David wrote the 27th Psalm - and it’s a Psalm about how to face conflicts in life. It’s a Psalm about relying on God. A Psalm of HOPE. A Psalm of FAITH. And when I read this Psalm, it can kind of reminded ME of David facing Goliath. The psalm reflected David’s mindset when he went out to face the Giant.
But there was something odd in the story of David and Goliath because, before David went out to face the giant he went down to the river and he picked something up. Do you remember what David picked up from the river?
Five Smooth Stones.
Now, why would David pick up 5 stones? I mean did he believe he’d needed all of 5 stones to kill Goliath? Did he lack faith that God might be able to help him defeat the Philistine with one stone, so he wanted a little extra insurance? Well maybe… but I don’t think so. You see, I think David was planning ahead. Goliath had 4 brothers, and David needed only one stone for Goliath - but, he had 4 more stones just in case the other brothers showed up.
So I don’t think David picked up the 5 stones because he lacked faith. I believe he picked them up so he’d be prepared to not just face Goliath… BUT also his brothers.
ILLUS: I read the true story of a lawyer who a very small man, and he arrived at court with a briefcase bulging with paperwork. The lawyer for the other party was literally a Goliath of a man who just laughed at the short lawyer, and he mockingly said: “Well, little man, whatcha you got in the briefcase?”
Without looking up, the small man replied, “Five smooth stones.”
In that simple statement, that little lawyer was saying: “You might be an imposing opponent… but I can take you!”
APPLY: Psalm 27 was David’s way of saying “I expect to face imposing enemies, but (with the help of God) I can take em! Throughout this 27th Psalm David noted that he’d faced false Witnesses, and adversaries and enemies, and people who would threaten him with violence. But he never lost his faith, because he said that “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1
You see, in our lives, we’re going to encounter giants. We’re going to face situations that will threaten our lives or our future, our dreams. And the question will arise: “Will we be able to stand against those threats in faith?”
Jesus said “In this world you’re going to have trouble. But take heart because I’ve overcome the world” (John 16:33) Jesus was promising that we’d face troubles, but we’d never face them alone. It’s not a question of whether we’ll face problems in our lives - it’s gonna happen! The ONLY question is whether we’re going face those problems with Jesus at our side… or not.
ILLUS: I was looking some things up on the internet, and I ran across a quote by Orson Welles… and he said: “We are born alone, we live alone, we die alone”. And I thought – how pathetic. How sad is that? That’s how that great actor thought about life, but we Christians have a different perspective.
We’re born of God… we live with God… and die with God at our side. We never have to face life alone.
ILLUS: Someone once noted that in the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, God didn’t put out the fire. The fire was still there. But God put Jesus right in there with them in the midst of the fire; and when all was said and done, those 3 men came out unsinged and without even smelling of smoke.
It’s not about God stopping all the bad things that look bad in the fires of our lives; It’s about Who’s in there with us.
In the 27th Psalm, David wrote that God was always there for him. David DID face enemies and adversaries and those who’d threatened him, but he was never afraid of them because God was always (in) there with him.
Now, there’s a part of the story about David facing Goliath that we often overlook. “When the Philistine (Goliath) arose and came and drew near to meet David, David RAN quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.” I Samuel 17:48
DAVID RAN TO MEET GOLIATH? Yep!!!! That must have taken a lot of confidence. And yes. David was confident. But David didn’t just have CON-fidence, David had something called GOD-fidence.
ILLUS: Someone once noted that GOD-fidence is different than CON-fidence. (Lane Sebring - website: PreachingDonkey.com, quoting Ed Young)
CON-fidence relies on ME. I do what I do because I am confident that I’m ABLE to do it. But GOD-Fidence relies on God.I do what I do because I believe that WHAT I HAVE is from God. My abilities are from God; my gifts are from God; and my tasks are from God. If I am a GOD-fident person, then I believe – God’s in my life. I believe it is all about HIM! Not me. If God called me to it, then God will prepare me for it.
GOD-fidence seeks to give God all the glory. And when I’m a GOD-fident person, then I’m NOT afraid of what other people think and I’m NOT proud of my own accomplishments. It’s all about God and His glory.
SO, ARE YOU A CON-FIDENT PERSON… OR GOD-FIDENT PERSON??? Is it all about you… or is it all about God? You see, God-Fidence is a state of mind - a state of mind that focuses on God
ILLUS: According to a journal called “Psychological Science” – researchers discovered that people who were reminded of God, were willing to take certain kinds of risks (not immoral risks like getting drunk or robbing a bank) because they believed that God would protect them against negative outcomes. In other words, just thinking of God made people bigger risk-takers
(http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/thinking-of-god-makes-people-bigger-risk-takers.html)
And that’s what made David the kind of man he was. He tried to ALWAYS think about God in his life, and that made him willing to take big risks for God!
Now, the question is… how do I become that kind of MAN… that kind of WOMAN?
Well – Psalm 27 tells us a few things we can do
1st – we need seek to dwell in the house of the LORD.
Psalm 27:4 says “One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.”
OK - so for the Christian, this is about spending time with the CHURCH. Not the church building, but the people who make up the church. WE ARE THE HOUSE OF THE LORD! And when we do it right, we literally gaze on the beauty of the LORD. And we end up supporting each other, working together, and protecting one another.
We do a lot of “one anothering” as a church! And a church that is filled with “one another” kind of believers who are able to face their struggles with faith. In fact (by my count) there are 62 verses in the Bible that say things like “Be at peace with one another.” Mark 9:50; “Wash one another’s feet.” John 13:14; “Love one another, even as (Jesus) loved you.” John 13:34; “Be devoted to one another.” Romans 12:10; “Build one another up.” Romans 14:19; “Serve one another.” Galatians 5:13; “Bear one another’s burdens.” Galatians 6:2; “And with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love.” Ephesians 4:2
And you could go on and on and on with passages that talk about “one anothering” because when act like a family – like believers who support ONE another, we build a faith that gives most of us GOD-fidence.
2nd – we can seek to do is to worship God with shouts of joy- and voices of song. Psalm 27:6 says “And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the LORD.”
David spoke about coming before God with shouts of joy and singing songs of praise. But why would he do that? Why would he shout and sing? Well, because he wanted to influence other worshippers. If he simply sat in the corner and looked bored he would have set a bad example. He might give others the impression that God’s not all that important to him. AND DAVID HAD NO INTENTION OF DOING THAT!
As Paul wrote in Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
Now, when you’re here on Sundays, part of your role in worship is to INFECT people with your love for Jesus.
ILLUS: In JAM (our mid-week elementary youth group), there’s times when some of the 5th graders (the older kids) refuse to sing, to stand up, to even looked interested while the other sing. Now, it’s not because they don’t love Jesus, and it’s not because they don’t like the songs - they’re just trying to look cool. They’re too mature to take part in things like this. They don’t realize that the other kids are WATCHING them, and that their disinterest tells those other children that Jesus isn’t all that important.
So when you are at worship… don’t like those children. You are an adult who loves Jesus (at least I think you are). So SING & SHOUT and infect others with your love for Christ. Let the songs you sing, and the way you sing them, strengthen the GOD-fidence of others. Because they’ll need that when they face the struggles and troubles of life.
Lastly – we need to SEEK GOD’S FACE. Psalm 27:8 says “You have said, ‘Seek my face.’ My heart says to you, ‘Your face, LORD, do I seek.’”
ILLUS: A couple of times I’ve pointed out that our Marquee out front has the words: “Church of Christ”. That’s not the name of this building, or of a denomination - it’s a declaration that THIS is a church that wants to belong to Jesus. That’s what it means to seek God’s face - it means wanting to belong to God. It means – as Christians – we want to be so sold out for Jesus.. that the world around can’t help but notice that it’s NOT ABOUT US… it’s about God.
We want to declare (to the world) that God’s owns this body of believers, so that the world around us will see what we do for God and that will lead them to glorify our Father who’s in heaven.
You see, we are a people with a mission … a direction… a purpose in life. We have a reason to exist because we serve a great God. And when we seek God’s face, any obstacles we encounter are NOT tragedies. Those obstacles will be inconveniences that we must FACE AND OVERCOME so we can do more for our God.
That’s what happened to David. Goliath wasn’t something to be feared. He was a nuisance that had to be removed. And David (with God’s help) … removed him.
CLOSE: I want to close with this thought: One of the greatest world leaders in history was Winston Churchill, and he’s widely respected because he faced off against one of the most imposing and evil villains of history – Adolf Hitler. By all rights, Hitler should have been able to destroyed England, and many of Britain’s leaders felt the nation should have surrendered. BUT CHURCHILL REFUSED
One of Churchill’s political opponents complained that Churchill “was a man utterly blind to reason, a man who refused to see the sound and compelling reasons for despair and surrender.” (Charles Wilson quoted in "Warlord" by Carlo D’Este p. 375)
In other words, Churchill looked reality in the face… and denied it. In the same way, we Christians should also look reality in the face… and deny it. We should REFUSE to see the sound and compelling reasons for despair and surrender. Because (like David) WHILE we may face overwhelming giants, we serve a God who’s bigger than those giants.
WE SHOULD BE LIKE DAVID. “David didn’t think about the size of Goliath because he already knew the size of his God. Don’t talk fear. Talk faith.” Be a man/woman of GOD-fidence.
