40 Days and 40 Nights_Jesus our Champion
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God calls unlikely champions to defend Israel against the Philistine giant Goliath. David, a young shepherd, volunteers to fight Goliath when the experienced Israelite warriors refuse. Though small and inexperienced, David trusts that God will deliver him from Goliath, just as God delivered him from lions and bears. David defeats Goliath with his sling and a single stone to the forehead. David then kills Goliath by cutting off his head with Goliath's own sword.
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40 Days and 40 Nights_Jesus our Champion
- 2. Jesus, Our Champion 1 Samuel 17:16
- 3. First Point God calls the most unlikely champions to act.
- 4. And the Philistine drew near and presented himself forty days, morning and evening. 1 Samuel 17:16
- 7. 23 As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him. 1 Samuel 17
- 8. 24 All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid. 1 Samuel 17
- 9. 25 And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel.” 1 Samuel 17
- 10. 26 And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” 1 Samuel 17
- 11. 27 And the people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.” 1 Samuel 17
- 13. Second Point As God’s champions we have the victory.
- 14. 28 Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.” 1 Samuel 17
- 15. 29 And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?” 30 And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before. 1 Samuel 17
- 16. David’s brothers and their resentment
- 17. 31 When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. 32 And David said to Saul, “Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 1 Samuel 17
- 18. 33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” 1 Samuel 17
- 19. 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 1 Samuel 17
- 20. 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 1 Samuel 17
- 21. 36 Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 1 Samuel 17
- 22. 37 And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you!” 1 Samuel 17
- 23. 38 Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, 1 Samuel 17
- 24. 39 and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. 1 Samuel 17
- 25. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine. 1 Samuel 17
- 26. David’s confidence in the LORD
- 27. 48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 1 Samuel 17
- 28. 49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. 1 Samuel 17
- 29. 50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. 1 Samuel 17
- 30. 51 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 Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. 1 Samuel 17
- 31. Jesus slays the Goliath of our sins at the cross.
Editor's Notes
- First Point First Point: God calls the most unlikely champions to act. Would you turn with me in your Bibles to 1st Samuel Chapter 17. Because the story of David and Goliath is all of Chapter 17 I will be summarizing some of the passages in the text. Verses 1-15 happen to be one of those passages. In these first verses we see the battle scene between the nation of Israel and their arch enemies, the Philistines. But you see this isn’t the first time the Nation of Israel has encountered the Philistines. In Judges 13:1 The Philistines occupied Israeli territory for 40 years because of their disobedience to Jehovah. The battle scene set forth in chapter 17 is over who will occupy the land promised to the Jews, a battle that rages on today. Behind these two nations we see two people. We have a 9-foot-tall Philistine man by the name of Goliath (PVC) whose armor weighed about 200 pounds and the head of his spear weighed 25 pounds. Goliath might as well be a Sherman tank with legs , which is why the Philistines rightly called him their champion. Then we have David the youngest of 8 brothers. He is a shepherd of his father’s sheep whose weaponry consists of nothing more than a shepherd’s staff, sling and pouch to carry his rocks in. Outwardly, David would be the most unlikely person to face Goliath. One thing to point out is God’s specialty in using the most unlikely people to accomplish His will ; God does not look on the outside but on the inside. Remember the testimony from the Bible about David is that he was a man after God’s own heart. It can be said of David that he is the unsuspecting champion of Israel. We pick the story up in verse 16.
- And the Philistine drew near and presented himself forty days, morning and evening.
- I want you to know that from verse 16 to the end of chapter 17 is the 40th day and all these events we are reading about from this point forward are happening during that time. I mention this because of the use of the number 40 throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament. The number 40 can have a couple of different meaning throughout the Bible such as a period of Divine judgment or blessing. In the context of this chapter, 40 days represents a time of testing for both the Jews and those who come against God’s people, namely the Philistines. While most of us will not encounter a 9-foot-tall armor-cladded giant in our lives, I want us to look at a period of 40 days that I believe we all can relate to. In Matthew Chapter 4 verses 1-2 The Bible says then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. I mention this verse to demonstrate as followers of Jesus Christ we shouldn’t be surprised when we enter into long periods of temptation, but what is significant to see is that Jesus was in the wilderness by himself and while he may have been God in the flesh he was alone and hungry. Many of us can testify that during our trials and temptations we often feel alone as well. Application: The question we must ask ourselves is when we are face to face to with the Goliath of our sins, the relentless Philistine in our own lives, how will we respond? Will we be like the Israelites who stood paralyzed at the sight of Goliath? Or when faced with the sins in our life will we again be like the Israelites and harden our hearts and wander in the wilderness for 40 years? Or will we hide the word of God in our hearts as were told to do and respond to the temptations and trials in our lives just as Jesus did with the word of God? Will our trials and tribulations last 40 days or 40 years I do not know. But what we do know is that God delivers His people. Just like David was raised up to slay the Philistine, our advocate and our champion Jesus Christ was raised up to deliver us as well. We now pick the story up in verse 23; David has been sent out by his father Jesse to deliver food to the front lines of the battle ground as well as to check on the well-being of his three older brothers who are fighting in King Saul’s army. Follow along with me beginning in verse 23.
- 23 As he talked with them (that is David), behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up (remember he was presenting himself) out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him.
- 24 All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid.
- 25 And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel.”
- 26 And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
- 26 And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
- Main Point: David’s Indignation. Again, the Bible tells us that David was a man after God’s own heart and the text that we just read testifies to that. When no one else would come forth on behalf of God, David did. When the Philistine brought railing accusations against the God of Israel and His people David had a righteous anger, a Biblical anger, that came forth. And David said, “who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?” I want you to notice something else in the text. David doesn’t name Goliath, he doesn’t name this 9-foot-tall giant everyone can see, he simply refers to him as this “uncircumcised Philistine”, David won’t even mention him by name making the giant seem smaller than he really is. We also see David’s immediate response is to challenge this giant who would dare to defy the God of Israel. What is important to understand is that twice a day morning and evening the Philistine would come forth and taunt the armies of the living God; think about this -80 times this Philistine taunted the armies of the living God. I believe what ultimately offended David is that in Goliath’s taunt he says that there is no God in Israel to deliver you from the hand of Philistines. And David could testify that God on many occasions had protected him and the nation of Israel from harm. Where else in Scripture do we see a righteous anger that comes forth when God is mocked? We can see in John chapter 2 when Jesus makes a whip of cords and drives out the money changers in the temple because they were stealing from God in His own house. This would be like me taking money out of the offering plate as it went by. But, going back to 1st Samuel 17, how does God respond when insults are hurled at Him? Can we say that God was patient and gave the Philistines 40 days to repent and walk away? Or did he give Israel 40 days to act? Application The question we must ask ourselves is how do we respond when people come against the God we love and serve? How do we respond when insults are hurled at Him? Are we people of action? Look, we live in a culture that at every turn seeks to defy God and everything that He has created. Whether it’s through a T.V. show in which God’s name is viciously mocked or some new law that seeks to redefine marriage or gender. And consider the sphere of influence God had given you, whether it is at work or among your friends. How do you respond when someone comes against the God you and I serve? Do you turn a blind eye to them, or do you speak on these things as an ambassador of Christ? Do we come forward for God as David and Christ did? And when we do come forward the same thing can be said about us that was said about David, we are after God’s own heart. Now let’s move on to verse 28 and that brings me to my second point.
- Second Point
- 28 Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.”
- 29 And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?” 30 And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before.
- One thing to remember from earlier is that David’s three oldest brothers are present for this battle. Eliab, the oldest brother, attempts to embarrass David and question his motives. The question becomes why is there so much hatred and strife from David’s older brother? Is it simply sibling rivalry, which having a younger brother I can relate to that. Or is there something else going on? In 1st Samuel 15 and 16 we are told of King Saul’s disobedience to God’s commands. Saul is rejected by God and his replacement as the future king of Israel is David. David was selected by God over his seven older brothers who stood by after being rejected and watched the prophet Samuel anoint him with oil. I want you to consider how all of his brothers would have felt at that moment, especially the oldest brother Eliab, who deep down was jealous of his youngest brother and wanted to do nothing more than oppose him. This did not stop David from serving the God he loved. And the application can be made to us that when people close to us want to stand in our way of serving God that it shouldn’t stop us when we have a clear-cut call from God to be obedient to Him. Jesus himself experienced opposition from his own family, even after his own brothers saw him perform miracles they still doubted who he was. Yet in spite of all that Jesus continued on. Let’s now move on to verse 31.
- 31 When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. 32 And David said to Saul, “Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”
- 33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.”
- 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock,
- 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him.
- 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him.
- 37 And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”
- 38 Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail,
- 39 and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off.
- 40 Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.
- Consider for a moment the look on everyone’s face and what they were thinking when David would have approached this 9-foot-tall Philistine with no armor and just a shepherd’s hook, a sling and some rocks. Now does the phrase “he brought a knife to a gun fight” come to mind? Truly, this was one of David’s first acts of stepping out in faith for God. Clearly his confidence was given to him supernaturally because from a worldly perspective Goliath is going to be the victor. What would have been going through David’s mind at the time? He had no armor and those around him had abandoned him, it was just David and his God. But you see this situation wasn’t uncommon for David at all. Remember David is a shepherd and many times as David has told us he would go and retrieve a lamb that had been taken by a lion or a bear and in those moments, David would have been out in the open hill country exposed to any and all attacks. But again, it was just David and his God. Parallel to Christ We can see this parallel in the Gospel accounts of the Lord Jesus Christ. On the night of the Lords betrayal and arrest when he was in the garden of Gethsemane praying to his Father while his disciples slept it was just Jesus and his Father, moments later when they came to arrest him, and his disciples fled it was just Jesus and his Father just as it was David and his God. Consider the long walk Jesus had to Calvary’s hillside when it was just Jesus and his Father. While David chose 5 smooth stones to defeat Goliath, Jesus chose a rugged wooden cross to slay the Goliath of our sins. On the outside looking in everyone would have thought that David was defeated just as those who stood around the cross on Calvary’s hillside would have thought that Jesus was defeated as well. What is the application that is to be made to us out of these two circumstances? From both Jesus and David, we see a complete dependence upon God in the most trying times in their lives. When we stand in crowd full of people, yet we feel alone, but God is there. Now we will move on to verse 48.
- 48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.
- 49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.
- 50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David.
- 51 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 Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.
- Just as David struck Goliath with the stone and cut off his head, so has Jesus struck the head of the enemy of our souls. That is the one who originally defied the God of Israel and that is Satan. This fatal blow to the adversary came at Calvary but was promised by God long ago. In Genesis 3:15 God says, and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; HE shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel. Now the enemy of our souls may not be decapitated but his days are surely numbered and if you want to read what happens to Satan read the book of Revelation. Now I know many people are intimidated by reading the book of Revelation. But I want you to understand that Revelation is a book of victory. I want us to see the parallel between Jesus and David. David was an advocate for God’s chosen people when Goliath brought accusations against the God of Israel and His people. In closing, because Jesus slayed the Goliath of our sins He sits at the right hand of the Father. Just as David was Israel’s advocate, Christ is our advocate and makes intercession for us when Satan brings accusations against us when we give into those sins that taunt us and haunt us. We all have those 9ft tall sins in our lives that come so natural to us. These are the sins we seek so desperately to escape. Are they coming to your mind right now? Those 9ft. tall sins in my life come to mind right away, those sins that haunt me from my old life before I came to Christ, those sins the adversary doesn’t want me to forget. But we have a Champion who is the victor over sin and death. Because we have a Champion and advocate we can boldly approach the throne of grace and asked to be delivered from those sins that enslave us. Because we have a Champion we can be bold in our witness and stand out and step up for God when people hurl insults at Him and brings accusations against Him. Because we have a Champion we can step out in faith as David did when no one else would. Because we have a Champion when we experience opposition from those around us who prevent us from serving God we can be confident that our Champion will make a way for us. Lastly, other world religions claim to have their “champion” as well. But, when no one else would step forward and slay the Goliath of our sins, Jesus did and because of that we can be confident he is the only path to salvation. Would you close with me in prayer please?
- Closing Prayer: Father we thank you that there is only one name under heaven by which we can be saved. It is through the name of Jesus that we may come to you when the sins in our life overwhelm us and close in on us, knowing confidently that when we ask in the name of Christ we may be delivered from our sins into the freedom that is found in Christ alone. Father maybe there is someone here today who has never made Jesus their champion. It is my prayer; it is this church’s prayer that they would abandon all self-efforts to save themselves. Because it is by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ that we can be washed of our sins and reconciled to you and receive the free gift of eternal life. AMEN