David against Goliath

김정호목사 

Dr. Jung-Ho Kim, Pastor  

⁴³ 블레셋 사람이 다윗에게 이르되 네가 나를 개로 여기고 막대기를 가지고 내게 나아왔느냐 하고 그 신들의 이름으로 다윗을 저주하고 ⁴⁴ 또 이르되 내게로 오라 내가 네 고기를 공중의 새들과 들짐승들에게 주리라 ⁴⁵ 다윗이 블레셋 사람에게 이르되 너는 칼과 창과 단창으로 내게 오거니와 나는 만군의 여호와의 이름 곧 네가 모욕하는 이스라엘 군대의 하나님의 이름으로 네게 가노라 ⁴⁶ 오늘 여호와께서 너를 내 손에 붙이시리니 내가 너를 쳐서 네 머리를 베고 블레셋 군대의 시체로 오늘날 공중의 새와 땅의 들짐승에게 주어 온 땅으로 이스라엘에 하나님이 계신줄 알게 하겠고 ⁴⁷ 또 여호와의 구원하심이 칼과 창에 있지 아니함을 이 무리로 알게 하리라 전쟁은 여호와께 속한 것인즉 그가 너희를 우리 손에 붙이시리라. ⁴³ And the Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴ The Philistine said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field." ⁴⁵ 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. ⁴⁶ This day the LORD 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, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, ⁴⁷ and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hand." (1 Sam. 17:43-47)

FCF: We tend to be paralyzed by fear before a daunting challenge in life.

주제: 하나님은 승리를 주시는 분이기에 그분을 의지하므로 삶의 도전을 당면해야 한다. 

Theme: Because God gives us victory, we must face challenges in life by faith in God.

Introduction

The passage is one of the most famous and favored texts in the Bible. Both adults and children, Christians and non-Christians, are fascinated by this inspiring story of David against Goliath. Filmmakers try to include such a fascinating fight in order to attract people to their films. My son Joel loved this story and used to watch an animation that features the great fight between David and Goliath. Each time he watched, he was filled with a great desire to be like the courageous David. In his imagination, he was a little David marching toward a giant Goliath and ready to bring him down with his slingshot. Though little kids do not normally face such impossible situations in life, they love the story because they are captivated by a little David’s bravery and alacrity.

When I was young in faith, I was eager to be like David. The incredible victory of David against Goliath stuck deeply in my heart, so I prayed that God would grant me a great, fearless faith like David’s. I wanted to be a champion of faith. I still do today. I suppose all of you would like to have David’s faith and experience David’s victory. Although we readily agree how excellently young David acted against his formidable enemy, however, we feel like we are those cowards who were hiding from Goliath. No matter how avidly we desire to imitate David, we cannot but to feel like we end up being like those Israelite soldiers who cowered in timidity. I watched my son reeling in fear when he saw Goliath yelling, thumping, dashing toward David. Isn’t this the way we feel before an imposing challenge in life? We feel like being dwarfed by a mountain-like challenge. There are so many problems we face throughout our lifetime, before which we feel as if we were midgets. So, we all want to know how to face or defeat them, so that we can be champions of courageous faith. The story today tells us that we must face them by faith in God because God gives us victory. David trusted God would deliver Goliath into his hands. He acted on such faith for the glory of God.

Our reason argues that David was no match with Goliath. However, the Bible demonstrates that Goliath was no match with God and David His anointed one. In reality, we vacillate between what our reason says and what the Bible says. Of course, we have to follow what God’s Word says. However, we still struggle between reality and Scripture. In this struggle, we must set our hearts on what the Bible says. We must learn to stand on the promises of God. God has something to teach us through this great story. Let’s see what we may learn from it. No doubt we learn that we must face challenges in life by faith in the Almighty God instead of cowering in fear. Today, I would like to investigate how the entire story teaches us about faith. In this study, I want us to examine our faith first in light of today’s lessons and to exercise our faith against opposing challenges. God was with David. So is He with us. With this in mind, let’s get into the first point, which is…

I. 믿음은 도전을 대면한다.

 Faith faces challenges.

David was a man after God’s own heart. He was a man of fearless faith. God anointed him to be king over Israel. After having been anointed, he was enrolled in God’s school to receive a necessary training to be His representative over Israel. The first official challenge to David is recorded in 1 Sam. 17, where David risked his life to put Goliath to death by faith in Yahweh. The author of Samuel assigns a number of verses to describe an intimidating challenge the army of Israel faced. This fact illustrates our faith is always confronted with challenges in life. As the Israelites were engaged in battles against the Philistines, so believers are ceaselessly engaged in battles against spiritual, circumstantial, or inner foes. This is an unavoidable reality we are in; so we don’t need to be startled when we encounter challenges in life. In fact, everything that happens to us is under God’s sovereign control for His purpose and our good. Thus, we can face them by faith in God’s power and goodness. We must understand the fact that our faith is not without enemies, challenges, or trials.

As we read these verses, we can immediately sense the enormity of their problem. Let’s look into their challenge. First, the men of Israel were in battle against the Philistines. The Philistines and the Israelites faced each other on opposite hills, with the valley between the two. The battle lines were clearly formed between the two camps. War suggests the idea of injury, harm, loss, or death. Fierceness, violence makes the people of Israel cringed in fear. This pictures our battles against challenges. If we endeavor to live in faithfulness to God, we will face all kinds of challenges. The first thing we must remember in our faith life is that our faith is constantly challenged, whether we truly trust God or not, whether we would take challenges or escape from them. Faith is constantly challenged and tested. When it takes its challenges and trials, it should begin with a trust in who God is and what He does for us through His Spirit.

         In this fearsome situation, a man named Goliath, a Philistine champion from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp to taunt the army of Israel and their God. His stature itself was imposing and intimidating, being over nine feet tall! He was fully armored. He wore a bronze helmet, and his bronze coat of mail weighed 125 pounds. Also, he wore bronze leg armor, and he carried a bronze javelin on his shoulder. The shaft of his spear was as heavy and thick as a weaver's beam, tipped with an iron spearhead that weighed 15 pounds. His armor bearer walked ahead of him carrying a shield. He stood and shouted a taunt across to the Israelites. 너희가 어찌하여 나와서 항오를 벌였느냐 나는 블레셋 사람이 아니며 너희는 사울의 신복이 아니냐 너희는 한 사람을 택하여 내게로 내려보내라 ⁹ 그가 능히 싸워서 나를 죽이면 우리가 너희의 종이 되겠고 만일 내가 이기어 그를 죽이면 너희가 우리의 종이 되어 우리를 섬길 것이니라¹⁰ 내가 오늘날 이스라엘의 군대를 모욕하였으니 사람을 보내어 나로 더불어 싸우게 하라 한지라. "Why are you all coming out to fight?" he called. "I am the Philistine champion, but you are only the servants of Saul. Choose one man to come down here and fight me! If he kills me, then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves! I defy the armies of Israel today! Send me a man who will fight me!" (1 Sam. 17:8-10)

Surely, there was no one who could be a match with this monster in Israel’s camp. There was no one who could match Goliath in physical strength, military equipment, and bravery. Challenging the army of Israel, this hulk-like monster was used by God to put their faith to test. Was anyone in Israel’s camp willing to take that challenge? Apparently, there was no one. All of them, including King Saul, were terrified and deeply disturbed. The author of Samuel remarks it as follows: 사울과 온 이스라엘이 블레셋 사람의 이 말을 듣고 놀라 크게 두려워하니라. When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid (1 Sam. 17:11). Though they had some victories in battles, they were paralyzed by the terrifying words of Goliath. It seems that they concluded in their hearts that they were unable to defeat Goliath. Due to their fear, they were not even able to think of how to cope with the situation. The enemy of faith in this case is not doubt, but fear. Fear paralyzed their faith. Their faith lost courage, unable to function appropriately in such a terrifying opposition. This reminds us of the apostles who were gripped with fear of death in the midst of violent storms and rising high waters and unable to detect the Lord was with them in the boat. Fear is the primary enemy of faith. It makes us unable to live by faith. It make us controlled by sight.

We may interpret Israel as the church of Christ. We may view battles against the Philistines and Goliath as circumstantial difficulties or spiritual battles against the world under Satan’s influence. Fear is Satan’s tactic against the people of faith. It resides in the hearts of people. So, here we see faith faces circumstantial, spiritual, or inner foes. They are formidable foes. We must neither underestimate nor overestimate their power and tactics. We must see them as they are. They are always present around us and within us. They are persistent as Goliath challenged the men of Israel day and night for forty days. They are intimidating and daunting. However, faith grows in such a hostile soil. Faith without challenges will easily wither away. It gets deeper and stronger as it fights adversities and foes. We often wish that we stayed in peace all the time because we believe God. However, the presence of faith in our hearts implies that we will struggle against all kinds of challenges. God in His providence uses those challenges to upgrade our faith. Thus, we should not think it strange when we encounter fiery trials in life (1 Pet. 4:12).

Rather, we should rejoice in the midst of trials because God is with us and prepares for His rewards for those who pass through trials. Peter says, 너희 믿음의 시련이 불로 연단하여도 없어질 금보다 더 귀하여 예수 그리스도의 나타나실 때에 칭찬과 영광과 존귀를 얻게 하려 함이라. so that the tested genuineness of your faith-- more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire-- may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 1:7). What about you? How would you have responded to Goliath if you had been one of the Israelites? Could you say you would challenge Goliath? Like those soldiers, most probably, you might have paralyzed by terror. The Israelites were already defeated by fear before they were engaged in actual battles against the Philistines. Their faith in Yahweh was not working in this terrifying situation. In a sense, however, they were given an opportunity to trust God and experience God’s power in combating their enemies. What terrifying “goliaths” do you face today? What paralyzes your faith? Is it your health, study, finance, depression, spiritual foe, business, marriage, children, relationship, or adverse circumstances? Though you may go through differing depths and degrees of challenges, you do have intimidating “goliaths” that test the actuality of your faith.   

When you are intimidated and terrified by these challenges, remember the inescapable reality that your faith is always confronted with them. Knowing this fact, you won’t be taken by surprise. You will find time to think about what to do about them or how to take your challenges. Remember faith grows stronger in battling against foes in life. Faith without challenges is not a blessing of God. Faith that brings us victory is a blessing of God. We must view challenges in life, though we may not like them, as God’s tool to strengthen our faith. When we hold such a positive perspective, we can grow in faith. But if you forget this truth, we will against the will of God. The ten spies, who were gripped by fear of the giants of Nephilim in the Promised Land, saw themselves as grasshoppers. Listen to what they said out of fear: 거기서 또 네피림 후손 아낙 자손 대장부들을 보았나니 우리는 스스로 보기에도 메뚜기 같으니 그들의 보기에도 그와 같았을 것이니라. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them" (Num. 13:33). However, Caleb and Joshua, filled with faith in Yahweh, held the entirely different perspective: 오직 여호와를 거역하지 말라 또 그 땅 백성을 두려워하지 말라 그들은 우리 밥이라 그들의 보호자는 그들에게서 떠났고 여호와는 우리와 함께 하시느니라 그들을 두려워 말라. Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them" (Num. 14:9). Faith conquers fear. We must live by faith, not by sight, to take challenges in life. We must set our hearts on the promises of God. We must keep hopeful in God because He is with us.

Not only do we face circumstantial and emotional challenges, but also we face familial and conventional challenges against our faith. The author of Samuel leads his readers to ask a question, “Where would salvation come from?” If there was no savior among Saul’s fighters, would there be anyone outside the camp of Israel who could fight Goliath? The author of Samuel answers this question as he introduces David in the following section. David was the answer to the challenge of Goliath. David was shepherding his father’s sheep. He was not a trained, professional fighter. He was just a young shepherd boy. But, the writer of Samuel tells his readers that David is the one who could defeat gigantic Goliath. No one ever could imagine such a young boy could be a savior of Israel. So, the people of Israel didn’t believe that David could deliver them from the hands of Goliath. The author of Samuel presents the future king of Israel in a dramatic fashion.

Now, he talks about David and his family background. David’s three older brothers, Eliab, Abinadab, and Shimea, were among Saul’s fighters. Concerned about their wellbeing, Jesse, David’s father, sent David with some food to find out how they were doing in the battlefield. David’s brothers were not willing to fight Goliath. So, they were eliminated. When he came to see his brothers, David came to hear the taunting words of Goliath and the abundant promises of Saul for a giant killer. He burned with righteous anger against the Philistine. He was willing to go and fight him. However, his eldest brother accused him that David was there wasting his time watching the battle scene. Out of prejudice, Eliab rebuked David for something not true of his youngest brother. He said in anger, 네가 어찌하여 이리로 내려왔느냐 들에 있는 몇 양을 뉘게 맡겼느냐 나는 네 교만과 네 마음의 완악함을 아노니 네가 전쟁을 구경하러 왔도다. "Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle" (1 Sam. 17:28).

David, before he launched on his fight, had to overcome the accusation and misunderstanding of his brother Eliab. David had a pure motive of coming to visit his brothers. He had a pure motive of investigating what was going on and what was promised to the giant killer. When he got accused of something false about him, he was not discouraged from venturing to take the challenge of Goliath by faith in God. His faith was strong enough to defeat his brother’s accusation. When we are misunderstood or accused of something not true about us, we may give up taking the challenges of faith. Especially when our family members and church members who know us very well cast doubt on our motive and accuse us falsely, we may be greatly disheartened. It is hard to overcome the prejudice of others against us. Even though we want to act on faith, their prejudice often enervates us from taking action against challenges in life. Instead of stepping out in faith, we may waste our time justifying ourselves before those who accuse us falsely. In trying to justify ourselves, then, we may end up fighting them, not our enemies. Like David, however, we must move on with faith in the promises of God against our “goliaths.”

David also had to overcome the underestimation of Saul about him. Listen to what he said of David: 네가 가서 저 블레셋 사람과 싸우기에 능치 못하리니 너는 소년이요 그는 어려서부터 용사임이니라. And Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth" (1 Sam. 17:33). To Saul, David was seen as a mere boy and Goliath was seen as a professional fighter. David could have succumbed to Saul’s evaluation. However, he rather convinced Saul that he could kill Goliath as he killed wild predators that preyed upon his sheep. He refused to agree with Saul on that. And he was willing to fight Goliath, trusting God. Listen to what David said: 나를 사자의 발톱과 곰의 발톱에서 건져내셨은즉 나를 이 블레셋 사람의 손에서도 건져 내시리이다. And David said, "The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine" (1 Sam. 17:37). Convinced by David’s faith, Saul sent David with his benediction: 여호와께서 너와 함께 계시기를 원하노라. "Go, and the LORD be with you!" Faith operates, not on a realistic evaluation of challenge or trial, but on unshakable confidence in the person and work of God. 

Faith has both external and internal foes. His family members doubted David’s pure motive to fight Goliath. These challenges seem impossible to overcome. They are persistent. They are appalling. They are daunting. They challenge our faith in God. They invite us to come out to fight them. External challenges create inner challenges such as fear and anxiety. They awaken our inner foes in our hearts. There seems to be no solution to overcome these challenges. If we lose in these fights, we will be captives of our enemies such as fear, circumstantial enemies.

However, we must act on faith. When we act on faith, we must remember we will be challenged by circumstantial difficulties, emotional foes, or close ones. We must take them as they are. We must refuse to be intimidated by them. Surely, we are confronted with opposition from outside and inside the church. And we may face opposition from within. We are surrounded by these challenges against our faith. This is an unavoidable reality we face in our faith life. Then, we should directly look at them in the face, praying for God’s intervention and trusting God’s presence and power. Instead of running away or hiding from them, we must stand firm in faith and take their challenges boldly. Even when these challenges in unison come upon us, we must not yield to them. Rather, we have to fight them, relying on the Lord who fights for us. We must trust a God who promises us protection, provision, and victory. Faith in God makes great optimists. Over in Burma, Judson was lying in a foul jail with 32 lbs. of chains on his ankles, his feet bound to a bamboo pole. A fellow prisoner said, "Dr. Judson, what about the prospect of the conversion of the heathen?", with a sneer on his face. His instant reply was, "The prospects are just as bright as the promises of God." Faith stands on who God is and what God does for us in Christ. So, it can fight against challenges in life.

Let’s make our faith hold unto the promises of God:  ³¹ 그런즉 이 일에 대하여 우리가 무슨 말 하리요 만일 하나님이 우리를 위하시면 누가 우리를 대적하리요 ³² 자기 아들을 아끼지 아니하시고 우리 모든 사람을 위하여 내어주신 이가 어찌 그 아들과 함께 모든 것을 우리에게 은사로 주지 아니하시겠느뇨.  ³¹ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Rom. 8:31-32) Let’s shout with faith aginast our “goliaths”: “If God is for us, who can be against us? Faith takes challenges as they are. It doesn’t seek to escape from them. Rather, it challenges and taunts them with the word of God.

But the question is “What kind of faith do we have against these challenges?” This is the question that we will discuss next. Faith….

II. 믿음은 하나님을 경험함에서 행동한다.

 Faith acts by experiencing God.

David, before he went out to fight Goliath, had to convince Saul that he could bring Goliath down for himself. Saul heard of David who was willing to fight Goliath. So, he sent for David. When he came to Saul, David said, “Don’t worry about this giant. I will go and get him.” But, Saul was doubtful of David’s physical capability against Goliath, saying, “You are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth.” From a human standpoint, Saul’s evaluation of David was right. He was not simply underestimating David. Saul honestly gave David his first impression about him. Instead of yielding to Saul’s first impression on him, David had to tell him of his credentials as follows: 주의 종이 아비의 양을 지킬 때에 사자나 곰이 와서 양떼에서 새끼를 움키면 ³⁵ 내가 따라가서 그것을 치고 그 입에서 새끼를 건져내었고 그것이 일어나 나를 해하고자 하면 내가 그 수염을 잡고 그것을 쳐 죽였었나이다 ³⁶ 주의 종이 사자와 곰도 쳤은즉 사시는 하나님의 군대를 모욕한 이 할례 없는 블레셋 사람이리이까 그가 그 짐승의 하나와 같이 되리이다 ³⁷ 또 가로되 여호와께서 나를 사자의 발톱과 곰의 발톱에서 건져내셨은즉 나를 이 블레셋 사람의 손에서도 건져 내시리이다. “Your servant has been keeping his father’ sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 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. 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. 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” (NIV).

David talked about his experiences of God. His faith was not merely intellectual, but primarily experiential. By relying on God’s deliverance, David dared to attack wild predators and killed them. On the basis of his experiences of God, David examined the current situation and decided to act in faith against Goliath. He was first convinced of the Lord’s power and intervention for him. Then, he was able to convince Saul that God would be with him to kill Goliath. So, Saul gave him his permission, saying, “Go, and the LORD be with you.” He prayed for God’s empowering presence with David, as David prepared himself to fight the giant. If he had not experienced God’s power in his daily shepherding business, David would not have ventured to take the challenge of Goliath. His faith was unwavering, because he was formed in a challenging reality by God. It was formed out of such a hard reality. So, it was firm. It was unshakable. It was ready to act again for the glory of God.

That David’s faith was undaunted by Goliath is attributable to the fact that it was not theoretical, but experiential. His faith was not learned in a classroom of seminary or Sunday school. It was not formed in a cool, nice sanctuary in the church. It was not a mere talk. It was not philosophical. It was no show. But, David’s confidence was formed and reinforced in a real-life setting by his repeated experiences of the living God. His courage arose from his experiential faith in God. Saul, Jonathan, and many others also had some type of experience of God in battlefields. However, they were not convinced that God was really with them while protecting them from their enemies. They wished God were with them. However, they were not confident in the actual presence of God with them. Like their ancestors who refused to enter the Promised Land because they feared the high-statured descendants of Anak, they couldn’t go out to fight Goliath. They learned nothing from the failure of their forefathers; rather, they simply repeated their failure because of fear. Having lost their confidence in the Lord’s presence with them, they were confident that they would be no match with Goliath. So, they didn’t want to offer their precious lives for an impossible fight.

Their faith was pretty much theoretical, intellectual, only confining to their mind. Surely, they heard about Yahweh who delivered their ancestors from the bondage of Pharaoh in Egypt. They heard about great things Yahweh had done for their forefathers such as the exodus, feeding millions of their ancestors with manna and quails, guiding them through the perilous paths of wilderness, conquering the more advanced peoples in Canaan, on and on. Yahweh, who had been with their ancestors, was with them. However, their faith was not working properly. When the great giant challenged them, they automatically assumed that even God couldn’t do anything against their enemy. In a way, they boxed God in their narrow mind. Surely, many of them had no experience of God in their lives. For this reason, they were deeply shaken by fear, not knowing what to do or only thinking about how to survive. God was not in their hearts. Instead, fear completely replaced their faith.

However, David was different here from the rest of Saul’s army. He had been trained in terms of his faith. He didn’t become a champion of faith overnight. He had learned to trust God. Now, he firmly trusted the Lord would deliver him from the Philistine. From his past experiences of God, he learned to trust only God, neither his own skills nor his own faith in God. He discovered who God is as he experienced Him in his real life setting. He didn’t seek the fading thrill of experiencing God, though he enjoyed fully the excitement of experiencing God’s power. If he had chased after the thrilling feeling coming from experiencing God’s miracle, he would have been a religious, emotional fanatic. However, he was immersed in God Himself. He was a man after God’s own heart.

So, David was confident that God would use him to deliver His people from the Philistines. Now he was about to go out to fight Goliath. Saul offered David his own armor-- a bronze helmet and a coat of mail. Saul wished it would protect him from the Philistine. Which king would give his own kingly armor to his servant? Saul was granting David a great favor. So, David put it on, strapped the sword over it, and took a step or two to see what it was like, for he had never worn such things before. But David was not used to them. They were too big for David. So, David took them off. David was not supposed to depend on a human convention that soldiers were to wear armors and weapons. Rather, David picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them into his shepherd's bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd's staff and sling, he started across the valley to fight the Philistine.

We see here David was relying on God alone, not on Saul’s favor. David trusted God alone, not man’s weaponry. Saul’s armor wouldn’t protect David from Goliath. Only God would protect David from him. David offered himself to God as he was. Not human weaponry, but God’s intervention was necessary for victory. David’s five stones in his hand were used in God’s hand to bring Goliath down. No matter how small or insignificant they might seem, they in God’s hand could be a mighty weapon to kill Goliath. This is what David believed. David’s faith was experiential, trusting only God. He didn’t debate whether he would have to attack Goliath or not. He didn’t discuss it with his parents. He didn’t waste his time trying to convince others. He simply acted on faith in a God of victory who would deliver him from the Philistine giant. If our faith remains intellectual, theoretical, or philosophical, we won’t act on the promises of God. We may amass a great amount of information on God’s attributes. Yet, we won’t act on the knowledge of God. Even though we know God is infinite, good, and faithful, we won’t commit all our care upon Him because we can’t see Him. Even though we know God is always with us, we won’t act on that faith and fail to experience God’s presence and power in life.

What kind of faith do you have? You may not know the true character of your faith in prosperity. However, adversity reveals the nature of your faith, whether it is actual or intellectual. If you have equated your Bible knowledge as your faith, you may not stand before great challenges in life. Your theoretical faith shall be shattered by “goliaths” in life. Head knowledge-based faith won’t work in a life-threatening situation. It won’t give us confidence in God. It will make us terrified before daunting tasks of life. As we exercise to build up our muscles, we must learn to exercise our faith in a real life setting to build up our spiritual muscle of faith. Even though we know we have some kind of faith in God, we cannot experience the thrills of faith-based living if we do neither exercise faith nor walk by faith. The African impala can jump to a height of over 10 feet and cover a distance of greater than 30 feet. Yet these creatures can be kept in an enclosure in any zoo with a 3-foot wall. The animals will not jump if they cannot see where their feet will fall. Faith is the ability to trust what we cannot see, and with faith we are freed from the flimsy enclosures of life that only fear allows to entrap us.

Therefore, we must fly upward by faith. We must keep learning to jump higher and higher against trials by faith. Here is another story that illustrates the importance that we should exercise our faith. One night a house caught fire and a young boy was forced to flee to the roof. The father stood on the ground below with outstretched arms, calling to his son, "Jump! I'll catch you." He knew the boy had to jump to save his life. All the boy could see, however, was flame, smoke, and blackness. As can be imagined, he was afraid to leave the roof. His father kept yelling: "Jump! I will catch you." But the boy protested, "Daddy, I can't see you." The father replied, "But I can see you and that's all that matters." God sees you. Do you believe it? God knows you. He remembers you. He fights for you. He gives you victory. He is always with you. Do you act on these truths? 

Surely, we are called to act on faith that God sees us in every circumstance and takes care of us in love. We are called to act on faith that God is always with us. Unless we experience God by faith, we won’t grow spiritually. Unless we grow by faith, we will be stagnant, theoretical about spiritual issues. So, we must learn to walk by faith, not by sight. Take challenges as opportunities to experience God’s faithfulness, goodness, and power. When you really experience God in your daily living, you will be ready to take challenges by your experiential faith. However, if you don’t exercise your faith against challenges, then your faith will remain dormant, weak, or handicapped. You will lose God-designed opportunities to experience His great intervention. Experience itself can’t be the purpose of our faith. But, it reinforces or increases our confidence in God. It helps us march toward challenges instead of escaping from them.

We have covered the first two points, the reality of faith being constantly challenged and the importance of experiential faith. Now, let’s turn to the motive of faith, which is…

III. 믿음은 하나님을 영화롭게 한다.

 Faith glorifies God.

When he was about to go and fight Goliath, David intended to reveal the magnificent name of Yahweh to the world. David was not a man of selfish ambition that sought to mark his name to the world. He didn’t intend to enrich himself or be the king’s son-in-law by defeating Goliath. In this fight, he was concerned about the reputation of God and the glory of God, not about his own safety and name. The motive of his undertaking of Goliath’s challenge was to glorify God. In other words, the motive of his faith was not to receive rewards from Saul, but to bring glory to the name of Yahweh. He was furious because Goliath was defying the armies of the living God. The eyes of David’s faith were set on God; so he was able to take the challenge of Goliath courageously.

Listen to the famous words of David uttered in response to the taunting words of Goliath: "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. ⁴⁶ This day the LORD 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, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, ⁴⁷ and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hand." 너는 칼과 창과 단창으로 내게 오거니와 나는 만군의 여호와의 이름 곧 네가 모욕하는 이스라엘 군대의 하나님의 이름으로 네게 가노라 ⁴⁶ 오늘 여호와께서 너를 내 손에 붙이시리니 내가 너를 쳐서 네 머리를 베고 블레셋 군대의 시체로 오늘날 공중의 새와 땅의 들짐승에게 주어 온 땅으로 이스라엘에 하나님이 계신줄 알게 하겠고 ⁴⁷ 또 여호와의 구원하심이 칼과 창에 있지 아니함을 이 무리로 알게 하리라 전쟁은 여호와께 속한 것인즉 그가 너희를 우리 손에 붙이시리라.

Goliath was infuriated at David. He underestimated David as a young boy. He cursed David for that he was coming to him with a shepherd stick as if he were a dog. In spite of all these curses and taunts, David didn’t feel threatened because he was confident of the Lord’s intervention for him. No matter how Goliath threatened David, David refused to open his heart to Goliath’s cursing words. Rather, he pronounced victory against Goliath. In his famous words, David expressed his faith in Yahweh’s power. 

He contrasted himself with Goliath. Goliath relied on his weapons, whereas David relied on the name of Yahweh. Though it might seem the Lord’s name wouldn’t be helpful, yet His name meant everything to David. The name “Yahweh” meant God’s character and activities demonstrated in Israel’s history. God’s name itself represents God Himself and everything about Him. Now, David was fighting for God’s name, relying on the power of His name. Like a prophet of God, David predicted that God would deliver his enemy into his hand and that he would strike him down and would give the corpses of the Philistines to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth. The purpose of his fight was to show that God was among His people and He was the Divine Warrior who would fight for His people. He refused to fight for his own glory; but he fought for God’s glory. He exercised his faith for God’s glorious name.

For what do we use our faith? We can’t deny the fact that we try to trust God to gain what we desire. We often try to trust God to get rich, healthy, or smart. We try to trust God, so that God would make our children accepted into prestigious colleges or God would grant us our wishes. If we are not concerned for God’s will and His glory, we are simply using God for our personal profits. David sets a good example for us here to learn to fight for God’s glory in faith. The ultimate reason we trust God for enormous challenges in life is not to make our courage publicized unto the world, but to publicize the great name of God to the whole world.

There could have been some in Israel who felt constrained to fight Goliath for Saul’s rewards. However, they knew that their lives were more precious than Saul’s rewards. So, they decided not to take Goliath’s challenge, to preserve their lives. However, David was not concerned about his personal life. Though he might lose his life while fighting Goliath, he was ready to sacrifice himself to preserve the honor of God and save his people from the Philistines. David’s faith was driven not by his personal gain by the Lord’s glory and his people’s freedom. David transformed Goliath’s challenge as an opportunity to glorify God’s great name. Although his brother Eliab accused him of being proud and deceitful, David got over his accusation and was able to act on faith because he was more concerned about God’s name. David fought for the grand cause of God, not for his personal cause. In this fight, he exercised boldly his faith in God alone.

This is something we must learn from David. We must pray for God-glorifying faith, not for selfish faith. Each time we act on faith, we must make sure we direct our faith to bring honor and glory to the name of God in Christ. We find so many Christians today in the church of Christ who seek to have great faith for the fulfillment of their personal desires. We must bring our faith back to what it ought to be. Having an unwavering faith is important; but if it is only for our selfish gains, it definitely swerves from the right path of faith. Biblical faith always intends to magnify its Giver, not to fulfill our desires. 

We have covered the challenging reality of faith, the experiential nature of faith, and the motive of God-glorifying faith. Let’s turn to the result of faith, which is…

IV. 믿음은 다른 이들에게 영향을 준다.

 Faith affects others.

Faith affects those around us. If we act on faith, we make influence upon those around us. Our act of faith is not without consequences upon people. Let’s see how David’s act of faith affected those watching him kill Goliath. Here is what the author of Samuel says in vv. 51-53: Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. ⁵² And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. ⁵³ And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. 다윗이 달려가서 블레셋 사람을 밟고 그의 칼을 그 집에서 빼어 내어 그 칼로 그를 죽이고 그 머리를 베니 블레셋 사람들이 자기 용사의 죽음을 보고 도망하는지라 ⁵² 이스라엘과 유다 사람들이 일어나서 소리지르며 블레셋 사람을 쫓아 가이와 에그론 성문까지 이르렀고 블레셋 사람의 상한 자들은 사아라임 가는 길에서부터 가드와 에그론까지 엎드러졌더라 ⁵³ 이스라엘 자손이 블레셋 사람을 쫓다가 돌아와서 그들의 진을 노략하였고.

First, David’s act of faith negatively affected his enemies. As soon as he defeated the representative of the Philistines, he demoralized them. The Philistines only lost one strong man. However, they considered his defeat as the defeat of the whole nation. As Goliath said, “If one of you kills me, then we will be your servants,” it seems that the Philistine army understood Goliath’s words. Anyway, they chose to flee from the armies of the living God. Instead of gathering themselves in line against the Israelites, they ran for their lives. They were afraid of David, though David was a young shepherd boy. But they were afraid of David’s God Yahweh. As David said, Yahweh delivered David from the Philistine and gave him a great victory against Goliath. This implied that Yahweh defeated the gods of the Philistines. David’s act of faith revealed to both the Philistines and the Israelites that Yahweh prevailed against the gods of Goliath. David’s victory entirely reversed the atmosphere of war between the two. Just before, the army of Israel was on the losing side and the army of Philistia was on the winning side. But now, it was reversed. David’s people are on the winning side. The Philistines were on their flight from the men of Israel. 

Second, David’s act of faith positively affected his people. As a result of David’s act of faith against Goliath, the men of Israel who were watching David destroying their enemy with a single slingshot won inspiration and courage to fight the rest of the Philistines. They were absolutely confident that David would lose his life in fighting Goliath. But, as they were watching him running, throwing the slingshot, hitting right on Goliath’s forehead, and cutting his head off, they were convinced that the Lord was with David and that David’s predictions were fulfilled. Their fear gave way to faith in God’s power. Young David’s act of faith mobilized the fear-stricken men of Israel to fight for the name of Yahweh. David’s courage to die for the glory of God converted his people’s fear into faith in God. David’s faith was contagious. So, the people of Israel were willing to die for the glory of God, risking their lives to win victory against their enemies. David, when he acted on faith, boosted the faith of his fellow Israelites. Humanly speaking, David was no match with Goliath. There were few who would expect David to win. However, David, who was together with God for His glory, was invincible; Goliath was no match with David. In this fight, David became Israel’s national hero. However, the true Star was God who gave him victory. This was what David desired to show forth to the world.

We are a community of faith. This means that we interact with one another and affect one another. One’s act of faith affects the rest of the community. To the world, our courageous faith is evangelistic; to the believers, it is edifying. How would you affect others by your faith? If you act like the coward Israelites, you would dispirit the courage and faith of your brothers and sisters in Christ. However, if you act like brave David, you will encourage them into putting their faith in God. You will awaken their faith. Remember all of us face different challenges in life. We must encourage one another into growing in faith, so that we would give ourselves to the cause of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness are in constant battle. God has called us to be soldiers of Christ to fight the world, Satan, and the flesh. Let’s keep in mind that when we boldly act in faith, we can mobilize our fellow Christians to the expansion of His kingdom. We can help them take their life challenges by faith.

Faith is contagious. Likewise, fear is contagious. We must spread the virus of faith to others, so that they would stand strong against daunting challenges in life. Admiral Lee well knew that his soldiers were deeply shaken by fear. His men assumed that with 12 battleships they could not defeat the Japanese fleet made up of 330 battleships. They tried to convince Admiral Lee to give up the battle and earn time to gather more people and make more ships. However, Admiral Sunshin Lee concluded that there was no way to retreat. What he was worried about was not only they were outnumbered, but also they were infected with extreme fear. To fight the enemies, Mr. Lee had to convert their fear into courage. He himself first overcame fear because he was ready to die for his country. Once he overcame the fear of death, he was ready to take the challenge of the Japanese flotilla. Instead of staying behind, he led his fleet at the front. When he gave his fleet an order to move forward to fight, none of them followed his order. The battleship he was commandeering was the only one that was heading toward his enemies. He was surrounded by his enemies. He fought fearlessly and broke the initial dispatches of Japan down. He brought them down into the depth of the ocean. His men in the other eleven battleships were watching him fearlessly fighting and winning. All of a sudden, they felt courage welling up out of their hearts. They all were moved by the courage and fearlessness of Admiral Lee. They overcame the fear of death, ready to die for their country. They broke about 100 Japanese battleships and made the others retreat from the battle. This battle reminds us of the fight between David and Goliath. Admiral Lee’s act of courage converted his people’s fear into courage to fight to win. Likewise, David’s act of faith and courage moved the hearts of his people to fight to win. Remember your act of faith also affects others. You must take the challenges of life by faith, so that others would be encouraged to face their challenges and glorify God. 

Conclusion

We have studied David’s faith. First, faith faces challenging reality daily. Faith won’t help us escape from this reality. Rather, it helps us face it with courage in God. Second, faith is experiential. It builds up on experiencing God. The nature of biblical faith is not theoretical, but experiential. Third, faith glorifies God. This is the motive of biblical faith. Faith never plays a role in fulfilling our selfish desires. It always centers on the glory of God. Fourth, faith affects others. Faith results in the mobilization of God’s people for His kingdom. We have covered the reality, nature, motive, and result of faith. We all want to have faith like David’s. Surely, we can ask God for that. As we examine our faith, we will see where in our faith is found defective. God shows us what to do through His Word to strengthen our trust in Him.

No matter what we do to enhance our faith, we must look to Christ our Savior and Lord. Needless to say Christ had met many great challenges throughout his life. He faced poverty, rejection, threats, insults, jealousy, or abandonment. But he stayed faithful to the Father. At the end, He took the challenge of crucifixion on our behalf. He didn’t escape from it. He took our sin and death upon Himself, so that we could be saved from sin and death. As we follow Christ, we as His disciples will face many challenges that Christ faced. If we do, it means that we are walking in faith. Christ trusted His Father. His understanding of the Father was not theoretical, but experiential. He knew everything about His Father. So, His faith was actual, not informational. Here we learn the importance of experiential faith. Intellectual faith should turn into actual faith by experiencing God. It can’t take the challenges of life. It will hide from them in fear. However, experiential faith is ready to take them on, because it solely trusts God.

No doubt Christ always worked for the glory of the Father. He was constantly driven by His Father’s glory. He refused to turn stones into bread or jump off out of the pinnacle of the temple, though he was powerful enough to do it, because He was driven by the Father’s will, not by His desire for power or fame. His faith is a model for our faith. He took the challenges by trusting His Father and glorified His Father. We find inspiration in Christ’s confidence in the Father. Even at His death, Christ committed His soul to the hand of the Father, fulfilling His redemptive purpose. When we experience the love, grace, and power of His death, we can take the challenges of life by faith to experience and glorify God, and to encourage our fellow Christians to act in faith for the kingdom of God. Remember faith does matter in every possible way. Let’s walk daily in God-honoring faith.  

Benediction

²⁴ The LORD bless you and keep you; ²⁵ the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; ²⁶ the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. ²⁴ 여호와는 네게 복을 주시고 너를 지키시기를 원하며 ²⁵ 여호와는 그 얼굴로 네게 비취사 은혜 베푸시기를 원하며 ²⁶ 여호와는 그 얼굴을 네게로 향하여 드사 평강주시기를 원하노라  (Num 6:24-26)