They Don’t Know Who You Are! – By Minister Russell M. Rillie
1 Samuel 16:18-22; 17:55-58
Does anybody know who you REALLY are? Yeah, you look nice in your suites & your dresses… but do they know who you REALLY are? When nobody’s looking at you? Who are you? When the lights are off? Who are you? Yeah, they USED to know you….but somehow, somewhere between THEN & NOW….they seem to have FORGOTTEN who you are! Do YOU even know who you are anymore?
Our text this afternoon is pulled from one of the greatest Bible Stories of all time. That great Biblical Story of David & Goliath. Does anybody have their OWN story of all time? Does anybody in here have a battle that they fought, or are still fighting against a giant that torments them daily? In chapter 16, the Lord says to Samuel, How long will thou morn for Saul, seeing that I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill thy horn with oil, and go…I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided me a king among his sons. MBI….How long…will thou morn for Doctor Boyce, seeing that God has provided the ram in the bush to reign during this time? How long…will thou morn over that no good man, that wasn’t your’s anyway? How long, will thou morn over the job….How long will thou morn over that breast or that limb that I cut off….if you didn’t cut it off…you’d be DEAD! HOW LONG! The battle has already been fought…and the victory has already been won for most of us. But still yet others, with our stubborn selves….we want to do it OUR way & we’ve gotten so high faluting that we dare to QUESTION the ALMIGHTY GOD! Isaiah received his call, accepted his call, got his assignment and the 1st thing he says is….HOW LONG...Here’s the answer for somebody today….UNTIL!!!!....Until God says it’s over! But in the mean time….Fill your horn with oil, fill your heart with love, fill your mind with peace, fill your mouth with this word & go…I will send thee, I have provide me a Shepherd, I have provided me a Pastor, I have provided me a king among you.
So we know the story, Samuel goes to Jesse’s house to anoint unto God the next King, because Saul has fallen out of favor with God. I wonder who in here like Saul, has fallen out of favor with God. And they don’t even know it! 1 by 1 they come before Samuel…., Elihab, Abinadab, Shammah, Nethanel, Raddai, Ozem and finally David. They all had great features, but God said…look at the heart. I came by to encourage someone that God sees you on the hillsides of your lives. He smells the dung & manure of the people, animals & beasts you hang around, and he still wants you…he still wants to anoint you. It may not be your season YET…but you WILL be the future. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage and he shall strengthen…your heart.
As soon as Samuel anointed him in the midst of his brethren, the spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. At the very same moment, verse 14 says that the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. Stop blaming the devil for everything…Sometimes it’s direct, special delivery from God Himself!
Saul, the King, now needs something…or somebody to soothe his spirit to make him feel better, he needs a pick-me-up. He needs just a little bit of help to get him through the day. Look, one of his servants says…I know of a man. I have seen him. (I also know a man). Sometimes, people may not know you personally, but they know OF you. They know of your work! They know of your service. That’s nice, but it’s so…inpersonable. I don’t want to know OF God. I don’t just want to know OF Jesus. I don’t want to know OF the Holy Spirit. I want to KNOW them for myself. I want to know GOD, that’s why I read HIS word. He sent his son for ME to die….I want to know HIM. To know Jesus is to know His Father! No man cometh unto the father, but by me! I want to know Him in the Power of his Resurrection. When I’m preaching and / or ministering, I want to KNOW that touch, that dew, that spiritual residue that drops in my spirit that lets me know that I can FORGET about this paper….I want to know the Holy Spirit so that he can BREATH into my sermons & take it in the spiritual realm for final editing & processing.
Maybe that was the issue with Saul & the Army of Israel….they knew OF God…but they didn’t know GOD himself. They didn’t have a true & real relationship with him. David, the shepherd boy, who was just anointed as King is now sent by his father to work for Saul as his armor bearer & found favor, in the eyes of Saul.
So now we get to the get-down. The Philistines were gathered together to battle @ Socoh in Judah. Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together in the Valley of Elah. On one mountain, stood the Philistines…on the other mountain the men of Israel with the valley between them. The valley (u-shaped and v-shaped). Everyday, the giant would come and torment them, would punk them and say all manner of mess and garbage against them. Choose you ONE man to come and fight with me. If he beats me, & kills me, then we will be your servants. Goliath says…I defy the armies of Israel. Your giant is saying…I defy….
When Saul…the king, and all of Israel heard this, they were dismayed & greatly afraid *blank stare*. For forty days & forty nights, they stood right there & did nothing! 3 of David’s OLDER brothers are in THIS army and they did NOTHING! But look at David, even while on assignment, even in the midst of a battle, even in the midst of ridicule, what does David initially do? Verse 15 says that he went and returned from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. We have to learn that whatever’s going on, we got to feed our father’s sheep! They don’t know who you are outside of your robe….
Daddy now sends David on another Assignment. Sometimes the things that are verbalized to you are not the TRUE assignment. Always be ready for God to use you for HIS purpose, especially if he makes you KING. The future king is now the go-for. The assignment was to bring some cheese to the Captains of the armies, but while you’re there, see how your brother are doing and bring back something from them. Look at verse 20. It says David rose up EARLY in the morning and left the sheep with the keeper. Beloved we just can’t leave our people with just anybody. We must make provision for the sheep that we shepherd. David showed up just at the right time, the war cry had gone out, they were about to get it on, but nobody even KNEW who David was. Even in the midst of the battle, God will send somebody to minister to your needs. Somebody who KNOWS who they are. Who knows the Lord, who knows WHO they are IN the Lord! In the midst of the battle, he finds his brethren & he’s saluting them and speaking with them & just like it happens to us…the GIANT showed up. But David heard him this time! They are in full battle, full battle garb and here comes ONE giant, and these Negroes take off running! They said that Goliath came to defy the armies of Israel, and that the King of Israel would make him rich & give him his daughter & make his father’s house free in Israel (no debts). But David, the future King, said who is this uncircumcised Philistine? Not his name, or where he is from, but who is HE that HE should defy the armies of the LIVING GOD…..not the armies of Israel, but the Armies of the Living God.
Now here come the haters, his own brother began to spit out the hater-ade. Why you here? Don’t you have some sheep to tend to? Who have you left those “few” sheep in the wilderness? Beloved you may be lost in the wilderness, you may have 2 or 3 members, but you still need to be cared for, kept & shepherded. When they start hating on you for opening your mouth, ask yourself the same question. What have I done that was so wrong? Is there not a cause. Beloved is there still yet not a cause…gay rights, etc. His own brother FORGOT just that quick who he WAS.
In the midst of the battle, David is starting mess, he’s meddling. He’s asking EVERYBODY…IS THERE NOT A CAUSE? He doesn’t know them, only that they are supposed to be the army. When you keep speaking out over a cause or issues…guess what, after while, by & by, the King will send for you. (King of this world, King of Kings). Saul sends for him and before Saul could even get a word out, David says...HAVE NO FEAR! For I will go and fight with this Philistine. You would think at this point in the story that Saul knew his own armor bearer…right? But guess what….He didn’t even know who he was! Saul doubts his skills and says you’re too young, you lack experience! (Pause). David runs down his resume. He fought the lion; he fought the bear who took a lamb out of the flock. David said he smote him and delivered it out of his mouth & when arose against me, I caught him by his beard & smote him & slew him. A fight is a fight is a fight. It doesn’t matter who or what you’re fighting. What matters is who you fighting with! The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw f the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.
Saul, still not knowing who David was decides to give him his own armor, helmet and all. The armor bearer is now WEARING the army. Sometimes, the very thing that you are given steward over to protect, or to hold and be responsible for now has to try and cover and protect you. But guess what, you can’t fight your battles with somebody else’s armor…..David said I cannot go with these, for these have not been tested. So he picked 5 smooth stones from the brook. The remnant of the water that used to be there. Rocks, stones that had been moved, strategically placed for this moment in time (Noah). His lunch bag now became the storage for his arsenal. You came in here with a bag or some baggage, but I wish we could be like David and go to the brook and draw out of it, the tools we need to kill the giants in our lives. Look at David, drawing nigh to the Philistine. Boldness! The giant even had an armor bearer, who walked before Goliath. David has no armor, and no armor bearer…just him, God and 5 smooth stones. Some say the 5 represent the 1st five books of the Old Testament, which was the Jewish Torah. The bible doesn’t say that. 1st of all, they got smooth due to the fast running stream, knocking against the bedrock, taking the pointy sides & ends off, water has a way of washing away things. Smooth stones fly straight! I wish I had somebody in here that wanted to fly straight!
As I close, we know that David prevailed; the enemy will come at you with all manner of weaponry. Weapons of Mass Destruction, but you better stand still and see the salvation of the Lord! Tell your giant, I come to thee I the name of the Lord of hosts the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou have defied. THIS day. I thank God for THIS day. This day the Lord will deliver the into my hand & I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee, so that all will know that there is a God IN Israel. So that all will know that the battle is not your’s…it’s the Lords!
When you defeat your giant, the rest of your enemies will flee. When you defeat your giants, make sure you take some souvenirs to remind you of this epic battle. David took the head back home and put it in his tent. When you defeat your giant, Royalty will ask, the Generals & the Captains will ask, the Pastors and Deacons will ask….Whose son or daughter is this? They won’t be able to comprehend who you are. You aren’t what they THOUGHT, they had you confused. They will have NO choice but to ask YOU themselves. They won’t want to hear it from anybody else but the horse’s mouth! When they ask you…tell them, I’m a Russell Murray Rillie, and I’m a child of the King! My birth father was Murray James Rillie, but he’s dead. My spiritual father was my late pastor, Reverend Willie. R. Bryant, but he’s dead, but my Heavenly father….Some call him papa, some call him Jireh, and he’s all I need…I call him G-O-D!
