Sermon(1 Sam 17:41-54): To risk the life

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025256175

 

 

 

Scripture reading: 1 Sam 17:41-54

 

>> ... 42 And when the Philistine looked, and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, ruddy and comely in appearance. 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, ... 54 And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armor in his tent. <<

 

Human life is precious. Therefore, you should not play with the human life. You know about the russian roulette. It's a game of 'life or death' in which you load a revolver with only one bullet and pull the trigger of the revolver pointed at your head. If the revolver has 6 bullet cylinders, the performer of the game must die on the spot at the probability of one sixth. It is a very foolish and ungodly game. People who have survived such an evil game will be punished as much as murderers later in the last judgment. Did their mothers travail to give birth to them who would show off that kind of courage? The immoral and wanton sex life also is a severe sin since it is disrespect of life. It is the same as murder because they enjoy sex with the thought that they will abort the child if the sex produces it. And the nasty homosexual psychos do dirty thing with sexual organs, holy organs that produce life, so they also are bound to go to hell. The origin of life is God himself. The pride of God is the life. The glory of God is the life. The means by which God bestows favors on humans is the life. Therefore, God is very angry with those who despise life, especially those who downplay the life of a human being who has personality, and he always calls them to account for such transgressions strictly.

 

Life is of infinite value to those who have it. Who can exchange his life for other things? Indeed a lump of gold is very precious, but can you lose your life and have it (the gold)? If you die, you lose not only your life, but everything in the world. Christianity is great because it gives answers about the eternal life. And because (thanks to Christianity) now we can sacrifice and risk our life to do something great. Because we have found eternal life in God, indeed we can do meaningful and great things with our lives on earth. Had we not found eternal life in God, now this world would be a world of beastlike human beings where awful selfishness, cruel law of jungle, and decisive crimes giving huge money prevail.

 

Today's passage is the story of David and Goliath that most Christians know. What are the really important things in this story? The first is the heart of David who loves God. Goliath was, as it were, the representative of the Philistine army. The Philistines sent him out to represent the Philistine army not that he was of high rank but that he was so bulky and strong that he could beat the Israeli representative and discourage the Israeli army. A fully armed giant, who was 2.9 meters tall, came out and gave a yell to the Israeli army, "Anyone of you, come over here as the representative of Israel, and fight me! Let's see, through our duel, which god is stronger, your god or our god." Thus none of Israelites dared come forward. David was not there as a soldier, but on an errand of his father, he went there to see if his brothers, who were soldiers of Israel, were safe. David was indignant when he saw Goliath insulting the God of Israel and the army of Israel arrogantly. Of the many soldiers of the army of Israel who heard Goliath, no one was indignant with him and had any intention to fight and defeat him. But David, who was not a soldier, heard what Goliath said and decided to fight with him in anger. Why did he act like that? Because David loved God. In those days, there must be many people who were blessed by God more than David in worldly point of view. However, it was David who loved God most there at that time. David loved God, so he decided to challenge terrible Goliath who was insulting God. At this very moment did David decisively receive the attention from God. ‘David, you love me most among all Israelites, so I will love you most and bless you most among all Israelites.’ Brethren, both human beings and the God give the best to the one they love most.

 

What is the important thing next to David's love for God? That is 'David risked his life for God.' The duel in which two representatives of both sides (Philistine and Israel) fight each other is a game that ends only when one kills the other. David, a boy who is not a soldier, should lose his life if he can not kill a soldier named Goliath. But it's so hard a game for David that nobody can expect his victory. Indeed David had killed a lion, but it was but an animal. Now, his opponent is a crafty soldier with weapons. Now it's a game in which winner and loser are determined by the strength of muscles of arms and legs. In a situation where victory was never guaranteed, David risked his life to keep God's honor. He stepped forward to fight with Goliath. If things should go wrong, he could disgrace the name of God Jehovah and Israel. Let alone his life and the honor of his family. But David risked his life for God even though he could suffer such disgrace. Seeing this attitude of David, God prepared his victory. My brethren, can everyone who goes to war have victory? Does everyone who has confidence in the victory succeed and win? No! God prepares victory and success for those who are determined to sacrifice their precious things for God. If David's faith were infinite, paradoxically speaking, there wouldn't be his 'brave' resolve to risk his life. In big faith, there would be no room for such thing as the fear of death. However, living as a saint in the world, you too often need not only faith but also a devoted mind to accept even losses if you fail. In other words, you are a believer of true faith if you have this extended faith: 'Even if I should fail, God will be glorified through this failure, and he will compensate me for this loss (of life) after this world.' Brethren, David, in fear and trembling, went forth to Goliath! He risked his own young life. By this, David finally won the heart of God. ‘David, you risked your most precious life for me. I will preserve your life and give you a blessing of longevity. Whenever you go out into the battlefield as a great general, I will protect your life. I will keep you hidden from all your enemies who seek for your life. And if you should commit sin deserving death, I'll forgive you if you repent of your sin. I will kill other criminals instead of you. No, I'll make you repent your sins and forgive you. Instead, I will take the lives of other sinners for your life.’

 

Brethren, who is the one that loves God really? He who loves by words only? He who resents at those who hurt God's glory, who is happy to suffer any losses in order to keep God's glory is the one who truly loves God. In all Israel, David is the most blessed. I think the blessing was not free but rather fair. He who gives God the greatest love that a human being can do receives such blessings as David received. Brethren, love God as David did, and act properly with all your might for the sake of God's glory. And the God of David will be your God.

 

What kind of faith was David's? David believed that God would give his people strength and wisdom to defeat their enemies. So he believed that, no matter how big Goliath the opponent was and how excellent his weapons were, he could surely win if God permitted. David believed in the faithfulness of God also. He believed that he (God) would keep those who trusted in him. So David boldly cries out. “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, (v. 46)” David firmly believed in God's sincerity. This faith pleased God exceedingly. one day David said, “O taste and see that the Lord is good! (Ps 34:8)” Who can taste God's goodness and faithfulness? Like David, he who loves God and courageously stands up to fight the enemy (God's opponent) tastes the goodness and faithfulness of God. Is it all? No! David said, “I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging bread (Ps 37:25). All of them live somewhat well.” Brethren, the righteous who fear God do not die so quickly in vain even when it looks as if they are perishing sooner or later. My beloved brethren, God never let the faithful saints loving God be in a difficult situation that they must beg for bread. How many Christians are there, who loved and feared God, but were so sick when young that they almost died, who, however, have overcome the disease and lived as good Christians, giving glory to God! Brethren, never underestimate those who fear God on the basis of their present degree of wealth or health! Sometimes you can see a man who is hesitant to give his daughter to a good Christian man faithful to God, then having missed the good chance, deeply regrets. So he has brought up the daughter with such tender care to offer her to a son of Devil! If he want to marry his daughter off to a young good Christian man, he ought to teach her to participate in all worships and Church groups from pupil department to youth department, and to live as good Christian. Ignoring daughter's bad faith amounts to an intention to raise her carefully and to give her to a son of Devil. Who would take to wife a woman having only pretty face and good academic achievements (in spite of all kinds of hardship and misfortune of the future)? Even if she is your daughter, you must make an objective judgement on her. Do you expect a sane young man would take that pseudo-Christian to wife? I'm saying this because there are many foolish parents in Church whose sons and daughters are students.

 

Some of you may ask, "Then, how was your Church-life?" So I'll confess my Church-life when I was a student. Please forgive me my bragging and listen. I could not go to college without scholarship. Nevertheless, I really wanted to go to college. By the way, the department of student of the Church elected me leader (president) of the group, me who would be a third-year student of high school. I took time  off  to evangelize and to work hard as leader, and revived the department of middle and high school students. I did not study on Sunday since my summer vacation of the 3rd grade in high school to observe the Lord's Day wholly. After all, thanks to scholarship I was able to go to college, though for some people it might not be so excellent one. David's faith was great at the time, but my faith was no less good than his faith, I think. I am still proud of my faith at that time. Brethren, the student activities in the church will never lower your college exam scores. Please don't be a man of such little faith! How much may the evangelist (the unordained pastor) who was in charge of the church have prayed for me when I, being a third grader of high school, was the leader of the students! How much he rejoiced when he heard that I received a scholarship and was able to go to college! He cried out may times "Hallelujah!"

 

So it was God's faithfulness and mercy that David held on to. David could be martyred (killed) that day. Of course it could also be an honor for him. However, the atmosphere of that day ought not to be so. David advanced on the enemy, praying God to give him victory for the sake of God's glory. It is an honor to God when martyrdom happens while the gospel is preached in foreign lands or Christians are persecuted by wicked regimes. Under the circumstances like the text of today, it can not be the glory of God that David has to suffer a heroic martyrdom here. God never allows what will cause his loss. In this situation, God will be glorified if he gives David a great victory. God gave David a wonderful victory as the armies of both sides watched. Because of this victory, the Israelites realized to the bone that David was a great warrior, and the Philistines saw David's courage and power and were afraid of David while he was alive. Israelites thought. 'If David can not be (our) king, then who else can be the king?' After David became king, Philistines, the enemies of Israel, thought. 'Who dare war against the land where David is king?' That day David loved God and courageously risked his life to fight Goliath and got so many precious things. My brethren, you envy David, don't you?

 

May you have faith to give your precious things to God. May you receive much love and blessing from God like David.

 

Chong Tack Kim

 

                             - Dongtoma Sunshine Church -