Underdogs

Introduction

Welcome those of you that are visiting, those that may be from the community. I hope you will. Feel free to ask any questions about anything that I might say this evening. Anything that you would like further elaborated on, anything that you feel needs corrected. So you’re welcome to bring to me any questions, comments, or even compliments. I’ll even accept those. But I want to also just take a moment to say it’s so good to see the Helveys. I haven’t seen them in a number of years. I appreciate them being here. And my son-in-law made it in just before we started, so glad Ricky came to be with Jonna and maybe see us a little bit too. And there are many others in the audience. We’re thankful that you’re all here.

I want to talk this morning, this evening, about the about the underdogs. And there are numerous underdogs that we read about in the Bible about these different people who had overwhelming circumstances that they overcame. And I won’t be able to cover all of the different underdogs that we might think about, but we certainly want to look at a few, and I want to talk just briefly about a list of some of the ones just to get our thinking along that line. Do I have the right clicker?

Turn it on the side. There it is. Thank you.

Although they are great stories. It’s a great foundation to teach our children and let them learn about the fascinating people and especially the God that provided for them in so many ways. But it’s also there for us to learn from. But there are examples of numerous people who had these obstacles and found themselves with God providing for them and helping them through them. Let’s just think about a few as we think about how that as we face challenges in our lives, that sometimes the challenges that we face can seem overwhelming, and sometimes they can seem impossible to overcome, and sometimes it can be difficult to know how to accomplish that overcoming that particular challenge. And sometimes the greatest temptation is that we give up. You see, the devil can beat us not only in enticing us to do something that’s wrong, if he can just get us to quit.

You think about what happened with Job. You know, most of what we read about is what we talk about, Job being tempted. It was Job being persecuted by the devil and trying to get him to give up on his confidence that he placed in God. Well, let’s think about a few of them. Elijah and the prophets of Baal. He found at one point that he thought he was the only one. He says, I only have not bowed the knee to Baal. God let him know there were yet 6,000 that had not bowed the knee to Baal. But he felt very much alone when he’s facing all of these others. Not only was he facing all these 300 prophets, but he was also facing the king.

He was also facing the people of Israel that he put their confidence in this false God. He was facing those kind of challenges, and yet God brought him out on top of that situation. Noah, if we want to talk about somebody who was going against the majority, him and his wife, his three sons and their wives, these eight people against the world. And they had this challenge of building an ark that would survive a worldwide cataclysm. We have, of course, Moses. Moses who was going, returning back to Egypt and challenging the most powerful man of that time. And eventually going up against the most powerful army. You know, sometimes we’re pretty critical of the Israelites as they’re standing at the Red Sea and they see that Egyptian army coming, and they become very doubtful about what the choice they’ve made to follow Moses out of there when they see this mighty Egyptian army chasing them, but it’s easier for us to criticize when we weren’t standing there seeing that happen.

And if we think about how can these people, who were nothing more than slaves, who had been taught the skills that they used there, who did not have any weapons, who had not had any military training, and here comes the Egyptian army. And Moses could have, like them, could have said, Well, this is, you know, we might as well try to find out some kind of peace terms to make with this Pharaoh, because we’re about to get slaughtered, but of course he put his trust in God, and you know the rest of the story. In fact, this became renowned throughout the world. That’s why later, when they went into Jericho, Rahab knew about this. She knew about these people whose God had slain the mighty Egyptian army.

We can think about when the Israelites did go into Jericho. And again, they were not a trained army. They weren’t people who had been equipped with what would normally be needed to go up against a fortified city. And yet, in a method that God gave them to march around the city every day, and then on the last day to march around seven times and blow the trumpets and shout, that this produced the falling of the walls of Jericho that we just sang about. But I want to focus this evening on two specific stories. One is the story of the story of Gideon and his 300. And secondly, we’re going to talk a little bit about David and Goliath. If we talk about somebody who were certainly underdogs, who we would say, these people don’t stand a chance.

If we know the odds, if we know what they were up against, we would say that there’s no way they would stand a chance. And of course it was only because God was with them. There was the story that came out not too long ago, made a lot of, I think, they made a movie about it, I think they made a follow-up movie. You know, the 300. And it’s it’s a it’s a legend they think may have happened that ended up with the slaughter of these 300 as they stood against the Persian army.

1. Gideon and His 300

This one is true. This is a real story. This is not just mythology, this is not just legend, it’s not just what might have happened. This is what really did happen. And it begins with this Gideon who has difficulty accepting that he’s really has what it takes. And even that he is significant to God. There are many people who think that they aren’t necessarily individually significant to God. And that may be hard for all of us to realize. That God in heaven, who is the creator of the universe, who knows not only what’s going on in your life, but knows what’s going on in every life of every person around the world and knows what’s going on in their mind, sometimes it can be difficult to think, well, how can I really matter to God?

I’m just one person. Gideon certainly had somewhat of that attitude in Judges chapter 6 and verse 15. He said, Oh my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. He’s saying, I’m I’m just the smallest family in the tribe of Manasseh, and I’m the least in my father’s house. I’m the least significant person. He’s a reluctant leader in that regard. He didn’t really see his value as God saw him. But God, in this process of selecting Gideon, and of course you know the story about how he set the sheep skin out and asked to verify that for sure this was from God. But what God did for him was he demonstrated that by using not only Gideon, but by using a very few men, by using 300 men to accomplish this feat, he demonstrated it was he who was saving them and not their own power.

The enemy at that time was a hundred and twenty thousand. Now just think of it in modern terms. What mod, and I know there’s a lot of there’s a lot of Marines and there’s a lot of seals and others who would say, you know, they’re gonna take on quite a few. But realistically, when we say we’re gonna take one army that has 300 and another that has a hundred and twenty, that’s not the way to approach that kind of a battle. That’s not wise to go into battle that way with a man’s ability. In Judges chapter 7 and verse 2, though, as these people are gathered together, and as he’s weeding down from this 31,700, God brings them together and he says in verse 2 of Judges chapter 7, the people who are with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself and against me, saying, My own hand has saved me.

God was God knew that if they had enough people, they would just feel pretty proud with what we did. We whooped those Midianites. It’s because we’re such good fighters, and there was there were this many more, but we still beat them. God says, that’s too many. It’s too close. You might start thinking that. So he gets them to weed it down, of course he has them. He first of all says, Whoever’s fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead. This is maybe one of the most discouraging things, and probably w very likely might have been to Gideon at that time. I don’t know. We’re not given the reaction of Gideon himself. But certainly, imagine this happening in modern day warfare that the that the general says, now if any of you are afraid, you can go home.

You can just leave. And out of this 31, out of this thirty one thousand, 22,000 leave. And there’s only 10,000 left. But he doesn’t end there, of course. He takes them to the water. And he says, he says, you take them down to the water, and everyone who laps from the water with his tongue as a dog laps shall set apart by himself, likewise everyone who gets down on his knees to drink. So you separate these two different groups. Now, there may be some something valuable in this that he was looking for the people who were more on guard than he was on the people who were who were careless, because if you get down on all fours and you’re drinking water from the brook, you’re not going to be as ready to engage the enemy as you are as if you let them bring in the water up to your mouth.

Whether that’s it, or it was just a matter of just some circumstance that separated them down as it comes down to it now. It’s 300 men. Not 300 platoons, not 300 companies, not 300 legions, it’s 300 men. And God tells him, By the 300 men who lapped, I will save you and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people every man go, every man to his place. 300 men. And of course, Gideon used a rather unconventional method of warfare, as you are aware if you know this story. He had them all carry a clay pot that had a torch inside it and a trumpet. And you can read about this in Judges the seventh chapter, beginning in verse 16, but we’re just going to pick up some of the key verses here as it describes this event as it goes through from Judges 7, 16 through 22.

In verse 16, he divided the 300 men into three companies. He put a trumpet into every man’s hand with empty pitchers and torches inside the pitchers. He said, When I blow the trumpet, and I and all who are with me, you also blow the trumpets on every side of the whole camp and say, the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. Then the three companies blew their trumpets, broke the, so they surrounded the camp of the Midianites. In the middle of the night, they blow the trumpets, they break the pictures, they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands, and blowing, they cried out the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. And what happened was the people of Midian, the Midianites, they all woke up, they see what’s going on, and they run about and they start attacking each other.

And this says, and every man stood in his place all around the camp. The whole army ran and cried out and fled. And when the three hundred blew the trumpets, the Lord set every man’s sword against his companion throughout the whole camp, and the army fled. And of course, it describes then that they pursue them and they destroy the Midianites. Three hundred men. Destroy a hundred and twenty thousand. Obviously they had to do their part, but it’s notice that it says, the Lord set every man’s sword against his companion, that is, of the Midianites. God is intervening here. Maybe not in so much of an overt way that we see with the Red Sea. Or we see the fire coming down with Elijah, or even the walls falling.

But make no mistake about it. God was with Gideon and the 300, or it would not have succeeded. Judges chapter 8 and verse 34 is one of the verses that occur throughout the book of Judges that describes how that although there were numerous occasions where God had saved, had delivered the Israelites from their enemies, that they got to where they forgot about it. This might also be similar to what happens in people’s lives when the danger is gone. They forget about the help that they’ve gotten, and they get to thinking they don’t need God anymore. That’s the way the Israelites did. Thus the children of Israel did not remember the Lord their God who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side.

2. David and Goliath

Maybe one of young people’s favorite stories, David and Goliath. It’s a great story, tells us many things about someone of faith and how they react to circumstances and situations. He was the smallest and the youngest, you might remember when Samuel went to anoint the king. He’s looking at the big brothers and he’s seeing these big burly guys. And God’s saying, nope, it’s not that one, it’s not that one. It’s this little guy. It’s the smallest one. In fact, in the battle, as it was going on, the point is made in chapter 17 and verse 42 that the Philistine observes this about David, and he disdains him. He says, For he was only a youth and ruddy and a fair countenance or of good looking. He not only that, but Goliath was huge.

He was absolutely huge. I’m thinking about. I wonder if Jackson could help me with something. Jackson, can you help me with something? Can you come help me with something? Jackson, compared to me, is actually pretty close to the proportional difference between David and Goliath. Now I know Jackson’s pretty tough. And he’s pretty strong. But if it was a real fight, would that be very wise to go up against somebody that much bigger than you? Thank you, Jackson. You can go sit down. He was huge. It says he was six cubits and a span. Now, a cubit is the measure of a man’s arm, lower arm, from his elbow to the tip of his finger. That goes anywhere from 18 to 22 inches. Mine’s 21 and a half.

And I’m tall, but I’m not the biggest man around. But if you use the small measurement of this, and then the span is probably somewhere around 10 inches, so we’re talking about 9 feet 10 inches. You ever stood next to a basketball player? A professional basketball player that’s up and around the seven foot level? You feel pretty pinny. But imagine standing next to somebody that is 10 feet, nearly 10 feet tall, and very likely was more than 10 because I’m using the small measurement. I would say I’m six feet, I’m six foot three. I’m going to say it’s probably somewhere around that vent up there. That’s how big he was. Is David the underdog? Absolutely. Who are you putting your money on? I’m not endorsing gambling, okay?

I’m just saying, if we say, who do we think is going to win this? We’re going to say, well, David doesn’t stand much of a chance. And it gives the it gives the weights of the spear that he’s carrying and the armor that he has. And he’s he’s a man of war. And David, on the other hand, he’s a shepherd boy. He really hadn’t been trained in warfare like this. But he used the skills that he had. And it was very unconventional as well. In 1 Samuel chapter 17, verses 38 through 40, there is the description of David going before King Saul. And Saul, who is impressed with this young man’s courage to go up against this great giant, tries to honor him by giving him his own sword and his own armor.

And I kind of picture, how do you picture that? When you picture him now, tall, Saul was tall. He was, they say he was head and shoulders above everybody else. So here he is. He’s a tall man, and he’s putting all this armor on this young man who is small of stature anyway. And I just kind of pictured it like when your kid puts your own, puts dad’s clothes on, you know. Maybe gets in dad’s boots and walks around. You know, that it just doesn’t fit. And David realizes that. Saul clothed David with his armor. He put on a bronze helmet on his head, he clothed him with a coat of mail. And David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he’d not tested them.

And David said to Saul, I cannot walk with these, for I’ve not tested them. I’m not used to this. This is not something I know how to use. And he takes it all off. He’s going to go to battle against this armored giant with no armor. No armor. Nothing that we would typically consider a lethal weapon. What does he take? You know. He takes a sling and a staff. He took his staff in his hand, he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, put them in a shepherd’s bag, in a pouch which he had and his sling, which was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine. I had an opportunity when I was about 13 years old to meet someone who was actually fairly proficient with a sling.

He was a young man that worked for my cousins that live in Mexico. And he, I don’t know why he did, but he liked he had a sling, like this kind of sling. Not what we call the sling that was elastic with a little fork on it. This was a string or a piece of leather with a patch of leather in the middle of it, and another string on the other side, and he tied one of these to the end of his little finger, and then he grabbed the other string, and he stuck the stone in the in the pouch, and he spun it around, and he let go of one end of the string and they would shoot that. And this guy could not found cans, like soda water cans, across a creek at probably 20 or 30 yards.

He was pretty good. I tried it, and I was, everybody was ducking. Because, you know. No telling where it was going to go. So I had an opportunity to kind of see that in action. But certainly, even this guy, even as good as he was doing that, I don’t think he’d be taking the chance of going up against somebody who’s got a spear that almost weighs as much as he does, who’s well armored, who has a sword, who is a proficient soldier and warrior. And yet David did. He goes against him, and it’s the Lord that brings him victory. And I want you to notice these statements because even more so than in the case of Gideon, at least in what is recorded for us, David identifies why he expected to be victorious in this.

That wasn’t what it was about. It was where he put his trust.

David said to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword and a spear, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defiled. David recognized that the challenge that was being made by this Philistine was not just about man to man. This was a challenge against God because these are God’s people. And he knew that this was a challenge against God himself. He goes on and says, This day, the confidence he has is phenomenal. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand. Notice what he said. He didn’t say, I’m gonna hit you with this rock by my skill and by what I’ve learned and what I can do. He says, No, the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from off you.

This day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. The purpose behind why David was taking this challenge had nothing to do with his own pride, did not have anything to do with his own self-promotion. It had to do with defending God.

And then he says, This. And I believe this is applying to both sides of the battlefield. The Israelites who were doubting, who had gotten to where they didn’t have the confidence and trust that they needed. The Philistines who have the audacity to think that they could stand against Almighty God, he says, This.

For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hands. We just sang that song. The battle belongs to the Lord.

So it was. The Philistine arose, came, and drew near to meet David. David hastened and ran away as fast as he could from that giant.

Is that what it says? Of course not. But isn’t it interesting that he does? It says that David hastened. He hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.

David put his hand in his back, took out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine in the forehead so that the stone sank into his forehead and he fell on his face to the earth. This great story would have had a very different ending had it not been for the fact that David put his trust in the Lord. So what about you and your life’s challenges? Are you going to have any challenges in this life? You are.

3. You Are Significant to God

Are significant to God. Jesus spoke directly to this in Matthew chapter 6 as he was talking about the worry that people had, and especially his disciples in that early days, as they were anticipating and worrying about what they were going to have and how they were going to make things do. And sometimes we can do the same thing. We start letting our concerns about the fleshly things keep us from doing what we need to do because we’ve let ourselves be consumed with that kind of worry. And he says, in the context of talking about not being anxious about those things, he says this. Matthew 6 and verse 26. Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

He uses the flowers as well. Then I think as we can extend that to numerous things in creation. Look what God did in providing for his creation. And he provides for these birds. He said, Are you not of more value than they? If God’s providing for these things in creation, aren’t you of more value to God than they are? And if we go also to 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 7, specifically is this statement that is made there where it says, casting all your care upon him. Some of the versions say, casting all your anxiety upon him. That might be a more, it’s not a better word, but it certainly might ring a bell a little better with some when you think about worries and anxieties.

4. You're in a Spiritual Battle

But he says, casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you. And that’s a concept that maybe almost it just may be really difficult to accept. I mean, really mean it. Really believe. God cares about me. Not just mankind. God cares about me. God cares about you. Each one of you. God cares about you, Desdy. God cares about you, Laura. God cares about you, Scott. God cares about you, Steve. That idea that we individually, that God, the creator of the universe, actually cares for us. May be almost too overwhelming to fully realize. Also to realize this. You may not be facing a giant, but you’re in a battle. You’re in a spiritual battle. Paul emphasizes this in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 12 when he says this.

We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. That can seem pretty overwhelming. If we start realizing we’ve got we’ve got the devil and his demons wanting to destroy us.

5. Consider Unconventional Solutions; God Is for Us

That whatever we face, we’re not, it won’t be beyond what we can stand. But with God’s help and only with God’s help, we can be victorious eternally. We can win not only the battle, but the war. Sometimes we need to consider when we’re facing various challenges, we need to consider unconventional solutions like David did, like Gideon did. Step away from it. Focus on what we can do rather than what we cannot do. Sometimes we know we’re in a situation, there’s nothing we can do anything about. Maybe it’s somebody we’re worried about. Maybe it’s our financial situation. Maybe it’s maybe it’s some news we’ve gotten from a doctor. And we know there’s things we cannot do. But what can we do? We also want to remember that God is for us.

I don’t remember who I first heard say this. I think it was my brother-in-law, but he may, he probably got it from somebody else. That God wants you to go to heaven more than you do.

God wants you to go to heaven more. As much as you might want to go to heaven, God wants you to go more. Because he knows how valuable that is, and he knows how valuable you are. Romans chapter 8 and verse 31 says, What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, whoops, jumped too quick there, who can be against us? I mean, really, that’s what David did. That’s the way David approached it. Who do you think? If you think that you’re something when you’re fighting against God, then who are you? On the other hand, if you’ve got God on your side, who can really be against you? My dad used to say this. Sometimes I’d be, oh, different times in my life.

You know, I’d have some things I’m worried about, I’m troubled about. Maybe I’m having some conflict with somebody, or I’m worried about some people that are giving me grief in one way or another. And Dad would say, son, the worst they can do is kill you. Thanks, Dad. But you know that’s true. And then all the other things certainly didn’t seem quite as bad. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 57. And this, of course, is in the context of the resurrection. And it’s talking about how that sometimes when we think about the victory that we have, it’s the victory that we have at the end of our life that is not measured in the terms of what take place in this life. There may be many people who that are seen by their contemporaries, who are seen by their neighbors, who are seen by the people they work with as absolute failures.

6. Look at This Victory from God's Perspective

Because they died dead broke. And they go to heaven. They’ve accomplished what really matters. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians chapter 4 and verse 13. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. We can deal with the things that we face with those principles. We’ll go over them again. You are significant to God. Your battle against the spiritual host is against the spiritual host of wickedness, and it is one that you can win. You need to consider unconventional solutions and always remember that God is for us. But you want to also do this. Look at this victory from God’s perspective. Turn, if you will, to Hebrews the 11th chapter. And I didn’t put these all on the on the overheads because it’s a little bit lengthy, so I’m going to give you a moment to turn there.

Hebrews chapter 11. This is a passage that’s usually referred to as the hall of faith. And so we have men mentioned within here. In fact, we have Gideon mentioned, and we have David mentioned, and we have Abraham and Noah and Joseph and Moses. We have all these different ones mentioned. And then we see this at the end. He gives some summary verses. And he says this in verse 32 What more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, and Samuel, the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword. From weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

Women received back their dead by resurrection. But listen to the next few. Others were tortured, not accepting their release so that they might obtain a better resurrection. Were they still victorious? Absolutely. Others experienced mockings and scourgings, chains and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn in two. They were tempted. They were put to death with the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goat skins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated.

It’s humbling, isn’t it? To think about what some godly people went through. But you think about this as they reflect back on this, is it worth it? Is it worth it to be right with God? Is it worth it to go to heaven and spend eternity with Him? I dare say none of them would say, Oh no. I wish I’d have given in and not gone through that. He goes on and says, Men of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. And all these having gained approval through their faith did not receive what was promised. And maybe here’s one of the most humbling statements made in here for you and I. Because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us, they would not be made perfect.

Standing on the day of judgment, I know the circumstances may not be exactly what, but if we were, if we were able to talk to each other as we’re as we’re as we’re awaiting our reward and we’re saying, hey, so what did you go through? One of these guys had gone through that comes up to us and says, So what did you do? What did you go through? What kind of persecution? What kind of torture did you go through in order to be right with God? Well, I had some people make fun of me.

I had some people that wouldn’t talk to me. I lost some physical possessions. I didn’t make as much money. Just doesn’t quite measure up, does it? But there’s certainly something to be said for a realization that despite whatever things we may go through, that God indeed is there to help us through it, just like these great men of old. 2 Timothy chapter 4, Paul, as he looks at the end of his life, and he anticipates his reward of the creator that he looks to for his hope. And he says this in 2 Timothy chapter 4, beginning in verse 6, he says, For I am already being poured out as a drink offering. Time of my departure is at hand. I’ve fought the good fight. I’ve finished the race.

Conclusion

I’ve kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me, finally, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge will give to me in that day, and not to me only, but also to all who have loved his appearance. Realize, indeed, we have a great opportunity to have victory in Christ. To have victory in him. Through whatever we face in this life. You have a great power, a great strength that will help you deal with whatever you face in this life. To tell you the truth, I don’t really know how people that don’t have the faith in God, I don’t know how they make it through some of the troubles that exist in this world. I do not know how they do it.

I am thankful that we have a God that cares and that can help us and give us the hope that we have in him. But that is only possible when you are with him. And I hope that if you’re here this evening, your life is not right with God, that you’ll make use of this opportunity. Realize that your hope is found in Him. Come believing in Him, repenting of those things against His will. Confess your faith in Him. Be baptized for the remission of sins, be raised to walk in newness of life. If you need to do that or need to return to Him in any way, we encourage you to come forward as we stand and sing the selected song.