Source: https://sermons.faithlife.com/sermons/345925-the-character-of-courage
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 16:33:53+00:00

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What gave David the courage to face the Philistine enemy Goliath? Was it merely youthful ignorance? No. We can see in the life of the young David that ultimately what brings down the giant and brings victory to Israel is David’s confident submission to God.
But how do we get from that to David’s courage to face Goliath? We would love to see ourselves as being courageous for God. How will we get there?
David’s courage is a product of his character, and his character is a result of closeness to God and submission to Him. - Consistency in seeking God (which yields intimacy in knowing Him) is what gives David confidence in submitting to God. That obedience, when tested, builds character—a commitment to honor God from the heart in any circumstance. And it is that maturity in David’s life which reveals itself in the likes of courage.
He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.
As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him.
Last week in the first half of the chapter we determined that David had faith in God, which is a complete confidence in and submission to him, though he is unseen (Heb. 11:1). That was our focus because it is foundational to understanding where David is coming from as he submissively does the will of his father Jesse, as he reacts in astonishment that no one is eager to take on the Goliath for the glory of God and the honor of His people Israel, and as he offers himself to be an instrument in God’s hands to bring an end to this whole disgraceful display.
And as stated last week, David does not view himself as an underdog, and neither should the original audience nor the readers today. The living God of Israel is on their side. For David, who is confident in God, courage to act is neither surprising nor abnormal. What I hope you’ll see today though is that David’s courage arises from his character, and that character is founded upon deep-seated conviction, and that conviction comes from consistency in seeking God. In other words, David’s zeal for God is fueled by intimacy with him.
So courage isn’t something David has to summon. It is an overflow of his character, which I argue must be an outcome of consistently seeking God.
As we reminded ourselves last week, faith is a gift (Eph. 2:8-9), but once received, it is acted upon through a determined consistency to know God for who He is. Knowing God results in confident conviction, and conviction leads to endurance in making right choices in our daily duties and in the trials that we face, which leads to depth of character, which leads to courage and confidence in the hope of God’s promises.
Because character is our emphasis today, I want to skip to the end then go back to where we can see David’s character at work.
The result of the battle (due to David’s confident submission to God’s will) is indeed that the Lord grants victory and David’s family is honored. But for the sake of our application of David’s example, I want us to look more closely at what leads up to the victory. The interchanges between David & Eliab, David & Saul, and David & Goliath reveal the depth of David’s delight in God (intimacy with God and desire for God’s glory).
V. 50 is a reminder that David kills the giant with the weapons of a shepherd rather than the traditional weapons of war.
It also explains why, v. 51, he had to used Goliath’s own sword to cut off his head (keeping his word from v. 46).
The Philistines flee (instead of doing what Goliath had proudly promised, of course), and now the once-fearful men of Israel forget their fear when they see the hand of God in their favor and pursue and defeat the Philistines. David’s act reminds them who is on their side and what they are supposed to be about that day.
David bringing Goliath’s head to Jerusalem (probably meaning to that region) undoubtedly put fear into the hearts of those Jebusite enemies of Judah as well, and for the author likely foreshadows that David would like make Jebus (Jerusalem) the center of his kingdom.
David’s house (family) is honored.
So Saul is asking about David’s family because he now has an interest because of not only David’s bravery but because Saul himself has promised to exempt the family from taxes and give his daughter in marriage to this family.
David responds simply and humbly, a reflection of his character… the same character that results in victory and honor for God, for Isreal, and for his family.
Now for the three interchanges.
Eliab accuses David of wrong motive.
When David’s character is tested (and directly attacked, called into question), David passes the test with patience and focus on the real issue at stake.
When Saul hears about what David has been saying (like the end of v. 26…), he sends for him to search out the matter himself.
So David volunteers to fight this Philistine—not focused on his size and his armor and his threatening words, but focused on his defiance of God and God’s desire to stop that mouth for His own glory.
Saul calls into question David’s ability.
By the way, David’s competence in this area is no doubt due to countless hours of training with a sling.
David gets to the real crux of his confidence though when he says that “the Lord… will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” - David’s argument is like this: If God is faithful to deliver me when I trust in him as I’m keeping my responsibility to protect the sheep, how much more will God defend his own honor against this Philistine who is defying “the armies of the living God” and allow me to strike down this threat. Because of David’s character, this is a no-brainer. It isn’t David’s ability that is really the issue, but God’s ability.
Saul recognizes David’s courage, but more importantly, Saul seems to recognize God’s presence with David (end of v. 37).
And then Saul tries to equip David with traditional armor and weapons, which he assumes David will need. I love that David submissively tries it out, but that he can’t because he doesn’t yet have any experience with them (he hasn’t “tested” them, hasn’t trained in them). - But God has tested him and trained him!
So David takes the tools of a shepherd, with which he is very competent and trained, to battle this Philistine. - Read v. 40 again.
Goliath moves forward, shield-bearer in front of him. When he sees David a little closer, and undoubtedly doesn’t think he’ll be needing that shield, and he mocks David.
He takes note of David’s staff (“sticks”) but not his sling.
His gods are probably Dagon and Ashtaroth.
And David one-ups Goliath’s threat. - God will give you into my hand. And I’ll take you down and cut off your head. (Wait, there’s more.) And I’ll give the bodies of the whole Philistine army to the birds and beasts.
Goliath has probably heard enough and begins drawing near to make a quick end to this little shepherd. But David brings a shepherd’s gun to a knife fight. - And he has five stones. In case he needs more, he’s prepared. Though he no doubt would like to land the first before Goliath is prepared. And David strikes Goliath where he can make a critical hit in a place unprotected by armor. The stone hits its mark, and Goliath falls.
We would love to be a full of faith and courage as David. But there’s no shortcut to maturity. Even at this young age, God had been preparing David’s heart.
What appears to us to be great courage in worldly circumstances is actually a result of nearness to God and confident submission to Him. That faith put to the test by trial produces character—a purity in commitment to honor God from the heart in any circumstance. Courage and other godly character qualities are a part of the ongoing results of that process.
The very purpose of saving faith is the glory of God in granting us access to him! The way that we grow in being what God desires then is by making use that access to him.
So as we seek intimate knowledge of God, we become only more convinced of who he is and that his purposes can be trusted. Those convictions then play out in confident submission, the choices of our lives to obey him, particularly in endurance through the daily routine of responsibility. That itself is a trial. But even more then when faced with particularly trying circumstances, character is built when we continue to confidently obey God’s will (Rom 5, Jam 1, 1 Pet 1). And it is that maturity of character which necessarily produces the likes of confident hope in God’s promises and courage in any circumstances.
Unfortunately people often think of faith as testing God (to see if he’ll show himself real by doing what they ask), rather than faith being stalwart confidence in God when we are tested. We are not proving God by our faith, he is proving us. (cf. Jam 1:2-4 & 1 Pet 1:3-9) The genuineness of our faith is proven by our submission to his will when we are hard pressed. - That means that all our trials (“giants,” if you will) are OPPORTUNITIES for our faith to be proven and therefore for God to work in us to shape us into the image of his Son.
Character, depth of maturity, is critical to facing the fears and temptations in our lives with a heart that honors God. What’s the secret to strength under fire? Nearness to God.
David was far from being a fearless non-doubter. He was in fact a normal human that way. David could relate to the song of Asaph in Psalm 77. - Look at some of the first half of it. But there’s a turn in v. 10 and following, which rights the Psalmist’s spirits and restores his confidence in God. It is simply this: He remembers what he knows of God.

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