You Aren’t David
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You can’t be the hero of your story
You can’t be the hero of your story
Christ Be Magnified
Good Morning Church my name is Zach Klundt, I am the associate pastor here at Freshwater church.
It is so awesome to be here with you today.
Thank you worship team for leading us this morning—
I love that song so much “Christ be Magnified”
That is my prayer this morning that Christ be magnified in all that we do.
That is the work of Jesus not my work or anyone else’s work— that no matter what— it is Christ.
This morning we are going to not be in Acts.
I was asked to speak on Tuesday afternoon as many of you know that Robert is getting treatment again for his heart— the first medication he was on was not work well enough, so they have decided to put him on a stronger medication.
So he will be at the hospital for 3 days— he started treatment yesterday.
I spoke to him and he is doing well and taking well to the drug— continue to keep him and his family in your prayers.
Today we are going to shift gears and look at a story that is very familiar to us.
Probably a story many in this room could retell without even looking at our Bible.
It is the story of David and Goliath.
a story that is used every time an opponent is grossly outmatched.
It is a David vs Goliath story.
But as we read this story this morning I would challenge us to look at this story with fresh eyes.
In a way that maybe we haven’t yet.
If you will please turn with me to 1 Samuel 17.
Will you pray with me this morning.
Lord as we come to you toady Lord we pray that your name is magnified.
Holy Spirit I pray that you use me as your vessel to speak your truth this morning.
I pray for hearts to be softened, that these words fall on fertile ground.
Lord stir up hearts for you this morning!
I pray that we can find confidence in the one who goes before us.
Lord begin to bring conviction of sin in our lives, begin to reveal areas in our lives that need more of you and less of us.
We love you and we praise you
Amen.
ME
Me: Have you ever thought that you could solve an issue that was beyond you?
Like let’s say you offer to fix your car but you are not a car person.
So my van is having all sorts of problems— and to me— it is making a noise in the back that’s fine— you know how to fix that just turn the radio up.
When the sound was still loud even with the radio— I got under the car to see what was wrong and I noticed this metal sticking down from the car.
Now at some point this was screwed in but now it isn’t and it is causing the whole van to rattle.
Easy fix— duct tape is perfect for this situation.
Should we ever use duct tape on a car— well the guy at the shop told me nope but did I anyway. absolutely.
Why you may ask because I was fixing my problems.
I want to figure out the answer myself.
Anybody else relate to this?
Like if I ask for help I feel weak.
If I ask for help then I feel stupid.
I know nothing about cars but yet, as a man aren’t I suppose too?
So instead of having someone else do it— I’ll go on youtube watch videos for a week and then try it and fail— watch more videos until finally I take it in a month later because I give up and have spent a ton of money and the van still isn’t fixed.
I want to fix my problems!
I want to fix my kids problems and my wives.
I want to fix our youth problems, our church problems.
I want to fix it all.
I’m a fixer by nature.
Can you relate to this?
But what happens when my problems are too big for me to solve.
I make way for an expert eventually.
It doesn’t mean that I should try but it also means that I have to know when I am out of my depth.
What happens when your problems are too big for you to solve?
WE:
We: Not only do we do this with DIY projects or car maintenance stuff but we also do this with person stuff.
We try to figure our stuff out.
We try not to let others know that you have issues.
Our social media is not filled with the crying photos or the photo where we have failed again to show love, where we flew off the handle at our kids—
No they are filled with the nice family photos, the ones that make us seem like we have it all together.
and if we do see someone who is being authentic online we go— man they are just trying to get attention.
They need to get their life figured out, they need Jesus y’all
For some reason vulnerability is still viewed as weakness.
So naturally we think, I have to figure this out.
I have my issues and I have to figure it out.
Maybe there is a sin in your life like, lying, cheating, disrespecting your parents, being prideful, putting God in second place to everything else, indulging in porn, premarital sex, maybe not having sex but doing everything except sex, drinking, drugs, same sex attraction, greed, idolatry, lust, selfish ambitions, dissension.
We are all sinful.
Don’t be misguided— we all have giants in our lives that weigh us down.
We say often in church that we are all sinners and that we sin daily— all of which is true— but are we also seeking freedom from those sins?
Or are we just trying to figure it out on our own?
So when we are in the mist of temptation or sin— and we have tried to figure it out.
We know that there is a problem.
I would hope that if you are a believer that you know those sins that have just been an anchor in your life.
You hate it but you keep going back to it.
We keep doing what we don’t want to do and in the process we keep repeating the same thing over and over again.
The writer Paul said something about in Romans 7:15
15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.
So when this happens to us what do we do?
Do you just keep our heads down and try to figure it out no matter what?
What happens when we meet an immovable foe?
When we have come against a temptation or a sin that has had its teeth sunk into us for years.
I don’t know about you but wouldn’t it incredible to bury those giants?
Wouldn’t it be amazing if we had stories that we could tell of how we overcame sin in our lives.
In order to get there.
I think the first thing we should do is to acknowledge that we are up against a foe we alone can’t beat.
Because we keep doing what we don’t want to do.
We have to acknowledge that we have a sin issue, we have a problem and we are powerless to do anything about it.
This morning as we look at 1 Samuel 17, the story of David and Goliath— we see a nation that was held powerless against a giant.
We see God’s people having fear over a foe that seemed to be immoveable.
Isreal needed someone to go before them.
And in our lives we also need someone to go before us.
We are not the hero of our stories.
So who is and where does that leave us?
I have good news for you today.
Main Idea:
In our state of helplessness Jesus goes before us.
GOD:
Let us turn to the word of God for clarity.
Lets turn to 1 Sam 17:1-11
The Philistines gathered their forces for war at Socoh in Judah and camped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim. Saul and the men of Israel gathered and camped in the Valley of Elah; then they lined up in battle formation to face the Philistines.
The Philistines were standing on one hill, and the Israelites were standing on another hill with a ravine between them. Then a champion named Goliath, from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was nine feet, nine inches tall and wore a bronze helmet and bronze scale armor that weighed one hundred twenty-five pounds. There was bronze armor on his shins, and a bronze javelin was slung between his shoulders. His spear shaft was like a weaver’s beam, and the iron point of his spear weighed fifteen pounds. In addition, a shield-bearer was walking in front of him.
He stood and shouted to the Israelite battle formations, “Why do you come out to line up in battle formation?” He asked them, “Am I not a Philistine and are you not servants of Saul? Choose one of your men and have him come down against me. If he wins in a fight against me and kills me, we will be your servants. But if I win against him and kill him, then you will be our servants and serve us.” Then the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel today. Send me a man so we can fight each other!” When Saul and all Israel heard these words from the Philistine, they lost their courage and were terrified.
The men of Isreal, God’s chosen nation where drawing up the battle-lines.
The men of Isreal had defeated many foes under King Saul’s reign and today should be no different.
If you can picture it the two sides where both on the side of a mountain, with a valley between them.
It was common in the day for them to size up the opponent and even maybe throw some insults at each other.
But on this day, something was different the Philistines sent out someone that the Israelites had never seen before.
This foe was a giant—9ft 9in.
Average guy was 5’10
This guy was crazy strong, his muscles had muscles.
Goliath was built up, training up to destroy anything in his path, and that included the Israelites.
Not only was this guy huge and ripped out of his mind, which is my goal as well, but he was armed from head to toe.
He wore roughly 125 lbs of armor.
Which many can’t even bench press he is wearing it on his body!
His spear which was about 26 feet high and the head of that spear weight about 17 lbs of iron.
oh and he had a sword.
THIS MAN WAS MADE TO DESTROY HIS ENEMY.
He came out, and he looked at that army across the valley and he shouted:
Send someone to fight me, and if you win then we will be your slaves but if, who are we kidding, when I win you will be our slaves.
They heard him shout insults towards them.
you cowards come and face me!
I defy you and your God
When we win we will show you whose god is real
You are loser
You failures
You godless nation
Over and over again for 40 days
There were no takers.... Silence fell over the mountain.
No body else has signed up for this.
King Saul even made a prize for the one to defeat Goliath.
They would be very rich, get his daughter for marriage, and the family wouldn’t pay taxes anymore.
That is a good deal— guess what--- no one took it.
They were all scared.
He was intimidating, he struck fear into the hearts of the Israelites.
All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid.
They ran away.
One man, one human, one giant made hundreds, thousands of people become greatly dismayed and fearful.
Much like Isreal we also have Goliath’s in our lives.
We all have giants in our lives.
Maybe you have a giant called rejection— people are only going to love me as long as I continue to give them what they want.
Maybe you have a giant called comfort— nothing is wrong with resting but there is an issue when comfort prevents us from doing what God has called us to do.
Maybe you have a giant called fear— fear of failure, fear of being alone.
Maybe you have a giant in an addiction— porn, drinking, drugs, shopping, binge eating, our phones.
Maybe your giant is anger— We can’t keep a lid on our temper, We jump to anger as a reflex for no good reason.
Today you may have a giant in your life that waits for you each morning, afternoon or evening— just begging you to come up against them—
It is yelling insults at you— challenging you to do something about it.
You want to but each time you go to fight it— the giant always wins.
Which leaves you broken, powerless, weak, and defeated.
This is exactly how the army of Isreal felt when they came face to face with Goliath.
Broken, powerless, weak and defeated.
It is easy to get into this place.
But God doesn’t want us to live in this place.
For the Israelites God sent a hero— a rescuer.
So David got up early in the morning, left the flock with someone to keep it, loaded up, and set out as Jesse had charged him.
He arrived at the perimeter of the camp as the army was marching out to its battle formation shouting their battle cry. Israel and the Philistines lined up in battle formation facing each other. David left his supplies in the care of the quartermaster and ran to the battle line. When he arrived, he asked his brothers how they were. While he was speaking with them, suddenly the champion named Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, came forward from the Philistine battle line and shouted his usual words, which David heard. When all the Israelite men saw Goliath, they retreated from him terrified.
So now we enter David, the son of Jesse.
The boy who would one day be King— you can read about that in the chapter pervious.
But David was not at the battle but his brothers were and he was bring food and supplies to them.
He was not old enough so probably younger then 20 years old.
And he arrived right as Goliath was coming out to shout his insults.
And notice how the men of Israel reacted— They fled from him and were much afraid.
Now David was a shepherd but this young man was also very strong.
But what was noticeably different about David is that he knew the power of God.
And He trusted in Him fully.
So He says to the King that he is willing to fight Goliath.
So David goes to King Saul and says I will do it.
David said to Saul, “Don’t let anyone be discouraged by him; your servant will go and fight this Philistine!”
I will face Goliath.
Saul is like— you are just a youth— no way that going to be on my head—
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, 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. 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.”
David states— I’ve killed bears and lions and I will strike down this guy who has defied the army’s of God— that’s right plural bears and lions!
He killed a bear and a lion with his bear hands.
I have never done that and I have been to the zoo and I watch the discovery channel— I know that when I come face to face with a bear or a lion— My only hope is that I am with someone who is slower then me.
David had 100% confidence that God was going to see him through this.
Whatever or whoever this Goliath is David knew that God was bigger.
And Saul was like— well I got no body else— Go for it but take my adult armor--
It is the best money can buy!
Yet, It doesn’t fit.
David goes out without any armor.
So David prepares for battle and let us continue to read.
Instead, he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the wadi and put them in the pouch, in his shepherd’s bag. Then, with his sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.
The Philistine came closer and closer to David, with the shield-bearer in front of him. When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him because he was just a youth, healthy and handsome. He said to David, “Am I a dog that you come against me with sticks?” Then he cursed David by his gods. “Come here,” the Philistine called to David, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts!”
David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with a sword, spear, and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of Armies, the God of the ranks of Israel—you have defied him. Today, the Lord will hand you over to me. Today, I’ll strike you down, remove your head, and give the corpses of the Philistine camp to the birds of the sky and the wild creatures of the earth. Then all the world will know that Israel has a God, and this whole assembly will know that it is not by sword or by spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord’s. He will hand you over to us.”
When the Philistine started forward to attack him, David ran quickly to the battle line to meet the Philistine. David put his hand in the bag, took out a stone, slung it, and hit the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown to the ground. David defeated the Philistine with a sling and a stone. David overpowered the Philistine and killed him without having a sword. David ran and stood over him. He grabbed the Philistine’s sword, pulled it from its sheath, and used it to kill him. Then he cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they fled. The men of Israel and Judah rallied, shouting their battle cry, and chased the Philistines to the entrance of the valley and to the gates of Ekron. Philistine bodies were strewn all along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.
David slayed Goliath.
David stepped in and defeated this giant.
David knows who he fights for and who fights for him.
David trust in the Lord to defeat this giant in front of him.
And he runs towards the battle line and he grabs one of those stones and he put it into his sling and let’s it fly.
Funny thing about an ancient slingshot.
Those who can get accurate with one of these can send a stone flying at about 100-120 mph.
So as David let’s this stone fly and it find its target on Goliath’s forehead it crushes his frontal skull.
One shot— and Goliath falls— to only then have David come on him— with that final killing blow and then David did what he said he would do, he cut off his head and held it up for all to see.
David defeated this giant and it sent the Philistine army running!
The Giant was defeated!
YOU:
David was victorious over this giant, this Goliath in his life.
I think when you and I hear this story we immediately identify as David.
That we can overcome any obstacle.
And there is some truth to that, but when we focus on our own abilities we put us at the center of the story.
And I am sure that you have all heard that if you were to just try harder you could beat the giants’ in your life as well.
I am sure that you have heard you can take on the world!
Don’t let your giants rule your life!
And you go to get convicted by the sin in our life.
You we hear this story and come to the alter, you get on your knees, You make promises.
And you get fired up!
You makes promises to fight harder, be better, fight not sin as much.
And things change for a week or two and then you fall back into the same place you just promised yourself you wouldn’t be.
That giant you thought you took out, is back and it is taunting you— insulting you.
You are scared, mad, upset, frustrated, you feel hopeless.
Do you know why it’s not working?
Do you want to know why your giant is still at those battle-lines harassing you, and is this immovable object.
Because we are going at it alone.
As in we have all the control.
We try to figure our sin on our own.
Let me tell you something that is freeing today, do you want to be free from your giants?
Listen carefully:
When Isreal was scared and were fleeing from Goliath— David stepped in to rescue them.
When the their giant seemed unmoveable— David stepped in.
David stepped in and he defeated the giant.
For far to long you keep thinking that you are David— you’re not.
WE ARE NOT DAVID, JESUS IS DAVID
WE ARE NOT DAVID, JESUS IS DAVID
Let me say that again:
We are not David, Jesus is David.
By making us David that puts us as the center-focus.
Jesus is David,
Jesus is the giant killer.
Meaning that the giant that is recking havoc in your life—
Jesus already defeated that giant.
Meaning that you can go to that giant in your life and confidently say—
You have already been defeated by the blood of Jesus— you have no power or control over me.
Jesus took that giants and pegged it to the cross.
Once and for all.
We know how the story ends— Jesus win.
And many of us have forgotten this simple truth when the giants come out to play.
We have forgotten that Jesus wins.
He already defeated that giant—give it over to him and trust Him with your whole soul!
Shout to those giants—
You do not own me, because I am a child of God!
I hope that this is freeing for you:
You are not David
I am not David
Jesus is David.
Jesus is the one who fights our battles for you.
He is the one who stares down the enemy and he takes up the sling and the stones and he fights for you.
You are not the hero— You are in the army retreating from the front line.
Jesus is the hero.
You might be here this morning and you may need to make Jesus Lord of your life.
That you have giants in your life that are just wrecking you—and you feel like you have no hope.
Jesus is your hope.
He went to the cross for you to die in your place.
The cost of sin is great, but his love for you was greater.
Jesus lived, and died, and rose again— defeating death once and for all.
So that we can live in confidence of our savior.
Maybe this morning you just need to begin to have a relationship with Christ.
So then when we believers come up against the enemy,
WHEN WE ARE fleeing from the giant, who to us is immovable,
When we are shaking in our boots:
Jesus is taking aim, and he fires the stones for you.
The giant falls because of the work of Jesus.
Not my work or your work, but the work of Christ.
WE:
Are we to participate with Jesus sure, we are!
We are to fight against our sin.
We are called to follow his leadership and align ourselves with the direction he’s going.
We are going to struggle but far to often you know what get our attention?
Its the giant that is in our life and not the giant killer Jesus.
But if we only focus on the giants we will believe that we can handle our junk,
Handle our sins,
Our dirty secrets,
Our private sins,
We keep everything hush hush,
That we will just overcome it
We will pull ourselves up by our bootstraps—
That will all lead to destruction— and isolation.
Doing it on your own will fail over and over again.
God did not want victory to come to David because he was the best man for the job, or that he had the best armor, or was outfitted with the best sword.
God wanted victory to come simply because one young man trusted him when no one else did.
Many of us are here today have been fighting the same sin over and over again— we don’t have freedom from it because we keep going at it on our own.
That is what the enemy wants.
You can begin to taste freedom today by giving that over to the Lord and trusting that he will fight for you.
Some of you are sitting here today thinking, it can’t be that simple.
Rest assured it can be.
I was deeply addicted to porn for years, I thought I would never ever get out of the rut.
I always would try or I would be really convicted at church and I would for awhile.
It was not until I took my focus off the giant and turned my focus to Christ did everything start to change.
I began to see those sins I struggled with for years lose their control on me.
I needed to trust that Jesus would go to battle for me, that Christ was fighting my battles.
I needed to focus on God first
Maybe that is what you need to do today.
It honestly begins with us turning to the Lord fully.
To have faith that God will do what he has promised.
This morning I challenge you to surrender not to your giants, but to Jesus.
To give your giants over to the giant slayer— Give it over to King Jesus.
Take you eyes of the giants and put them on Christ.
Whatever giant your battling it might be big— but it’s not bigger than Jesus.
Trust Him and lean into Him to fight your battles.
Jesus is bigger and Jesus is better.
Let’s Pray
Prayer:
That when the enemy comes against us that we look to you.
That we do not sink back into our former ways but that we stand firm in your truth
Father thank you for your son Jesus who came and lived a life of perfection so he could be our sacrifice on the cross.
We thank you that we have a better and more perfect David.
Lord as we begin to surrender our giants up to you I pray that we can shift our focus to you and not to things that weight as down.
Holy Spirit fill us up with your presence.
Help us to stand firm and to live in freedom for our giants today.
Lord we Love you and we ask all of these things in your name amen.
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