Announcer (00:00:00): It is time to think about the Bible like you never have before. This is Christian Questions. After this episode, go to ChristianQuestions.com to check out other episodes, Bible study resources, videos, download the CQ app and more. Today's topic is, What Can David, a Battlefront, and Cheese Teach Us? Coming up in this episode, the account of David defeating Goliath in a one-on-one battle is one of the epic moments of Biblical history. What we don't normally think about is why did such a young, inexperienced kid end up facing the fiercest of all warriors? How did he get there? And what can we learn? Here's Rick, Jonathan, and special guest Matt Kerry.

Rick (00:00:42): Welcome everyone. I'm Rick. I'm joined by Jonathan, my co-host for over 20 years. Jonathan, what's our theme scripture for today's episode?

Jonathan (00:00:51): 1 Samuel 17:17-18 from the New Living Translation. "One day, Jesse said to David, Take this basket of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread, and carry them quickly to your brothers. And give these ten cuts of cheese to their captain. See how your brothers are getting along and bring back a report on how they are doing."

Rick (00:01:13): It's not often that those who are young adults rise up to be the heroes of the day. Usually, they're in the figuring- life-out stage. But occasionally there comes a young adult, or even sometimes a kid, who is living far beyond that perplexity. David, who would later become known as a man after God's own heart, was such a young man. This designation of being a man after God's own heart would be made apparent when he visited the battlefront to bring food to his brothers and ended up defeating Goliath. Now, the story of his battle with Goliath is well-known, but the events leading up to the battle, well, they deserve our attention. Focusing on what David already believed and thought and what he said and did as a result, will reveal five points to a stronger Christian life for us. So why not learn how to be more focused on God's will from a man after God's own heart, even if he was just a kid at the time? To help us walk through this amazing story and lessons, we have a very, very special guest with us. Matt Kerry is with us. Matt, welcome to Christian Questions.

Matt (00:02:20): Good evening, and thanks for having me. I am really excited to be here, and I think this is going to be a really exciting topic for us to talk about.

Rick (00:02:28): So, Matt, just tell us a little bit about yourself. Who are you? Just a just a little bit of background and then let's get started.

Matt (00:02:35): Oh, great. I am a very happy husband and a very happy father of two wonderful daughters, and I have a great day job, but my real passion in life is dedicated to the service of the Lord. I am what I would consider to be a truth-seeker. I'm studying the scriptures as diligently as I can in order to find all the gems that God has hidden for us in the scriptures. And so I've been studying for about 25 years. I'm an elder in my local church. I speak at various Bible conventions throughout the year, and I also prepare some different Bible study videos on a variety of topics online.

Rick (00:03:14): All right. You're a busy man.

Matt (00:03:15): I try to be. It's fun.

New Speaker (00:03:17): That's good. That's good. So, Matt, we're really, really thrilled to have you here. Let's dive into the backstory of David being prepared to meet with Goliath. Okay, so Jonathan, we're going to go through a couple of scriptures. We're going to start with 1 Samuel 17:17-18. And in this scripture, Jesse, who is David's father, is going to give David a very specific job to do.

Jonathan (00:03:41): "One day, Jesse said to David, Take this basket of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread and carry them quickly to your brothers. And give these ten cuts of cheese to their captain. See how your brothers are getting along and bring back a report on how they are doing."

Rick (00:03:56): Right, so it's a very straightforward, here, take this food to your brothers. Give some cheese to their captain. I want to know how your three oldest brothers are doing. So David goes to work according to his father's request. No questions, no doubts. He just goes to work, and he delivers this care package to his brothers. Let's look at 1 Samuel 17:20, 22-23:

Jonathan (00:04:18): "So David arose early in the morning and left the flock with a keeper and took the supplies and went as Jesse had commanded him. Then David left his baggage in the care of the baggage-keeper, and ran to the battle line and entered in order to greet his brothers. As he was talking with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine from Gath named Goliath, was coming up from the army of the Philistines, and he spoke; and those words are those previous challenges he gave, and David heard them."

Rick (00:04:50): Okay, so it says he spoke and he said the words of whatever the previous challenge were. So Matt, what is it that Goliath is saying? How's he saying it?

Matt (00:04:59): Goliath is a big audacious character, and it says he stood and he cried to the armies of Israel and said to them, "Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? Am I not a Philistine? And you servants to Saul? Why don't you choose a man to come down and fight me? And if he fights me and he wins, then we will be your servants, but if I win, you will be our servants." And so right there, I think that the nation of Israel is saying, we have that experience in Egypt. I'm not sure that we are for having that again. But he really tips the scales when he says, "I defy the armies of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight together." And so I think that was the tipping point for David when he said, "I defy the armies of the living God."

Jonathan (00:05:55): And the Hebrew word defy means "to defame." So Goliath was slandering God Almighty here.

Rick (00:06:02): And Goliath is not a little man. Goliath is about, what? About 9 nine feet tall, right? I mean, he's a giant of giants, okay? So he's an imposing figure. So David seems to have a very instinctive response to this dilemma. And this dilemma, incidentally, has been going on for 40 days. Goliath's been doing this again and again and again for 40 days. So, Matt, David's response, what is it?

Matt (00:06:27): David's response is, we can win this battle. David's response is, somebody needs to take this down. So, there's this interaction in verse 26 where it says that David spoke to the men who were standing by him, and he says, what will be done to the person who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? And Saul had given a laundry list of rewards for anyone who defeats this person. And so David is sitting there, and this is a total miscommunication. David is saying to the people around him, Hey, why don't you go fight him? No? Okay, well, why don't you go fight him? <Laugh> No? Okay, well, how come you don't give it a shot? And David's brother actually chides him and says, you know, kid, you need to slow down. I know that you just want to see a fight. I know you want to see a battle. Maybe you want to see somebody get seriously injured. Maybe that's fun for you, but this is the real deal. And that's not what David is thinking. David trusts completely in the power of God. And so he's asking genuine questions. Why are none of you taking God up on His offer, on His promises to deliver us this battle?

Rick (00:07:42): So he's got this instinctive response, and he's not being understood. And Jonathan, actually, let's read that verse that Matt had referenced. 1 Samuel 17:26:

Jonathan (00:07:51): "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?"

Rick (00:08:08): And so David's response, Matt, here is like, wait, he's taunting the armies of the living God. And like you started to allude to it, David, he looks like he's causing friction here in the battlefront.

Matt (00:08:21): That's absolutely what it sounds like. And to David, David is probably thinking to himself, why is this causing friction? Why is this upsetting everyone? God has given us these promises. I fully believe in them. I think if one of you decides to go up and fight, that you are going to win. And so when they all kind of cower to the opportunity, that's where David, I think, feels compelled to essentially take up the responsibility and say, I'm going to do it.

Rick (00:08:54): Okay. He's a kid, they're warriors. I'm going to do it. <Laugh> And what this does, this actually brings us to the first of our five points to a stronger Christian life. So, Jonathan, what's this first of these five points?

Jonathan (00:09:08): David lived in the power of God by trusting in the previous promises of God.

Matt (00:09:14): And when I hear not only the key takeaway, right, what I'm thinking is, if you put yourself in the shoes of David, I think the most impressive thing here is that when you look at all the stories of the Bible, there are times that God came in and said, I want you to do this for me. And then people would do them, and then it would work out. This is not one of those times. God did not ask David to volunteer. He did not give him any forewarning, nothing in writing. David was leaning on things that had happened a long time ago. And when this opportunity presented itself, he said, I have faith. I think this is exactly what God wants me to do.

Rick (00:09:56): And that's an amazing thing.

Matt (00:09:58): It's very impressive.

Rick (00:09:59): It is. For essentially a child, a teenager, to have that sense about himself. And, Jonathan, as you said, that first point, living, trusting in the previous promises of God. So let's just look at a little bit of that, because this is where David's mind was going. God's past promises to and protection of Israel, they were plain. They were plain to all of Israel. They all knew about it. Let's just look at one piece. Leviticus 26:3,6-8:

Jonathan (00:10:29): "If you walk in my statutes and keep my commandments so as to carry them out, I shall also grant peace in the land, so that you may lie down with no one making you tremble. I shall also eliminate harmful beasts from the land, and no sword will pass through your land. But you will chase your enemies, and they will fall before you by the sword; five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword."

Matt (00:11:00): I mean, listen to that. Five of you will chase a hundred. Can you imagine seeing five people chasing away a hundred? But we actually see evidences of this. When Joshua leads the Israelites into Jericho, and the two spies come in the city, Rahab says, and it's so interesting, Rahab says, we've heard of the victories that you have, and she named some of the victories that were somewhat recent. But one of the things that she mentioned is the parting of the Red Sea. And remember that they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. So that's how long ago these things happened. And Rahab heard these stories, and she believed them. She had faith in God, even though she was not a Jew, because she's heard of the victories that God's given the Israelites. So when it says this, literally this has happened before. And so what a wonderful promise. And that's absolutely what David was leaning on.

Rick (00:11:57): And that gives us a real strong sense of a young, young, young man with great, great, great faith and clarity. So let's look at us. What did God tell us and require of us long ago when the gospel message was formed? Jonathan, we have two scriptures. Let's start with John 15:12:

Jonathan (00:12:15): "This is my commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you." And Romans 12:1: "Therefore, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship."

Matt (00:12:32): And these are two of my personal favorite scriptures. The commandment; not the suggestion, not the request, the commandment that you love one another. And so we have essentially an army of brethren in this day and age, but we fight a different battle. And the battle is not a physical one versus a literal human giant. The battle is essentially against some of the tendencies of our fallen fleshly natures. And so it starts with "love one another as I have loved you." And then in Romans 12:1, what God is saying to us, what Paul is saying to us here is, lay yourself down. Live with a subtle courage. Live with a humble boldness. Sometimes I think that all of us can treat serving God kind of like a hobby. We turn it on and we turn it off when it's convenient or when we can think about it. There was a quote in a political cartoon 30 or 40 years ago that said, the problem with a living sacrifice is it keeps trying to crawl off the altar. <Laugh> And so we need to keep in mind that God's laws that He's given us are for our happiness and for our benefit. And we find that when we humble ourselves, and when we do what He wants us to do, we are so rewarded from it in the long run.

Rick (00:13:55): So the promises that we rely on were given long ago, and yet they are as valid here today as they were then. So very quickly, what types of experiences warrant the encouragement "don't worry, I'll be with you." Let's look at two quick examples. The first is witnessing to the gospel. Jonathan, 2 Timothy 4:2:

Jonathan (00:14:15): "Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season."

Matt (00:14:19): We know that when we preach the word of God, there is a possibility of some negative reactions. So we don't want to provoke others to being insulted. We want to make sure that we do it in the right way, but that doesn't mean that we don't do it. If we see an opportunity to preach the word, we take it.

Rick (00:14:38): So witnessing is important. We needed to act on the opportunity because we've got the promises to help us up, hold us up. Living faithfully in an unfaithful world. Jonathan, Hebrews 10:32-36 is our second example.

Jonathan (00:14:51): "But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly, by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners, and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession, a lasting one. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which is a great reward. For you of need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised."

Matt (00:15:28): It's a pretty far out concept to think that the "good old days" is when you were being persecuted and had your property taken away. But if you think about it, if you really have faith in God's promises and He tells you these things could happen, you just have to remember that you are storing up for yourselves treasures in heaven. And it's not the treasures of the world that need to be right in front of our faces as far as desire goes. So what seems to be painful sometimes in the long run will be the most joyous experiences we could have.

Rick (00:15:59): Amen to that. We just have to remember that during those hard times. <Laugh> Yeah. So let's wrap this piece up. Living a strong and sound Christian life; Jonathan, what do we have so far?

Jonathan (00:16:10): David did not even remotely give into any fear of repercussion while at the battlefront. Even though he stood alone, his faith was sound and courageous. Why? He knew the legacy of God's ways and God's promises. Let us do the same. Let us trust in God for His track record is perfect. Let us trust in His trust in us.

Rick (00:16:36): Let us trust in His trust in us. The Bible is a big book, and it's full of God's plans and purposes coming to fruition. This is a great spiritual confidence builder.

Jonathan (00:16:51): With such a strong history of God's deliverances in place, how do we bring that legacy into our present experiences?

Rick (00:16:59): To begin with, we'll immediately look at the young man, David, and his battlefront experience. We've already seen his faithful reliance on what God had done for Israel, and now we'll see him thoroughly depend upon that history of deliverance continuing. As we unfold David's experience, let's put ourselves in his shoes.

Jonathan (00:17:21): Hey guys, I just have to ask, what about the cheese?

Rick (00:17:25): Oh, cheese is coming, Jonathan, the cheese is coming. <Laugh>. Just be patient. Just be patient. So we're going to take a look at this, putting this into perspective for us, and this will bring us to our second point of our five points to a stronger Christian life. Jonathan, what's the second point?

Jonathan (00:17:42): David knew that it was God who would deliver the next victory.

Matt (00:17:47): That is such an important part of this. The knowledge of how God wins victories for people before is a big takeaway, right? When you read the scriptures and you read how God has delivered victories, David was aware of some of these things, and he had his own personal experiences that we'll touch on later as well. But David knew that God was going to orchestrate the victory. He didn't rely on his own talents. He knew that God was going to take care of it. And I think that that is such a powerful piece of faith.

Rick (00:18:21): And again, I want to stress. every time you talk about this description of David, Matt, it strikes me that he's just a kid and he knows this. He's just a kid and he does this. I'm a lot older than he was <laugh> at that time. And boy, have I got a lot to learn. So let's go back to David's experiences. At the battlefront, King Saul himself sends for this boy David, and asks him to repeat what he's been saying to others. Okay, tell me what's causing all the commotion amongst my army. 1 Samuel 17:32-33:

Jonathan (00:18:57): "David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine. Then Saul said to David, You are not able to go up against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth." And to teach your children more about David, see our CQ Kids video, Who Was David? Parts One and Two.

Rick (00:19:22): So you've got this dramatic conversation between a shepherd boy, who probably smells like sheep, in front of the king of Israel when they're arrayed for battle. And the boy says, I'll fight the guy, I'll fight the guy. And he's saying, no, you can't. Why would this boy who was too young to fight, be so willing to battle this unbeaten warrior? Matt, what's going through his head?

Matt (00:19:48): There's a few things I think going through his head, and one of them is, he had been attacked previously by lions and bears. And again, I don't care how big or strong you think David was, the scripture says he grabbed a bear by the beard and he killed it. Now, think of the biggest, strongest man that you know, and if you're close enough to a bear to grab him by the hair anywhere, I mean, it takes him a nanosecond to paralyze you with his strength. And so what we're being told there is that God orchestrated the victory for David by putting the bear and the lion in a situation where they couldn't fight back. Something happened there, something happened with that animal that left them vulnerable for David to win. So it wasn't about how strong David was or what about a great fighter he learned by taking care of sheep. This was about God. And so that's where we really need to make sure that we understand the portion of the lesson that this is not about what a great warrior David was. This is about how great of a God we have, and His power and His love for us, and the things that He can do. We don't need to be entangled at the details and ask ourselves, how's God going to do this? We just need to know that He will. And we see in the transition to the Apostle Paul, when you talk about learning from experiences and why Paul had so much confidence, we read that he was stoned, he was beaten, he's put in prison, he was attacked by a mob. He was shipwrecked. He was bitten by a viper. And he shook the viper off, like it was just, oh, I got a fly on me. Hold on, let me get it off. It's not because Paul had supernatural powers, it's because God was taking care of him. So when you have experiences like that and you know how God is going to take care of you, you have confidence and faith in Him. And so it motivates us to put ourselves in situations where God can take care of us. He'll build our confidence. And so, Jonathan, why don't you read 2 Corinthians 1:9-10, and that talks a little bit about Paul's experiences.

Jonathan (00:22:15): "In fact, we expected to die, but as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God who raises the dead, and He did rescue us from mortal danger, and He will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in Him, and He will continue to rescue us."

Rick (00:22:35): The interesting thing about that text is he's saying, I was expecting to die, but God had other plans. And this taught me, this is the apostle Paul speaking. This taught me not to rely on how I think things are going to go, but to put my faith in how, like Matt, like you were saying, how God can deliver us for His purposes. Not just because He likes us, but it's for His purposes. Every deliverance of the Apostle Paul, and you mentioned several of them, they range from Acts 14 to Acts 28 so it's over a long period of time. All of those deliverances were so Paul continued to preach the gospel. Paul continued to build the churches. That's the key point here. David understood that God would deliver the next victory. The apostle Paul understood that God would deliver the next victory. We therefore need to understand that God will deliver the next victory. So Jonathan, putting this together, living a strong and sound Christian life, what do we have?

Jonathan (00:23:38): David knew that God has not only been the God of deliverance in the past, but He is also the God of present deliverance for His people. Sometimes we look at biblical history and think how different God's role was back then. Let us instead realize that we are living biblical history here and now in these prophesied end times. God still delivers.

Rick (00:24:04): And Matt, that's just an inspirational point to me, the idea that we're living in biblical times because biblical prophecy is being unfolded in front of our eyes. Therefore, God's presence is with His people just like it was way back then. It's amazing, amazing, amazing peace. Now, go ahead, Matt. You got to come in.

Matt (00:24:23): Yeah, I was going to say, just, I also think that's just a wonderful point. And keep in mind, God did not tell these folks, "This story is going to be written about you, so make sure you do it well." <Laugh> None of that happened. It was, there's a moment they make a decision and then we've been talking about it for 3000 years or however long it's been at this point. And so, look, be prepared and be motivated to live by faith, to do the hard thing if it's necessary.

Rick (00:24:57): So David knew God would deliver the next victory. We had that scripture, Jonathan, you read about the Apostle Paul, and I want to touch on that a little bit more. Paul told us that God's deliverance is waiting for us to seize the opportunities that we have before us. So you got to say, okay, well what opportunities, because that was about Paul, and we're talking about David, but what about us? We'll get to that. This brings us to the third of our five points to a stronger Christian life, and we can develop the questions about our opportunities in this next third point. Jonathan, what is it?

Jonathan (00:25:30): David prioritized God's will over his worldly duties.

Matt (00:25:36): He certainly did. David was continuously alert to God's opportunity to his daily life. I'm going to take just a couple of minutes here to talk a little bit about how this whole subject came up. The question is, do we get up and go to work and think, somewhere along the way today I'm hopefully going to serve God, or do we think today I'm going to serve God and along the way fulfill all of my other responsibilities? It's a question of what's your mind frame? It's a question of what is your highest priority? I was in Denver, Colorado over the summer, and I remember I was with my two coworkers. We went to lunch and we had plenty of time. After lunch we were walking back to our hotel and there was a man there on the street, and he had a sign that he was holding. And it was just an odd question on the sign, and it something about, what is this all for? And so this kind of bell went off into my mind and said, I need to stop and talk to this person. I need to get more, I need to find out why he is holding this sign. And if he's wondering genuinely, what is this all for, what a great opportunity to preach the gospel of the kingdom, right? And I didn't do it, and I didn't do it because my coworkers were with me. And I started to think, what are they going to think? Is it going to be awkward for them? Are they going to go back to the hotel without me? Am I going to make them feel uncomfortable? And I've been regretting that decision ever since. And so when I saw this story coming up, which again, we'll talk about the cheese later, but when this story came up, I just thought, I didn't do what David did. We also have to keep in mind that yes, David was a young man, but David had something that was very special. David was anointed, so he knew he was going to be used in God's service. And that absolutely gave him confidence. And while some Christians may not realize this, but the promise to those who serve Jesus is that they are anointed. And that's what the New Testament says. And so we need to live, we're authorized to live, with that same confidence that David had.

Rick (00:27:57): Wow. <laugh> And yet sometimes we miss the opportunity when somebody puts a sign up and says, please tell me, you know? And that's a great experience because obviously that experience motivated you to do something different, to say, I need to be more aware of these things. So let's put this all in perspective for ourselves, and how do we make use of these opportunities? And let's go back to David to do this. When speaking to King Saul, David made very plain statements about what the priorities were in his particular military problem. So the shepherd boy, 14, 15, 16, 17, however old he is, is advising the king on his current military problems. 1 Samuel 17:36:

Jonathan (00:28:40): "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."

Rick (00:28:51): So he's saying, I have a solution for your military problem, sir, mighty king. I can kill him, <laugh> I can take him out because he's taunting the armies of the living God. It's not he's insulting me; it's he's taunting the armies of God Almighty. David's statement was built upon Goliath's challenge, and that challenge was for a fight to the death. His conclusion was that the people of a living God would unequivocally prevail. And Matt, you've talked to us about that already, about how he understood history. He saw God's hand in his own life and he just was ready to act. So let's examine this very quickly here. David had four basic priorities as he's moving forward here, okay? In life, first he was tending sheep for his father. Second, he did play the harp for Saul. He switched between those two responsibilities. Third, in between these things, he comes across Goliath, defying God. And he pauses and says, okay, this is a higher thing. And then fourth, after this, he ceased to shepherd or be a musician, and he became the warrior that God required. So let's look at David's priorities. And Jonathan, what about ours?

Jonathan (00:30:03): Our priorities, we have four also. One, we are at work. Two, we are engaged in our every work. And three, while working, we hear someone say, you would have to be a fool to believe in God. Four, what do we do? Do we become the witness that God requires?

Matt (00:30:25): And hopefully we do, as we go throughout the day. Since I've had that experience, there've been a few more that popped up where if I see an opportunity where I can please God, everything else can wait just a minute, right? And so I'm going to take that opportunity. And so maybe you hear a coworker that does say kind of something slanting. And again, it's not our job to stand up at a table and point a finger and make a big deal about it. But maybe it's just pulling that individual aside. And it could be, hey, if you don't believe in God, look, I understand a lot of people don't. But if you are ever curious as to why I do, I'd love to talk to you about it. Just want to put that out there. Or saying, hey, at least do me a favor. I believe in God. In fact, I've devoted my life to Him. So if you see me around, I'd really appreciate it if you didn't say that. And so now you're kind of putting them in a spot where they have to recognize how strong your faith is to you, as opposed to them feeling totally free to tell you that they don't have any, and that you might be silly for doing it. That also is putting yourself in a spot where they might think a little bit less of you. And you know what? That is perfectly fine.

Rick (00:31:37): <Laugh> And so what you're doing is you're showing us in a practical way how to reorganize our priorities exactly the way David did. He was going about his daily business. Something came along and he completely changed because God's purpose was calling. Priorities. Having those priorities in place, Jonathan, living a strong and sound Christian life. What do we have?

Jonathan (00:31:58): David was not looking for trouble, but he was thoroughly tuned into God's righteousness and protection. The key here is that when he saw Goliath, he didn't see a giant fearless and bloodthirsty warrior. Instead, he saw an opportunity for God to be glorified and immediately engaged and responded with his God-first priorities. What will we engage? And how will we respond to the perceived giants in our lives?

Matt (00:32:27): I think there's a couple of ways to think about this. You're going to have some external giants. You're going to have some internal strongholds. And so as you're going throughout your day, as you're going throughout your life, I think the most important thing to remember is that whether it's an external force or an internal force that you're struggling with, you already have the victory if you lean on God, if you remain in that connected state of peace, that instant in prayer, that constant mindfulness, that God is with you, that He will deliver you from anything. That your job is just to have confidence in Him. Don't worry about your own ability to overcome it, but if you're struggling with something internally, have faith. God has told you He is going to help you overcome that. And so just do your best to hang in there, stay close to Him, and everything is going to turn out to be just fine.

Rick (00:33:24): I sense that we're getting ready for the next point with that comment, and that's all I'll say right here. But look, to observe and follow such a spiritually mature young man in such a dramatic experience is truly inspirational.

Jonathan (00:33:40): It's one thing to put our priorities in place; it's another to actually act on them. How do we do that?

Rick (00:33:48): The answers here might be a little bit more subtle in our previous answers. We need to re-look at a few aspects of how David responded to his circumstances with the specific how-to question of action in mind. What we will find is a focused and God-honoring approach that lifts one out of fear and lifts that one into accomplishment. We need to learn how to be lifted out of fear and lifted into accomplishment. That's where David was. That's kind of where it looked like he lived. So let's talk about this, our fourth of our five points to a stronger Christian life. Jonathan, what is it?

Jonathan (00:34:29): David overcame any fear or discouragement and also disregarded the naysayers.

Matt (00:34:35): Yeah, he really did. I mean, think about it. Again, you're the young guy. You're coming up to this battlefield. There's a bunch of people there that are experienced fighters. You are not. They've been chosen and selected to fight this battle against the enemy. You have not. And how does he treat it? He doesn't skip a beat. I mean, he walks right in there and says, I know the right thing to do, and so I'm going to do it. And so, when we talk about fear, there are two ways to cure fear that I'm familiar with. One of them, the Bible tells us, I believe it's 1 John 4:18; love. Love cures fear. In this case it was David's love for God. And that was in the primary spot of his mind, and nothing else was a close second. The second thing that cures fear is action. And sometimes - and we all do this - the subject may change as to when we do it, but sometimes we worry about doing something instead of actually doing it. And the sitting around worrying about it is way worse than when we take action and we do it. So live in the promises of God, take action, take a chance. God can't do any work if you're not willing to trust Him and give it a shot.

Rick (00:35:56): It also takes a whole lot more energy to worry about it than it does to actually do it. But that's another thing. But the point is, David overcame any fear or discouragement, disregarded the naysayers, and he moved forward. We need to apply that to ourselves. So let's look at David's experience. It's hard to say just how pronounced the negative reactions were to that young man, David. After all, he did describe Goliath, this monstrous, fierce warrior, not as this giant fierce warrior, but as a giant detractor to God's glory. That's the way he described him. He didn't describe somebody to be afraid of. He described somebody who was irreverent toward God Almighty. 1 Samuel 17:26:

Jonathan (00:36:40): "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?"

Rick (00:36:55): So we had read that verse before, and we read it again because we want to be reminded of David's attitude and action. He stood and he called out the darkness. And he said, we can't stand here. Who is this? Who is this individual who taunts the armies of God Himself? And so David is standing firm. Before he's acting, he's looking like Matt, you said earlier he is looking for somebody to say, yeah, maybe I should stand up and fight him. I'm a warrior. And look, as we have already seen, he was discouraged by the soldiers and his brother especially. But King Saul also discouraged him. And again, let's review that very quickly here. 1 Samuel 17:33:

Jonathan (00:37:40): "Then King 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.

Rick (00:37:49): Again, King Saul is basically saying, you can't do this. Son, I appreciate your enthusiasm. You're a good boy. You play a mean harp. But no, this is a giant who's out there that can step on you. You can't do this. And you think about it, you look at the outs from the outside looking in, what did David have going for him? What he had going for him was the wisdom that comes from believing in God's power, and the courage that comes from believing that God's power applied to him. So you had this wisdom and this courage. So Matt, two quick questions. First, when should we speak or act?

Matt (00:38:30): Hmm. When we know we should.

Rick (00:38:34): Okay, that's a simple answer. What's a bad reason to not speak or act?

Matt (00:38:40): Hmm. Because we're scared.

Rick (00:38:44): And there he is. Matt has finally been tamed in giving the short answer.

Matt (00:38:48): <Laugh>. <laugh>. There it is. There it is, it's been done.

Rick (00:38:51): Okay, now let's expand those short answers, okay? Let's look and see why those short answers are actually very, very profound answers. Examples; let's look at examples of those who spoke and acted. And as we look at these examples, let's think about what did they have in common? How were both wisdom and courage present in their actions and words? So Matt, give us some examples of those who spoke and act with courage and wisdom.

Matt (00:39:17): Well, thank you Rick. I'm glad you asked. <Laugh> There are four really good examples that we're going to discuss. And it's Jeremiah, Moses, John the Baptist, and Elijah. Now, before we get into details of the individuals, all four of them took an action or said words that were not convenient for them personally. If these gentlemen were looking to get ahead in life, this was not the way to do it. Jeremiah ended up in a public cage for people to stare at him. I think he was abused physically. Moses, look, if you're looking to get ahead, Moses was on the fast track. He'd been put into a river, raised by the Egyptians, and he had life good. But once he found out that that's not where he belonged, he took an action and he left. He left being a prince of Egypt to wander the wilderness and then go rescue his people.

Matt (00:40:12): John the Baptist was criticizing Herod. He was criticizing the ruler over the land, and generally that's not a wise ladder-climbing decision, if you will. And he ended up, of course, being beheaded for it. And Elijah was running for his life from Ahab and Jezebel for years. And again, no home, lived in the wilderness, was fed by ravens for a while. Not great lives, but great men of God. And what really separates these folks is they had this passion for serving God. And in their gut, in their core, they knew what God wanted them to do and they couldn't shy away from it. Jeremiah says, it was like a fire that was shut up in my bones and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay. I could not not say it. I know I'm going to bring them news that they don't want to hear, and they're going to hate me for it. And you know what? That's just going to have to be how it is, because this is what God wants me to do and I love God. And if He gives me something to do, I'm going to do it to the best of my ability. And all four of these men did that, and they did in their mind what they thought God wanted them to do. And no, in a worldly sense, it didn't work out for them, right? From what I understand, it depleted their 401ks. <Laugh> But again, this is Christian living when you do the right thing and you don't worry about the consequences because you know God has something better stored for you.

Rick (00:41:44): So great examples of those who stood up at their own expense because that priority was in place and fear and discouragement just weren't going to be in play. So now we have to obviously ask, what about us? How do we apply spiritual wisdom and courage to overcome fear and discouragement in our lives? Two points, Jonathan, what's the first? And then give us a text.

Jonathan (00:42:05): First realize that God in His wisdom has set us up to do just that. 2 Timothy 1:7: "For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and self-discipline."

Matt (00:42:19): And you know what I'll add on to that just quickly is, I can't tell you you'll never be afraid. That's not the point. The point is that when you are afraid, keep in mind that that spirit of fear, two things with that. One of them, it's not coming from God. When it says God hasn't given us the spirit of timidity, it's not saying you're never going to be afraid if you follow God. It's just saying keep in mind that that spirit of fear comes from the other guy. Doesn't come from God. Though trust in God and trust in His power because in His power is confidence. And two, you will learn that confidence in Him, the more that you allow Him to essentially work a miracle in you.

Jonathan (00:43:02): And realize that we fight spiritual battles in a physical world. And such a fight requires clear priorities. 2 Corinthians 10:3--5: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."

Rick (00:43:33): So there's a lot that we have to fight against that's bigger than us. And it requires us bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. And that means relying on God when we have that earthly worldly human fear. Thing is true courage, true courage is not blind. It sees what's going on. And true wisdom is not deaf. It hears, it understands. Draw those things from God and we can become overcomers of fear and discouragement.

Jonathan (00:44:03): Well, Rick, we still haven't talked about cheese. Is a time yet?

Rick (00:44:08): <Laugh> Jonathan, good cheese always ages properly. You just have to wait, okay? We'll get to the cheese. So Matt, again, very, very quickly here, we're looking at the practicality of overcoming fear and discouragement. The flow of life happens. And what we want to learn to do is manage that flow instead of following the flow. Little bit of practicality. How do we do that?

Matt (00:44:35): When I think about it for myself, the big one is, everybody has different gifts. Everybody has things that God wants them to do, different talents. And so use your talent to the best of your ability in the way that God wants you to use it. And for me, this message is not, hey, just go around preaching everywhere to everyone. And if you're preaching the word of God, and they think, oh, I'm not going to like this, that's their problem. I'm going to preach the word of God, and if you don't like it, that's on you. That's not what you're being asked to do. What you're asked to do is be gentle, to be loving, to be humble. And in that process, if you're required to speak the word of God, if you're required to say something in God's name, just don't be afraid to do it. But make sure you do it in the right way. There are people out there that do preach loud and quite frankly, it may be obnoxiously and may be rudely. And that's not the spirit of Christ. Spirit of Christ is gentle and loving and humble. So live in that power. That's my best advice.

Rick (00:45:37): That's really good advice. And you know, the spirit of Christ gets it done. Jesus, in that gentle, humble, loving, caring, wise way, communicated better than anybody had ever done on the face of the earth. So Jonathan, living a strong and sound Christian life, where are we so far?

Jonathan (00:45:52): David saw fear and discouragement as unreasonable responses to a serious problem. All he saw was God's glory being demeaned. And all he could think to do was to stand up and destroy those irreverent actions. While our challenges are far more subtle, they still require the spiritual wisdom and courage that David displayed. Let us stand in the face of fear and discouragement, focused on fulfilling our godly priorities.

Rick (00:46:22): So priorities, and managing and overcoming fear and discouragement are absolutely tied together. You can't separate them. And it's a very inspiring thing to look at how this young man, David, is teaching us all of these things. So what a high and lofty example David has set for us. Wisdom and courage will defeat fear and discouragement if we let them.

Jonathan (00:46:50): In what seems like a very short time David proved himself ready. What can we learn from his amazing example?

Rick (00:47:00): David saw God's faithfulness in the past and the present. He prioritized God's will first and he overcame the serious obstacles of fear and discouragement. We can now see that he was in a clear state of readiness to actually go out and do something that all of the mighty and seasoned warriors around him saw as an unconquerable task. So David's life, his belief system, his focus, his priorities all came into play before he got there, and were working before he even knew it, before he even knew Goliath existed. And this brings us to the last of our five points to a stronger Christian life. Jonathan, what is it?

Jonathan (00:47:51): David was ready. His actions would demonstrate how he lived in the power of God.

Matt (00:47:59): Yeah, David had an intentional approach to serving God. And in the end, that's what ended up delivering the people from the enemy. I really think that the example here is to be intentional, to be purposeful, be ready. David, when he saw this thing happen, if you read the story, there's no adjustment period that he needs to go through. He didn't have to really change gears, so to speak. He was already in the right gear. His instinct was immediately to be involved in the problem that was going on, right? He was in that gear to begin with. I think that's so impressive for anybody, let alone a teenager, going up against a nine-and-a-half foot guy who probably weighed four or 500 pounds of muscle, right? And he sees it, he sees the scenario, he's already in gear, he's got God already in his mind, he's at the presence of God and he's ready. He's ready to be a part of the solution.

Rick (00:49:03): So that readiness didn't happen in a moment. It happened over a lifetime. It happened intentionally by focusing on what was most important and loving what was most important so he could do what was most important. So here's what spiritually sound and intentional readiness looks like. Let's drop in now where David is face-to-face, well, not really face, maybe kneecap to face, I don't know, <laugh> with this giant Goliath. And listen to what he says. We're going to read from parts of 1 Samuel 17:45, first part of 46, and then verse 47:

Jonathan (00:49:45): "Then 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." I'll skip the gory details. "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."

Matt (00:50:20): Yeah, I think this is why David is chosen. Again, I don't think we can make this point enough. David did not win because of his own strength, and he didn't have confidence in his own strength. In fact, of all these people here, he is the least likely to win except maybe one of the sheep. <Laugh>.This brings glory to God. When God says, you bring your best guy and I will bring you my seemingly most irrelevant guy and you won't stand a chance. So what David does here is he brings glory to God by offering himself potentially to death so that God can work a miracle and everybody can watch it.

Rick (00:51:06): You can't make the drama big enough. As we look at this story, the armies on the two hills on either side, and this little, little guy and this big monster of a guy standing face-to-face and David saying, "I'm going to bring you down in the name of God, because you have mocked God Almighty." His readiness was clear. It was there. Our readiness - what about us? Our readiness also has to be intentional just like his. How do we do that? The intentionality of our readiness needs to begin with prayer. Ephesians 6:18:

Jonathan (00:51:41): "With all prayer and petition praying at all times in the spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints."

Matt (00:51:52): I think this is a great way to start talking about the armor of God. Look, prayer, prayer is our connection with God. That really is how we need to start and end every day. When we feel connected to God, when we feel His presence, we're reminded of the fact that He's with us. That gives us strength.

Rick (00:52:12): It's interesting the way this verse reads about prayer. It says be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, okay? So prayer and petition. It's not just, "Dear Lord, help me now because I got a big problem. Amen." That's not what this kind of prayer is. This is intentional prayer. "Heavenly Father," it's taking the moment. "I don't know what to do. This is bigger than me. I'm afraid. I need Your help. I need Your guidance. I need Your spirit." It's laying it before the Lord. Not just quickly saying, "But I prayed before!" No, no, no, no, no, this is, I prayed, I reverently asked my heavenly Father through Jesus to help me. That's what this kind of prayer is. It's interesting because this is the last scripture in the description of the armor of God. We put it first because we want to start with it. Now let's go to the rest. Our readiness continues with putting on spiritual armor just as David had done, and this is going to be Ephesians 6:14-17. But think about this. David refused the armor of Saul. Saul gave him the best armor that Israel had; his own. David said, nope, haven't tested it, doesn't fit me. I'm going in there without it. And to the naked eye, to all of the soldiers, he looked like he was going in completely unarmed. But he was armed to the hilt. He was ready because he was armed with God's providence, God's care, God's will, and God's strength. And that's what he needed to defeat the giant. What about us? Ephesians 6:14-17:

Jonathan (00:53:47): "Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God."

Matt (00:54:12): I think a good way to summarize that set of scriptures is just to say, look, be led by the truth. Be righteous in every situation to the best of your ability. Be peaceful and spread peace to others. Trust in God in all the scenarios that you face. And be ready to speak the truth.

Jonathan (00:54:31): Based on this lesson, Matt, being ready, willing and able takes hard work and consistency. There's so many takeaways here in this study. So here's what I heard. Praying, having a personal relationship with God, a desire to always do God's will. Studying God's word to emulate his love and standard, and by serving and helping the brotherhood. By focusing on the fruit of the spirit, Christlikeness, taking care of our bodies spiritually, mentally and physically, so we're able to serve God to the best of our ability. And finally, by wearing the armor of God. Good stuff. Thanks Matt.

Rick (00:55:17): Yeah, there's a lot here. And the young boy, David, is teaching it all to us by his what had become instinctive readiness to jump at the opportunity, whatever it was, that God put before him. That's really what we're seeing here. David fought a giant warrior and in so doing, taught us how to fight a giant warrior in our own life. And that's the adversary. He's a giant compared to us. He can crush us at any moment if we let ourselves to be vulnerable. 1 Peter 5:8:

Jonathan (00:55:50): "Be of a sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."

Rick (00:55:59): David took out a roaring lion, or a lion, anyway, we know that. <Laugh> So he was a good example with that as well. But the point here, the fifth point here, is to be ready. We need to stand ready. We need to put our lives in a position of absolute readiness. Now look, I know that we are all weak and we forget. And tomorrow, we're going to say, okay, I'm going to be ready. And then, 30 minutes into the day, we'll forget. Maybe you won't forget. I'll forget. Okay. Put it that way. <Laugh> So be ready. Jonathan, three basic points on being ready. And then Matt, you can wrap this up.

Jonathan (00:56:37): Be ready to change course now. Be ready to give up worldly ways of thinking, acting, feeling, and speaking now. Be ready to bring the truth of the gospel to anyone in any way that is appropriate now.

Matt (00:56:53): If you could sum it up with one take away, it's this: deliver the cheese.

Rick (00:56:59): Okay.

Matt (00:57:00): Are you ready to hear about the cheese?

Jonathan (00:57:02): I am.

Matt (00:57:03): <Laugh>. Okay, here we go. This is the big moment, right? Why are we talking about cheese? I'll tell you what really stood out to me about this story. Like I said, I really try to study the scriptures and understand them. And sometimes you run across these small details and you wonder, why is that detail in there? And in this story, why doesn't it just start with, David was walking to the battlefield, David happened to go there. Why does it mention that he was delivering cheese? That's the way that God is telling us that this was not planned, that this came upon David quickly, and that's the example that we want to follow. So for the last 3,000 years we've been talking about the result, but I've never really focused on the lead up. That's what we're talking about. That's this whole discussion, this being ready, this being connected to God, this understanding your place in serving Him and what it feels like and what it looks like to see somebody and what they go through when they are living in the power of God. Tomorrow we're all going to wake up and we're going to get ready for work. Maybe we don't work, but we're going to get ready for something. The question is, what's going to be in the front of our mind? How are we going to start? What's going to be our first thought? What's our motivation? We're all going to go into some habitual right process that we do every single morning. What I'm trying to do in my life, what I've taken from this story is today might be a day where God requires something of me. God has given me so many blessings, and I need to be ready to lay down my life in any way that He sees fit for me to do so that we can bring glory to His name and we can help in whatever little way we can to bring fulfillment to His plan. So tomorrow, when I wake up, I'm going to pray. I'm going to ask for His strength. I'm going to have faith throughout the day, and I'm going to keep my eyes wide open for anything that comes across my way that I think might be God winking at me to saying, Hey, I'd like you to do this.

Rick (00:59:11): And Matt, while you're doing that, don't forget to deliver the cheese <laugh> Okay? Yeah. All right.

Matt (00:59:18): Deep on every cracker.

Rick (00:59:19): That's right. <Laugh> So, and Matt, thanks so much. Thanks so much for your contributions here, and putting this account into such a profound position for us to learn from. And one of the things that as we wrap this up, when God speaks and He speaks, and He will speak to us, but He speaks through His word, and through His people. Be close enough to hear what He's saying. And that means to have things in order, to realize the past promises of God, to realize the present, the victories, to put priorities in place, to not worry about fear and discouragement, and to stand ready. Jonathan, let's wrap this up. Living a strong and sound Christian life.

Jonathan (01:00:02): David's example of unwavering dedication to the one and only God provoked him to intentional and bold action when all others cowered in fear. This action was born out of an ingrained loyalty to a God of promise and deliverance. This bias towards godly action was an already prioritized focus that disregarded fear and discouragement. This action came from godly readiness. Let us also stand ready and fight the battles that God would have us to fight.

Rick (01:00:41): Matt, thanks again for joining us. We really appreciate your being here.

Jonathan (01:00:44): Thanks for having me. This was a lot of fun.

Rick (01:00:46): And Folks, look, we have a biblical account that everybody knows about, but hopefully now after this last hour, you look at this and say, wow, there's so much more here to learn from, to dive into, to delve into, to draw from, so I can stand more instinctually ready to serve my heavenly Father the way David, the shepherd boy did, and slew a giant in the process and saved the nation. Think about it. Folks, listen, we do love hearing from our listeners. We welcome your feedback and your questions on this episode and other episodes on ChristianQuestions.com. Coming up in our next episode, "If I Have God's Peace, Then Why Am I So Stressed?" We'll talk about that next week.

Final Notes (01:01:33): copyright @2023 Christian Questions. In addition to this transcript, we provide comprehensive CQ Rewind Show Notes for every episode. They include every scripture quoted during the podcast, as well as graphics, illustrations and bonus material. Click the "CQ Rewind Show Notes" button near the audio player or sign up to receive these weekly at ChristianQuestions.com. This transcript was created using artificial intelligence. While we believe it to be accurate, we apologize for any errors that may exist.