Courage to Face Impossible Situations

Introduction

Good evening. I hope you have the Heavenly Library with you. Let me invite you to take down the book of 1 Samuel and go to 1 Samuel chapter 17. 1 Samuel chapter 17. I’m going to assume some of you have possibly heard this story before. Who has heard the story of David and Goliath? Yeah. It’s one of those stories. Then even if you’re not in church, you find people who know the story. It sometimes is kind of referred to as one of those timeless classics. Well, like all parents, I was teaching this story to my children. I can’t remember if it was a VBS we were doing, but we were sitting around talking about it, and I was expounding, like you know, a preacher does, even at home and talking about the size of Goliath and how big he was, how mean he was, how ugly he was.

I know the text doesn’t say he was ugly. But I’m gonna tell you, he was not a good looking guy that looked like Steve Carell. I can tell you that right now. He was ugly, all right. And so I’m expounding and sharing the story, and I turned to my kids who were very small at that time, and I said, What’s some application? What’s some things that we can take home and apply it to our lives from this great story? And they both just kind of looked at me. And I’m like, anything? And my daughter, who is very astute, kind of the smart one, you know how girls are, they’re smart. She goes, Dad, I’m not sure that this is really one of those stories that is very applicable to us.

Because when am I gonna run into a giant? And when she said that, I couldn’t help but think, you know she’s right. She’s right. When was the last time you ran into somebody who was nine foot nine? Now, I know for most of you who may have the vertical challenges I do, most people seem that size to you, but really, 9’9 carrying around a javelin that weighs anywhere from 140 to maybe 180 pounds, and he’s carrying armor that in and of itself is just enormous. When are you going to run into a giant like that? What’s the point of the story? Thinking quickly, as sometimes our children make us do. I begin to look at the story a little closer. And what I want us to do tonight is to take the time to look at this story a little closer.

I know that you know the story, and I know that you know how it ends. It ends with David winning, right? It ends with the giant falling, right? Just like it is in the song. But yet, when you consider this story, the story is more than just a young boy and a big giant. In 1 Samuel chapter 17 and in verse 24, we have a little insight into the world in which David lived. We know when we look around us, and especially those of you that are about my age or maybe even a little bit older, you know, things have changed, haven’t they? And sometimes we look at the world around us and we say, Willie, just can’t get any worse than this, can it? 1 Samuel chapter 17, verse 24.

And all the men of Israel when they saw the man, that is Goliath, fled from him, and were very much afraid. All of us, if we’re really honest, have some elements of this life that truly scare us. Maybe it’s our family and the challenges that we’re dealing with family. In fact, most of us have probably got challenges within our family that we feel like, how do I deal with this? How do I hope to change this? How do I go on from this? Most of us can probably look at the government and the world in which we live and be very concerned about the direction of our nation. Many of us can look around about us and be concerned just simply about security and the safety for ourselves and especially for our families and children.

We can sometimes look even at our pocketbooks and be scared of what is not there and have a fear of monetary and financial problems, or maybe it’s loneliness. Maybe even in a world in which there are billions of people living, we feel alone. We feel like we do not have a place, or maybe we’re actually feeling like David did. That life is really not giving us many options. I want you to consider all those fears for just a moment as we look at this story and bear in mind what David had to deal with before he ever stood in front of Goliath. Family problems. His own brothers were calling him a coward and making fun of him and were accusing him of not taking care of the family’s business and leaving the sheep without a shepherd.

The government in which he lived was a government that was so much in an abysmal state that the king himself, the man who was really head and shoulders above everyone else, the one who really should have been on the battlefield, was actually hiding with all the rest. Security? Consider the security again of verse 24. All the men, all the soldiers, all those who had been commissioned and taken an oath to protect were hiding. And talk about money problems. What happens if the Philistines win? It’s not just a crash of the stock market. What generally happened when a nation took over another nation, the citizens of the defeated nation become slaves? And talk about loneliness. The entire army, the entire representation of those who should have been of sound mind, the leadership of the nation are all gathered in the valley, and the only person who had a dissenting voice was a young man who had to stand up against family, against king, against nation, and say, I think there’s another way.

And you talk about a lack of options. What are your options? You either fight or you lose everything. Did you ever think about all that? When you started singing the story of only a little boy David and only a babbling brook.

Ron Howard, Opie. I got to talk to Opie. But oh, how I would love to have had the opportunity to interview David. And I know I would probably say when any of us would want to say, or any other reporter would say to him, Oh, what was it like? What was it like to go up against that big ugly giant? What were you feeling? What was going on in your mind? Were you scared? Were your knees knocking together? What were you thinking? And you know what I think David would say? Goliath was nothing.

1. The Giants I Had to Face Before Goliath

But the giants I had to face before Goliath were the giants that were hardest to defeat. I want you to consider, and certainly when we look at this story, we may think to ourselves, well, when am I going to face the giant? I want you to consider that there are many giants in this story in this story, and there’s many giants in every single one of us, regardless of our age, and regardless of where we are in our life. These are giants that we’re going to face, if not on a weekly basis, but maybe even a daily basis. Notice verses 8 through 10. Here’s the first giant that David had to deal with when he walked out into that valley when he went to seek out his brothers.

Notice in verses 8 through 10 of 1 Samuel 17, it speaks of the words coming from the mouth of Goliath. And he stood and he shouted to the ranks of Israel, Why have you come out to draw for battle? Am I not a Philistine? And are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves. Let him come down to me. If he’s able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants. And the Philistine said, I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Here’s the first giant David had to face. And it’s a giant you and I face every day. It’s the giant of a fake message.

You ever heard fake news? Here’s your fake news. Here’s your first fake news. Listen to what he’s saying. I defy you as a people. More importantly, I defy your God. Notice he said, you’re not the servants of Jehovah, you’re the servants of Saul. He doesn’t even acknowledge God. He doesn’t even speak to Jehovah. In fact, he says, here’s what life is all about. Life is all about whoever has the biggest muscles or the biggest sword. Life is about who can win this battle, and I defy any man. I want all of the teenagers to listen to me for a second. You are being bombarded with fake news.

But it’s a message that you need to be mindful of is out there, and that is there are many who are saying things that are just not true. For example, some of these may be said of some as being oxymorons. In other words, they’re impossible to put together. A pure teenager. Impossible. Not gonna happen. In fact, everybody’s doing it. Why would you not expect? Or an ethical reporter. Can that really go together? How about an honest lawyer? How about there really is a God, and he is in control of all things. We live in a world that is bombarding us with what is fake. And I’m not even just talking about what you’re hearing from politicians or what we get in. We all get all caught up in that.

And clearly I think we can see and understand there’s a lot of misinformation out there. But there’s a lot that’s hitting our ears, and especially the young ears. That just isn’t true. And the very first weapon that Goliath used was a weapon of the message. So David had to fight through the message. Notice verses 24 to 25. Here was the second fall fake, if you will, giant that he had to deal with. It went beyond fake news. Notice in verse 24, and all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, they fled from him, and they were very much afraid. And the men of Israel said, Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. Here’s the second thing that you see that is a huge giant.

It is the giant of tolerance. Tolerance. Have you seen this guy? You can’t beat him. So what’s our solution? Nothing. We’re just gonna do nothing about it. We’re just gonna let it persist. We’re just gonna let it go on. I tell you, our world is a little nuts right now. Can we all agree with that? Can we agree with that? You know, when I was growing up, I am so old. I am so old. When I was growing up, they taught us in school that there were only two genders. That’s how old I am. What’s that is that’s funny to us now? I’m sitting down with kids at camp, and this is one of our lessons every year at camp. Be careful of what you’re hearing.

And I know that in your schools, and I know that in our neighborhoods, and I know that in our society, there are many who are struggling greatly with their identity, and my heart breaks for them, and I long to hug them and help them and encourage them and give them some security. But there are not 64 different genders. For in the beginning, God created them, male and female. And what we see and understand in Scripture is that Scripture tells us exactly what is true. But one of the greatest dangers of our society is that we become a society that is tolerant even to a fault when madness prevails. Again, don’t misunderstand me. I have a huge heart, and I reach out to every kid that I know that is struggling, and I want them to know that there is a safe place for them to come and talk, and we need to get together and talk.

But brethren, we need to have the courage to be able to stand up and say, this is madness. And we need to have the courage to do it with love. Because one of the ways that Satan defeats us is when we choose to do nothing. Don’t complain that nobody can be taught the gospel anymore. Don’t complain that the word is not sinking in the hearts. When you’re doing nothing.

In fact, you read on and you find the next giant. And it says, and the king, notice, here’s what they were saying, even while they were hiding. And the king will enrich the man who kills him. And with great riches he will give him even his daughter, and he will make his father’s house free in Israel. In other words, they won’t even have to pay taxes anymore. And then David in verse 26 said to the men who stood by him, Well, what shall be done then? What shall be done for the one who kills the Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel for this uncircumcised Philistine that he should actually defy us? And the people said in the same way, it shall be done to him to the man who kills him.

Here’s what I want you to grasp and see was the next giant that David had to battle. It was a giant of instant gratification.

King Saul offered his daughter.

I don’t know if that’s an indictment on her or what. But even setting that aside, riches, prosperity, no taxes.

And even with those great rewards offered to them, they said, no, I’m more comfortable hiding. There’s a giant of instant gratification that is a great enemy to us all. Because one of the easiest things that we can fall victim of is a failure to be challenged. A failure to do what is hard. Anybody here a Harry Potter fan? Is that a curiosity? Dumbledore. I’ll just go ahead and tell you, there’s some movies you just don’t want to watch with me, and you can kind of keep my kids in prayer because every, even now when they watch a movie with me, I’m one of those dads, if I’ve got the control, I can stop it. Did you hear that? That was a great line. That was a great line.

Let’s go back and let’s do it again. One of the moments during the movie in Harry Potter, it’s Dumbledore who pulls Harry aside and says, the time will come when we will have to choose to do what is easy or what is right. Choosing what is right sometimes appears hard. Because in the moment it is. But I want you to remember, ladies and gentlemen, that when our Lord Jesus speaks to us, he speaks to us while encouraging us to keep our eyes focused on rewards to come, not the here and now. And the giant that David had to deal with was the giant that had already consumed all of his brothers and everyone else in the land. They would rather enjoy instant gratification, even if it means comfort, even if it means sliding in a hole than having the courage to go out and deal with a problem, even though greater riches were offered.

Parents, one of the worst things that you can do for your kids is make their lives too easy. One of the worst things that we can do for them, forgive me for this, sorry, is give you everything that you want. Because it only teaches laziness. And instant gratification rarely gratifies. Even to the church in Smyrna in Revelation 2 and in verse 10, the church that was being persecuted for their faith, our Lord Jesus said, Be faithful unto death, and I’ll give you a crown of life. Who is looking to the greater reward? And then in verses 28 and 29, there was one more giant that David had to face before he even stood in front of Goliath. And it was the giant of fear or self-doubt.

Notice in verse 28, and Eliab, his eldest brother, heard him when he spoke to the men, and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David. And he said, Why did you come down here? With whom have you left the few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption. And listen to what his brother says to him. I know the evil of your heart. For you’ve come down just to see the battle. And David said, What have I done now? Was it not but a word? And he turned away from him toward another. And he spoke in the same way. And the people answered him again as they did before.

Is the giant of self-doubt. No one’s ever slain a Goliath before. No one has ever stood up to him. There is always the I can’t. It’s hopeless. It’s never been done before. It’s never been this bad. But Goliath is not going to change. The question is, will David? And I want you to notice in verses 34 to 37, what David actually remembers are the small victories. Granted, they were not Goliath. But they were the smaller victories in which the Lord provided what he needed to defeat the lion, to defeat the bear, to be able to protect those that were helpless and in need. How does this story apply to me? When am I going to run into a giant? The fact of the matter is, we run into these giants every single day.

And think about it. What is the impossible that seems to be looking down upon you? And what are you going to do as a believer in the Lord when it comes to standing up against this giant? The word anxiety is really an interesting word when you dig into it. The word anxiety actually means to give thought or to give great care. In fact, often when you think of the idea of anxious or anxiety, we think of someone who is maybe consumed by trepidation, somebody who is consumed with a fear, but in reality, the fear and the trepidation is only there because of the thoughts, because of what’s in the mind. And granted, in the life that we live and the challenges that we deal with, there is a lot that can be thrust into our mind.

What I want you and I to do now is not to just think of a young boy who is standing on this battlefield up against a big ugly giant who is towering over him. I want you to think of yourself in whatever may appear to be towering over you. Whatever may be looking you directly into the face and into the heart at this moment, whatever is in your life that for some reason, some way seems to be impossible to defeat. I tell you, one of the biggest challenges I think all of us endure when we’re striving to do what the Lord wants us to do is simply to be faithful in an unfaithful world. That’s hard. Or maybe it’s as a parent to rear children in an ungodly world.

That’s hard. To have a sin that is plaguing us and maybe is consumed us. And we’re wondering, how can we move on? That’s hard. All of us have impossible to defeat.

For I want you to listen to what David said when he finally took his place out on that field. When it was no longer the battle against his brothers or the battle against the king, or the battle against the fake news, or the self doubt, or the tolerance of others. When he finally got to Goliath, 1 Samuel chapter 17, verses 44 and following. The Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beast of the field. Then David said to the Philistine, 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, this day, Jehovah 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, and all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that Jehovah saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is Jehovah’s, and he will give you in to my hand. That is a great speech, isn’t it? Now you know how the story ends. But here’s what I want you and I to grasp, and I want you to listen to exactly what David is saying, and I want you to grasp and understand that yes, David had a Goliath, a nine foot, nine inch, maybe even taller man standing in front of him.

2. Focus on the Lord's Message

But you and I have our impossibles, and I want you to listen to where David put his focus. For his focus was not on the fear, his focus was not on the foe, his focus was not on the giant. His focus was on the Lord. And here’s your first take home when you and I focus on the Lord. Have you ever thought about what does that mean? What does it mean to really put God first? What does it mean to be somebody who is really focused on Jehovah and Jehovah directs their life? Here’s the answer. Number one, you focus on the Lord’s message. I want you to grasp and understand that when David said that this assembly may know, he wasn’t just looking at the Philistines.

He probably went that everybody will know, even all these guys hiding behind me will know. That the Lord God has said to each and every one of us, I will never leave you nor forsake you. I want you to hold your place right here, and I want you and I to go listen to exactly what our Lord tells us. I want you to go to the Sermon on the Mount, and I want you to go to Matthew chapter 6. All right. Matthew chapter 6. In the very center of what would be the manifesto of our Lord’s kingdom, a kingdom of heaven. Our Lord Jesus focuses on our anxieties. And here’s exactly what he says to us. And I’ll begin reading, if you’ll allow me in verse 25.

Therefore, I tell you, I tell you, the people who follow me, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow, nor they reap, nor they gather into their bars. Yet your Heavenly Father, He feeds them. Are you of not more value than they? And which of you, which of you by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life? And how? How many of you are anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor they spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

But if God so clothes the grass of the field which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you? Oh, you of little faith. Therefore, do not be anxious. Saying, What do we eat? What do we drink? What do we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. I want you to notice something here when you look at this. There’s two ways to kind of looking at this passage.

First of all, there is the very, let’s just say it like this. There is the very worldly focus way. And here’s what I mean by that. Jesus says, if you put God first, then you’re not going to have to worry about any of these things. In fact, they’re all going to be given to you. Oh, great. Because I was really wondering if I was going to get these big possessions. If I just follow God, I get the big possessions. It’s not what he said. In fact, if we think that our Lord is promising us in these passages material prosperity, if he is promising us great riches and wealth, then we’ve totally missed the point because what he actually said in the preceding verses, if you go back to verse 19, he said, don’t lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.

And then if you go back to the very beginning of the sermon and you look at the Beatitudes, he applauds those who are poor in spirit, those who are mourning, those who are meek, those who are hungry, those who are being persecuted. What our Lord is actually telling us, if we’ll put him first, the anxieties of these worlds, the challenges that every man seems to be overwhelmed with will not be your worries. Because your mind is on something else. Some of your translations may have said something about worrying about adding a cubic to your height. It doesn’t work. Trust me. It doesn’t work. I was laughing with the Harkwriter, so I was so excited to hang out with them and all their boys. You know, they got three boys.

It’s fun around their house. I don’t mind telling you. And they wrestle. Yes. I used to wrestle. In fact, when I was in high school, my sophomore year, I went undefeated. I didn’t lose one match. Because there wasn’t another boy in the entire county in my weight class. Kid you not. The coach would march me out and say, anybody else under 95 pounds? Nope. Winner. It just didn’t feel the same. I don’t mind telling you. It didn’t feel the same. But looking back on that now, I knew that anxiety.

Our kids have anxieties. And they’re real. Don’t minimize them. But help them by being transparent with your anxieties. And one of the best ways that we can teach one another how to focus on the Lord’s message is to be honest when we are scared. The Lord doesn’t call anxiety a sin. Don’t misinterpret this. Because faith is never more greater than when we are scared and we continue to move forward. Trusting in the Lord.

And you know their challenges. I don’t need to get into all their challenges. I’ll mention their name and you know their stories, Abraham. What did he say to his son on that horrible day? They were walking up Mount Moriah. God will provide. God will provide. What is it that Joshua and Caleb said, and they were the only ones courageous enough to say it? The Lord is with us. We will not fear. What is it that Job would say when enduring unbearable loss? The Lord gives, the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. What is it that David said upon this battlefield? The battle is the Lord’s. What is it that Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah said? By the way, do y’all know who that is?

3. Focus Upon the Lord's Weapon

That’s the names their mama gave them. Don’t call them by the name some king gave them. They said, Our Lord, our God will deliver us. What is it that their friend Daniel would say? Give thanks before God. And was it not our Lord Jesus? Who facing the greatest foe of all, enduring the greatest anxiety of all, would say, with tears falling to the ground from his eyes? Not my will, but yours be done. I want us to recognize what David does here. He focuses on the Lord’s message. He’s tuned out Goliath. He’s tuned out the fake news. And he’s listened to what is true. The second thing that he focuses on when you go back and you listen to those words in verses 44 to 47 is that he focuses upon the Lord’s weapon.

And here’s what he said the Lord does not save with a sword or a spear. The Lord does not need carnal weapons. The Lord does not need the chariot or the horses to win a battle. No, the Lord wins when his will lives in the heart of his people. Paul will say it like this when he speaks to the brethren in Ephesus. For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but our fight is against the principalities, against the cosmic forces in the world around us. And we carry with us the greatest weapons that have ever been given to man. The word of God, as we’ve mentioned.

The power of prayer. Prayer is powerful. Powerful. It is through the encouragement of prayer that even Paul himself would say, while he is sitting in a prison cell, be anxious for nothing. But in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God, and the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. You pray, you pray, you pray, you pray. And then the next weapon is you serve. You serve. You get up and you do what is the will of the Lord. Isn’t it interesting that Jesus, when he sent out the apostles on that limited commission, he sent them out two by two, and he told them, don’t take anything with you.

Have you ever thought about that? You ever thought about that? I tell you what, I was a little concerned about Brad and Lydia when I showed up at their house. I literally have two suitcases. I know they were going, how long’s he staying? We’re just trying to be nice. The meeting ends on Wednesday, right? Why does he got two? Just two suitcases. And I’m a guy.

But you go out, says Jesus. Don’t take a change of clothes. Don’t take any money. Don’t take a cell phone. Don’t take your backpack. What was his point? You just go. Quit thinking. You have to have all these special resources when you just need to go. You just need to go. When the Lord said, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. He is simply implying that those who are humble, that those who trust, that those who understand that the Lord provides, they’re going to inherit the greatest gift there is that is much greater than anything that can be given on this earth. And that is the peace of God. And there is great power in servitude. Parents, can I have your attention for just a moment?

This is a this is something that I’ve just seen. It’s not scientific, but I would put it up against anybody else’s research. You want your children to be faithful to the Lord. Here’s what I’ve seen. Parents who never miss a service. And are active servants in the kingdom. More often than not, have the faithful children. Now, again, unscientific. But the parents who can do what the Lord has called them to do, and they do it with grace and humility. I tell you, one of the hardest things to do with servitude sometimes is to do it without complaining. Now, can we all agree that’s probably one of the meanest passages in all of Scripture where Paul says, do all things without complaining? Clearly. He didn’t live when I lived.

I’m doing it, and I can’t complain about it? No.

Because that’s part of doing it. And you want to make a powerful impression upon your children. You not only do it, but you do it without complaining. And more importantly, you do it not only when it’s easy, but more importantly when it’s hard. And you do it even when nobody thanks you. And you do it even when those who are supposed to love you show you no love at all. And you do it without complaining. Your children notice. And they see the power of the tree, as Jeremiah writes in 17 8. The tree that is planted by the water, the tree that sends out its roots by the stream, the tree that does not fear, even when the heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and it is not anxious for a year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.

You want to fight against the giant. You serve.

4. Focus Upon the Lord's Power

He says, You focus upon the Lord’s power. Notice the battle is the Lord’s. This is one of the most interesting things that you see here. He is clearly not a modern day athlete that likes to stand up and talk about how he is the greatest of the world and that I he has conquered and won. No. Immediately David said, This is the Lord’s battle. It is the Lord who is won. It is the Lord who is simply working in me. I have asked for the Lord to live in me, and simply this battle is him living in me. And so you say to those with an anxious heart, as Isaiah says in Isaiah 35, verse 4 say to those who have an anxious heart, be strong and fear not.

Behold, your God will come with a vengeance. I love this passage. Again, Isaiah 35 4. Your God will come with a vengeance, and he will come to save you.

You know what it says over and over and over again through that story? And the Lord was with Joseph. I could only imagine Joseph was going, really? Is that what that means? How many times did he pray, Lord? If this is what it means for you to be with me, how about you go be with my brothers for a little bit? But the point that is being made by the writer of his amazing story is.

Very dear friend of mine is dealing with a horrible diagnosis. Some of you may know him. His name is Shane Scott. We were good friends in college. We’ve been good friends ever since. And for the past year and a half, we’ve been blessed to share a pulpit together and share the message of the Lord to the saints in Val Rico. His life has always been a challenge if you notice Shane. Was reared by his grandparents.

And when his mom did come back to the Lord, he did not get to enjoy that relationship as long as he should.

And he has no family at all.

Meets a young woman who loves him and marries him. And really, for the first time in his life, he truly experienced a family and joy. But not even two years into their marriage, she would be diagnosed with cancer. And even though it went into remission once, it came back again. And soon he had to say goodbye to the love of his life. Two years ago, he and I were blessed to be invited to go to a college that we love and work with young people for that brought him great joy. And less than six months into it, he would begin to experience medical complications that now have been identified as ALS. He’s my brother.

And it’s so hard. It’s so hard to watch him to know what he’s struggling with. But at the same time, it is so edifying and encouraging to hear him, even with a slurred tongue in a paralyzed body, preach the love of the Lord and the hope of a resurrection. I know the world may marvel at an eclipse and may marvel at the natural beauties that we see all around us, but God has never, ever been more powerful than when he moves through his people like my brother Shane. Who, even with great suffering has great hope. Because this battle belongs to the Lord. And even as people continue to call me today, my message was still the same. Satan’s been fighting Shane his entire life, and the Lord and Shane have been beating him down.

And he’s not only going to win, he’s already won. It takes courage. It takes faith. It takes hope. But the battle belongs to the Lord. And what you see David do at the very end of this proclamation before he goes out against that giant, he says very clearly to the giant and to all the assembly, I’m going to win. He will give you in to my hands. I know how this ends.

Because we know how the story ends. Our Lord Jesus did not stay in the grave, and neither will we.

Conclusion

Kings, principalities, disease, turmoil, economic instability, Satan or any other power will never, ever defeat Jehovah or His people. To the teens, you can be pure. To the parents, you can rear children in an ungodly world and teach them to love the world, to love the Lord. To the ministers and the elders, you can take a church and you can unify a body, and you can seek lost souls, and you can build a foundation, and you can prevail. Because the battle belongs to the Lord. I know it’s not easy. I know. I know. I know. But remember who is on your side. More importantly, remember whose side you are on. For your God guarantees victory.

And I’m a firm believer in the grace and the mercy of our Lord. So much so that every single one of us that in our heart, through obedience to his word, trust in his salvation, can know our eternal destiny is secure. That even on the day of judgment, we will not have to stand in trepidation or fear. Oh no, we will take a knee out of reverence and awe, not of anxiety. For we’ll be exactly where we want to be. And we get that confidence through one who’s already fought the greatest enemy that there is. Our Lord Jesus. Who went to the cross and defeated sin, conquered death. And truly, as Abraham would tell his son, became the one whom the Lord provides, for he was the Lamb.

And it’s because of our confidence in him that we have the confidence to stand up against any enemy we may face. You know, Jill was right. I don’t know if I’m ever going to stand up to a giant. Well, maybe not like Goliath. But this story is about standing up against the giants that we all face. And let me just reassure you. Jehovah always wins. Jehovah always wins. You put your trust in him. If we can help you in any way cling tighter to the hand of Jehovah. If we can help you in any way be obedient to his word. If we can help you in any way overcome the enemies, the opposition that is overshadowing you. Please come. Don’t remain isolated. Don’t be tolerant no more.

Let’s rise together. Let’s love together. Let’s trust together. And to the one who wins all battles. If we can help it anyway, won’t you come while we stand and sing?