Category: 1 Samuel (Page 1 of 2)

This is the third sermon in a four-part series examining the story of David and Goliath. If you have not heard the previous two sermons in this series yet, I would encourage you to go listen to them so that you can clearly hear and see the full context of what I have preached so far.

As I studied this passage, this week, I became aware of some high levels of anxiety and fear deep within my soul. When I say that the levels of fear and anxiety in my soul are high, I mean that they are maybe the highest they have ever been in my twenty-plus years of ministry. This is mainly due to things happening in the world around us, in our ministry, and in my personal life.

In my twenty-plus years of preaching the Bible, I am constantly surprised at how God orchestrates the preaching of specific passages of His Word in the midst of specific circumstances at the personal level, church family level, and cultural level. It was over a year ago when I first laid out this series in 1 Samuel. From that point forward, we have studied through this book, chunk by chunk, according to the outline I created, and we have not deviated from it. And here we are today, studying a passage about the biggest bully in all of Scripture.

John Woodhouse, whom I often quote as we study 1 Samuel, notes that we live in a “confusing and uncertain world” and that because we often only see things with our limited human eyes, it is difficult to fully understand the significance and meaning of what we see.²

John Woodhouse, in his commentary on this passage says, “it is hardly surprising that we all see lots of things differently. But God is not limited as we are limited. Therefore, if God has a point of view, that point of view will have an absolute validity.”² Woodhouse goes on to explain that the only view worth pursuing is God’s view; to literally seek to see what God sees, even though we will never fully see what he sees, this side of Heaven, because we are limited by sin.³

There are many places throughout the Bible, where we read bone-chilling words; words that cut deep into the dark places of our souls. I think of the time when God enters the Garden and calls out to Adam, “Where are you?” and then subsequently says “Who told you that you were naked?” (Gen. 3:9, 11).

There are many difficult aspects of following God. It is difficult to trust him when your world is falling apart. It is difficult to hear his voice amidst all the noise of this life. It is also difficult to discern what God wants for us when we are faced with deciding between two equally good options.

As we come to our passage this morning, we need to note that we are nearly halfway through our study of 1^st Samuel. The general arch of the storyline is that Israel is coming out of the period of the judges where everyone dishonored God by doing what was right in their own eyes instead of living in obedience to God’s commands (Judges 2:11 – 23; 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25).

The book of 1 Samuel is a great case study for those who want to become godly leaders. Through all the ups and downs in the story, we can observe godly leaders contrasted with ungodly leaders. We can see this contrast loud and clear in chapters 13 – 15 where – as one commentator notes – Saul, an ungodly leader, is constantly caught up by contrast with godly leaders like the prophet Samuel and his very own son, Jonathan.²

Reading this passage kind of leaves you feeling a little yucky does it not? It is kind of like watching a movie go from bad to worse, or maybe it is more like watching a movie that you know has a sad ending while hoping the ending has changed somehow.