Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Thursday, January 16th. The story of David and Goliath captures a timeless theme. Who doesn't love seeing the underdog win? Today, we can go deeper into this story to uncover powerful principles to help us conquer the giants in our own life. All of us face those circumstances in life at times we feel overwhelmed and things are out of control. And we feel threatened by defeat and threatened by embarrassment and threatened by despair. And when we face those kind of battles in life, our greatest defense is strong faith in the living God. Not just faith, but faith in the living God based upon the foundation of the Word of God. When my faith is built upon this book, it is possible for me to be victorious and to conquer in every single circumstance of life. And that's what I want to talk about in this message, the faith that conquers. And I want you to turn, if you will, to 1 Samuel. And in 1 Samuel, there is the story, the most familiar one probably of all the stories in the Bible about David, is the story of David and Goliath. I want us to read just one part of this 17th chapter. What I would like for us to read is beginning in verse 45 and read David's declaration of what he was going to do to Goliath the giant.
This is a tremendous expression of faith on his part. And I want you to read along here. Listen, verse 45. Then David said to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword, a spear and 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 taunted. This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all the assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by the sword or by spear, for the battle is the Lord's and He will give you into our hands.
Now, here is the application. All of us have Goliaths in our life. They may not be nine feet, six inches tall.
They may be the job. This uncontrollable habit in your life. This relationship that is out of control. This pile of debt that is mounted up before you and all the credit cards are now in vain and there's no way that you say that you could anyway pay yourself out of this. There are all kinds of Goliaths in life.
They come in all shapes, all sizes and all forms. And sometimes old Goliath in our life rears up his ugly head and begins to shout at us at a time that is very surprising. And the problem is we don't know how to respond to Goliaths. In the series on faith entitled Forward by Faith, the title of this message is The Faith That Conquers. That is, there is a quality of faith that makes it possible when you and I face those challenges, those overwhelming uncontrollable things in life that we can be victorious, we can conquer, we can come out the winner no matter what.
So what I would like to do is simply explain or to share with you the characteristics. That is, I want to take the principles of the kind of faith that conquers and I want you to see how David, how he illustrates these so perfectly. So the first one of these qualities or characteristics of the kind of faith that conquers in all kinds of situations is this. The faith that conquers recalls previous, listen, recalls previous victories when facing battles.
That is, the faith that conquers recalls previous victories when facing battles. Now, if you will notice what happens in this passage. When David comes upon the scene and he begins to ask what's going on and who is this uncircumcised for this scene out here who's challenging the armies of God, they tell him and they tell him what is promised to the man who conquers him.
Finally, they take him to Saul. And so King Saul looked at him and he said, Look, you're just a shepherd boy. You're not a warrior. This man has been a warrior from his youth.
He's about nine feet six inches tall. Look at all that armor. Besides that, he has a shield bearer.
He has three weapons. And here you are as a shepherd boy. Listen to David's response.
Every single one of these principles is extremely important. Verse 32 of chapter 17. And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail on account of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine. Then Saul said to David, You're not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him for you're but a youth.
While he's been a warrior from his youth. But David said to Saul, Your servant was tending his father's sheep when a lion or a bear, and he had defeated both, a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock. I went out after him and attacked him and rescued it from his mouth. And when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him.
Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear. And this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them since he has taunted the armies of the living God. Now, when David saw Goliath, he didn't stand there and just simply size him up.
He's about nine feet tall and looking at his armor and listen to his taunts. The first thing David did was to think back. He killed both a lion and a bear. So what David did when he saw his opposition, he didn't focus on his opposition. He immediately began to think, What did I do last time?
I killed a lion and a bear. If I can kill a lion and a bear, that is if God will deliver the lion and the bear into my hands, he will surely deliver this uncircumcised Philistine who is taunting the armies of the living God and who is embarrassing the very name of God. Now, David out there on the hillside contemplating with God, thinking about God, writing.
Listen, it was a natural response for him to say, What happened last time when I went through this situation? What can I trust God for? If God delivered him from the bear and the lion, he will also deliver him from Goliath. So the first characteristic in the quality of the faith that conquers is that is recalling past victories.
Secondly, re-examining and reaffirming the proper motives. Now, it's interesting what happens here because when David comes on the scene, I want you to notice what's going on. Verse 25, he comes up on the scene and he's brought his brothers their food and he left that and ran up to the battle line. Verse 25 says, And the men of Israel said, Have you seen this man who's coming up? Surely he's coming up to defy Israel. And it will be that the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches, will give him his daughter and make his father's house free of Israel. That means his father's house, his family won't have to pay any more taxes and they would be free men and women. They wouldn't be necessarily servants as the average person was.
They'd be in a little different category. Now, listen to David's response. Verse 26, Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him saying, What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away their approach from Israel?
For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should taunt the armies of the living God? And so they said to him again, This is what will be done to him. And then in verse 30, the Bible says, Then he turned away from him to another and said the same thing. And the people answered the same thing as again. So three times it's like David said, Now, wait a minute. I want to get this straight. You mean to tell me that the man who kills that uncircumcised Philistine over here, who's taunting the armies of the living God and embarrassing Jehovah God, that the king is going to give him great riches, his daughter and a free house?
They said that's right. Now, that isn't what motivated David to go to war. Here's what motivated David to go to war and it's so important that you and I examine our motives. I want you to look, if you will, first of all, in verse 36.
We've read it once, but the last part of it. He said, I will also kill this uncircumcised Philistine who's taunting the armies of the living God. Look back, if you will, in verse 26, the last part again. Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should taunt the armies, what, of the living God? And then in verse 45, we read a few moments ago. Then David said, You come to me of the sword, a spear of javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord God of hosts, of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. And so what motivated David above everything else was this, not money, not marriage, nor freedom. What motivated him was this young shepherd boy who'd been out there in the shepherd field tending his sheep over these years, had such a relationship to God, such a reverence and awe and respect for Jehovah God, anybody who would disdain the name of Yahweh, anybody who would taunt the armies of the living God and the only God, anyone who would disgrace the name of God had to be dealt with.
He could not stand to hear this man taunt God. He said, Listen, I'll take him on. The same God who delivered me before will deliver me now. Now, when you and I face Goliath in our life, what is our motive? That is, what is it that you and I come to God to ask him to do? Now, Lord, I want you to settle this issue because, God, if I had more money, I'd have more money to give and if I had more money, God, and I've heard people say all kind of things, Lord, if you'll just do this and do this for me financially, here's what I'll do. You know what that most folks usually don't do what they say they're going to do?
That's why God puts them right back in another mess just like the last one there's in, because if they had learned their lesson the first time, they wouldn't be in it the second time. When you and I are facing some Goliath in our life, what we have to ask is, God, why do I want the victory? Do I want it so that I can be bragging about it or prideful about it, egotistical of God? Do I want it because I want my circumstances to change because I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired of being sick and tired of all the mess I have to put up with and, God, I'd like to run and I can't run.
God, just swallow them up with earthquake. Just do something, God. You know what we're after?
Self. We want ease, comfort, pleasure, everybody to love us, everything to be right, have everything we need. Listen, my friend, you know what God's up to? He's not up to my ease, comfort, and pleasure. He's up to molding me into Christlikeness. He's up to molding us into Christlikeness. So if my motive is right, here's the way I'll pray. God, I don't like this Goliath.
I want him swallowed up, struck down, heart attack, you name it, God, wipe him out. But, Lord, if I've got to fight him in order to become the man you want me to be, here am I, God. Lord, if I've got to walk through this valley one more year, I'm willing.
If I've got to walk through it, God, and I don't know how long, I'm still willing. God, if this, if my circumstance will never change, here am I, Lord, then I know that my motive is right. You see, I may not like getting bloody and being chiseled and sanded and cut away, but if my motive is right, I'm willing to say, God, whatever it takes to grow me up, whatever it takes to teach me the truth, whatever it takes to make me like you, God, send the Goliaths in my life and keep on sending them if that's what it takes to make me a true man of God. Then I know my motive's right. But if I'm trying to get rid of the Goliaths so I'll feel better and so everything will be peaceful and quiet around me, there's nothing wrong with having a little peace and quiet.
I mean, everybody needs that. And there's nothing wrong also with God prospering you. There was no, you see, David didn't say to King Saul, look, I'll tell you what I'll do. If you'll give me enough gold and you'll give me your daughter in marriage and you'll free my household, I'll wipe him out for you. He didn't bargain with him. Saul is the one who made the offer. And David simply stepped into the situation to say, listen, here's what I'm willing to do. And if you'll notice in his conversation with King Saul, you know the only thing he mentioned? The only thing was on his mind primarily. Let's get rid of this uncircumcised Philistine who is challenging the sovereign God of Israel.
That was the issue. And so when you and I are facing Goliaths in our life, we have to ask ourselves, what's our motive? The third thing I want you to notice is this, and that is the faith that conquers is a faith that rejects the discouraging words of others.
A faith that rejects the discouraging words of others. Now look what happens. David comes to the scene, he leaves his baggage behind and he comes up to the battle line and here's what happens, verse 28. Now Eliab, his oldest brother, heard when he spoke to the men and Eliab's anger burned against David and said, now look at this, this is a wonderful conversation to learn something. He said, why have you come down and with whom have you left those few sheep? Now look at that, you see he cut him a little bit.
Just had to cut him a little bit. With whom have you left those few sheep? Why didn't he say, with whom have you left your herds?
But you see that would have made David look pretty good. You know, he's shepherding herds. With whom have you left your few sheep?
But that wasn't enough, watch this. And he says, with whom have you left your few sheep in the wilderness? I know your insolence and the wickedness of your heart.
You've come down in order to see the battle. Now look at this, the reason I know that David felt rejected in his household, look at this, he says, what have I done now? Not what have I done, what have I done now?
You know what that says? That he was always after David about something. Always harassing him, now what have I done? Let me ask you a question. Have you ever said that? What have I done now?
How many of you think your kids have ever said that? What have I done now? He says, what have I done now?
Was it not just a question? Then he turned away from him to another and said the same thing and the people answered the same thing as before. And so if David had listened to his brother, he would have gone back home. Then when he got down to seeing Saul, what did Saul say to him? Saul said, now look, he said, you're an old warrior, you're just a shepherd boy. This man has been a warrior from his youth.
David refused to listen to negative language and negative comments. Now here's what I want you to see and this is very, very, very important. When you and I are in the midst of any kind of battle, whatever our Goliath may be, be very careful who you listen to. Because if you listen to the wrong kind of counsel, you're going to get in a worse situation. And here's what good meaning people do to us. They say, listen, you don't have to suffer like that. You don't deserve that.
If I were you, here's what I'd do. Remember this then, not you. And secondly, it's real easy to tell somebody else what you would do if you were them because that can't ever be, so you're safe. And besides that, what they want to do is release us from the hurt. Sometimes the hurt is what God knows is absolutely necessary to sand me and sift me and sculpt me until He shapes them into His likeness. So we have to be very, very careful that here is God and here is the person you want to help and what we do is we slip in right between God and the other person in order to release them and alleviate some pain in their life. And what happens is we listen to the wrong kind of counsel. The Bible says there's wisdom in many counsels but the Bible says don't believe all the counselors.
You can't believe everything you hear. And what we have to do is to be sure we're listening to God. Now listen carefully. You know why that didn't bother David? Now listen, David was out there on the hillside at nighttime by himself. It's just he and God. Listen, David, I love this, David was so used to listening to God that when he heard all this negative jabber, it just went in one ear and right out the other. He didn't even let that bother him. He didn't fight back. He just said, now what have I done?
I mean, what's the deal? He knew exactly what God was saying to him. And sometimes we find ourselves listening to the wrong kind of language and the wrong kind of suggestions. And you see, the most important event in your life every single day is this. The time you spend alone with God. I would say that to the President of the United States and I would say that to a young child, to a mother, the President of any corporation, it makes no difference what. You see, listen, until I've heard from God about a situation, I'm not really ready to face it. And that's why our own quiet, private time of meditation is so very important.
David had a habit of listening to God, so he refused to listen to unwise, ungodly counsel. Thank you for listening to The Faith That Conquers. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
