back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand morning and evening. 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 to your brothers. Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well and bring some token from them. Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Eli fighting with the Philistines. And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with the keeper and took the provisions and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line shouting the war cry. And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army, and David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks, and went and greeted his brothers. As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke the same words as before, and David heard him. All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were much afraid. The men of Israel said, Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel. David said to the men who stood by him, What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? And the people answered him in the same way, so shall it be done to the man who kills him. Now Eliab, his eldest brother, heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab's anger was kindled against David. And he said, why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle. And David said, what have I done now? Was it not but a word? And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before. When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. And 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 are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth. But David said to Saul, Your servant used to keep sheep for his father, and there came a lion or a bear. 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 down 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 he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them. So David put them off. Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in the shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand and he approached the Philistine. And as I said last week, you know the rest of the story. I would invite you, if you would, to keep your Bible open to this text and I want to talk to you about some things from this portion of God's Word this morning. I told you last week that this is one of the great and probably one of the most familiar stories, historical narratives from the Old Testament. Most of us learned this story when we were children in Sunday school or when we were children in Bible school. I know that I was exposed to it very early as a child and it's been in my mind ever since. And it is a tremendous story. It's a story of the power of God. It's a story of the greatness of God, the majesty of God. And we all love this story because of the way the story ends up. David, this great man who is eventually going to become the king of Israel, his path to greatness begins on this particular day. Now if you go back to chapter 16, we find Samuel being sent to the house of Jesse and Samuel anointing David to become the future king of Israel in chapter 16, but the day that the nation of Israel begins to become aware of or to be made aware of this the person David who will eventually be their king. That day begins on this day when he slays Goliath and takes his head from him and becomes a household name in the nation of Israel. It is a great, great story. We think of this great underdog, this young person who is weak in comparison to this great giant that he faces. And when the story is over, he has slain the giant, he has brought deliverance to his nation, he has wrought a great victory. We may talk more about that in the weeks that follow this week. But what I began to talk to you about last week was the things that David had to face and the things that David had to overcome before he ever makes it to the battlefield to ever face Goliath. And these things may seem like small things, but I tried to make the point last week that in our lives, small things can have tremendous consequences and can bear tremendous fruit either for good or for ill in our lives. I told you last week, and I won't repeat it, but I told you last week about a particular day when I was, probably 30 years ago now, when I was standing in a Saturday afternoon with my father in a tobacco barn, and he began to talk to me, and he began to share some things with me that he had never told me before. And those things that day, as he was telling them to me, seemed like they were small things, But because I took those things to heart, they have had a tremendous impact upon my life for good. Just small things. He told me that day to always pay my bills. Just something as simple as that. He told me that day to honor and to take care of my good name because if I lost it, I would never be able to regain it. He told me things that day like always spend less than you earn, live within your means, just simple things like that that a lot of kids would probably turn their nose up and say that's not significant, that's not important. But those simple small things that he told me that day have had a tremendous impact upon my life for good all these 30 years later. And I was addressing the message last week to all of us, but I especially wish that the young ones who are here would listen, because it is so important to learn that small turns in the road can have very, very large consequences in our lives. Things that we either get involved in or things that we do not get involved in when we are young can have a tremendous impact upon our lives. Someone said, we always reap what we sow, we always reap more than we sowed, and we always reap it later than when we sowed it. And that is true. That is true of all of us. There are things that we will either do or not do that can have either tremendous consequences for good, or tremendous consequences for ill upon our lives at some future day and at some future time. Isn't this why we warn our kids about who they're friends with? Isn't this why we warn our kids about who they get involved with? Isn't this why we warn our kids about who they marry? Isn't this why we warn our kids about the things that they allow into their minds or the things that they allow into their hearts? Because when you get older, you begin to look back and you realize a small thing can really become a big thing. A small thing that seems so small, so insignificant, so unimportant can really become a big thing later in life. I've never forgot. Years ago when I first started going to the prisons, I went to a prison revival in Tennessee, in a town called Wartburg, Tennessee. And I'll forget in this prison, I was visiting in there and I came across a young man and we began to talk. I was trying to share the Gospel with him. I'll never forget what he did. He looked at me and he said, believe it or not, even though I'm here and I'm serving a double life sentence, believe it or not, I was raised in a Christian school. I said, you're kidding me. He said, no. I was raised in a Christian school. My mom and dad sent me to a Christian school. And he began to tell me a story. He got rebellious. He went through that rebellious stage that we talked about last week. He got rebellious and in his rebellion against his parents, he began to run around with some friends that he shouldn't have been running around with. And one night they were out drinking. And now this is his story, whether it's true or not, only he and God know. But he said one night they were out drinking and he got so drunk that he passed out in the back seat of the car of these boys that he was with. And while he was passed out, they went into a liquor store and in robbing that liquor store, they killed the man and his wife. who owned that liquor store, and because he was with them, even though he doesn't remember anything about what happened, he was sentenced to a double life sentence in the state of Tennessee, and he doesn't remember anything that happened that night after the point that he passed out. And it's just a reminder to me of how such what appeared to be such small things can have such big consequences in our lives. Now, I'm not trying to say this to scare you. And we all understand that God is merciful, right? And that God is gracious and that God is working by providence. We all understand that and we thank God for that. But that doesn't mean that sometimes very small bends in the road can lead us to places that we never thought we would arrive at. And when you look at this story of David and Goliath, it's not just the story of David killing a giant, it's the story of David overcoming some lesser giant, that led him to the point where God was able to use him to slay Goliath. And we begin to talk about some of those lesser things that David overcome last week. We talked about three of them last week, and we're going to talk about four of them this morning. The ones that we talked about last week is that he overcome the lesser giant of rebellion. He was at the age that many of us go through a rebellious spot, a rebellious spurt. He was a youth. And yet he was completely submitted to his father. Completely submitted. Whatever his father told him to do, by the way, his father was his father by divine appointment. It was his God-given authority that was placed over him. And he was completely submitted to his father. And it was his submission to his father that led him to the battlefield on that day. By the way, The king of Israel at this time was Saul, who was a man that was not submitted to God. who had had the throne essentially taken away from him, because he was rebellious against God's authority, and who was unfit to go and fight Goliath, because he knew God was not with him, because in his heart he was a rebel, and God had rejected him from being king. But David was submitted to his earthly father, which was a symbol of his submission to his God. Another thing that he overcame was the lesser John of laziness. The Bible said he rose up early. He rose up early. And I told you last week, I won't tell you what time to get out of bed, but you ought to get out at least sometime, right? Every once in a while. I won't tell you exactly what time to get up, but you ought to get up sometime. And the reality is David rose up early and his rising up early is what got him to the battlefield At this particular time when God had a divine appointment for him that would change his life forever. And then the third one I talked to you about was he overcame that lesser John of being irresponsible. His father told him to go to the battlefield and to take some provisions for his brothers. Before he left that morning, he made sure that his responsibility, which was the sheep, was taken care of. And then these things that he was sent to deliver to his brothers, when he got to the battlefield, even though they were going out to the battle line, And like any young person, he wanted to go see what was going on. He made sure that the provisions that he brought for his brothers were taken care of and put in the care of the keeper of the baggage, what the army would call today the quartermaster. And he did that before he went out to the battlefield. Now there are four more I want to talk to you about this morning. And these are other lesser giants that David had to overcome before he could ever slay Goliath. Now here's the next one. The next one is unbelief. Unbelief. Now, when David gets to the battlefield, he walks into an environment of fear and unbelief. And I know that because the Bible here is very, very clear on that. He walks into an environment where the whole army has been devastated by fear. Now, remember, this has been going on for 40 days. This is not something that just happened this morning and David happens to come that afternoon. According to the Scripture, this has been going on for 40 days. For 40 days, Goliath would come out in the morning, and if that wasn't enough, he would come out later that evening, and he would stand there. Remember, the Philistine army was on one mountain, the Israelite army was on another mountain. There was a valley in between them. And he would come out where both armies could see him, and he would issue this challenge morning and evening to the armies of Israel for 40 days. For 40 days. I told you last week, one of the interesting verses is in verse 19, where it said, Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Eli fighting with the Philistines. Apparently they were not fighting with the Philistines. They were there to fight with the Philistines, but apparently they were not fighting with the Philistines. Because every morning and every evening when Goliath would come out and issue his challenge, there were no takers. There were no takers. No one stood up and said, I'll go and fight him. Now, who first of all, just thinking naturally, who first of all would you believe would be the one who would stand up and go out and fight Goliath? Well, the first one you would think would be King Saul. Now the reason that is, you remember, if you're familiar with this or if you've read it recently, you remember what was told to us in Scripture about Saul when he was anointed to be king? It's this, that from his shoulders and upward he was taller than any of the people. In other words, he was like a government mule. He was a tall, strong, Capable, probably very good looking, probably, you know, very warlike looking man. He looked like a king and he looked like a king that could fight wars and win wars and win battles. But it's interesting that for 40 days, Saul, the leader of the people, has not stood up and said, I will go and fight with this Philistine champion and I will put an end to this. Now there's a reason that Saul wasn't doing that. You want to know what the answer to that is? Go back to chapter 16. If you go back to chapter 16, look at verse 14. Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him." Remember? God had sent him on an errand to destroy the Amalekites. He rebelled against God. He did not obey the voice of God. He is rebuked by God through the mouth of the prophet Samuel. God replaces him with David. Chapter 16 is really about the anointing of David to be his successor. And we're told here that God has departed from Saul. Now, I have a sneaking suspicion that Saul knew God had departed from him. He understood God had departed from him. And if God is not with you, you are in no shape to go and kill a Goliath. That's just a fact. And Saul knew that. And Saul knew that if he went out to fight Goliath and God was not with him, he knew that more than likely he would be defeated and he would be killed. So that gives us the answer, essentially, of why doesn't Saul go and fight the giant. But notice what it says in chapter 17 about the rest of the army. Look at verse 11. When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. Look at verse 24. All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid. Fear had spread through the camp like a cancer. They were filled with fear. There was no faith, no confidence in God, no belief that God could handle this, no belief that God could overcome this, no belief that God was their God, that God was a living God, that God was a sovereign God, that God was a mighty God, that God was a covenant faithful God. None of that. None of that is mentioned. There is no record that in the camp of Israel that anybody, during this 40 day period of shame and embarrassment, that anybody stood up and said, listen, our God is the one who brought us out of the land of Egypt. Our God is the one who brought us through the Red Sea on dry ground. Our God is the One who gave us the land of Canaan wherein we defeated and dispossessed seven nations that were greater than us. That's our God. No one stood up and said, our God is the One that has done this and done that. And they had all this historical record of God's power and God's faithfulness and God's ability. And there is no record that in that 40-day period when they are being challenged and mocked, in the words of David, by this uncircumcised Philistine, which is David's way of saying this godless pagan, this godless pagan, that anybody believed that God could do anything about it. The unbelief was infectious in the camp. The unbelief and the fear had just spread through the camp like wildfire. The king wasn't going to go and fight. Apparently, none of the leaders were going to go and fight. And no one in the army was going to go and fight. But when David comes on the battlefield, he sees it all differently. It's a wonderful picture to me. He sees everything differently. He views it differently. He views it differently than Saul. He views it differently than his brothers. He views it differently than the leaders. He views it differently than apparently anybody in the army. He saw it completely differently. All you've got to do is look at verse 26. You can see how differently he viewed it. He hears them talking about You know, here's what happens. Someone says in verse 25, it says, the men of Israel said, Have you seen this man that has come up? David's just got there. He goes out to find his brothers on the battle line. And someone says, about that time Goliath comes up, issues his challenge. And someone says, Have you seen? Can you believe this guy? Have you seen him? What they were saying is, look at the size of this guy. Can you believe this? But they also say that, you know, the king says that if anybody kills him, that he will give him great riches, he will give him his daughter to be his wife, and he will make his father's house free. Which means he won't have to pay taxes. Some of us might go fight Goliath if we thought we could not have to pay taxes anymore. And David begins to question. David begins to ask questions. And he's asking these questions And this is what he says in verse 26. What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach of Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? Who does he think he is? Who does he think he is? Now notice just some of the things in that little old statement that David made there. First of all, he is a pagan, godless Philistine. We are the army of the living God. And most importantly, God is alive. God is the living God. Who is this Philistine that he thinks he can defy the armies of the living God? Our God is the living God. Our God is able. Our God is powerful. Our God is here. He's aware. He knows what's going on. And this Philistine hasn't defied us, he's defied our God. And that was his mistake. Notice David sees it differently than everybody else. David sees the Philistine in the proper light because he sees God in the proper light. Let me ask you a question. Do your problems or your situations or your circumstances or your challenges, if you look at them divorced from who your God is, do they not appear much more devastating than when you view them in light of who God is? It's a whole different matter altogether. Someone said you can take a quarter, as small as it is, and if you bring it close enough to your eye, it will blot out all the light in the world. If we focus on whatever our challenges are, whatever they might be, and we just focus on them without ever reckoning on the reality of who God is, they get bigger and bigger and closer and closer, and they blot out all the light in the world. But when we look at them and we realize our God is well able to meet this need, our God is well able to face this challenge, it makes the challenge seem much more small, much more manageable, and much less fearsome than it did before. Because the challenge may not have changed, but the way you view the challenge has changed because now you are viewing the challenge through the lenses of who your great God is. And everything is different when we do that. Everybody in the army is filled with unbelief. David is filled with faith. He says God is a living God. He is our God. We are His army. Goliath has not defied us. He has defied our God. And even though this may look like a terrible situation, I think David was essentially thinking, This is an opportunity for our God to be glorified. This is an opportunity for God to show forth His power and to show forth His faithfulness, to show forth His ability. I will tell you, if you are going to slay the giants you face in life, you have got to first slay that smaller giant of unbelief. You have got to first Reckon with God. Believe in God. See your circumstance for what it is. And see your God for who He is. Now I'm preaching to myself because in the midst of the challenges of life, my first temptation is to look at that challenge as if I am the one that has to deal with it all alone in my own strength. That's my first reaction. No matter what type of challenge it may be, if I'm not careful, I will find myself reckoning with that problem or that difficulty and reckoning with it completely apart from God. Completely apart from realizing who God is and what God has promised and what God is able to do. And it's only when I deal with that and begin to believe God and to reckon with God, that that difficulty begins to take its proper proportion. And I begin to see it in a way that I've not been able to see it here before. And I begin to realize this is no big thing for God. And I begin to get peace and inward rest So you've got to overcome the lesser giant of unbelief if you're going to overcome the greater giants that come. Now let me just say a word on this. We all understand that especially when we're talking about saving faith, that faith is a gift of God, right? But are we not taught that faith can be developed? Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. So surely it is true that our faith can be developed, it can be strengthened, it can be grown. So before I ever face my Goliath, whatever my Goliath might want to be that may be on the horizon, I need to be allowing the Holy Spirit to work in me to develop my faith So that whenever I find myself on the field of battle, I reckon with God. And I'm prepared for whatever challenges I may have to face. Now, the next one. Another, to me, important lesser giant that he had to overcome before he ever faced Goliath was the giant of criticism. It's interesting here, David is asking You know, David arrives on the battlefield. This has been going on for 40 days. He doesn't really understand what's going on. But when he begins to understand what's going on, he can't believe, in a sense, what's going on, because to him, he's thinking, why hasn't someone went and killed this guy? Our God is so great. He's the living God. Why hasn't someone went and killed this guy? So, he's questioning and the people are answering him in verse 27. This is what's going to be done to the man who kills him. And his older brother hears this conversation between David and whoever is talking to him. And the Bible said that his older brother in verse 28 is angry. And here's what he does. He says, why have you come down? The answer is, our Father sent me down here. But this is not a question based upon the seeking of information. This is a question meant to hurt, to harm. Why have you come down here essentially accusing Him of wrong motives in coming? Why have you come down And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? Now what was that? You are nothing but a shepherd. You are a nobody. You are a kid. You are a child. This is men's business. We're out here in the battle, fighting the battles of our nation. You are nothing but a shepherd. And who did you leave those few insignificant sheep that you in your insignificant life have been given charge of? And then he accuses him, I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle. You didn't come with any good motive or any right motive. You just come out of your own curiosity to see what's going on. He is severely mocked and criticized by his own brother. Severely mocked. Severely criticized by his own brother. Now what do you suppose his brother is probably doing? Well, first of all, would you agree that this criticism that David faces from the mouth of his own brother was unjust and unfair? Totally unjust. Totally unfair. What do you think Eliab was probably doing? Well, he's probably embarrassed. Probably embarrassed that his younger brother has come to the battlefield. His three older brothers are in the army. None of them have volunteered to go fight Goliath. And it probably enraged him when he hears David talking the way that he was talking. Because let me tell you something, there is nothing that will shame you like someone believing in God the way you should believe in God. They will shame you until you go. You ever come across someone like that? They are believing God in a way that you know you should be believing God and at that particular season in your life you are not believing God and isn't it a rebuke to your own heart? This was surely a rebuke to the heart of Eliab. Eliab has been there 40 days. He's not willing to go and fight Goliath. And David is up here saying, you know, who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? And when Eliab hears it, he just lets everything he has go on his brother, his little brother. You are insignificant. What have you done with that little handful of sheep that you're supposed to be taking care of? I know that you've only come down here to see the battle. I know the evil in your heart, the presumption in your heart. Why have you come down here? He just unleashed everything. Now let me ask you this. Do you suppose this would have been hurtful? Of course. Especially because David was completely innocent. Now, I've got a sneaking suspicion that if this had been me, and I'd been David, and he had unleashed this on me, I'd have said, I know the way back home. Go fight your Goliath. I don't have to listen to this. I'm not going to listen to it. Dad sent me up here with some food for you. And dad is concerned about you. The only reason I'm here is because dad told me to come. And I'm here to try to help you and to give you something that will supply your need because your dad has sent it to you and you, after 40 days of cowardice, Rebuke me? I'll go home. They better be glad he didn't go home. They better be real glad he didn't go home. Now, here's what's so neat. Look at verse 30. After the stafing rebuke from his brother, in verse 29, David said, what have I done now? Was it not but a word? But here's the great line, verse 30. He turned away from Him toward another. In other words, it's like this. I'm not going to listen to you. You're not going to destroy me. You're not going to devastate me. And you're definitely not going to talk me out of believing in my God. Whatever problems you've got, that's your problem. But I'm not in the wrong here. And your criticism is not going to keep me from doing what God wants me to do. Now, don't misunderstand what I'm saying. Some criticism is constructive criticism. Some criticism comes from people who love us. Some criticism comes from people who are wiser than us and we would be well to listen to it. But some criticism is just junk. And you are going to have to overcome it. And turn away from it. And go on and do what God has called you to do if you're ever going to kill any Goliaths. That's just a fact. You know, here's the great undoing of many pastors. They cannot wither the criticism. They want everybody to love them. They want everybody to like them. Now I hope that, you know, I like it when you like me. I can't ever say I've ever liked it when people didn't like me. But I can handle a well-deserved barrage of criticism if I deserve it. If I tell you what else I can do, I can ignore it if I don't. And not let it keep me from doing what God has called me to do. It's a great lesson to learn. Criticism can be painful. It can be hurtful. It can be unjust. It can be unfair. It can come from nowhere. It can come from a loved one. It can come from a friend. It can come from all kinds of quarters and all kinds of places. But I'm telling you, if you're going to go forward and if you're going to serve God and if you're going to slay any giants, whatever those giants may be, You're going to have to learn to receive constructive criticism that comes from those who love you, but you're also going to have to learn to overcome criticism that is unjust, unfair, or untrue. You've got to overcome it. David had every opportunity here to say, I will go home. I don't have to listen to this. I don't have to take this. This is unjust. This is unfair. This is undeserved. And there is no record here that David argued with his brother or that he fought with his brother or that he rebuked his brother. He just basically, apparently turned away from his brother and went about his business. It's a great lesson. A great lesson. The next one. The next lesser giant he had to overcome was the giant of wrong counsel. David is talking and word gets to King Saul. And in verse 31, the Bible said that Saul sins for him. He's brought before Saul. And this may be one of the greatest pictures of this story. You've got to understand, this picture in your mind, you've got to kind of see this. Remember, David's a youth. You don't know exactly how old, but he's a youth. He's a young boy. Saul is the king of Israel in all of his regal robes probably. The tallest, probably strongest looking man in the nation. They bring David before King Saul and verse 32, David says to Saul, let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with the Philistine. Can you imagine? It's like, don't be afraid, big guy. I'll go do it. What a rebuke. Don't be afraid. I will go and fight the Philistine. And here's what Saul says to him in verse 33. You are not able. You can't. You are not able. to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth." So Saul says to him, you cannot do it. Not only does he say you cannot do it, he offers plausible arguments as to why he can't do it. You're just a kid. He's been a man of war since he has been a kid. You are young. You are weak. You are inexperienced. He is older. He is strong. He is experienced. You cannot do it, David. That was Saul's counsel. You can't. You can't. He will kill you. He's also implying only a fool would think that you could. Look at you and look at Him. Look at what He is. Look at what you are. David is not deterred by this wrong counsel. Here's what David does. He reaches back into his past and he says, I used to keep my father's sheep. And when there came a lion or a bear and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him. I didn't run and hide, I went after him. And I struck him. And I delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard. That's pretty close to be to a lion. Now, I've got a sinking suspicion, if you get that close to a lion, and you've got a hold of his beard, and God isn't with you, you're dead. I caught him by his beard and struck him. I'm always asking, struck him with what? I was watching YouTube last night and I watched a lion intimidate a crocodile, two of them. There were two crocodiles trying to come up on the beach, or on the side of the river. And this lion is sitting over there going, and they start backing up. I think that is a bad animal. If you can make a crocodile get back in the water, you are a bad animal. And that's what he was doing. And I'm thinking, now David grabbed the lion by the beard and struck him and killed him. Wow! And David says, your servant, in verse 36, he struck down both lions and bears. And this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them. You don't understand, Saul. I've killed lions and bears. God gave me victory over lions and bears. This Philistine doesn't know what he's in for. He'll be like one of them. If God has given me the ability to kill lions and bears to deliver one of our sheep from them, do you think God won't give me the ability to slay this Philistine to deliver our nation? He'll be like one of them, for He's defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. And Saul, poor Saul, he says in verse 37, Go and the Lord be with you. What's he saying? You are crazy? You are dead. Go and the Lord be with you because you're going to need the Lord to be with you because He's getting ready to kill you. Now again, I have to qualify this by saying this. Does not the Bible tell us to receive good counsel? It does, doesn't it? But not all counsel is good. And you have to overcome, you have to be able to discern between good counsel and poor counsel. Biblical counsel and non-biblical counsel. Wise counsel and unwise counsel. And you have to overcome wrong counsel if you're ever going to slay a Goliath. I mean, there's no ambiguity here. Esau said you cannot. David says, I don't care what you say, I can. Now the last thing he had to overcome, he had to overcome rebellion in his heart, laziness, being irresponsible, unbelief, criticism, wrong counsel, and last of all he had to overcome false confidences. When Saul sees that he's determined to go, Saul decides to help him. There's always a warning there. You probably don't need help from people that God is not with. And if they can't slay the giant themselves, they probably are not qualified to tell you how to do it. So when Saul sees that he's determined to go, in verse 38, Saul says, well let me help you out. So Saul clothes him with his armor, with a helmet of bronze, with a coat of mail, and I'm not sure, verse 39, whether David has his own sword, but I'm believing that probably he puts on Saul's sword. Now, this seems good until you think about it. Remember, what's David? He's a youth. Young. What's Saul? Biggest man in the country. So here's, I think, the image that's being brought before us in Scripture. You have Saul saying, well, if you're determined to go and fight with him, I think this is foolish, but wear my armor. Can you imagine what that armor looked like on David? I mean, it would be like putting a big bread bowl on your head for a helmet. It was probably a lot bigger than his head, probably falling down over his eyes, you know, rolling around on his head. But the armor on his body would have been so heavy. You wonder if David's not standing there before Saul with a helmet wobbling on his head, armor that is three sizes too large, just hanging off of his body, and a sword dragging the ground. And you can't help but wonder, does he think, if I wear this, it will kill me before Goliath has the chance. I can never go fight him with this apparatus. So he tells Saul, I can't, I can't go with these, I've not tested them, I'm not experienced in the use of these things. And then it says he puts them off, puts them off. And he goes down and he gets five smooth stones, puts them in a little bag, takes his sling and a stick, starts off to face Goliath. Now, I think the lesson there is simply this. David understood that if he defeated Goliath, it would be because God was with him, and not because of any armor, any sword, any helmet, any coat of mail. And he was simply saying, I cannot trust in these things. I must trust in my Lord. So I will set aside these things lest they become a hindrance to me. And I will go face the challenge of my life with essentially nothing. but faith in the living God. Can you imagine him leaving the tent and Saul either thinking or saying, what a fool? Because the world always thinks we're foolish when we trust God. But before long, Nobody's going to think he's foolish anymore. When they see him stand out there in that field with Goliath's head in his hand, they're going to realize there's a God in Israel. Because you don't kill men like that with a sling. Number one, how can you even hit somebody with a sling and a stone? Have you ever tried it when you was a kid? Go get you a sling and go get you a stone and see how that works out for you. Determine for a week that you're not going to eat anything that you can't kill with a sling or a stone. See how that works out for you. How did he even hit him? Let alone, how did he hit him so hard that it sunk into his forehead and brought him to his knees and then to his face? He didn't need no armor. He had all he needed and that was his God. Had he worn the armor, someone of you said, ah, it's that armor. I've been saying for years, we ought to get our armies some better armor. Because that armor is the difference between defeat and victory. David said, no, no, no. Nobody's going to say this was because of the armor. Nobody's going to do that. They're going to realize there is a God in Israel. There is a God in Israel. So before we ever faced Goliath, We have to overcome this rebellious spirit in our hearts and become submitted to Christ. We have to overcome our lack of discipline and our laziness. We have to overcome our lack of responsibility. This is the undoing of a lot of ministers. If you won't be faithful to a congregation of 20 people, you would not be faithful to a congregation of 2,000 people. You have to overcome unbelief. You have to overcome the unjust criticism that may come your way. You have to overcome that wrong counsel that may come your way. And you have to overcome those false things that were tempted to place our confidence in. We have to trust only in our King. Let's pray. Father, we love You. We love Your Word. I pray you will speak to our hearts and Lord prepare us for whatever challenges lie ahead for each of us as individuals and help us to overcome the things that may seem small but can have truly large consequences. Help me to be faithful in the small things. that you might be able to use me in the larger things. In Jesus' name, Amen.