But however you do it, I would appreciate it if you would read and answer the questions on the Q&A before we start on Sunday. And so maybe Sunday morning if you wanna do it, but just make sure that you do that. That'll help you in review and to get focused on what the lesson's about. And hopefully you do that and have been doing that and are doing it. Page 13 is gonna be today's lesson number three. Anybody with a Bible memory? Mrs. Bruner. Amen. All right. Anybody else? Yes. Psalm three. Amen, all right. You only get one piece of candy for that. Anybody else? All right, Bob, you can come up and you and Mrs. Bruner can. No, but I know your favorite one's in there. I see a lot of them, so whatever you think is fair. All right, page 13, lesson three. First Samuel. First Samuel and 17. Butterfinger, right? Yeah. All right. First Samuel 17. And the memory verse that we have on the page is Acts 13 22. I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. which shall fulfill all my will." That's God's opinion on David. I'll tell you what, that's a pretty good place to be when God says that about you. David certainly wasn't perfect. David had some real flaws in his life, but David was a man after God's own heart, and God said that. That's a quote from God there in Acts 13, 22. Page 13, one of the most beloved and well-known stories of all the Bible is the story of David and Goliath. In the valley of Elah, the armies of Israel and of the Philistines had set themselves in array for 40 days. A massive man over nine feet tall called out to the army of Israel, taunting them to send a champion to face him. Why among all the people who lived in David's day, did God choose David to do battle with Goliath? Why was it David? Well, in first Samuel 17, we read verses one through 14. We'll get some, uh, background here. Verse one. Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle and were gathered together at Shoko, which belongeth to Judah and pitched between Shoko and as Ezekiel. in Ephesus de Mimim. And I am not real good at saying those words. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together and pitched by the valley of Elah and set the battle in array against the Philistines. And the Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side. And there's a valley between them. And it wasn't like a mountain like we think of the Rocky Mountains, but it was definitely a tall hill. You might want to call it that in our terminology. there was a valley between them and there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines named Goliath of Gath whose height was six cubits in a span or about nine foot. And he had an helmet of brass upon his head and he was armed with a coat of mail and wait, the weight of the coat was 5,000 shekels of brass and he had grieves of brass upon his legs and a target of brass between his shoulders. And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron, and one bearing a shield went before him. And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? Am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? Choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me and kill me, then Will we be your servants? But if I prevail against him and kill him, then shall ye be our servants and serve us. The Philistines said, I defy the armies of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight together. When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. Now, David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem, Judah, whose name was Jesse. And he had eight sons, and the men went among men for an old man in the days of Saul. And the three eldest sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, next unto him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. And David was the youngest, and the three eldest followed Saul. In this passage, we read about many things, about the Philistines and Goliath. Then suddenly God shifts gears, The scene changes verse 12. God simply says now David was the son of that epithet of Bethlehem Judah In other words with all that was going on the eyes of God were fastened on David Right now the media is trying to get us to get our attention on an election I I just know this God's already got things figured out and It's not he's not losing any sleep over him Uh, the media gets our attention on all kinds of things, all kinds of stuff that goes on and gets us off track. But David had God's attention. I mean, I'll tell you what, that's impressive. David had God's attention. Are you somebody that gets God's attention? Um, and God had David's attention. Uh, they were, they were walking together and they were familiar with one another before we even get to know David. With all that was going on the eyes of God were fastened on David and God's already Way ahead. He's already one step ahead. He knows what's going on and He's not at all alarmed now Saul and all of Israel were afraid they were scared their knees are knocking They're not right with God. They're not walking in God's way. All they can see is the giant and They, when you live carnally, when you live in the flesh and you're just, and you're just thinking humanistically, you're just thinking as a, as a human, instead of spiritually minded, you're not seeing things from God's perspective. Uh, uh, you're not seeing things as God would see them. You're not seeing things, uh, in the way, in the right way. And so what happens is, is that you get scared because you say that guy's a giant and he can beat us and we don't have any giants that can fight him and we're in trouble. And that's what this is about today. God has a champion and God knows. And that champion is usually not somebody that we recognize. Usually not somebody that we pay attention to and we think something special of. Page 14 though, we have three points today. We need to be reminded of this over and over and over again. We need to be reminded of this, that God loves to use a David, someone who is insignificant and who looks small and unable to take the challenge. God has a way of making sure that he gets the glory for it all and that we are reminded that he's in charge. Page 14, number one, the world's way. As we observed the Philistine giant and how God dealt with him, we learned much about how the world works and how the world, excuse me, how God works and how the world works. We learned about these two different opposing ideas, the way God works, the way the world works. The world's way is might against might, army against army, manpower against manpower. That's just the world's way. Dollar against dollar, might against might. The world's way is to be the biggest and the best in the flesh. And the world's champions is always the biggest, the brightest, the loudest, the strongest. That's just how it goes. And the Philistines sent out their champion. He looked like some great huge monster of a man. I'm sure his biceps were bigger than our leg. I'm sure he was just towering strong and towering in height and towering in shadow and just scary. Goliath cried out and defied the armies of God. But God's way is not to trust in the flesh, but to trust in him. Stand up, stand up for Jesus. The arm of flesh will fail you. You dare not trust your own, the song says. And we do so many times. We try to get our man-made champion to fight against the world's man-made champion. And that's kind of what we're getting ourselves into with all this election stuff, is trying to match man for man. And it's really playing the devil's game. Don't play their game. Don't play his game. Don't stoop to that level. God's bigger than all that. The philosophy of this world without God is I'm going to push everyone around. I'm going to get it done, whatever it takes. I have the human ingenuity and ability to gain the victory. And we like that. We like the John Waynes of the world. We enjoy that. That's something that we appreciate. However, godly way is a lot of times not that way. It's a lot of times a very insignificant, unlikely hero, and God really is the hero. Sadly, many Christians often have the same philosophy, but it's really the world's way. And the world is convincing us, and they've got the video cameras, they've got the ability to make things look bigger than they are. You ever been to a real football stadium? Um, I actually got to go one time to a Monday night football game in Denver. And the first thing I noticed was how smaller, how much smaller it looks in real person than it does on TV. Everything on TV looks grand and bigger and just more extravagant. because that's the way TV is. You're able to focus and to, and to angle and to give a perspective, uh, that is somewhat deceiving. And, uh, and so because of all that, I, I just, I was just surprised at how much more, you know, real size, you know, and rather than, you know, life size rather than TV size, everything was and how more personable it was. uh... in a lot of ways when we were there way back when uh... the world's way versus our way versus man's way a couple places i want you to be reminded of first of all sixteen seven chapter sixteen and verse seven when samuel anointed david Samuel was just not real sure what God was doing, because Eliab looked so impressive. Remember, Eliab was the oldest brother, and he looked so impressive to Samuel. But God said in 1 Samuel 16, 7, the Lord said unto Samuel, look not on his countenance or on the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord seeth not as man seeth. For man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. God's not looking at the outward appearance. God has never been impressed with a bicep or even a brain. God's looking at the heart. God doesn't need that human strength. He made human beings. He doesn't need those things. Look at Judges, way back in Judges, chapter six through chapter eight. We're not gonna read all that. But Judges six through eight, it's the story of Gideon. God called Gideon. Gideon was a chicken. He was afraid, he was hiding, he was threshing wheat down in a wine press, which means he was down in a ditch. And if you're gonna thresh wheat, you're throwing it up in the air, getting the wind to blow the chaff away. And he's down in a pit, which means he's probably not getting much wind, but he's too scared to do it out in the open because the Midianite army is just so terrible and oppressing them. And so God visits Gideon and says, you know, you're a mighty man of valor. And I think Gideon said, are you talking to the right guy? And God says, I'm gonna use you to lead Israel out of this oppression. And so Gideon gathered 32,000 men. And God said, you've got too many. So God said, I want you to do a little litmus test. And he did a litmus test and 22,000 left and went home. And then God said, I want you to do another test. And 9,700 went home. And he was left with 300 men. He started with 32,000 and went to 300. I don't know about you, but numbers get to me. Because we think there's strength in numbers. And when you go from 30, 32,000, I don't know the population of Rapid City. Is it 60? Okay, so half of Rapid City. Half of Rapid City shows up to help you. and then you send 22,000 of them home and you're left with 10,000. Okay, all right, 10,000. And God says, it's still too big. And so another 9,700 go home and you got 300. I just think the visual picture there, I mean, you got 300 left and God says, all right, that's the right size. And by this time, I'm sure Gideon's thinking, you know, what are we doing? But if you know the story, God only needed 300. And it was an amazing victory, and God did it. I mean, nobody could say Gideon did it, although Gideon's faith was honored. But it was Gideon. It was God. It was so obvious that it was God. Then go with me to 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1. and look what it says in verse 23 following. 1 Corinthians 1.23, For we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block and unto the Greeks foolishness. But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see, your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. and base things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord." The carnal Christian world thinks we gotta have megachurch to impress the world. The carnal Christian world thinks we gotta have big superstar celebrity. The carnal Christian world thinks we've gotta match toe to toe what they got with what we can match up with, and that's falling into the trap. Saul and the army of Israel were falling into, well, we gotta find a giant. Wait a minute, question number one, who came up with the whole game of giant versus giant? The Philistines did. Don't play their game. Don't let them dictate the game. And that's what happened. All right, we're going to come up with a game. Here's the contest. And of course, they're always going to make sure that the contest is in their favor, according to their thinking. And so here's this giant standing there defying their God. Oh, we don't have a giant. Who are we gonna get and how's this gonna work? And so they're already falling into the trap. And God's saying, hey, you know what? I like to use insignificant things to confound the wise. Verse 29, that no flesh should glory in his presence. What happens when we have lots of talent and ability in our church? We forget who it's really all about. We forget who it's for and we focus on the performer and we focus on the talent. We need to not do that, stop that. All of us need to not focus on the talent. I don't appreciate it if someone says, you have a beautiful voice. You know, I want to be smart. I'll can said, thanks. It came with my head. I didn't do anything to get my voice. It just came, you know, wouldn't have been nice if they say, I really love the words of that song. That was a blessing. Um, I'm going to be in Buffalo, Wyoming next week for a preacher, a preacher's get together. And years ago I was at that same church in the basement of a, of a building. That's what, that was where they met. And a little Indian lady, a native American lady stood up and sang, uh, one, one day at a time. I think she, I think she probably saying it very off key. You know, very simply, uh, Acapulco. Not at all extravagant. And yet I still remember it. Because every word and every twinkle in her eye was from her heart. And I knew she meant every word. And she was praising God. And I still, I've heard lots of songs. Sung by lots of people and talent. But I still remember her name. let alone what she's saying. Um, I think sometimes heaven is, is way more impressed with stuff that we don't get impressed by. And heaven isn't nearly as impressed with the stuff that we think was pretty big stuff. So that's the world's way. Now let's look at the Lord's way, the Lord's way and the way he thinks. All right. So back in verse 12 of second or first Samuel 17, 1 Samuel 17 verse 12, now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem, Judah. So verse 1 through 11, the giant, the giant, oh my goodness, the giant, he's a huge man, he's got biceps, he's got all kinds of armor, and he's just, oh, he's magnificent, and he's scary, and everyone's scared of him, greatly afraid. Verse 12, now David, he's a giant, You know, notice here when we read about David, it just says in verse 12, he was the son of Jesse. And it says in verse, uh, 15, uh, or verse 13, 14, 15, it says David was the youngest of all of them. And his father was an old man and David kept the sheep. And, uh, that's all it says. It doesn't say anything about how strong David was or how tall David was, how many weapons David had, the strategy David had. I just said David was just an ordinary guy, youngest of his family. And there's a reason for all that. The Lord's way is not the world's way. With our finger right there, I'm gonna read you this in Isaiah 55, because I want us all to know, I want you to see it. I don't wanna just read it to you. I'd like you to look at it on your own paper, on your own Bible page. Isaiah 55, verse eight and nine. This is God talking, and this is just a concept that we gotta remember all the time. Isaiah 55, verse 8 and 9. For my thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. I don't think like a human, and I don't go about doing things the way humans would do it. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. I just do it differently. Years ago, I was getting to know Greek a little bit, and I discovered the word logos. It is a Greek word, L-O-G-O-S. And logos means word, the word. And so when we say God's word, we're saying God's logos, and it's the same, root word that we get our word, logic, God's thoughts. My thoughts are not your thoughts. My ways are not your ways. And God does things differently. And God operates on a different way, like a different way of doing things. And of course it's always better. And so we need to remember that we don't need man's human ability. We just need to trust God. God's ways are higher than our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. So many times we look at things humanly and we say, oh, that can't be done that way. That won't work. But if God wants us to do it that way, then that's what we should do. We don't realize this, I don't think, sometimes reading the Bible, but when we read the story of Moses, if you look at a map, a good map of Egypt and Saudi Arabia and Canaan or Palestine, where Israel ended up being, if you look at that area of the world, And you see this Red Sea. And you've got the Sinai Peninsula. And you see the further eastern arm has this Red Sea Gulf of Aqaba, they call it today. And there's these two fingers that come off of it. And that second finger is the eastern side. And that is most likely where they crossed over traditional In days gone by, they thought it was the first finger. I think it's the second finger. They crossed over from Gulf of Aqaba into Arabia. And Galatians tells us that that's where Sinai was really at, was in Arabia. Well, when you look at that, you realize, man, Moses really went the wrong way because the traveling way was to go along the coast of Mediterranean up into Canaan, and so the way he's going is so far east, and it's through the wilderness. It's through the rough terrain in the wilderness, not much water. And so, you know, Pharaoh's army's chasing these guys, and it's like, these guys are fools. They're not even going the right direction, and Moses is a slave, you know, he's not a smart guy, and all these slaves, they don't have a clue what they're doing. The truth was they didn't really have a clue what they were doing, except they were following God. God led them with a pillar of fire at night and cloud by day. God led them and they were following God. So they went right into a dead end and Pharaoh and his army thought, this is going to be a piece of cake there. They just led themselves into a dead end. In fact, even the Israelite people, the Hebrew slaves were mad at Moses because they ran into a dead end. But what they didn't know is that God was leading and Moses was following God. And then when that when that seed departed and split in half and they went across some dry ground and got to the other side and singing and rejoicing, well then Moses looked like a hero. But it was God that did it all along, and it was God. And as a leader, as a husband and a father, you need to give God the glory. Look, I'm not the one that's had smarts and ability. It was just God that did it. God led all the way. And in everything we do, we need to give God the praise and the glory. I just followed God, and that's why it worked out. That's what we should just always say. I followed God, and that's why it happened. And so God's looking for someone whose heart is for him and God didn't need a liar with lots of muscle He didn't need King Saul with lots of muscle, but he needed someone who was following him after his own heart So the top of page 15 what the Lord's way what is the Lord's way of doing things? The Lord's way was that young David was already prepared in private because of what he had in his heart David was a man after God's own heart just like our memory verse says in the front page I have found David the son of Jesse a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will, Acts 13, 22. Remember, God told Samuel, you look on the outward, but I look on the heart. And so David was a man after God's own heart. He was following God. He desired to just be right with God. David's relationship with God made him a champion. Nobody knew it yet. Nobody knew David was a champion. Even his own brothers didn't think David was a champion, but God knew David was a champion. And so the last paragraph on the top of page 15 there, David never sought to be king. He never planned to be king. He never manipulated and devised and built a political action committee. He, he, he just, that wasn't, he just simply desired God. He just, he just followed the Lord. He wasn't trying to make plans to be something. He loved God and wanted to be right with him. This is the Lord's way. Are you concerned about the Lord's way? This is the Lord's way. Just what does God want me to do and am I doing it? That's pretty simple, isn't it? What does God want me to do today? What was I supposed to be doing yesterday? What should I be doing tomorrow? What does God want me to do and I'll do it? And just follow him. This story is for all people who want God's blessing on their lives. And so the world's way, the Lord's way, and of course then the question is, what will be your way? Let me go to Romans chapter 12. And as we go there, let me just read from our book here. Perhaps you've been manipulating, scheming, planning, trying to convince someone of what you can do. Trying very hard. Yesterday I was listening to the pastor in Gillette And he was talking about years ago, he worked at Kmart. And some other guy at Kmart ended up getting assistant manager. And they made him work in the cafe flipping the burgers. And he felt like he was smarter and he was better. And he felt like he could do a much better job. And of course, the temptation is to start proving yourself with that person or competing or whatever. You know, our, our job is to just do what God would have us to do. If God allowed us to be in this position, then just serve God and do everything we do for God, not for some other person. Um, and, and the dishonesty of brown nosing and, uh, trying to climb the ladder of success by, uh, brown nosing. That's not God's way. And David wasn't doing that. What will be your way? Scheming, manipulation, planning. Try to convince someone. Come clean with God. What will be your way? Coming to the Lord Jesus, yielding to him, and saying, Lord, take control. That should be our way. And that's why we turn to Romans 12, because Romans 12, verse 1 says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God. which is your reasonable service, and be not conformed to this world, thinking like them, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." There comes a point in your life where you have to say, you know what? God knows where I'm at. Maybe management did overlook me. Maybe I don't get the recognition I think I deserve. Maybe people don't know what I can do, but God knows where I'm at. That's why I love that guy, Joseph. I mean, Joseph, it was obvious that Joseph was saying with his life, God knows where I'm at. My dad doesn't know where I'm at. Even my brothers probably think I'm dead, but God knows where I'm at. And God will, if God wants to change things, he can do it overnight. Who knows, he could be doing things right now behind the scenes we don't even know about. God knows where I'm at. I'm just gonna yield to him. I'm gonna be and grow where I'm planted and be what I'm supposed to be right now. In all these years, David's just a shepherd. He's just a sheep guy. And he's not respectable in the eyes of man. He smells like a sheep. And he's just a dumb shepherd. All he knows is sheep, according to everyone around him. God knows where I'm at. I talked about Moses a little bit ago. You know, when that story happened, Moses was over 80 years old. But you know, Moses grew up in Pharaoh's palace. Moses was mighty in words and deeds. He wasn't always a stutterer. Moses was mighty in words and deeds, the Bible says in Acts 7, and Moses was trained as a warrior. He was trained in Pharaoh's palace. Maybe he could have been the next Pharaoh, had he not chosen to go God's way. But Moses, when he was 40 years old, I think thought, and I would have too, I would have looked around and I would have said, it's obvious that God has led me into this position so that I can use my Pharaoh position to take care of my own people. That's what I would have thought. I would have thought, man, this is such an unusual situation. I've been adopted into Pharaoh's palace. It's obvious, it's a no brainer that God planted me here so that I could be politically in position to be the power guy to get this all done. And so when he saw an Egyptian abusing a Hebrew, he killed that Egyptian and buried him in the sand and then found out that God wasn't in on that. And so he got scared and he ran. And so Moses ran to the backside of the desert and spent 40 years. Now he's age 40 when all that happened. Now, if I were to ask you, what do you think is better, your 40s or your 80s as far as energy and stamina? OK, so at age 40, I'm 47, and I'm already starting to feel the octane drain. And so me versus Delmar Slagle, who's going to win the wrestling match? I wouldn't want to wrestle him when he was 40, but I might try it when he's 80. But God says, no, I'm not ready to use you. And so God had him go in the backside of the desert. And whatever he learned in Egypt, he unlearned it in the backside of the desert. Because when he got to be 80 years old and that burning bush took place, he said, I can't even talk very well. Maybe it's because he spent 40 years talking to sheep. I can't even speak very well. No, the Bible says he was mighty in words and deeds. And I used to have connections, but I don't have connections anymore. Yeah, now I'm ready to use you. So now at age 80, he says, now I want to use you. And see, that's just not our way. That's not, I mean, we're like, God, you, you're like 40 years too late here. You know, I'm sure that's what Moses, I'm sure Moses is thinking, it's not in the text and the Exodus, but I'm sure Moses is like, where were you 40 years ago? And God's like, I couldn't use you 40 years ago. You were too proud, you were too self-sufficient, you were too self-reliant. But now that you're 80 years old and you don't even think you can talk very good, I can use you now. See how God is? He breaks us down on purpose. He allows us to fall apart so that he can say, now I can use you. And when it's all done, you're not gonna flex your muscles and talk about how great you are. It'll be obvious that I did it. And so, God used an 80-year-old Moses rather than the 40-year-old Moses. But Moses did something that was so important. He yielded to God. He obeyed God. He didn't go away from God. He still respected and honored God. God has a champion. The strange thing is is that we never know who that champion is until God calls him from the ranks of the unknown and the overlooked and the insignificant and works through that person's life. You could not pick the champion if you tried because God looks on the heart. Be prepared for his service. Keep your heart right with him. You know, it says in 2 Chronicles 16, nine, the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong on behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him. God looks for the heart, he's not looking for the talent. God looks for the heart, he's not looking for the bank account. God looks for the heart, he's not looking for the connections that you might have politics God looks at the heart so just keep your heart right with him trust him if you've been overlooked and you've been overlooked and you've been overlooked I guess it wasn't the right time but trust him he has a time when he wants to use you but your heart keep your heart right with him and all things God takes the ordinary commonplace routine things and people And then he touches them with his mighty power, those ordinary routine people and uses them in a great mighty way. And that's what God did with David. David was that individual, just ordinary, just common. And God used him. We find in the near future, as we, as we read more of the story that even his brothers weren't impressed with him. Even his brother, you know, his father didn't think he was anything. His father could have called him to the meeting when they had the anointing. And his fathers didn't think he was that great of a guy or anything special. His brothers accused him of all kinds of things. And King Saul tried to say, you need to take my armor. You're never gonna make it against this giant without my armor. And all of that was human's reasoning. David was God's champion because David was right with God in his heart. That's the bottom line. Just be right with God in your heart, and God will call you when he's ready. God knows who you are, where you are, and maybe others have overlooked you, but he hasn't. All right, we're gonna close in prayer today. If you ever have a question from the Bible, a question about anything, please ask.