Well, good evening. It's wonderful to be here with you this evening, and I do bring you greetings from Pineland Baptist Church. We are very encouraged to hear and know of the faithful gospel work that happens here at Trinity, and we pray for you regularly, and I know that some of our members who go out doing street evangelism join with your members that are also doing that and have a wonderful time of camaraderie together around that great gospel endeavor. And so it's really a privilege to be with family in Christ tonight, to be with those who are brought of the same blood of Jesus Christ, who have the same conviction of the power of the gospel to change, and are awaiting the return of the Lord, and it's an extra privilege for me this evening because I have one of my congregants who has accompanied me, my brother Ron, over here, and it's always lovely to have someone come with and here just to share God's Word with you. Before we focus on the words of Scripture themselves, let's pray and ask for God's help. Almighty God, we ask now that the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts would be pleasing in Your sight, for Christ's sake, amen. The portion of Scripture that you heard read a few moments ago is really the beginning of one of the most well-known stories in the Bible, David and Goliath. We're not going to get to what everybody wants tonight, which is David with his sling, but I wanna look at everything that happens before that. I wanna look at the battle before the battle. You see, before David ever picks up his sling, before he ever faces a giant, there was another kind of battle happening, a battle for his heart, a battle for perspective, a battle for faith. And it's that same battle that each of us is called to fight. This text, this passage that you heard read is not primarily about how to slay your personal giants. It's actually about how to see rightly, to see with faith in a world that is ruled by fear. It's about what God sees, and what God sees in a person, and how true courage comes not from self-confidence, but from God-confidence, from the knowledge of the living God. So, let's walk through this passage together. The first 11 verses I've titled, The Threat and the Terror. The Threat and the Terror. The Philistines, we read in verse one, gather for war. And we're told that they camped in Judah's territory. We see there in Ephesus Deh-Mim. That phrase means a border of blood. It's not just a geographical marker. It holds in it the tension of history. It's land that has already been soaked with the blood of battles in the past. And once again now, it groans under the weight of an encroaching war, and the Israelites draw up on one hill and the valley is between them. And what's happening is not just a strategic standoff, there's a spiritual fault line. Did you notice the phrase in those first eleven verses, forty days? We're meant to think, why mention that? Why 40 days? It's a biblical number. When we hear 40, that's so often used to describe a period of testing, of wilderness, of divine proving. Israel is in this moment in the crucible. And then in verse 4 to 10 comes Goliath. towering figure. It says six cubits in a span. The Hebrew says somewhere between nine and ten feet tall. Some of the best estimates we would have of him is that he would be the height of a regulation basketball hoop, right? That's what you're looking at. The description, the point is meant to impress this. He is grotesquely intimidating. He is a monster of war. And then look at the details. He has a bronze helmet gleaming under the sun, scale armor weighing 125 pounds. Now that helped because you get tall, you can get tall skinny. That's not Goliath. His armor he's able to sustain is 125 pounds. He has bronze shin pads, I'll describe it. He has a bronze javelin slung across his back. The shaft of his spear, we read in the text, is like a weaver's beam. So that would be two to three inches in diameter. And it's topped, it's topped with a 15-pound iron point. And in front of him is a shield-bearer. He brings with him a living wall. He is an image of invincibility in the ancient world. He is what the world calls strength. But what we'll see is that appearances lie. This Goliath, he issues a daily challenge. Morning and evening for 40 days. You see in verse eight to 10. Choose a man, let him come down. I defy the ranks of Israel this day. This blasphemous bravado. He dares the people of God. Send me your best. What have you got? He mocks them. Nobody steps forward. through it all He ridicules not just Israel, but He is ridiculing Israel's God. So, just pause, pause and imagine the scene. Every morning the sun rises over the valley and with it comes the voice of Goliath thundering across the hills. Soldiers flinch, got men that don't want to make eye contact with each other, you know? If you see somebody else, like, oh, did you say you wanted to go? So, no one's looking. You've got mothers delivering food that are probably weeping and saying, not my boy, my boy is not going down that mountain. Don't you, you know? people of God are trembling." Verse 11, when Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. The mighty have fallen before a single action has taken place in battle. Saul, Israel's king who was actually chosen because he was tall and impressive, chosen to lead in war, He's now silent and shrinking. They had demanded in chapter 8 verse 20 of this same book, Israel had said, we want a king. Give us a king like the nations. Give us a king who will go and fight our battles for us. That's what we want. And now here He stands, or rather He slouches, Proving once again that outward strength cannot substitute for inward faith. Years ago during the Second World War, the French had built what they thought was a seemingly impenetrable defensive line, the Maginot Line, meant to keep the German forces at bay. when the attack came, the German army simply went around and France was unprepared. Their confidence was in their walls, not in their readiness. And in the same way, Israel had built their hopes in Saul and his stature, not in God's power. And so, suddenly, fear has exposed their foundation. Fear has exposed their flimsy defense. Friends, fear thrives in the absence of faith. It exaggerates the enemy and it shrinks the promises of God. Goliath is real. The threats that we face in the world of sin and sorrow and suffering and injustice, death, they're real. And some days, they shout a lot louder than we expect. But when we allow fear to define our outlook, we begin to look like Saul, paralyzed, passive, retreating into spiritual inertia, he can't even move. How often do we measure our lives against Goliath and forget to measure Goliath against God? We stare at the threat and we forget the throne. The roar of Goliath drowns out faith if you forget who thundered at Sinai. Are you afraid? Are you afraid today? Afraid of what looms ahead? financial ruin, relational fracture, moral failure, the slow ache of spiritual dryness. Do you wake up each day to Goliath shouting over your life? I imagine that some of you live every day under the voice of Goliath, and it sounds like exhaustion and addiction and job insecurity and secret sin Like Saul, you're tempted to freeze and hold your breath and hope the giant walks away, but fear thrives when faith is silent. So, brothers and sisters in Christ, don't just assess the size of the enemy. Remember the faithfulness of your God. The enemy may taunt, but he is not enthroned, Christ is. And so, look up. The valley may be deep where the battles happen, but our God is higher. The enemy may be loud, but heaven speaks a better word. And the kingdom of God is not built on intimidation, but on incarnation, on the coming of God in flesh. How we need to learn this lesson, the battle is not won by size or spectacle, but by the strength of the Lord. Let this moment stir your soul. Not just to tremble, but to trust. Not just to retreat, but to remember. The battle before the battle is not fought with swords, but with sight. Will you see only Goliath? you look over Burlington and the GTA and the giants of secularism, do you fear what will the future of the church be? What will the future of our children be? Or do you look at the One who is enthroned above all of that, who is bigger than any giants? moves us on to verse 12 to 19, the second scene. It's the shepherd and the sovereign hand, the shepherd and the sovereign hand. The camera shifts from this battlefield to Bethlehem, from Saul, this king who's hiding, to David, the boy who serves. Gone is the thunder of Goliath's voice, now we've got the quietness of a father's errand. I hope you appreciate this, Christian. God's providence, God's fatherly tender care and ordering of all things, it doesn't often enter with a trumpet but with the feet of a faithful shepherd. told in verse 12 that Jesse was old, so he can no longer go to battle. His three oldest sons were out with Saul, they've been drafted. But David, the youngest, he's overlooked, the eighth. He's back with the sheep, we read in verse 14. That's not just incidental, it's theological. In the previous chapter, in chapter 16, David was actually anointed to be king. He was anointed to replace Saul at some time. In ancient Israel, there was a three-stage process for someone to become king. They would be designated or anointed. They would then have a demonstration of their validity to be king, which is normally in some form of combat, and then they would be coronated. That would be the three stages. David has been anointed. so he knows what his future is. But notice what he's doing now. He's waiting. He's serving. He returns home. The Chosen One is invisible to everybody. Verse 15 tells us David was going back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. Because at the end of chapter 16, God had so orchestrated things that this shepherd boy who had a unique musical talent was being brought in to play music for the tormented, paranoid soul to calm him down. And so, he was between the field and the palace. Imagine that. He's living in this tension between glory and humility. between promise and patience. And then Jesse sends him with food for his brothers. We read in verse 17 to 18, ten loaves, some roasted grain, and ten cheeses for the commander. No war horse, no weapons, no prophetic word, just bread and cheese. It's amazing how God is going to bring deliverance into the camp through the hands of a food delivery boy. It's a shadow. It's a little pointer reminding you of a greater Son of David who is going to come quietly and humbly and overlooked. yet sent by the Father with true food that really saves, in fact, He Himself being the bread from heaven. Culturally, what you're seeing here reflects what would have happened in ancient wartime. Soldiers were not provided with food from the state, they were rather provided with provisions from their families. And the people of Israel are in this long standoff, right, of the Philistines. Forty days, rations are low, morale is lower, and here comes David carrying food to the front lines and obedience in his heart. It reminds me of Hudson Taylor. If you know the story of Hudson Taylor who started the China Inland Mission, he worked first as a simple medical assistant in England. He scrubbed floors and ran errands and lived in chosen forced poverty so that he could prepare himself for living as a missionary in China. And many of his early jobs were obscure and unimpressive, but God used that to forge in him a heart of obedience and perseverance. And Taylor later became one of the most influential missionaries in history, opening the China Inland Mission. But he said this, which is typified by David and most gloriously embodied by Jesus. Hutton Taylor said, a little thing is a little thing. But faithfulness in a little thing is a great thing. Here's David just being faithful. Beloved, don't despise the day of small things. Are you in a season where you feel overlooked, like your tasks are insignificant, like you're simply running bread and cheese for others? Hear this, faithfulness in the mundane is the forge of usefulness in the kingdom. The postures train the heart. The errands test the obedience. God shapes future kings in quiet fields. God forges kings in fields that the world forgets. In our world, what do we do? We honor prominence. We look for flash, but God looks for faithfulness. And when He wants to change history, He doesn't raise up a warrior. Sometimes He sends a shepherd boy with a bag of bread. and sometimes he trains greatness in obscurity. Can you imagine? Can you imagine David walking the twenty-four kilometre journey from Bethlehem to Elah? He's got a sling on his side, bread in his pack, probably seeing sheep pop up in his mind every now and then, thinking about his brothers, but all the while the sovereign hand of God is moving him. didn't stop and over-spiritualize it. He didn't say when he was back at the pasture, well, you know, I think I need to pray about whether I should go to the battle. Is it God's will for my life? What should I be doing? Maybe God could give me a sign. No! He said, what is the faithful thing for me to do right now? Oh, obey my Father and do what He says? Yes, let me go and do the very next duty in front of me. church. Learn from David. Live today in obedience. Serve where God has placed you. Offer the small things with great faith, because the sovereign hand of God is never idle. A path to the battlefield often begins with a shepherd's quiet yes. And parents, maybe the battlefield for you today looks like a laundry pile. and a school drop-off line, or that quiet moment of correction with a defiant toddler that's now making you late for something, but you know you need to stop and get this right in these moments and instruct your child's heart, fighting anger in your own heart and speaking clearly and lovingly and firmly and directing your child to the gospel, taking the allotted time. That's what it looks like now. Don't underestimate it. Your shepherding now is shaping warriors later. Singles, you may feel like your faithfulness is invisible, but the pasture is not wasted, it's preparation ground. Your small obediences are seen by heaven and treasured by the king. Your king sees, your calling is not lost, and your labor for the Lord is never in vain. And so, we shift to the next part of the text, verse 20 to 27, the provocation and the perspective. The provocation and the perspective. David obeys promptly. Verse 20 tells us he rose early in the morning. He didn't delay or grumble or roll his eyes at the assignment. He leaves his sheep, we read, in responsible hands. Doesn't neglect what's entrusted to him. and sets off as his father has commanded. Such a rare mix of obedience and initiative, faithfulness and flexibility. These are traits that God delights in. And he reaches the encampment just as the army is going into battle. He arrives, we read in verse 20, to see this battle line and shouting of a war cry. What a scene. And by the way, this is the daily ritual, the Israelites line up, They're shouting, they're brandishing their weapons, and then they retreat as soon as Goliath starts speaking. It's all sound and spectacle, there's no substance, there's no courage. I can imagine David arriving and pausing as he hears the thunder of the war cry, only to hear it suddenly die down and dissolve in fear. And so he runs, in verse 23, he runs to the ranks, he greets his brothers, And then here's the voice that haunted Israel for 40 days, the same arrogant challenge, the same defiance of the living God, but this time someone new is listening. And David's reaction is electric. Verse 24 shows us that some of the seasoned soldiers, those trained, armed, and weathered men, they still flee in terror, but David's undeterred, and he starts to ask questions that you'll see in verse 26. What shall be done for the man who kills the Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? Notice that word reproach. It means shame, mockery. See, David sees what's really at stake. It's not just military advantage, it's spiritual honor. Goliath is not just threatening bodies, he's defying the covenant community. He's defying those who belong to God. He's mocking the Lord of hosts. And so David's question here, it's not driven by greed, it's driven by grief. He's burning with righteous indignation. Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? That word uncircumcised means who is this individual who is outside of God's covenant, who does not know or belong to God? David's not impressed by the armor or his height. He's appalled by his blasphemy. Isn't that a contrast in vision? Israel sees Goliath and thinks he is too big to fight. David sees Goliath and thinks he's too big to miss. In 203 AD in Carthage, Perpetua was a twenty-two-year-old noblewoman and a new mother. there in Roman North Africa, and she was arrested for converting to Christianity. And her father begged her to renounce her faith for the sake of her child, but she remained calm with resolve and said, I cannot be called anything other than what I am, a Christian. And even as Roman authorities threatened her with wild beasts and public execution, she refused to deny Christ. And on the day of her martyrdom, she encouraged her fellow prisoners and walked into the arena with dignity and peace. And her courage emboldened believers throughout the Roman Empire. Why? It's because of this. Like David, she saw past the danger to the worthiness of the name of God. And so, brothers and sisters, what do you see When you hear the voice of our age, when the culture mocks Christ, when the church is belittled, when the lies grow louder than the truth, do you freeze like Israel, or do you feel what David felt? Oh, that God would give us eyes to see what David saw, not through the lens of fear, but through the lens of faith. That we would be grieved, not by what threatens us personally, but by what defames the name of the Lord. Let our hearts break when the Lord's honor is trampled. And yes, let's ask the hard questions that David asked. What shall be done? David wasn't saying, oh, he's a really big guy, what are you gonna do? He was saying, God is worthy, what are we gonna do? Not for applause, not for ease, but because there was reproach to remove, because there was glory to defend, because the King deserves our trust. Our church, listen, we live in a world where Goliath's voice still echoes loud and boastful and unchallenged. But do we hear it rightly? Do we see it with the eyes of the spirits? Listen, the church does not need more professionals. It needs more Davids, young in years perhaps, but mighty in vision. Saints who look at the field and say, this cannot go unanswered. My God is alive, and His glory is worth everything. So let's be a people who see the unseen and speak not out of self-interest, but out of covenant passion for the living God. In this cultural moment, Goliath has a thousand masks. Celebrity, spirituality, cultural compromise, the shaming of Christian convictions, the shaming of convictions about morality and what would lead to human flourishing. But hear me say this, silence is not safety. If Jesus is mocked at work and in your friend group or on your screen, let David's question rise in your heart, is there not a cause? Is there not a God in Israel? Is there not something to be done? Not to be loud, but to be loyal. Not to win arguments, but to witness. Listen, when God is, when His honor is defied, apathy is not neutral, it's agreement. Is there not a cause for Trinity Baptist in Burlington? Is there not some reason that when you became a Christian, God didn't just take you up to heaven in that moment, but said, you're gonna come and be part of this covenant community, and this lampstand will stand here in Burlington, despite all of the ups and downs of the church history, despite the burning down of a building, and the coming back, and all of the other ebbs and flows, God has purposed you to be here. Is there not a cause? They're not a reason that there are gospel preaching churches in this city. It's to answer Goliath. The scene then shifts to the last few verses, verse 28 to 30, the rebuke and the resolve. So just by the way, David's beginning to speak with conviction and clarity. His voice is met with scorn, but it's not from the enemy. It's actually from his brother. I don't know if you noticed that. Verse 28 introduces Eliab, the eldest son of Jesse. He's burning with anger. The Hebrew implies a bitterness there. Perhaps he still feels the sting of what has just happened in the previous chapter. He was passed over by the prophet Samuel as not to be king. Maybe it's that. Or maybe David's courage is just a mirror to him of his own cowardice. Whatever it is, Eliab lashes out. He says, why have you come down? With whom have you left those sheep in the wilderness, those few sheep? It's like a little scornful jab. Eliab's, he's belittling David's role. He's ridiculing his responsibility. You know, what's happening with the few sheep? Who's looking after the little job that you've got? The quiet job in the field, it's got no place out here in the battlefield. And then he assumes the worst motive. I know your presumption and the evil of your heart. How bitter those words must have sounded. David here, he's acting out of obedience and zeal, only to be called proud and wicked. Christians, we need to be very slow and very careful. to judge the motives of somebody else's heart. You cannot see each other's heart. That's the job of the Holy Spirit. Don't presume other people's motivations. That's what's happening here. And it's often the way is this, right? Faith is misunderstood. Zeal is misrepresented. Passion for God can be mistaken for arrogance. And sometimes, listen Christians, listen, the sharpest wounds come not from our enemies, but from those we love. I felt this when I was reading it. I want to go around every new Christian I meet that's just come to know the Lord, and I just want to wrap them in some kind of bubble wrap and protect them from older Christians for a while. Not every older Christian, but you know what I mean. I just want to tell them there's coming a time when your zeal and enthusiasm, someone's going to come at you. I just want you to be prepared. Look at Eliab, his brother, a fellow Israelite. Well, think about William Carey. It was this past week in the 1700s that he gave his famous address to want to reach India with the gospel. And it's alleged by tradition that a minister replied and said, young man, sit down. When God pleases to convert the heathen, He'll do so without your help or mine. How many would-be Davids have been silenced by the Eliabs of the world? Older, prouder, more polished in religion, but deaf to the voice of faith. But look at this, David doesn't retaliate. Verse 29, what have I now done? Was it not but a word? I can just imagine the restraint in his voice. He doesn't insult. He doesn't escalate the situation. He simply refuses to be distracted. And then in verse 30, David turns away. There's a holy stubbornness here. There's a refusal to be drawn into sibling rivalry when there is a cause much greater than personal dignity. Listen, friends, this is spiritual maturity. There is something more important right now, the fame and glory of God, than my feelings about what you've just said to me and the accusations you've made, so I don't actually care. I'm more concerned with getting the cause done. I'm more concerned with the glory of God and the good of this church than I am with that person who made a snarky comment about my suggestion the other day. I'm going to forget about it and put my hand back to the plow and serve the Lord here. I'm not going to escalate it. I'm not going to revile back. I'm going to forget about it and carry on." And does that not remind you of Christ, reviled by His own, yet silent in front of His accusers, fixed on His Father's will? Listen, Christian, you will never face Goliath if you cannot walk past Eliab. Friends, if you burn for the glory of God, if you step out to challenge the reproach that mocks the church, expect resistance, but not only from the secular world. Often it comes from within the camp, from those who've grown cold, from those who are fearful that your fire will expose them, and probably for a myriad of other motivations I can't even think of. But when it comes, when your faith is misunderstood, when your motives are questioned and your obedience mocked, remember David and respond with humility. Ask, what have I now done? Not in exasperation, but in confidence that God knows your heart. And then, like David, turn to the mission. Don't let cynicism dim your vision. Don't let personal offense derail what God has called you to do. Let the zeal for God's name matter more to you than your need to be validated. Do you hear the rebuke of Eliab in your own life? In your workplace, in your family, in this church? Then look to Christ. who when reviled did not revile in return, but entrusted himself to him who judges justly. Faith that endures the sneer of the older brother is the faith fit to slay giants. in every generation God raises David's those who keep their eye on the mission not on the mocker so lift your gaze turn again the battle is the Lord's but the heart must be his first and by the way maybe your Eliab isn't a brother maybe it's your own inner critic Well, maybe it's the voice of the accuser, the voice that says, you're arrogant, you're not ready, you're trying too hard. Listen, friend, don't argue with it. Do what David did, turn. Let the fear and the shame and the suspicion fall behind you. There is a cause and there is a king, and your yes to him matters more than your need to be understood by every person around you. Let me try and tie this all together as we close. David saw what nobody else saw because he trusted the God no one else was truly trusting. His heart was shaped not by appearances but by faith. But the story, the hero of the story, is actually the one that David is preparing you for, who is still greater than David. Listen, church, this story is not ultimately about what you need to do to face your giants. It's about the one who came to fight the battle you could never win. David is a little category, he's a little type, he's a little picture of Jesus, our true and greater champion. Like David, Jesus came from a place of insignificance, born not in a palace, but both in Bethlehem, raised not in acclaim, but in obscurity, sent not with a spear and a sword, but with mercy and truth, Like David, Jesus was misunderstood by His brothers. John 1 verse 11 says, He came to His own, but His own did not receive Him. He was mocked and ridiculed and questioned, and yet He pressed on. He worked in obscurity. Jesus, what was He doing from 12 to 30? Just a normal life, obedience, faithful in the small things every day. Not say, okay, well now it's time, it's Messiah time, let's go, I'm 21 now. No, faithful, quiet, until the Lord's appointed time. And like David, he arrived just as the enemy seemed invincible. But unlike David, Jesus faced not a giant of flesh and blood, but the towering enemies of sin and Satan and death itself. And he went alone to the front lines, not to claim an earthly reward, but to lay down his life. And by his death and resurrection, he didn't just wound a serpent, he crushed its head. The sling that David is about to throw, it's just an echo. The real stone that crushed the serpent's head is the cross. Can you see him? The greater David, the shepherd king who came not to be served but to serve and give his life a ransom for many. Lift your eyes. Don't end the story looking at yourself or looking at David. End it looking at Jesus. He is our substitute in the valley. He is our courage in the face of fear. He is our victory when we are weak. And He is the King who now calls us not to earn salvation by bravery, but to receive it by grace. Not by climbing up to God, but by trusting in the God who came down for us. His life for ours. His courage for our fear. His cross for our sin. That's the gospel. And it becomes yours, not by striving, but by surrender. And maybe that's you today. You've heard the story, but you're not sure where you stand with God. Friend, God is not asking you to be brave. He's asking you to come. To come with your questions and your guilt and your fear. To come and trust the greater David who stepped into the valley for you. And to lay down your weapons and to receive his peace. Say, yes, okay, you go and kill the Goliath that wants to take me to hell, my sin. Christian, let me ask you, has your courage grown cold? It's the same answer, look to Jesus. Are you discouraged by the voices of others? Then listen to the voice of your shepherd. Have you shrunk from the field of obedience? Step forward again, not in your own strength, but in His. And let us go, not as those who seek greatness for its own sake, but as those who know the greatness of God. Let every young David in this room say, is there not a cause for God here in Burlington? Let every discouraged heart remember there is a champion who already fought for you. And let every heart rest in this. Jesus wins. The battle belongs to the Lord, and the Lord is with us. So let's rise, not to build our own names, but to carry His. Let's walk into this week, not with swagger, but with steadiness, because we know the battle belongs to the Lord, and He goes with us. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word living and active, sharper than any sword. We thank you for showing us that the battle is not ours, but yours. And we praise you for Jesus, our greater David, the one who did not shrink back, who entered the valley, who faced the enemy that we could never defeat. who crushed the serpent's head through the cross. Lord, forgive us for the times we've listened more to Goliath's roar than to the voice of truth. Forgive us for our fear and passivity and our desire to be understood more than to be faithful. Give us the heart of David, a heart that's seized with faith, that serves in obscurity, that speaks when your name is defied and that keeps going when misunderstood. Lord, I pray that you would strengthen those in the pasture. Encourage those facing scorn. Wake up those who have grown passive. And comfort those who feel they've already failed. Oh God, help us. Help us now to leave this place. Not thinking about how strong we must be, but how strong you already are. Help us not to look within for courage, but to Christ. help us as we go into this week ahead, not with swagger, but with steadiness, because we know the battle is Yours. And we ask this in the mighty name of Jesus, the Shepherd, the Champion, the King. In His name we pray. Amen.