Welcome to Tel Azekah. Tel Azekah is one of the two major towns from the tribe of Judah that were towering right above the Valley of Elah. Elah is the terebinth. This is the tree we're sitting under right now. The terebinth tree and the Valley of Elah, the valley of the terebinth, is an interesting valley. The valley that comes all the way from the southeast, goes to the west, north, west, north and eventually continues to the Philistine city of Gath. And that, of course, brings us to our story of the Philistines coming to the land of Israel and how about David and Goliath and the entire nation of Israel was engaged in an ongoing battle with the Philistines. What I want to start with is the actual name “Philistine.” We first hear about them in Judges chapter 3: the five lords of the Philistines, who were also probably the five kings of the five cities that the Philistines took as they entered the land. We're talking about Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. And it's interesting because the Philistines never ever called themselves the original inhabitants of the land. They actually came from the Greek Isles. For them, coming over here is just as conquest as Alexander the Great’s conquests were or the Roman Empire later on was. They came to conquer land for the sake of food and for the sake of trade. They suffered from a terrible famine in their land and they were seeking an expansion again, like most countries in history. The expansion was mostly to gain wealth and strength and some political importance in the region. And so, we hear in the Book of Judges, in the very beginning about the five roads of the Philistines which means, that almost parallel to the entry of the people of Israel into the land from the east — crossing the river Jordan, entering all the way by taking Jericho — the Philistines enter the land from the west. So we're looking at a land inhabited by the seven gentile nations that were the original inhabitants of the land. Girgashite, Hittite, Jebusite, termites. All of those... all the -ites. And we are talking about two different nations, coming into the land almost simultaneously. One comes into the land led by the Lord God of Israel, based on a promise that He gave to their forefathers, and another is coming purely for financial gain. And by the way, their name testifies of their nature. The name “Philistine” means “the invader.” So we are looking at two different, so to speak, invasions, but one by the invaders and the other one by the people to whom the land was originally promised by the Lord God of Israel. And nothing here is black and white. It's not like the people of Israel were angels with wings and the Philistines were dragons with a fork. No. We are talking about groups of people. One led by God based on His promise, and one led by their flesh based on their greed. That's it. And we must understand, folks, that the entrance of the people of Israel into their land was not because of who they were at the time. We're not talking about saints here. God says to the people of Israel that He is about to bring them into their land and then He said, I'm going to do that: a) because of my promise to your fathers; b) because of the wickedness of the nations that are in this land. In other words, it's not about you. You're not that great. But I made a promise to your fathers and I can see the innocent blood and hear the crying of the innocent babies of the inhabitants of this land. The land of Israel was inhabited when it was called Canaan by the Canaanites. And we are talking about horrible practices that were done by the Canaanites. When I say practices, you must understand that when the whole world is terrified of what ISIS is doing right now and calls it a crime to behead, to rape, to human trafficking. This is a crime in modern society definitely, but a modern society based all of its understanding of what crime is on the 10 Commandments. And the 10 Commandments say, "Yet you shall not murder,” premeditate and kill someone, with the intention of killing him. While if you kill someone when you're defending yourself that's something else, that's killing, but to murder is forbidden. But guess what, locals here would take young babies, put them in a bowl, set a fire underneath, and burn them to death while the babies were crying. That is the worship of Molech and other deities that they were worship here. They would take young girls and rape them as an initiation process for the men. It wasn't a rape, it was a practice. That wasn't murdering of a baby for them it was a practice. So you're talking about hundreds of thousands of babies that are slaughtered. Sounds familiar? And you're talking about hundreds of thousands of young girls that are being raped or being introduced to the world and to the rules of the world by actually having to sacrifice their own virginity. Sounds familiar? And you can see that for God that was an abomination. Before God that had to be stopped. So when He brings the people of Israel into the land, He’s telling them, “Leave no one alive!” You're probably saying, “Wait a minute. This is a little bit awkward. How can you prefer one nation over the other?” No. God actually wanted to stop the killing. Sometimes in order for cancer not to continue, you have to amputate, you have to cut. And God is now allowing the children of Israel to go in and gives them that command, knowing that if they are not going to do that, the nations here will do that to them. God is interested in lifting up, raising up the bar, so people will understand that there are no many gods, there is only one God and His standards are much higher than what the practices in this country were at the time. So the children of Israel are entering the land of Israel with a great responsibility on their shoulders, but at the same time, another nation comes from the west and they are the invaders. Interestingly enough, those invaders bring with them some interesting technology that the Israelites didn't have. The Israelites were still living in the bronze era while the Philistines are bringing iron with them, and the technology of how to smelt iron. But before we talk about the iron smelting, before talking about that technology, I'd like to draw your attention to one of the dangers that the Lord God of Israel already could see that the children of Israel will encounter as they come into the land. One of the dangers was if you're not killing them, obviously, they will kill you. But killing you is not necessarily physically; it can be spiritually, it can be mentally. What we see today in the world is not all about physical killing. It's mental, and it's spiritual deception that leads to mental and spiritual death. And the children of Israel, if there was one thing that God told them to do, is do not try to be like all the others. When Balaam saw them, and when he was paid to curse them, but God told him not to. Balaam saw them, and he says, "I see a people standing alone, not reckoning themselves among the nations.” That’s what God called them to do and to be: not to reckon themselves among the nations, to stand alone. When you are a believer, you're not called to be like the world. “Do not conform to the world, but transformed.” “Be transformed” that means don't fall into the trap of the enemy of wanting to be like everybody else. And the children of Israel, one of the first thing they wanted is just to be like everybody else. You know, it takes a lot of energy to be all alone and all different. Sometimes when you see the spirit of the world and you see that the pleasures of the world and you see the habits of the world. Some girls want to be like Kardashians. It seems like the good life. Some want to be like rock stars. Some want to be like athletes. You know, I know some very very influential people. I'm telling you I would never ever want to live their lives. And I can tell you that one of the things that caused the people of Israel to be frustrated is the fact that they cannot see their God. If He is their King of kings and their Lord of lords, how come all the others can see their king and we cannot. We want a king of flesh and blood. We want those tabloids. We want to read about what's going on in the royal family. We want some gossip, some juicy one! We want Prince Harry and Prince William. My point is it's embedded in us. Unless we change the way we think, unless we have a new heart and the Spirit of God is in us, we will always crave and seek and really long to be like the world. In fact, one of the indications of your spiritual state is how much you're in love with the world and want to be like the world. The more you have the Holy Spirit in you, the closer you are to God, the less you want to be in the world and of the world. But the more you want to be in the world, of the world and part of the world — most likely the less spiritual you are. I know Christians that did very well financially in business, and I was riding in their car when they told me, “We are building a beautiful house right now, and I could really wait with the Lord’s coming back. I want to enjoy that house.” That's what they told me, and I sat there like, “What? You prefer this house over that which the Lord is preparing for you?” “Oh, yeah.” And they said that. So the children of Israel want a king of flesh and blood, and they come to Samuel and say, "Samuel, your two kids are quite corrupt," and they're starting coming with all the excuses, "and we want a king of flesh and blood, you're nice, but we really prefer something else." So chapter 8 of First Samuel they come to Samuel and in verse 20, "We want a king of flesh and blood, that we also may be like all the nations." They literally admit that they want to be like all the nations. The same nations that God told them to get rid of, now become their role model, and they want to be like all the nations. Samuel was so depressed he comes to God and says, “God, what’s wrong with me? Why can’t...” And God says, "Hello, Samuel? That's not about you, it's about me. I give them women, children, horses, food, and they want to elect a king that will take their women, their children, their horses and their food. How about that, Samuel?" Samuel is very depressed. And it's interesting in chapter 9 verse 2 we see the qualifications by which they elected their new king, King Saul. The Bible says, “There was no more handsome than he among the children of Israel. From his shoulders upwards he was taller than any of the people.” Ha. Wow! What a great king! The only thing we know about him is that he's handsome and tall. Now, you know, I don't mind being handsome and tall. But is that the qualification that a nation needs in order to have a good leader? His appearance? Why is it that we choose leaders that must look good? Why is it that it even plays any role? You know, I'm looking at our first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. Tiny guy without almost any hair, only a little bit on the sides. He speaks in a very funny way, but man oh man, thank God he was our leader at that time. I want to tell you that there was not much in that king, called Saul. I bet he looked good, but that's where it stopped. Saul was a picture of so many of us. Because if you really think about it, he really tried to do the right things. He was religious when he had to be religious. He was angry, when he had to be angry. He did, so to speak, things by the book, but his heart was somewhere else. You know, people try to measure others by how much they have sinned. "Oh, your sin much bigger than mine. Next to you, I feel like a saint." You know, if you really think about what Saul did versus what David did in their lives when it comes to sin. David should have been the last person God would ever choose, yet isn't that interesting that we see something completely different here. In First Samuel 14:52, we see that the war with the Philistines had begun. And King Saul wasn't really relying on God and God's help. What was he doing? The Bible says that King Saul saw any strongman or any valiant man and took them. He relied on what? On the strength of the soldiers and the bravery of their heart, not on God. In fact, he was so insecure he was so detached from God's voice, and God's plan, and God's presence, that all he had to do is get as many soldiers as possible, and they better be the strongest and bravest because that's who I'm going to lean on. Interesting how David himself writes in Psalm 20:7, "Some trust in chariots and some trust in horses, but we will trust in the name of the Lord." You see, in that verse alone, you can see the difference within the heart of the two people. Someone trusts in this might of man and someone trusts in the Lord himself. I know so many people that really truly call themselves Christians. But every time there's a situation in their lives, instead of trusting the Lord, they trust their wealth. They trust their friends and they trust that the pastor would give them the right advice. And they don't bother really nourishing their own personal relationship where they can really listen to the voice of God through his Holy Spirit. And probably I know more Christians like that than Christians that are listening to God. And it's only tough situations that really test us in this matter. And come on, Saul was the king of Israel, he should have an army, he should have strong people. There's nothing wrong with it, but that's where his heart was. God was not even in the picture. People write to me: "Give me advice about this. Give me advice about that." "I don't mind, but have you asked God? Are you praying? Are you in the Word?" "Well, I'm confused. This guy wants me and that guy wants me, and who should I..." You better listen to God. No one can give you the right advice. How can we know God's will, unless we spend time with Him? And so here we are. We're coming to the point where in First Samuel chapter 15, throughout the battles, we can clearly see how Saul is really trying to do the right thing, yet he's always doing the wrong thing. And what's missing in his life is that connection with God. He was waiting and waiting for Samuel to come and offer the offering to God after the victory, and Samuel didn't come. So what did he do? He himself sacrificed it. And it's interesting, Samuel said in verse 22, "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king." And all you can accuse Saul of doing is for giving that sacrifice himself instead of waiting for Samuel to do it. But you see, God could already see the heart of Saul: a heart of pride, arrogance, a heart of disobedience. We learned that yesterday when we were in Joppa. But more so, we can see here someone who is acting religious. "We need to sacrifice and if he is not here, I will sacrifice." Interesting, isn't it? That's all he did. And that was enough is enough for God. Your heart is not in the right place. Your mind is not in the right place. I never chose you to begin with, and if anything, I have a completely different set of standards than the rest of the nation. And so that's why we're introducing chapter 16, "Now the Lord said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons." Isn't that interesting? God is not depressed, Samuel is depressed. You see, we think that all that is going on in the world, God is sitting there and is depressed with us. And He's weeping and crying. No. God has His plan. And Samuel was depressed. Yes, I can understand why. Because, look. It is Samuel, Samuel who anointed that man. Can you imagine the feeling of the prophet that came all the way with oil and anointed the wrong man? He must be feeling horrible and that's why. And God says, "Get over it. I'm sending you now to the right guy. Put some oil. Let's go!" And Samuel goes and he comes all the way to Jesse, and in verse four it says, "So Samuel did what the Lord said, and went to Bethlehem." The house of bread. Interesting how Bethlehem produced the people that God wanted not men. And it's interesting, "And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, ‘Do you come peaceably?’ You know, I guess Samuel didn't have the best reputation in the world after his poor choice with Saul. And now he is coming over there and God knows what's going to happen. And yes, “‘I have come peaceably, and I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. And sanctify yourself and come with me to the sacrifice.' And then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. So it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab and he said, 'Surely, the Lord's anointed is before Him!’” You see, Samuel already thinks the way the people think. And look at what God answers in verse seven, which is, probably, the punchline of this whole thing. "The Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at the physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’” Every time I'm on a diet, I have to remind myself, you know, it's not the outward appearance that God is looking for. It's the heart. And what good will that give to any man to look great, and yet have the wrong heart? And so now we see that God is looking for someone else, and it's not about his height; it's not about his looks. It's not about his muscles; it's not about his fitness. It's about his heart. And so when David is anointed right here. And in verse 12 we see, "with bright eyes and good-looking. And the Lord said, ‘Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!’” Samuel didn’t even, you know "Samuel took the horn of the oil and anointed him in the midst of the brothers, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.” Isn't that interesting? "Came upon David, Spirit of the Lord." Not often in the Old Testament, you see that the Holy Spirit is descending and resting on someone just like now. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and "Samuel arose and went to Ramah." And you can clearly see David is now the right person. David was standing, he was playing, if you remember, the harp before Saul, but Saul didn't even look at him. And then chapter 17 comes. And this is exactly why we are here. We're here right next to this valley because the ongoing war of the Israelites with the Philistines had to come to an end with a very decisive result. "Let's decide once and for all who wins! How do we do that? Sort of a gladiator fight. We send our person, you send yours. They fight at our sight and whoever wins will enslave the other party." The Bible says that the Philistines who originally were in the south of western part of the country, we're talking about the coast of Israel. This is where Gaza, Ashdod, and Ashkelon are up until today. As well as a little bit inland, we're talking about Ekron and Gath. They were over there. And the Bible says that they proceeded inland all the way to the territory of the tribe of Judah. And they took over this city Azekah, as well as another city right across called Socoh which belongs to Judah, the Bible says. And they took over for a reason. The battlefield, ladies and gentlemen, is about to be that valley in between where we are and where the far hill is. I'm talking about the hill, not the high mountains far away. And it's interesting because the Bible talks about something very unique that happened here prior to the war. At the end of chapter 13 in verse 19, "Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, ‘Lest the Hebrews make swords or spears.’ But all the Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen each man's plowshare, his mattock, his ax, and his sickle; and the charge for a sharpening was a pim for the plowshares, the mattocks, the forks, and the axes, and to set the points of the goads. So it came about, on the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people of Israel who were with Saul and Jonathan. But they were found with Saul and Jonathan his son." So we can clearly see, that one of the reasons the Philistines were so much into controlling the people of Israel when it comes to supplying them some agricultural equipment, was so they will make sure that they're not making weapons of war. And what did the Philistines do? Very smart. They ran a list, a detailed list of who owns what. Now what happens to iron after a while? It gets dull. And what sharpens iron? Iron. And therefore, the people of Israel —just like when you buy an Apple device, you’re totally in their hands, and you need to buy their accessories, that's it. You are hooked. Not that I say that Apple is the Philistines. I'm trying to tell you that when you enter into that realm of making business with something that is unique at the time. That's it. They're the only ones who can provide service. And now the children of Israel enjoyed great equipment that did a much better job that the bronze ones, but every few months they had to go down sharpen their iron and pay for it. So the Philistines saw, "Wow, we can make the good money from these people." And it's interesting because you couldn't really bring something you never purchased from them. They had a list of who owns what, and you could only show up with that which they had registered that you own. So if you didn't show up for two years, that means you probably either sold it to someone else or you've made something else out of it. Therefore only two people that could have a sword were the king and his son, that's it. Wow. That's not a great way to start a war when you know that there's only two people in your whole army that have some great weapon. Now it's interesting, because when in First Samuel 17, we're introduced to the Valley. The Bible says “Ephes Dammim” —they managed to get right here. The Philistines were on this side of the valley and the Israelites were on these hills right here, which was on the other side of the valley, and the valley was running in between. And it's interesting because “Ephes Dammim” comes from the Hebrew word "to collect funds, to collect fees." The place of the collection of the fees most likely from that which we hear at the end of chapter 13. So now the children of Israel are sending their army and they're right here on these hills. The Philistines took over Sokoh and Azekah, and they are looking at the valley. And the Philistines are sending their gladiator, their giant. His name was Goliath. We're talking about a big man, such a big man that his armor altogether was a hundred pounds. 50 kilograms, more than a hundred pounds. We're talking about both the armor and the sword. I'm not even mentioning the actual shield that was not even carried by him, but by his servant, who was the shield bearer, who walked before him. And the guy not only was a big man but he had a big mouth. And most likely a very loud voice, and he would go to the valley every morning and probably a couple times a day, and he would just scream, and blaspheme God, and blaspheme the people. And I guess the appearance of the man, the voice and the content of what he said caused all of them to tremble and to fear. You know, David was never a fearful man. Fear is not something that he had. I mean he was afraid from time to time when the enemy tried to get him, but we know that David as a young boy was a very, very courageous boy. And we know that he killed a lion, that he killed a bear. And we know exactly what happened. Oh my! But I want you to know that we can clearly see in Psalm 53, that we can clearly see in Psalm 53, "Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon God? There they are in great fear where no fear was, for God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you; you have put them to shame, because God has despised them. And I want you to know that the children of Israel instead of having their enemies fear, they were afraid. That was their biggest downfall, that which was supposed to be the portion of their enemy was actually theirs. According to the Word of God, anyone that comes against Israel should be afraid. Yet who was afraid here? The people of Israel. Probably, they really conformed to the world that much. And it's interesting because David is now coming all the way with food for his brothers, he is running on the hills all the way. Bethlehem is a city about 20 miles up the mountains over there. So the guy was making a good jog coming all the way down here with some food, some cheeses, some bread for his brothers. Now, it's not someone who was liked by his brothers, it's someone who was ridiculed by his brothers. Beyond ridiculed, a shepherd in those days was the lowest of the lowest. People didn't want to hang around a shepherd, a) because they stunk. They're with the sheep all day long. Shepherds and sheep were not even allowed in the city because of that. But they were so despised by the people that a shepherd's testimony could not ever stand alone in court. So they don't take you seriously, they don't like your presence around. You're the lowest of the lowest. And David left the sheep with his father Jesse, he came all the way down here by the command of his father Jesse. David, by the way, is, for the most part, a very obedient person and loyal. So he comes all the way here and he brings food, and his brothers aren't that happy. Why? Because David was shocked. How in the world can you let someone talk like that about you, and about your God. David, remember, two chapters before, the Spirit of God descended on David. When the Spirit of God is on you, you cannot hear blasphemy, the ridiculing of God and God's people without either getting angry or least not agreeing with it. You cannot see unrighteousness being accepted and practiced. The Spirit of God will really tell you something is wrong. One of the biggest problems of the church today, for the most part, is the lack of the Holy Spirit. I will be honest with you. When I hear on certain platforms either apathy or actually encourage to choose a political platform, social platform, financial platform and mostly, mostly religious, a spiritual platform that is so anti-God. And to encourage that — that has to be the lack of the Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit upon you, and in you, and through you can never, ever contradict the Spirit of God. This is the Spirit of God. And so the people here did not have the Holy Spirit, that was obvious. But the one that had it could not stand what he was seeing and hearing. That's us today. If you are apathetic to what is going on in the world and you are indifferent to the horrific reality that we have both in America and Europe and other parts of the world, then something is wrong. And so here David is not willing to take that, and he’s willing to actually go and fight. Of all the people of Israel! Remember Saul always gathered the bravest and the strongest people in the nation. He did not come here with a bunch of wimps. He came here with brave soldiers, and none of them was willing to fight Goliath. None of them had the courage and the guts to do anything. And David a little boy who just left his sheep and goats, and ran for about 20 miles, and came all the way, and was so happy, was ridiculed by his brothers that he's prideful and arrogant. See, they told him. I can tell you one thing, you will always be accused by the world of doing the wrong things. They will always tell you that you are the wrong person, that you are the radical, that you are the arrogant, that you are the revolutionist, that you are the problem of the world. David is coming, and he’s the only one was willing to fight Goliath, yet he is the one at which the brothers of David show their anger, not Goliath. They are afraid of Goliath, which they shouldn't be, and they are angry with David. The people of the world today are afraid of evil and afraid of all the evil manifestations, yet, who do they accuse and who are they against? The people of God. And so David decides, "I'll do it. I will fight." David goes and Saul, of course, doesn't remember that this is the same guy who played the violin or the harp. This is the same boy that when I was down, he played the harp and I felt great. He couldn't even recognize him. David shows up and they're "Okay, well, let's prepare you. So that's how you need to do it. You need to say these things, and you need to do these things." Again the Holy Spirit has no room here. "We will give you the sword and then the shield, and everything." You know, today people come and give messages that are so uninspired because they don't let the Holy Spirit speak. "We’ll do things the right way. Let me teach you how to do things. I'll teach you how to give a message." And David couldn't move in that big heavy shield. First of all, David is a short guy and we know that Saul was very tall and handsome but tall. Obviously, the shield and armor are not for him. But I would tell the truth, even if the armor was to fit him, he wouldn't feel comfortable. Because that's not David. You see, when you have the Holy Spirit in you, upon you and the Lord gives you such freedom, and such courage, and such boldness that can never be for sure anything you had before, anything you were born with. And so David is now deciding, "Okay, I can't use this. I'll do it my way." And David is running from these hills down to the creek bed. A creek bed that up until today, as you can see, has smooth stones, because when the fain falls waters flow here, and they do their work on these stones. Until today 3,000 years later the stones are still there and they are still smooth. And David collects five stones. Well, I heard so many sermons about why five. Why do we even deal with that so much. So, five! Taught the five giants and the five cities, and the five days and it says five times this... Guys, calm down. He picked up five, yes. But he needed one. Yes. And when he was shooting that stone with that sling, he was doing that with the faith that even with one he can win. It's not like he shot one and immediately put the second one, and the third one. One was enough and that one was going all the way from where he stood to the middle of that valley with that brown area, and it landed, the Bible says, right on the forehead of Goliath. The only place that was not covered with all the armor that he had on him is right where the stone hit. That came as a surprise. First of all, Goliath was very angry that David is not coming with a real weapon. How does that look that that big man is with a big shield, and a shield bearer, and the armor, and the whole extra hundred pounds and there is a little boy running towards him, with no armor and there is no sword, and there is nothing. And all he does is collecting stones. "Am I a dog?" I mean, you throw rocks at dogs, not at people. "Would you expect me to fight like that?" Yes. And for one second David did not think in his heart that he is going to lose. For one second David did not think in his heart that it's a lost battle. I’m going to tell you something, guys. One of the things that frightens me the most is the spirit of defeat amongst Christians, when we are more than conquerors. It frightens me. And you can clearly see that when David was coming all the way in verse 45. David says to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, 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. The Lord is my shield. The Lord is my rock, the Lord is my deliverer. He's my tower. He's my stronghold. David wrote all of these things in the Book of Psalms with great experience. The Lord was his shield in the battlefield. You know, we love to sing that. We raise our hands. He had it. And it's interesting, he was even prophesying. David kind of had a prophetic moment here. David said, “This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand and I will strike you and take your head from you.” You know, most people think that the stone killed Goliath. No. The stone knocked him down but it wasn't the stone that killed Goliath. It was David's using Goliath's sword to cut off Goliath's head that killed Goliath. Let me elaborate on it for a second. It is David's using Goliath’s sword to cut off Goliath’s head that killed Goliath. Oh, I’m going to stop sinning tomorrow. So, I'm going to reduce my Internet consumption. Guys, it is not the stone. It is the cutting off of the head. You cannot defeat the Goliaths of your life just by knocking them down. You need to cut their head off. You need to. If you want a great victory, it's not enough to go almost all the way. Because, trust me, if it was only the stone and Goliath wouldn't be dead, the children of Israel wouldn't be declaring any victory. It was the cutting off of the head of Goliath. And by the way, it wasn't this, the excitement of the moment. David knew what he's about to do. David said, “I'm going to cut off your head.” Because David knew, “Unless I do that, there is no victory.” In those days unless you killed the king of your enemy, you could not declare a victory. This is why if you remember Gideon had to chase the two kings of the Midianites all the way, almost a hundred miles. Until he got them and kill them, and then victory was declared. So here, if Goliath wouldn’t be dead, there was no victory. And right here the victory was achieved because right here David went all the way, to the very end. And Goliath died and David is lifting up Goliath's head, and literally, he's actually showing the head. Not to the people of Israel. They’re right there. It's to the outpost of the Philistines here and to the outpost of the Philistines on the other side, “Look! I’ve got your giant’s head in my hands. And the body is here." That is when the Philistines here ran away. And we know that the people of Israel chased them all the way. Now the Philistines were running all over. But what I want you to understand here, is that the role of the Holy Spirit and the humility of David. David did not collect, you know, strong people. David did not try to make him look good. David did not try to do things the world's way with the armor, and David was doing the things God's way. And it's interesting because David wasn't perfect. None of us is perfect. You know I think about it. The Spirit of God came upon David and from here on he was yet persecuted, but later on, David eventually became the king of Israel. And God sent material, and people, and masons to build David a beautiful palace, he did not have to pay for it. Didn’t have to move a finger. And when he was at the height of his success, the height of his career. Finally, he is not running away from anyone. Finally, he has a capital, he united the whole kingdom of Israel. He’s standing, and he’s looking down from his palace. This is where sin got him. We can be at the height of our success, it doesn’t mean we're immune. And it wasn't just a sin. David could've denied. I mean he did a horrible thing if you really think about it. But once confronted by Nathan the prophet, regarding Bathsheba and regarding her husband, David immediately responded in the most spiritual way you would expect from someone who is Spirit led. And that is, "I have sinned before the Lord." There’s always two types of responses when you're being confronted with sin. If you are a spiritual person, you will immediately repent. If you're not, you will immediately deny and become violent. And I want you to know that there was one thing that David was afraid that the Spirit of God would be taken from him. And if it is one thing we should be afraid of, it is not if we sinned or not because I don't believe any of us is perfect, but it's what is it that we do, when we fall. Do we understand the importance of us confessing our sins to one another, purifying ourselves with the blood of Christ, and not really making the Holy Spirit sad? And moving forward. See, I don't believe, and Paul made it clear, I don't believe there is a single person in the world that ever since he became a believer he never sinned even once. But I believe that what God is looking for, is not if you are a perfect man or not. He is looking at how you respond. The devil is there like a lion roaring, moving from one side to another, looking who can he devour. This is how we are in our lives. If we fall, we have to stand up, we have to confess, we have to repent, we have to move forward. I don’t think you have an option. And David himself came clean before God, and he said the following thing in verse 12 in Psalm 51, "Restore to me the joy of your salvation.” But before that even in verse 10, “Create in me a clean heart, o God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me." This one thing, I cannot live without your Holy Spirit. I cannot even see myself without your presence. And David says it's not about giving sacrifices and it's not about anything. The big sacrifice, verse 17 “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit and a broken
and contrite heart. These, O God, you will not despise." That's what God wants from all of us. And only "then you shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, and with burnt offerings, and whole burnt offerings, then they shall offer bulls on your altar." David is a king after God's heart because David wanted to be in God's presence. David wanted to stay having God's Spirit. And David understood what others don't. In Psalm 52 David says, verse seven. "Here is the man who did not make God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness." But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. I will praise You forever because You have done it; and in the presence of Your saints, I will wait on Your name, for it is good. And so, this is the heart of a king that God wants. This is the heart of a man and a woman that God wants. Who do you trust? Where are you in your life right now? Even when troubles come, trials, tests, will you trust the Lord forever and ever or are you conditioning your trust with the results? David said, "I would trust the Lord forever." He will trust his grace and mercies. David didn't even see Jesus. How much more we who freely received the grace of God, and the gift of eternal life should even more so. We who received the new heart. We who received and are sealed in the Holy Spirit, should walk in his ways, trust in his Word, long for his presence. And never ever judge anything by circumstances. And I will trust in the Lord forever and ever. Amen.
