so different look so giant are also the very weaknesses of that giant and that often the misfit or the unlikely one or the underdog has qualities and strengths that only emerge because they have to face this giant.
It's absolutely true idea. This idea is that sometimes in your life you come up against obstacles so great it draws out of you qualities you didn't even know you had. This is the story of David and Goliath.
Alan Wright. Today's teaching is the bigger they are the harder they fall and how David became a hero. It's in the series Son of David and Alan's back with us in the studio as he shares his parting good news thought for the day in just a moment. In a world often feels overwhelming we all seek moments of encouragement and hope as a heartfelt thank you for your partnership with Alan Wright Ministries. When you give today we're excited to send you our blessing box featuring 24 beautifully crafted cards filled with encouraging blessings from Pastor Alan. Each card offers daily inspiration and scripture on themes such as hope strength your identity in Christ thanksgiving and much more. This unique resource can be yours make your gift to the ministry today and get your blessing box. These blessings are designed to uplift your spirit providing encouragement whenever you need a boost. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Now we are in our final days of offering this special product.
When you give today we will send you today's special offer. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries call us at 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860 or come to our website PastorAlan.org. Back here in the studio to share Alan's parting good news thought for the day and what is that at this particular point we're placing a bookmark that we could take? Well it's a fresh insight into the David and Goliath story if you start thinking about it this way that God took what was a potential weakness in David.
He was no match for Goliath but he used it in a glorious way and so there's good news when you feel like a misfit or you feel weak or you feel that you're not equipped God will take and turn that thing in your life that might seem your weakness and use it for a real strength because he's redemptive and he's powerful and he's glorious so watch for it. Really Daniel almost every every dollar that's given we can say is going to enable us to announce this message of grace in a very powerful way to thousands and thousands of people. Your contribution helps sustain the broadcast of Alan Wright Ministries in your city when you give a single gift a gift of any amount special year-end gift or come on board with a recurring monthly gift. Thanks for supporting Alan Wright Ministries when you call 877-LITE-60 or visit PastorAlan.org again that's 877-LITE-60 or PastorAlan.org. Today's good news message is a listener supported production of Alan Wright Ministries.
