Introduction:
What is the most scared you have ever been? Think about that time for a moment. Perhaps you can begin to understand how the Israelites feel in I Samuel 17 every morning when Goliath steps out onto the battlefield and cries, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together” (I Samuel 17:10, ESV). About 10 feet tall, a weaver’s beam for a spear, mail that weighs nearly as much as one of the Jewish soldiers—Goliath is a monstrous sight. While each of the soldiers are willing to take their chances with survival in the midst of an army against army fray, none of them are willing to take their chances one-on-one with the giant. The restless armies stay in their camps for 40 days as Goliath issues his challenge twice a day, morning and evening. Goliath is looking for a man, shouting for a man, waiting for a man. And each day he defies Israel and her God to find a man. But God is doing nothing. His people quake in their boots, and God sits idly by, just watching. The God who defeated Nahash the Ammonite through Saul does nothing to Goliath. The God who defeated the Philistines once before through Jonathan and his armor bearer remains silent in the face of Goliath. The God who used Saul to defeat Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Amalekites, and even Philistines keeps quiet at the taunts of Goliath. What on earth is God waiting for? And then it becomes obvious. Like Goliath, God is looking for a man. He is waiting for a man. I don’t know how many males Saul has with him in his army. When they faced Amalek, he had 210,000 foot soldiers (I Samuel 15:4). I assume the numbers are similar for this battle. Despite the tens, even hundreds of thousands of males, there is not a single one who will man up and step onto the battlefield. Not even King Saul, a man head and shoulders above the rest of them (I Samuel 10:23), the “Goliath” of the Jews, will man up, step on the battlefield, and be God’s champion against the uncircumcised Philistine. What is God waiting for? A man.
Do you ever look around today and wonder what God is waiting for? We witness the attacks of atheists, secu-larists, Muslims, and false Christians and we wonder what God is waiting for. We bemoan the decaying state of mo-rality in our culture and wonder what God is waiting for. We watch as families fracture, splitting apart at the seams and wonder what God is waiting for. We see once faithful Christians beset by intense sin, we see once mighty men fall to the enemy, we see faith dwindle in one after another and we wonder what God is waiting for. We see young people grow up to abandon the Lord and His church and wonder what God is waiting for. We fret as once thriving churches plateau and dwindle, dying on the vine and wonder what God is waiting for. And I can’t help but wonder if God isn’t still waiting for the same thing He was when Goliath defied Him and His army—a man. Nothing against the sisters, but today I want to talk to the males. And of course, I wonder if the sisters aren’t glad to hear this message as well because some of them are also waiting for a man, or perhaps waiting for a male in their life to man up. I know my wife has spent time waiting for that.
Brothers, we need to understand the war is on, the battle is raging. Christianity is not a Sunday game like foot-ball. It is a daily battle. We are the army. While we sit here in this building, we are on the sidelines. But Goliath is on the field taunting us. Sometimes Goliath is a co-worker who would mock us for being a Christian. Sometimes he is a classmate who tempts us to disdain the spirituality we profess while in this building. Sometimes he is a temptation to lust, immorality, lying, cheating, stealing, gossip, etc. Sometimes he is even the brother or sister in Christ who stands in the way of growth and victory. Sometimes he is simply the apathy and procrastination that causes us to put off and ignore the battle. How many times do we think we’ll face Goliath…tomorrow? What is needed in this fight? A man. A man to step on the battlefield. A man to lead the way. A man to say enough is enough and he will no longer allow the enemy to defy the living God unopposed. A man to strike out at Goliath and show all the other males that they too can be men. A man to man up.
What does that look like? Let’s examine David and see.
Discussion:
I. A man with a heart for God.
A. What did Goliath say? “I defy the ranks of Israel this day” (I Samuel 17:10, ESV). What did the men of Israel say, “Surely he has come up to defy Israel” (I Samuel 17:25, ESV). But what did David say? Goliath has “de-fied the armies of the living God” (I Samuel 17:26, 36). And also, “I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.”
B. David had a heart for God. What made him upset was not that the armies looked bad, but that the armies of the living God looked bad. It was not that these men had been defied, but God had been defied. God is looking for a man who has a heart for Him.
II. A man with ears that listen to God first.
A. Eliab, David’s older brother, belittled him, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart…” (I Samuel 17:28, ESV). King Saul was a bit more compassionate, but no less negative. “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth” (I Samuel 17:33, ESV). But David did not listen to these men. He listened to the God who said things like, “The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways” (Deuteronomy 28:7, ESV).
B. God is looking for a man who will listen to Him instead of the detractors, liars, and false teachers. He is looking for someone who knows His will, listens to His Word, and follows His direction.
III. A man with eyes that see what God sees.
A. When God chose Saul to be king, he was head and shoulders taller than the rest of Israel. There was no one like him. He was the Goliath of the Jews (cf. I Samuel 10:23-24). When God told Samuel to go to Bethlehem and anoint one of Jesse’s sons to be the next king. “He looked at Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the LORD’s anointed is before him’” (I Samuel 16:6, ESV). But God said, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart” (I Samuel 16:7, ESV). Why did the Israelites quake in fear before Goliath? Because they saw what man could see. They saw a giant of a man trained in battle from his youth. They saw chain mail as heavy as themselves, a weaver’s beam for a spear shaft, a cannonball for a spear head. What did David see? “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (I Samuel 17:26, ESV). David saw what God saw.
B. God is looking for a man who sees as He sees. He is looking for a man who sees God as He is: powerful, commanding, compassionate, yet firm. He is looking for a man who sees the enemy as God sees him: no match for God, unable to win, defiant, rebellious, destined to lose.
IV. A man with a mouth that acknowledges God.
A. When David explained to Saul why he was willing to fight, he told of the lions and bears he had beaten when shepherding his sheep. However, notice his final statement: “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine” (I Samuel 17:37, ESV). He wasn’t basing his future victory on his past power, strength, and might. He was basing his future victory on God who had delivered him in the past. He acknowledged God was the real reason he had been and would be victorious.
B. As Proverbs 3:6 says, when we acknowledge God, He makes our paths straight. David acknowledged God and God made his path over Goliath straight. God is not looking for men who caught the biggest fish, threw the longest touchdown pass, whipped the biggest opponents, and can therefore tell the biggest stories. God is looking for a man who will acknowledge where the real strength and power lie—with God.
V. A man with hands that do what he can do.
A. In I Samuel 17:38-40, Saul can’t help but think like a warrior. If a man is going to step foot on the battle-field, he has to measure up to a certain standard. He has to cut a certain image. So he tried to make David into himself, giving David his own armor. But David refused. Instead, he walked onto the battlefield carrying his shepherd’s staff, pouch, and sling. David didn’t need to be Saul or Goliath. He needed to be David. He needed to do what he could do.
B. God is looking for a man who will be who he is, doing what God has made him to do. A man of God doesn’t have to be able to preach a sermon. Perhaps he can fix a widow’s air conditioner or kitchen sink. A man of God doesn’t have to be the greatest Bible class teacher. Perhaps he can fix a single mother’s car. A man of God doesn’t have to be able to word an amazing oration of a prayer. Perhaps he can come alongside a boy and mentor him into manhood. God is looking for a man with hands that will do what he can do.
VI. A man with legs that stand on God.
A. Goliath knew he was standing on his own legs. His legs made him tower above everyone in sight. However, David knew he was doing more than standing on the shoulders of giants. He was standing on the shoulders of God. When Goliath taunted David, he responded, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with 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 defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head” (I Samuel 17:45-46, ESV). David knew this battle would not be won by his power, but by God’s.
B. God is not looking for a strong man. He is looking for a man who will admit he needs the strength of God. This is tough for us men. We keep trying to prove to God how great we are, and it never works. God isn’t looking for men to step on the battlefield to prove themselves. He is looking for a man who will step on the battlefield to prove God. He is looking for a man who realizes he is standing on legs God has given him; he is standing on God.
VII. A man with a gut that knows God has won.
A. David didn’t question. From beginning to end in this account, David knows God will win. Listen again to what he says, “This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hand” (I Samuel 17:46-47, ESV). David knew this battle belonged to God. He would win. In fact, just because He is God, He had already won. There is no defeating God. This is not merely head knowledge. This is down in the gut knowledge that governs every step. It is an absolute surrender that God has the power and the might. There is no question that God will win.
B. God is looking for a men with this courage in his gut. The courage that says we cannot lose. Even if we have had setbacks for 40 days or 40 years, God wins. When we take on God’s work, we will be successful in ac-complishing God’s ends. Sadly, I know I’m looking at tired men. Men who are desperately trying to impress God. You hear sermons about all that men are supposed to do and perhaps even this one is not heard as an-ything more than further weight on your burden. Please, note that David did not step onto the battlefield to impress God. This was not David’s work to show how awesome he was. Saul probably didn’t sleep the night before this battle, knowing what David was going to do. If I were a betting man, I’d say David did sleep. He didn’t have performance anxiety wondering if he had done enough or could do enough. He stepped onto the battlefield because he knew God had already won this battle. God is looking for a man with that courage.
VIII. A man with feet that will step on the battlefield even if he must do so alone.
A. None of the rest of David’s I Samuel 17 profile would matter if it did not include the end of I Samuel 17:41: “…and he approached the Philistine” (ESV). David stepped on the battlefield. He didn’t wait for Saul to step out with him. He didn’t wait for the army to step up and help. He stepped out onto the battlefield. He said he would cut off Goliath’s head, but he didn’t even have a sword. He had verbally encouraged others, trying to get them to see that an uncircumcised Philistine was no match for their God. But nobody else made a step. Though he was the only one willing, he stepped on the battlefield.
B. God is looking for a man who will take action. He is looking for a man who will take up the fight. He is look-ing for a man who will quit looking around and waiting for others to step up. He is looking for a man who will step onto the battlefield, sling in hand, ready to defend the name of his holy God. He is not looking for men who will stand around and fret like little old ladies at the state of moral decay, the corrosion of fami-lies, the loss of loved ones to the devil, the fallen heroes, or even their own past mistakes. He is looking for men who have put their trust in the Lord, knowing that He will win the victory, so they step onto the battle-field even if they have to do it without any other men.
Conclusion:
Men, God is looking for you. He is not looking for the man sitting next to you, across the aisle from you, in the pews around you. He is looking for you. He is looking for you to man up. That doesn’t mean he is looking for burly men who can bench 500lbs, fix cars by laying hands on them, quote football stats, and fell a deer with their bare hands. Though if you can, trust me, there is plenty of work you can do for the Lord. God is looking for a man with a heart for Him who because of his trust in God’s victory will cease anxiously spinning his wheels in the attempt to measure up and instead step out onto the battlefield doing what you can do to show the rest of these men that we serve a living God and He will win. You can be that man? Will you?
