** David Visits His Brothers - Part 1 (1 Samuel 17 / David & Goliath)

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. Let me start by saying this. Christians should back each other up. Christians really need to back each other up.

You don't need me to tell you that God's enemies are great in number. They're loud, they're motivated, and sometimes it seems that the enemies of God, more or less, stand unopposed. So turn, if you would, to 1 Samuel chapter 17.

David and Goliath as a Picture of Christian Support

This is the account of David and Goliath. That's not really going to be our focus, though. We're going to be looking at the events leading up to that confrontation when David visits his brothers on the battlefield.

David gets there and he discovers Goliath, you know, the Philistine armies are there lined up. And there's Goliath, their champion, down in the valley blaspheming the name of God. So David shows up and that's what he sees, Goliath blaspheming the Lord, and the Israelites are just standing around not doing anything about it.

And David can't believe it. Why is nobody acting? So David decides that, well, if nobody's going to do anything about it, I guess I'll do something about it. And you know what the response was from his brothers?

They criticized him. They didn't support David. King Saul, he didn't think David could really do anything. His brothers did not back him up. And the same thing, I think, happens often today when a Christian steps out in faith.

When a Christian tries to do something for the Lord, oftentimes they have to go it alone. And sometimes their biggest critics are not the enemies of God. Sometimes their biggest critics are their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

That should not be the way it is. So that's one part of the message that Christians need to support each other. We need to back each other up. And then the next part of the message, this is what it's titled.

Is there not a cause? Because that's what David asked. He says, is there not a cause? Is there not a reason to act? Is there not a reason to go out and face the battle? Look at verse 29. David says, is there not a cause?

So I would apply that today. When you look around at the enemies of God, those who blaspheme God, the godlessness, the insanity in the world today, the church in some ways, sort of like Israel, nobody's really doing much about it.

Nobody seems all that concerned about it or the one response you do get. There's fear. Nobody wants to step out because they're afraid if they do, they're going to get clobbered. And their fellow believers are not going to back them up.

And that happens. All right. First Samuel chapter 17 begins with the enemies of Israel, the Philistines. They're gathering their armies together. They're in Israelite territory. Look at verse two. And it says, and Saul, who is Israel's king, and the men of Israel were gathered together and they encamped in the valley of Elah and drew up in battle array against the Philistines.

And the Philistines stood on a mountain on one side. And Israel stood on a mountain on the other side with a valley between them. And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines named Goliath from Gath, whose height was about six cubits and a span.

Now, how many of you know what a cubit is? Most people don't consider or measure with cubits. But basically, it's believed that Goliath was about nine feet tall, maybe between nine and ten feet tall. So, this is what's happening.

Israel's enemies are united. The Philistines are bold. The Philistines have their top warrior. He's out there blaspheming the name of God. I don't know what he was saying, but some of the things probably wouldn't be able to repeat in church, I'm sure.

And Goliath to the Israelites, he seems unbeatable. Like there is nobody in the Israelite camp, even Saul himself who is head and shoulders above everybody else, literally. Saul is afraid. Nobody can defeat Goliath.

I mean how would you feel going up against somebody of that size? I mean you probably wouldn't consider it either. Look at verse eight. He stood and cried out to the armies of Israel and said to them, Why have you come out to line up for battle?

Am I not a Philistine and you the 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.

You might look at this as a more civilized approach to war. Instead of both armies attacking each other and thousands and thousands of people dying. This is an easy way to resolve it. I'll come out. You send one man.

Whoever wins this battle, the losing army, you will be our servants. So that's what's happening here. Continues verse 10. Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight together.

And when Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, here's the first problem. They were what? They were dismayed and greatly afraid. Another term for being dismayed is they were discouraged.

They were discouraged and they were fearful. Now, the thing to know about Israel at this point, they had a covenant with God. God made to them certain promises. The agreement was if they would obey God's law, if they would trust in God and walk by faith and not by sight, then God would bless them and God had promised to give them victory over their enemy.

So that is a promise from God himself. Most of you are familiar with 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 verse 7, which says, for we walk by faith and not by sight. Well, that's a New Testament verse, but it was true for the Israelites back then, too.

So let me pose the question. Was Saul and the Israelites, were they walking by faith or were they walking by sight? No, it was by sight. They see this giant Goliath and they are afraid. And just by looking at Goliath it seems that it caused them to forget all about the promises of God.

Doesn't that happen sometimes? You face a situation, something happens, you get focused on this one thing. And even though you know about God and His promises, that all falls into the background because you're focused on the wrong thing.

Israel should have been focused on the Lord. So they're discouraged. They're fearful. But there was a young man, he's introduced in verse 12, and it says, and now David. David. Okay, so for the sake of time, I'm not going to read all of the verses, but David is a young man at this point.

He's probably a teenager. His father was Jesse. They were from the city of Bethlehem. David was a shepherd. He literally tended to sheep. His older brothers, however, were in the military. They were in Saul's army.

At least a few of them were. Now you have this standoff with Goliath and the Philistines. And it went on for 40 days. And in the Bible, the number 40 is significant. It represents basically a time of testing.

And would you say Israel is being tested right now? Yeah, you better believe they're being tested. Look at verse 17. Then Jesse said to his son. So David is at home now with the sheep. And his father says to him, take now for your brothers and Ephod this dried grain and these 10 loaves and run to your brothers at the camp.

So his father wants to send the brothers supplies. Skip ahead to verse 20. So David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with the keeper because he had responsibilities. And took the things and went as Jesse had commanded him.

And he came to the camp as the army was going out to fight and shouting for the battle. For Israel and the Philistines had drawn up in battle array, army against army. And David left his supplies in the hand of the supply keeper, ran to the army and came and greeted his brothers.

Then he talked with them. And there was a champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, coming up from the armies of the Philistines. And he spoke according to the same word. So David heard them.

So these are the words that he was, he was blaspheming God. And now, now David is hearing it. It says in all the men of Israel, when they saw the man fled from him and were dreadfully afraid. See, this is just become normal.

This had been going on for 40 days. This was just normal. David is seeing this for the first time. And David is shocked. You know, sometimes you can be in a situation. It's just normal. Well, this is just what people do, but it's not normal.

And it takes somebody from the outside coming in to say, Hey, what's going on here? And that's what David is doing. Verse 25. So the men of Israel said, have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel.

And it shall be that the man who kills him, the king will enrich with great riches, will give him his daughter and give his father's house exemption from taxes in Israel. This is a pretty good deal, right?

You get, you get a cash reward. You get the king's daughter. So you're married into the royal family and your whole family. You don't have to pay taxes. But what good is that if you're dead, right? That's what people are thinking.

Then David spoke to the men who stood by saying, what shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine? Like, who does this guy, Goliath, who does he think he is?

That he should defy the armies of the living God. And the people answered him in this manner saying, so shall it be for the man who kills him. Now Eliab, this is David's older brother. Now Eliab, his oldest brother, heard when he, this is David, spoke to the men.

So he hears David asking about this, inquiring about it. And he knows that David is considering taking up this offer. And Eliab was so proud of his younger brother and he supported his younger brother as brothers should.

No, that's not what happened. Eliab's anger was aroused against David. And he said, why did you come down here? And notice this slight. And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? Like, you're nothing.

You tend to a few sheep. Why are you even here? He says, I know your pride in the insolence, basically the wickedness of your heart for you have come down to see the battle. So, he is assuming the worst possible motives of his younger brother.

Why? Why? I think he feels convicted. He knows he isn't doing anything. And his brother is willing to do, and he feels bad. So, hey, I'm going to make David look bad. What was David's response? David says, what have I done now?

Is there not a cause? Is there not a cause? So, just to recap, the enemies of God's people are assembled. Goliath is blaspheming the Lord. David just can't believe that nobody is doing anything about it.

Israel has a covenant with God. They have promises of God. They have a capable military. I mean, throughout their history, God has given them one miraculous victory after another. They went from a family of 70 people to being one of the dominant powers in the Middle East.

God is clearly with them. So, what is the problem? So, David starts to think, if nobody is going to do anything about this, then I will. You know, we need more people like David. Not the people like the Israelites are just standing around not doing anything.

Afraid and discouraged. We need people like David who says, well, I guess I'll do something then. So, he starts asking questions. What's happening here? David's zeal for God is taking over. He's not really considering what could happen.

I mean, he has to know what could take place. But none of that matters. He has a zeal for God. He loves God. He wants to see God honored. He can't stand the fact that somebody is using God's name in vain.

Do you feel that way? Do you have that fire within you? Do you have that passion within you where you have a zeal for God's name? You know, it's just become normal in our society to hear people diss the Bible and diss the Christian faith.

And to blaspheme and use God's name in vain. And it's become normal for all of us. Every day, no matter where we are, we hear it all the time. It's on TV. It's just everywhere. And it's just become normal.

Right? When it becomes normal and we don't have that reaction that this isn't right, we become like Israelite army. We need more David. So, he has this passion for God. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Hornet Church.

If you'd like to listen to the complete message or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, MorrisHornetChurch .com. And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett.

Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.