Keep sharing good news without ads.
Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/brandon-doll/what-david-saw-heard-said-did/
Turn with me, please, to the Old Testament, 1 Samuel, please, chapter 17. I'd like to look a little bit at David this morning. Last night at home, I was sitting there and thinking, and my wife comes up and asks me what I was thinking, so I shared some of my thoughts, and she said, what's your point?
So I hope that's not the case this morning. 1 Samuel, chapter 17, let's begin at verse number... Oh, for the sake of time, this is a well-known portion. Let's begin at verse number 8. We're going to start here with the words of Goliath.
And 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 to Saul? Choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.
If he be able to fight with me and to kill me, then will we be your servants. But 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. When Saul and all Israel heard the words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. Now, verse 12, David is being prepared by Jesse to come. Let's break in at verse number 23.
And as he talked with them, this is David talking with the men. Behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name. Now the armies of the Philistines and spake according to the same words, and David heard them.
And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were sore afraid. Drop down to verse number 28. And Eliab, his eldest brother, heard when he spake unto the men, and Eliab's anger was kindled against David.
And he said, Why camest thou down hither, and with whom hath thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride and the naughtiness of thine heart, for thou art come down that thou mayest see the battle.
And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause? And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him. Thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. 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.
And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep. And there came a lion and a bear and took a lamb out of the flock. And I went out after him and smote him and delivered it out of his mouth.
And when he arose against me, I caught him by the beard and smote him and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing as he defied the armies of the living God.
And for the sake of time, you know the story. I guess if I have a point this morning, I just want to encourage our hearts today and use this man David as an example. I want to look at four things about David today as he comes to this battle.
I want to consider what he saw. What David saw. What he heard. What he said. And what he did. Just four very simple points this morning. And I want to give you a little background on what got me thinking about this.
Most here or many would know that I've been thinking in my thoughts and study about David's mighty men. And I was thinking about his mighty men and a thought came to me this week. Where were the mighty men when this battle was going on?
They weren't David's mighty men. Some of them would have been in the army of Saul. Some of them would have been men of great experience. Some of them would have been men of great victories. Some would be men of maybe great faith.
But here's a man now, Goliath, and he's challenging the program of God really. He's defying Israel and he's defying Israel's God. And where are the mighty men now? What did this man David see? He comes to this battle.
He comes to this place. And you know his intention was to come to check on his brethren. I do believe Jesse knew what was going on and sent him for a reason. But that's beside the point. And so here he's coming to check on his brethren.
And he gets there and this is what he sees. He's looking at his brethren. He's looking at the armies of Israel. And he sees Saul. And Saul can't do anything. He's not willing to do anything. Or maybe he's just scared.
He's looking around as a young man and he's seeing experienced men. Experienced men. Experienced warriors. And they're unable to do anything. And he's seeing responsible men. Men of responsibility. Men that are there for Israel because they're responsible men.
And they're not doing anything. And they're scared. And he's seeing discouraged men. Discouraged men. And if you would sum up all these men, there's one thing that they all had in common that day. They were men of unbelief.
They were warriors and soldiers of unbelief. And they were powerless. Maybe that's my point this morning. Or maybe that's my challenge. I'm looking out at young men and old men. Younger sisters and older sisters.
And my question is this. Are we characterized in our life by unbelief? Think of that. Yes, we've experienced salvation. And we've experienced God's goodness to us. But as I examine my own heart, and I hope you examine yours, and I hope you're not like me.
Because when I look in my own heart, you know what I see? I see a lot of unbelief. And there's a lot of fear oftentimes. And there's a lot of discouragement oftentimes. And this is what David sees as he comes.
The armies of Israel as a whole. We're in unbelief. We're in unbelief. We've just been hearing about departure and being brought back. Are we turning into a people of God that are characterized by unbelief?
That's a searching question. Are we becoming characteristically in our everyday life, or maybe in our assembly life, of unbelief? Are we missing that element of faith in our God? The living and the true God.
The God of Abraham. The God of Isaac. And the God of Jacob. Are we characterized by a ho-hum attitude? That this is a day of small things. And this is a day of departure. And oh, well, that's just the way it's going to be.
That's unbelief. It's unbelief. So here's a man, David, and he sees unbelief in the armies of Israel. It's what he saw. You know, these men, these experienced men, did they not see great victories? Did they not see great battles won for God?
Didn't they see great things that God had done? Hadn't they heard from their ancestors what God had done in bringing them out of Egypt by the deliverance of the Red Sea? And the Passover lamb? And how God fed them with the manna?
And how God brought the quails? And how God met every need? And yet they're in unbelief. I want to make mention of a point here. Why weren't they talking to one another about these great things when they were there by the Philistines?
Why didn't they have a conference and say, Brother, this is what God has done for us in the past. He'll take care of this man. Where were these men? Now, here's my point. When was the last time you shared with someone, whether it be a brother or a sister or an unsaved person, what God has done for you in everyday life?
You search your soul. When was the last time that you shared a miracle that God performed for you or in your presence? Maybe it's just some small thing. I'll give you a little, simple, really silly example.
A really terrible example. But it meant something to me. Two years ago I was with an unbeliever and we were hunting. And we were in Colorado. And we were four hours from the truck. We had a little tent set up there.
But out there, there's units you can hunt and units you can't hunt. And this unit you can't hunt is really, really good if you're a hunter. All right? But the problem is there's a trail that runs along there.
And all the elk are over here where you can't hunt. There's nothing where you can't hunt. And every year there's always a trophy bowl down in this one pasture, this one meadow, but we can't go there. And usually I'm with some Christians and so it isn't too big of a problem.
But this year I'm with an unbeliever, my wife's cousin. And this animal is talking to us. He's calling our name to come down and get him. And I'm like, Ross, we can't go down there. But he's right there.
Yeah, he was right there. And so I was walking along and I was praying two things. First of all, Lord, keep me from going down there. But the biggest prayer was this, Lord, prove yourself to this man.
Because I was witnessing to this man and he was a bit of a skeptic. And I said, Ross, we can't go down there because if we go down there, what we're saying is this, that God can't take care of us where we're supposed to be.
And we're walking along and I'm praying and this elk is calling our name. And we're still walking. And we get just about to our tent. And the whole place erupts with elk. There wasn't just one trophy bow, but there were four.
And they weren't a long ways away, but they were standing around our tent. We weren't in it. And, Ross, when it was all said and done, we're not very good hunters, we didn't get any of them. All right?
But it's all said and done. Ross is like, I can't believe it. No, my little prayer was just this, Lord, prove yourself to this man. And Ross was there with his mouth stopped and I said, Ross, in kind of a cocky attitude, I said, how do you like to see God work?
He's like, I can't believe it. I said, Ross, God is real. God is real. Now, that's a terrible example. But you know what? It's something we can relate to. When was the last time in your experience have you told somebody, a Christian, what God has done for you in your life?
I think that's lacking today. You know, why is it that people flock to missionary conferences? Do you ever notice that? Missionaries come from different parts of the world and people go to them, Christians love them.
Why? Because they hear what God is doing. They hear how God is working. And it thrills their soul. Because God's alive and well and interested in His people. And God is interested in the Gospel. And God is saving souls.
And God is restoring Christians. And God is winning victories. When was the last time you shared something in your life? I wonder if these people were sitting there in a slump and they're just grumbling.
Oh, what are we going to do? Here comes a man, nine foot tall, he comes in between the two armies, and he says, why are you putting this battle in array? All you've got to do is defeat me. And they're all scared.
And they're all in unbelief. And so my point, I guess, is this. Are we in unbelief today? Brother Alex stated a couple of weeks ago, he said, what happened to the children of Israel? The church is experiencing the same thing today.
Different aspects of it, and it's true. What about our unbelief? What David saw, what did he hear? For 40 days this giant came and he approached this army. And he says, why are you come? It's one of the statements of Goliath.
Why are you here? Every day, night, morning and night for 40 days, why are you here? Why are you here? Why are you here? If you were discouraged, what would that do to your soul? It would just drive you right into the ground, wouldn't it?
Why am I here? Why am I in God's assembly? Why do I meet with God's people? Why am I here in this place? And the discouragement sets in. And that rhetorical question keeps being brought up. Why am I here?
Why am I here? You ever thought that about the assembly? Everybody here has thought that about the assembly at one point in their life. Or they haven't been in the assembly very long. If you haven't thought that, you'll come.
You'll come. Something will happen and you'll wonder, why am I here? You know why you're there? Because God wants you there. Because the Lord Jesus is there. And in the assembly is where we see God work.
We see God work. So here's what he hears. So David shows up and he has this uncircumcised Philistine asking God's people, why are you there? Maybe I need to ask myself that question. And maybe you too.
Why are you here this morning? Why has God left you on this earth? Why has God left us at the battle scene yet? We're here for a purpose. We're here for a reason. That's one thing that David heard. What else did he hear?
Oh, the threat, the scare. If I defeat you, you'll be my servants. Servants. Scary thing to be someone's servant, isn't it? I'm reminded of the verse in John, He that commits sin is a servant of sin. What does it feel like to be a servant of unbelief?
A servant of unbelief. Unbelief is sin. Whatever is not in faith is sin. What's the lesser of the two evils? They're both bad. Here they're going to be servants to the Philistines. Or they're going to be stuck in fear and unbelief.
That's what he heard. Then he heard this. Goliath cries out, give me a man. Give me a man. I'll confess, I've just been enjoying these thoughts for a couple of days. This isn't a polished message. It's been repeated over and over.
This is hot off the press. But as David's crying for a man, he's coming. David was on his way. Goliath is there in defiance to the living God. And he's saying this, give me a man. And David's on his way.
Goliath doesn't know it. But David's on the way. God's going to give him his man. God's going to see that his head is taken off. And this big enemy to Israel will be done once and for all. It'll be a great revival in Israel.
And so David cries for a man. And there's a man that is coming. I want to remind our hearts of the Lord Jesus who's coming today. This world is crying out for God's people to prove themselves. This world is crying out for God's people to show them God.
Show them the works of God. Isn't it a challenge? Just as though Goliath the Gath was here today. But there's one coming to take us out of here. Even the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's a few things that he heard.
Oh, what about Eliab, the discouraging brother? So David's here and he's just all ears. And he's taking in the situation. He's assessing the situation. And here comes his eldest brother. Oh, I know your pride and your naughtiness.
You ever had a brother discourage you? You've had a brother or sister discourage you. Didn't bother David. Didn't bother David. Is there not a cause? Is there not a cause? Absolutely there's a cause. So he hears the cry of Goliath and he hears the discouraging words from his brother.
What does David declare? He starts rehearsing how God worked in his life with the lion and the bear. Times in his life that he went back to when God was there. Times in his life when it was undeniable that the God of eternity was there beside him.
Using him. Working through him. Working for him. He starts to tell the people these things. And I already mentioned, why weren't they talking about it already? So here's a man and he starts to say about the lion and about the bear.
He's starting to speak now. The first thing he does is he encourages God's people with the power of God. He's saying, we're not coming to fight this man in our own power. We're coming in the name of the Lord.
We gather to the name of the Lord, brethren. We're gathered to his name. We come in every conflict. Every single one in the name of the Lord. Not in the power and wisdom of men. But in the power and might of the living and the true God.
This is the God we serve. This is the God we worship. This is the God that has saved us. And if you're down today, go back to the day of your salvation. And you just remember what took place that day.
How God delivered you from sin and death and hell. So David starts talking about this. What's the response? It's positive. Well, you know, God is with you, yeah. Can you just put yourself there at the scene?
David's telling Saul all this. And Saul says, well, you can't go. You're just a youth. Ah, but Saul. This is God's battle. And Saul starts to see it, doesn't he? He starts to understand really what's taking place.
Yeah. And then pretty soon there's others there and they're helping him. They're helping David about, well, get the armor on. Well, David's not going to use the armor. We know the story. But there's people that are interested now.
And their attitude has turned from an attitude of fear and an attitude of unbelief to an attitude of hope. An attitude of expectation. Yes, God can work again. These meetings are coming. Praise the Lord.
Paul Carter's Gospel meeting is going to start Monday. I hope your brethren are coming at him with an attitude of expectation. Not just a time of sowing the good seed of God. Not just a time of glorifying God and the preaching of the Gospel.
But a time of glorifying God and the salvation of souls for eternity. So now there's a measure of hope. There's a measure of an attitude of being positive. And so there, David's coming to the Philistine.
So David declared his faith, didn't he? He said, this Philistine is no different. It's no different. God's enemies are all the same, aren't they? They're all trying to take us down. Whether it's the world or the flesh or the devil.
Whether it's the lion or the bear or the Philistine. There is no difference. And so David goes. I would just love to have seen that. I wonder what their attitude was when David takes off on the run toward this Philistine.
What would have been your attitude? There you are, you've heard this man come for 40 days and defy God. Stood for 40 days in unbelief and discouragement and in fear. And now David's taking off on the run.
What would your attitude be? I think mine would be, you go, boy. In the power of God. In the name of the Lord. Because there's nothing that people could do to help him other than pray to God for him. And here he goes.
He's on the run with his smooth stones. Goliath laughs at it. David cuts off his head with his own sword. See, every circumstance in our life really is a test of faith. Every one. Whether it's a hard time, a time of discouragement, it's a test of faith.
Whether it's a positive time or a mountaintop experience, it's a test of faith. Oftentimes when we're on a mountaintop experience, how is that a test of faith? Do we really believe where the blessing comes from?
And oftentimes we look at ourself and maybe the pride starts coming in and the ease starts coming in. And we're all taken up with ourself and what has been done. But it's a test of faith. The high points in life are a test of faith.
The battles are a test of faith. And every opportunity in life is this. It's an opportunity to prove God. David proved God that day. Or maybe I should say God proved himself. God proved himself. God is looking for individuals today.
He's looking for experienced older Christians. To share with us younger believers the great things God has done for you. You know, there are certain things that the children of Israel are supposed to tell their children.
Supposed to remind them, remember, of the Passover and the Red Sea and all these things. Why? Well, when the children ask you of this service, why are you doing what you're doing that you might be able to tell them?
Brethren, tell us some of your experiences. If you're an older Christian today, you see a younger Christian, just take a few minutes and go and share what God has done. And you know what I think? I think we'll be amazed at a change in attitude in our young people.
Before I sit down, I want to say this. What young Christians need today is sound doctrine. It's true. Absolutely. Sound doctrine. But there's an element that young people need today of example. Example.
And I hope we're like this man, David. Each and every one of us. That we might be an example for the generation that's coming behind us. And if you're 18 years old today, there's a generation coming behind you.
And if you're 85 years old today, there's generations that are behind you. And these experiences that God has proved Himself in your life and made Himself real, pass them on. And you will see hearts of those that are younger than you sit in awe of what God can do.
What did David see? He saw a group of discouraged men. A group of men in unbelief. What did he hear? He heard all the challenges of the enemy. He heard all the discouragement from the brethren. What did he say?
He reminded his own heart as he's reminding others of the God that works. And the God that meets the needs of His people. And he went out and he demonstrated his faith on a full run toward the giant. And God brought him down with just one stone.
The Lord bless His Word.