Jesus Is The Cause!

“And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren; And carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge. Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle. For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army. And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren. And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them. And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid. And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father’s house free in Israel. And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him. And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause? And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner.” (1 Samuel 17:17-30)

“Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.”

(John 18:37)

Today, I feel the need to speak to you on the matter of causes. While the world has told us to do just what feels right, and to be your own authority and even that there is nothing worth living for, tonight I want to ask a simple question once asked by a simple shepherd boy, Is here Not A Cause?

[Background on the battle that results in the sending out of champions]

David’s older brothers had followed King Saul into battle against the Philistines, but David was not old enough, so he stayed behind to take care of his father’s sheep. One day his father asked David to take his brothers a care package of cornmeal, bread, and cheese, find out how they’re doing, and bring back a report.

Once he arrives on the scene, David learns that the Israelite army is cowering in fear, afraid to go out and face the giant Goliath. David starts asking around, “What’s going on? How come nobody’s fighting this guy?”

David’s oldest brother sees him and says HEY, What are you doing here, I get it, you just showed up to watch the battle.....

What would you have said? I probably would have gotten an attitude and told him, I was just doing what dad said, bringing the bread and other food, but no David ignored him slightly with a "huh" type comment and then followed up with "Is There Not A Cause?"

Cause: noun- a : a reason for an action or condition : MOTIVE b : something that brings about an effect or a result c : a person or thing that is the occasion of an action or state; especially : an agent that brings something about

He strolls on up to the king and says, if none of these guys are going to live for God and kill this giant, then I will.

After the king stopped laughing, and regained his composure, he realized that David was serious; he asked him what on God’s green earth made him think he could do what everyone else was afraid to try.