Goliaths in Your Life

1 Samuel 17:1-11

Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Socoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah. Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them.

A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall. He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels; on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him.

Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified. –1 Samuel 17:1-11

The Definition of Irony

1 Samuel 16:14-23

Today we come to the third message in our series about David: “Walking Through and Stepping Up.” God has rejected Saul as king, telling him through Samuel that he would be replaced by “a man after God’s own heart.” Last Sunday John walked us through the story of David being anointed by Samuel, who was directed by God to choose him from among all of his older and perhaps more eligible brothers. He may not have been an obvious choice, but God was “looking on his heart” and seeing his potential. Did David know what was going on? We don’t actually know. Samuel anoints him in the presence of his family, but there is no record of what he said as he was doing it – if anything! But it’s clear that everyone knew that something special was going on. Indeed it says that from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. He was a changed person. He must have had some sense that God had something important in store for him, despite his humble beginnings. His world was beginning to open up, and he was headed somewhere special. But where?

He Looks at the Heart

I Samuel 16:1-13

Good morning!  Last week, we took a look back at the events in first 15 chapters of I Samuel.  Today, we will start freshly in I Samuel 16.  The time is 1000 BC, or one thousand years before Jesus.  It is a time of uncertainty and difficulty in the land of Israel.  The nation is surrounded by hostile neighbors most notably the Philistines.  To make matters even worse, the current king of Israel is a fearful, impetuous, contradictory, and dangerous individual.  His refusal to follow God’s direction has led to God’s rejection of him as king.

Saul is this king.  He is the very first king of Israel.  Before that, the nation was governed by a succession of judges.  The very last judge was Samuel.  Samuel ministered before the Lord at the temple as a priest.  Samuel is a prophet of God, and He had been the leader of the nation.  But, the people of Israel wanted to have a king.  They wanted to be like the other nations around them.  Samuel was displeased and saddened at the people’s choice, but God told Samuel to give the people what they were asking for. (I Samuel 8) And so, Samuel was directed by God to anoint Saul as king.

Saul was 30 years old when he became king (I Samuel 13:1).  He will go on to reign for 42 years.  At this point, he has been king for about 25 years.  And, as we will see over the coming weeks, Saul will still be on the throne for quite some time.  God doesn’t do things hastily.  Even now, in spite of Saul’s disobedience, God does not take the kingdom away from Saul instantly.  But, “… the LORD has sought out a man after His own heart and appointed him ruler of His people, because [Saul had] not kept the LORD's command." I Samuel 13:14

And now, it is the time that God identifies the one after His own heart.

Walking Through and Stepping Up: Introduction

Welcome! Today we begin a new series primarily focusing on the life of David from his anointing until his ascension as king. In many respects, this series is a continuation of an earlier series we did on the first half of the book of I Samuel entitled Prophet and King, where the prophet in that series was Samuel, and the king was Saul. If the Lord wills, we will have a third series (who doesn’t love a trilogy?) that looks at the events of David’s reign as king. In typical fashion for me, I am already looking forward to the third series.