Defeating Difficulties
1 Samuel 17 - Selected Passages
Evening Service
1. It’s a bad day when...
A. Morning news - emegency routes out of the county, sun - rises in the west, Bird singing sweetly - buzzard, horn on car gets stuck - following a group of bikers,
B. Boss - Don’t bother taking off your coat, income tax check bounces, step on the scales - they read tilt, suicide prevention center - hold,
C. Comical look at difficulties: Sometimes we have to laugh at life, it makes things bearable, problems will arise from time to time, we must face them because they will not go away, we don’t have to face anything alone
2. Difficulties are a part of Life
A. People who thrived through fire: Abject poverty - Lincoln, Infintile paralysis - FDR, deafen - Beethoven, Slow learner and retarded - Eistein
B. Bible examples: Disfunctional and vicious family - Joseph, Speech disorder - Moses, Chronic depression - Jeremiah, Unfaithful wife - Hosea, Put into prison - Paul, hated outcast - Jesus
C. Life is about 20% in what happens to us and 80% in the way we respond.
3. We can not run from difficulty
A. It is a fact of Life: No one ever said life was easy, if they did it was a lie, Life is hard and its getting harder, we live in a corrupt world, life is hard
B. British Soldier: During WWI a British soldier was tired of the war and left for home, He got hopelessly lost in the dark, he came across what seemed to be a road sign, he climbed the sign and lit a match to read it, in that moment he was looking into the face of Jesus, he had climbed a roadside crucifix, he remebered how Jesus had died for him, endured the pain of the cross and had not turned back,
C. We can’t run from difficulties: God is with us, he gives us courage to face hard situations, strength to get through, we must face our problems
4. A Biblical Model
A. A giant problem arises:
4 A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall. 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels; 6 on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. 7 His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him. 8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, "Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us." 10 Then the Philistine said, "This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other." 11 On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.
4-10 - Goliath defies the God of Israel, he poses a great problem to Israel, he creates fear, discouragement and despair, Goliath was a great problem
B. Search for a solution: 25-27
25 Now the Israelites had been saying, "Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his father’s family from taxes in Israel." 26 David asked the men standing near him, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?" 27 They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, "This is what will be done for the man who kills him."
Saul issues a decree, he is searching for a solution, the search seems to be in vain, large bonus is offered - wealth, king’s daughter and father’s family exempt from taxes
C. God centered solution: 32-37
32 David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him." 33 Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth." 34 But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."
David steps forward, he explains God’s faithfulness and protection over him in the past, he believes in God’s power, God will deliver, Goliath is no different than the lion or the bear
D. God centered action: 41-51
41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him. 43 He said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 "Come here," he said, "and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!" 45 David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands." 48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. 50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him. 51 David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the scabbard. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran.
The solution must take action, David takes the field of battle, he walks with faith in God, faces Goliath and exchanges words, slings the stone and slays the giant, David trusted God to defeat the difficulty
5. What kinds of difficulties do we face?
A. Personal: family strife, financial burdens, spiritual struggles,
B. Church: Lack of growth, lack of commitment, lack of passion
C. Social: Guns in schools, teen pregnancy, abortion,
D. Only the power of God can defeat these difficulties
