Good evening, friends. If you would, please open your Bibles to 1 Samuel 17. We're reading 1 Samuel 17.31 to the end of the chapter. And our purpose for tonight is to see more of Jesus. Listen here to the Lord's Word. When the words which David spoke were heard, they told them to Saul, and he sent for him. David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail on account 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, while he has been a warrior from his youth. But David said to Saul, your servant was tending his father's sheep when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock. I went out after him and attacked him and rescued it from his mouth. And when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear. And this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God. And David said, 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 said to David, go, and may the Lord be with you. And Saul clothed David with his garments and put a bronze helmet on his head, and he clothed him with armor. David girded his sword over his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. So David said to Saul, I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them. And David took them off. He took his stick in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook and put them in the shepherd's bag, which he had even in his pouch. And his sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine. Then the Philistine came on and approached David with the shield bearer in front of him. When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth and ruddy with a handsome appearance. The Philistine said to David, am I a dog that you come to me with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine also said to David, Come to me and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field. And David said to the Philistine, you come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. This day, the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know. that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear, for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands.' Then it happened, when the Philistine rose and came and drew near to meet David, that David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand into his bag and took from it a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. And the stone sank into his forehead, so that he fell on his face to the ground. Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in David's hand. Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistine saw that their champion was dead, they fled. The men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted and pursued the Philistines as far as the valley and to the gates of Ekron, and the slain Philistines lay along the way to Shaar Raim, even to Gath and Ekron. The sons of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines and plundered their camps. Then David took the Philistines' head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his weapons in his tent. And when Saul saw David going out against the Philistines, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, Abner, whose son is this young man? And Abner said, by your life, O king, I do not know. The king said, you inquire whose son the youth is. So when David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the Philistine's head in his hand. And Saul said to him, whose son are you, young man? And David answered. I am the son of your servant, Jesse, the Bethlehemite. This is the Lord's word. Please be seated, friends. Father, we do thank you for your word and pray that we would see more of Jesus. Bless your word going forward. Bless it in my mouth and bless it in the ears of your people and encourage your saints, we pray. Thank you again for such a historic account, a historic event, which demonstrates something so wonderful to us Grant that our souls should be blessed this evening because of your faithfulness. We ask it in Jesus' name, amen. So the story of David and Goliath goes down in. the annals of history as being one of those cute stories, right, claymation accounts of Davy and Goliath, and more veggie tales where there's a giant cucumber fighting a gourd. I don't know what it was, but we make cartoons out of these things, and we make children's stories out of them, and this really isn't a children's story. I mean, it's really a grotesque story. It's really a story of great arrogance and great victory, tremendous victory. A couple of things going on here as we look at this. I want to draw your attention to a couple in the history of Israel. Here we see the establishment of a new king. Something new, something fresh is going on in the history of Israel. Remember that Samuel was after Eli, the priest, Samuel had become the prophet who dealt with Israel, who gave judgments. And we are told in the beginning of chapter eight, and it came to about when Samuel was old, that he appointed his son's judges over Israel. Now the name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah. They were judging in Beersheba. His sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice, much like the sons of Eli did. Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. And they said to him, behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations. But the thing was displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed to the Lord. The Lord said to Samuel, listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. Like all the deeds which they have done since the day I brought them up from Egypt, even to this day, and that they have forsaken me and served other gods, so they are doing to you also. Now then, listen to their voice. However, you shall solemnly warn them and tell them of the procedure of the king who will reign over them. And you know what happens. Saul becomes king. Saul is really a man of the people, a handsome man, a man whose head and shoulders taller than everyone else, a man who is so far from the Lord, so ignorant of the spiritual happenings in the day, he doesn't even know who Samuel is, if you read the account. How can you not know who Samuel is? But he doesn't know who Samuel is. And this is the man who's anointed to be the king of Israel, just like the rest of the nations have. Again, he's a good-looking man. He is a warrior. but he is a man who operates the kingdom based on polls. He tests the winds to see what the prevailing attitudes and opinions are, and he rules in this way. He does this a number of times. The kingdom, as you know, would be torn from Saul. We are told in 1 Samuel 15, 28, these very words. So Samuel said to him, the Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you. Again, this came about because Saul, again, listening to the people, would not obey the Lord in destroying the Amalekites. And so the Lord removes the kingdom from him. And even after this, we see that Saul still is the king, but the spirit of the Lord is taken away from Saul. The writer of history is pointing out that here, there's a king. This king is not a righteous king. He is a king like the other nations have. and the Lord is doing something very wonderful in 1 Samuel 16, then we are told about David. Again, David himself is a good looking man and he is potentially a tremendous warrior, but there was a vast difference between David and Saul. David is a man after God's own heart. David's throne would be established on righteousness. versus unpopular opinion, versus the flesh. And you will see that, a very strong contrast between Saul and David here. So David is a man after God's own heart. David prizes and values what God himself esteems as praiseworthy. And remember, as Samuel is looking for the future king of Israel here in chapter 16, he comes upon David's brothers. Eliab and the others. And the Lord says to Samuel, do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For God sees not as man sees. For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. And after he passes through all of David's brothers, is there any other sons here? Well, there's David, and he's out with the sheep. Bring him here. And so we're told that he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the Lord said, arise, anoint him, for this is he. And we're told that from that day forward, the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David. And we were also told back in 1 Samuel 13, verse 14 there, we're told, but now your kingdom, again, speaking of Saul, now your kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought out for himself a man after his own heart. is a man after God's own heart. He is, too, a good-looking man. But that's secondary. And I think the only reason that's there, my hunch is, is that it's not that the Lord cares what a man looks like. It's that people care what men look like. So it was easier for the Israelites to follow a good-looking man than an ugly man. And I think it's an instance where the Lord condescends to the weaknesses of men in order to help them. So here, again, we see the establishment of a new king. But it's also written, I believe, to give us an example by which we might be encouraged to a bold faith in the Lord. In other words, friends, it's never a wasted faith to trust unswervingly in the Lord of glory. We're not here tonight to look at nine principles of how to conquer your Goliaths. There is actually a point to this. And if I could say it like this, I think the point is to prepare us to see Jesus Christ. Have you ever wondered in Luke's gospel in chapter 24 when Jesus on the road to Emmaus is talking to two of his disciples and they're kept from recognizing him by sight. And then he talks to him about himself from Moses and the prophets. And you go, we should be able to see Jesus very plainly on the pages of scripture. And as you've studied this and you look at this passage of scripture, which again, we could take a long time going through it and we're hitting treetops tonight, but I think it'll be very evident that the story of David and Goliath is about the great victory we have because of Jesus Christ over the great enemy of the church. It's a wonderful story, and it's a shame that we stick it in a VHS and stick it in a kid's room and leave it only for children. This is a story, a historical event that is meant to prepare us for Jesus Christ. Again, it's history. It is not fictional. These are not made up stories, myths. This is reality. Notice first, as we go to this, that the Lord's people have a great enemy. We have a great enemy. Again, now remember this, Israel is the Old Testament church. These are our brothers and sisters who have gone before us. Israel is the Old Testament church. Listen to verses 1 through 3. And I want you to pay attention as we read scripture. Listen to how many times the writer records the word man or men. It's a fascinating thing. Saul and the men of Israel were gathered and camped in the valley of Elah and drew up in battle array to encounter the Philistines. The Philistines stood on the mountain on one side while Israel stood on the mountain on the other side with the valley between them. So you get the picture here. Here's these two mountains, two armies, and in between is a valley. And they're squaring off. And it is a battle by representation. One of them will come and fight one of theirs. And winner takes all. This is Goliath's proposition. You come down. You send me a man, someone man enough to fight me. And if he wins, we'll all become your servants. Of course, he doesn't mean it, right? Because he's thinking, there's no chance. I'm going to lose, right? And so whoever wins, the way it goes is winner takes all. That's how this works. And so we see then in verses 4 through 11 this tremendous enemy, then a champion. That should be a clue. A clue to something here about Goliath. He's called a champion. A champion came out from the armies of the Philistines named Goliath from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was clothed with scale armor, which weighed 5,000 shekels of bronze. He also had bronze greaves on his legs and a bronze javelin slung between his shoulders. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and the head of his spear weighed 600 shekels of iron. His shield carrier also walked before him. He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel and said to them, why do you come up to draw up in battle array? Am I not the Philistine? Notice the definite article. Am I not the Philistine, not a Philistine? I am the Philistine. I'm the quintessential, the essence of Philistinia. I'm the man. I'm the champion. You don't get any more imposing than I am. Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me. If he's able to fight with me and kill me, then we will become your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall become our servants and serve us." Again, the Philistine said, I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight together. When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. Wait a second. Aren't all the men of Israel up on the mountainside? These are all the able-bodied men in Israel up there on the mountainside. And Goliath is saying, come on. You'll notice he does this for 40 days. He taunts them. And every time he comes out, the men of Israel are quaking. They're dismayed. They're greatly afraid. Here, it's really an amazing thing. Six cubits and a span. He's roughly nine and a half feet tall. He's not like one of these skinny basketball players who can wrap his arms around him three times. This man is built. He's a beast. He's a monster of a man. Nine and a half feet tall. He's a Hulk. He has a bronze helmet on his head. He's clothed in scale armor. 5,000 shekels of bronze can make up his armor. which is roughly 125 pound armor he's wearing. Now, I'm 200 pounds roughly, give or take, give. And you think, OK, more than half of my weight he's wearing on his chest. He's big. He's a big man. And he knows it. He's got bronze greaves on his legs, bronze javelin between his shoulders. The shaft of his spear is like a weaver's beam. The head of the spear, we're told, is 600 shekels of iron. That's 15 to 16 pounds on the end of his spear, those who bowl. I hate the 16-pound balls, because my fingers become disjointed, and they smell after I'm done. And this is this man's holding a spear where the head of it is 15 to 16 pounds, and he can throw it. He's a champion. This guy, he's terrifying. And all of that to say, as well, that he has a shield carrier who walks before him. He has a temperament of being arrogant and boastful. His heart was really like a lump of pride. This is a man that's intimidated by nobody. He takes what he wants. He gets what he wants. Everyone cowers to him. So he comes down and he terrifies the Israelites. They're terrified. You notice it's gone on for 40 days, and nobody's taking him up on his offer, not even the king of Israel, who is head and shoulders taller than everyone else. He is supposed to be the man in Israel, and he even is not doing it. He, Goliath, is not a big, dumb jock. He is a fighting machine, and he knows it. And again, in verse 11, when Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. So he terrorizes them. He cajoles them. And he blasphemes the Lord. And there was no man in all Israel to stand against this terrible enemy. The church has a terrible enemy. Israel had a terrible enemy, an arrogant enemy, one who would set himself up above others And nobody was able to take him on. No man was able to take him on. So then we're introduced in verses 12 through 30 again to David, who now remember he is the anointed king of Israel, and yet he is still but a youth. And we won't go into a tremendous amount of detail here, but David He's the eighth son of Jesse, the Bethlehemite. David is the youngest. He has the menial task of taking care of his father's sheep. And in between taking care of his father's sheep, he's bouncing back and forth between his father's household and Saul's. It's interesting that at the end of this chapter, Saul doesn't even recognize who David is, which I find mysterious. That might have been how clueless he was. David would go and play in his household music. And so he doesn't know him. David is roughly, scholars think, 16 or 17 years old. He has been anointed to be the next king of Israel. He is young, he is handsome, he loves music and poetry. Sure, let's send him out against Goliath. This sounds like a done deal. But we're purposely shown this young man who is so tenderhearted towards the Lord, But he's not afraid. But he knows the Lord. He trusts the Lord. And he's willing to go out and battle this giant, not for money, not because he's promised a wife, not because his father's household would be tax-free in the days of Israel. These did not motivate. They didn't motivate anyone, but least of all, David. David was motivated by something much greater. I think of the phrase zeal for your house consumes me. Remember who said that? Jesus said that. Listen to what David says in verses 24 through 30. When all the men of Israel saw the man, notice that when all the men of Israel saw the man, Goliath, they fled from him. and were greatly afraid. The men of Israel said, have you seen this man who is coming up? Surely he's coming up to defy Israel. And it will be that the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel. Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, saying, what will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should taunt the armies of the living God? The people answered him in accord with this word, saying, thus it will be done for the man who kills him. Listen to his words again. Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should taunt the armies of the living God? Where does this man get off thinking that he could blaspheme our God? You see what motivates him? Of all the men and all of their armor and all of their strength and all of their strategies and all of their wartime smarts, not a one of them was capable to go against him. And David, consumed for the glory of the Lord, would pursue him. The scene, as we look at this, the scene is really set for quite a catastrophe. The odds do not look good. Here's this giant hulk of a man, arrogant and proud, a demonic, a satanic kind of pride. And here's this young man who's so fresh and unspoiled who's been out taking care of sheep. And he's going to go fight where no one else would do this. We are shown here that while we have a great enemy, the church has a great enemy, the Lord's people have a great God. Look at verses 31 through 40. When the words which David spoke were heard, they told them to Saul and he sent for him. David said to Saul, let no man's heart fail on account of him. Your servant will go and fight with his Philistine. Then Saul said to David, You're not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth." This really captures the dilemma that's going on here. But David said to Saul, your servant was tending his father's sheep when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock. I went out after him and attacked him and rescued it from his mouth. And when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear. And this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God. And David said, 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 said to David, go. and may the Lord be with you." You notice David is not boasting in his ability to kill lions and kill bears. His boast is, if the Lord could deliver me from them, he can certainly deliver me from this guy. Again, his trust is not in his abilities. His trust is in the Lord. And so, Saul picks up on the dilemma that we see here, and David shares his reasons for going to fight. 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. David understands what we must remember, that our God is jealous for his own glory. Rightfully, he is the king of glory. If God protected David when caring for lowly sheep, will he forsake those whose passion is to see his name exalted before the heathen? Have you ever thought that I should go out there and I should speak up for the Lord? David would speak. He would go to defend the Lord's glory and honor without any concern for himself in the matter. Why? Because he knew the Lord. The Lord does not forsake his people. He doesn't forsake his people. David would appear weak and foolish. He doesn't take the armor of the king. He puts it on and he takes it off. This isn't working. He takes his foolish tools of trade. Notice Goliath even laughs at him. What am I, a dog? You've come out here with a stick and some stones? You insult me. Really? You're going to do this? He takes the tools of his trade and does not put on airs. His trust is not in weaponry or strategies, but his trust is in the Lord. How easy we oftentimes fall prey to this very thing when we're in the throes, when we're in the work of the ministry, we're in the work of the church, when we're dealing with sin. And we think, you know, we need a strategy. We need a program, again, by which we can advance the kingdom of God. And what does the Lord use? Foolish things like preaching and prayer and Bible study and witnessing things that aren't nearly considered effective enough in the world. David is using these simple tools, a stick and the stones, the things that he was familiar with. And he takes these five smooth stones, he takes his stick and he goes to battle. He goes to battle because he understands he has a great God. And a great God is reason enough to walk boldly, to be courageous, and to live righteously. That's it. That's the only reason we need to obey. Because the Lord says, I won't forsake you, and I will deliver you, and I will do my holy will. Friends, we have a great God. We have a great God, and He is reason for us to live boldly in the days in which we live now. Faith is not based on what we conjure up internally, the strength, the courage to muster up in our sides. But faith is based on who God is. He is the basis of faith. And this is why we always encourage you to read your Bibles and get to know the Lord, why I applied it to women. Get to know, don't try to fix your husbands, right? Get to know your God. And don't be frightened by any fear. I mean, we see this theme throughout the scriptures. Know the Lord. Trust the Lord and follow the Lord. This is what, in essence, we see David doing. You're a Christian not because you feel like it, not because you think it's good. Isn't it because you know that the Lord is a great God, demanding holiness, who is loving and who is kind, who is merciful and willing to forgive and providing salvation. The writer of Hebrews said, and without faith, it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him. We live our lives based on who God is, and David understands this, and David races to the battle. This man who has a heart after God's own heart is watching this young man, is watching all of these grown men with all of their worldly wise ways standing back unable to handle what their great enemy is dishing out. And David, with what he knows, runs to the battle because he's concerned for the Lord's glory. We are told that the Lord's people have a great victory. Verses 41 through 58, It's such a wonderful account. Then the Philistine came on and approached David with the shield bearer in front of him. When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him for he was but a youth and ruddy with a handsome appearance. The Philistine said to David, I am a dog. Am I a dog that you come to me with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine also said to David, come to me and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field. And David said to the Philistine, you come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. This day, the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear for the battle is the Lord's and he will give you into our hands. Then it happened when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David that David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine and David put his hand into his bag and took from it a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead and the stone sank into his forehead so that he fell on his face to the ground. There's a great, great victory. There's this tremendous battle. And David defends the honor of the Lord and goes to battle against this satanic enemy of Israel. And he sinks a rock into his forehead. And that's actually what killed him. And you know why he cut off the giant's head? because it would have been too hard to lift his nine and a half foot tall body over his head to show everyone. He cuts off his head so that he can hold it up and show, I won. It's a tremendous story, a tremendous victory that David here has delivered. And here, he's the anointed king of Israel, and he's just defeated the sworn enemy of the Israelites, this satanic, picture, this this hulk of a man. David has this great victory and God's people are freed from fear and from slavery. So the Lord's people have this great enemy. They have a great God and now they have this great victory. So. Now, in those days, the decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem. Here, the man, the king, whose throne would be established on righteousness a man after God's own heart, is a shepherd boy from the town of Bethlehem. And here, born in the city of Bethlehem, is one who would be called the good shepherd who comes from Bethlehem. I mean, you start seeing the parallels between the story of David and Goliath, and then the Lord Jesus, and then you realize that that while a historical event, Goliath, this nine and a half foot satanic kind of figure taunting the people of God, and no one is able to deliver themselves, and out of Bethlehem comes this pretty boy with his sticks and his stones, and ooh, I'm scared. You know, Goliath taunting him. And this man with a heart after God's own heart says, I'm not afraid. because I'm consumed for my Father's glory, and I'm consumed with delivering the armies of the Lord's people out from underneath their enemies. It's such a wonderful story. This tells us that there's a greater enemy, a greater defeat than the sword of Goliath. Jesus used our enemy's weapon against him, and he died that death might be put to death and that Satan would be destroyed and his people would be set free. We have this great enemy. Satan is the great enemy of the church. We're told in 2 Timothy 2.26 that that people are trapped in the snare of the devil. They're held captive by him to do his will, and that Satan is the god of this world, and he's blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. And we're told that all have sinned, and therefore all are under the sentence of death, according to Paul in Romans 5. If you turn over to your Bibles, again to Isaiah 59, which we looked at this morning, Isaiah 59, nine through 15. Therefore justice is far from us and righteousness does not overtake us. We hope for light, but behold darkness for brightness, but we walk in gloom. We grope along the wall like blind men. We grope like those who have no eyes. We stumble at midday as in the twilight among those who are vigorous. We are like dead men. And what were the men of Israel like? They were dismayed. They were afraid. They were quaking. Nobody was doing anything. Nobody could do anything. Everyone knew. There is no way that we can take on that man and win this battle. All of us growl like bears, verse 11, and moan sadly like doves. We hope for justice, but there is none for salvation, but it is far from us. for our transgressions are multiplied before you and our sins testify against us for our transgressions are with us and we know our iniquities transgressing and denying the Lord and turning away from our God speaking oppression and revolt conceiving in and uttering from the heart lying words justice is turned back and righteousness stands far away for truth has stumbled in the street and uprightness cannot enter yes truth is lacking and he who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey We have a great enemy. We have a tremendous and terrible situation that's going on. Who's going to deal with this thing for us? Not a man in Israel could do it. But a boy from Bethlehem, a shepherd boy, consumed with the glory of the Lord, he could do it. And we have a great God. Look again with me in Isaiah 59, 15b, down to verse 20. Now the Lord saw, and it was displeasing in his sight that there was no justice, and he saw that there was no man, and was astonished that there was no one to intercede. Then his own arm brought salvation to him, and his righteousness upheld him. He put on righteousness like a breastplate. and a helmet of salvation on his head. And he put on garments of vengeance for clothing and wrapped himself with zeal as a mantle according to their deeds. So he will repay wrath to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies, to the coastlands he will make recompense. So they will fear the name of the Lord from the west and his glory from the rising of the sun. For he will come like a rushing stream, which the wind of the Lord drives. A redeemer will come to Zion and to those who turned from transgression in Jacob, declares the Lord. Not the works which you and I perform could we ever deliver ourselves. All of your efforts to deliver yourself from Satan and from the reality of death would amount to nothing. Willpower won't conquer it. Willpower won't free you from lust. throwing off of addictions, making right decisions, becoming an upstanding citizen in the community. All of these things will not deliver you from Satan and from death. And we are told, then his own arm brought salvation to him. We have a great victory. We have a great enemy for sure. We have a God who is greater than our enemy, and we have a great victory. God himself intervened and brought about a great victory for us. For out of Bethlehem would come this shepherd boy. In weakness he would come. What was the complaint against this Messiah? He rides the colt, the foal of a donkey. Where's the steed? Where's the might? Why don't you throw Caesar? Why don't you really stick it to him? How would he come and how would he die on the foolishness of a cross? Right? To Greeks, it was foolishness. It was weakness. To Jews, a stumbling block. And yet it was the power of God where he conquered Satan. This is what Jesus Christ has done. We turn to 1 Corinthians 15, and I read this in closing. 1 Corinthians, the end of chapter 15, verses 54 through 57. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. You see this, the story of David and Goliath isn't primarily about David and Goliath. It's about how God would raise up a king of righteousness who in weakness would defeat the great enemy of the Lord's people and would secure a victory that could never be stripped away from us. That's what Jesus Christ has done for us. And that's reason for us to rejoice. And that's reason for us to live boldly and righteously and out loud our Christian faith because of all that he has done. Friends, let's close in prayer. We thank you, Lord, again for this night. And we thank you, Jesus, our Lord, our great King, our King of righteousness, who came in weakness and in weakness by being that lamb who would be sacrificed you conquered and you defeated and destroyed the works of the devil and you have conquered the grave and we rejoice in you and thank you so much for your love for us. Please, Father, grant that we should know Jesus better, that we would know this great salvation that you've accomplished and that we would walk in it and rest in it all the days of our lives. Thank you so much for giving us your word. Now we ask your blessing on us as we go forward. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.