stands for James. My father's name was also James Philip Morgan. Of course, he got to use the James and I have to go with a second. I have to be J. Philip, but it's a rather delightful honor, I think, to have a name that begins with James because that's the name of the book, isn't it? It's the King James Version. For those of us who are still loyal and spiritual, we use it King James. Anyway, I learned as a boy that my mother could say, Phil, I want you to do this, or Philip, I want you to do that, but if she said, J. Philip, I'd better move. Because after that, the pain would start. So anyway, that's why I have the rather ponderous name of J. Philip Morgan. There's another J. Morgan that will be a speaker who will follow me here this morning hour. And she's a good preacher. She preaches at me quite a bit. You ladies will be thrilled, I know, to hear what the Lord has laid upon her heart. Now, for those of you who have just joined us via satellite, Sunday morning we started about the life and times of David, King David, back in the Old Testament there, the man after God's own heart. And we took as our theme verse, The book of Acts chapter thirteen and verse number thirty-six. For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep. And sometimes we have the privilege not only serving our generation, but children come along. We have the privilege of serving the second generation. And grandchildren come along. We have the privilege of serving the third generation. And that's our privilege. And I believe that God has placed us where we are in this segment of time because this is where he wants us. And I believe that you don't haphazardly happen upon the face of this earth, but God has a plan for you to serve your generation, and then when your ministry is over, the Lord takes you home. What a glorious prospect. What a glorious prospect. And every twenty-four hours, we're one day closer to seeing him as he is. That's a wonderful hope that the Lord has got. How can you lose? It's a win-win situation, isn't it? Now, we've come thus far to First Samuel chapter seventeen. It's a rather lengthy chapter, so I won't read it, except to draw verses from it and try to bring some sort of principles out of it. But in First Samuel chapter seventeen is where that great tall man standing nine and a half or ten feet tall, man named Goliath, He was of the Philistines, and he challenged, you remember, the armies of Saul, and Saul and his men were all afraid to go out and to fight against Goliath until a young fellow came along. We think David was about seventeen years of age here, and we want to note some of those things this morning hour. And you know the story. It's probably one of the first Bible lessons that you learn in Sunday school or that your godly mother or father told to you, and that is David fighting Goliath. And we probably won't finish all of the things that we ought to say about it this morning hour, but we will continue on. But anyway, the facts are very, very familiar to you, and you know the situation. Now, in order to get into it, there's just two major points this morning, and that is we want to look, first of all, at insight to character, insight to character. What's over a fellow was David when all this occurred? And then secondly, the insights to conquering when he did face Goliath and all of the things with which you are familiar. Now you notice insight to character goes back to First Samuel chapter sixteen and verse number seven. This also has become one of our key verses. Sixteen and verse seven, the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance or on the height of his stature because I have refused him, for the Lord seeth not as man seeth. And we know that today, don't we? We know that today. And the second great premise is, man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. Now, of course, that was said in reference to Eliab, and even Samuel thought that Eliab was the next king, because he looked regal. He looked like a king. And the Lord said, now don't be fooled by that. Now, taking that principle into consideration, We look at this young fellow who's going to appear on the scene in First Samuel chapter seventeen, and we wouldn't have chosen him either. And here's a shepherd boy. He doesn't know what a sword is. He doesn't know what a spear is. He doesn't know what a shield is. And he has to face a man standing tall, you know. He has all of these things. And if we were to look on the appearance of a man, we would not have chosen David to be the champion for Israel. But God did choose him. Why? Because God is still illustrating man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart. Now, didn't James warn against the same sort of thing? You have a man come into your congregation of goodly apparel, and you seat him right down front. Now, the choice seats these days are all in the back. But in James, the time you put him down front. I try to encourage people to sit way down front. I say, these seats are entirely unused. They're still brand new. They may be twenty years old, but they're still brand new. And so James recognizes this too. The fellow comes in with goodly apparel. What are you doing? You're saying he is more important than the fellow who doesn't have any goodly apparel. And we're warned against that, aren't we, in First Samuel chapter sixteen. Look not on the outward appearance, but look upon, as God does if we can, upon the heart. So there's insight to character. Here's the first one. spiritual development of the lonely life. I think this figures in the life of David. And I think it comes out later on when he uses a sling to kill Goliath. The spiritual development of the lonely life. And some believers today still know what it is to have a lonely life. They're lonely sometimes because of physical pain. They're lonely sometimes because they're the only saved person in their whole family circle. They're lonely because of one reason or another. But the Lord can use that time, you see, to develop the spiritual character of that person. Remember Fanny J. Crosby lived on the face of this earth ninety-five years, totally blind. And people used to come up to her and say, oh, I feel so sorry for you. She said, what do you feel sorry for me for? And they said, well, you've never seen anything. You've never seen a baby, you've never seen a sunset, you've never seen a flower. She said, don't feel sorry for me because I feel sorry for you. Why do you feel sorry for me? Because she said, you have seen things that you wished you hadn't seen. She said, don't feel sorry for me, I feel sorry for you because she says the first thing that I will see is the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the first thing that I will ever see. But Fanny Crosby, blind all those years, living on earth, ninety-five years, would we have some of those wondrous hymns that we have today if she hadn't had the loneliness of that perpetual darkness? I think maybe not. I think maybe not. She would have gotten married, probably had children seen to the rearing of the family and out of the loneliness of that. And some of the best, most spiritual Christians you know are people who lead lonely lives, we could say, for one reason or another. but they know the Lord, they walk close to Him. And I think that some of the psalms that we have, where David speaks about the firmament and the glories of the heavens, I think he found out as a shepherd boy. Out there with the sheep and those lonely nights you see, and he sees the stars and the firmament, and he draws spiritual pictures from them. I don't think we would have those if it hadn't been for the fact that this Shepherd boy was down there in the lonely hills, you see. He wasn't very much thought of by his family. We already know this. And Eliab, his oldest brother, is going to chastise him severely in the chapter this morning, you see. And so we have the spiritual benefits or development of the lonely life. And if you're in that situation this morning, don't try to wiggle and squirm out of it because maybe that's where the Lord wants you to serve your generation. He's trying to develop in you that which will bring praise and glory to Him. Don't frustrate the workings of the Holy Spirit because He's trying to do a work in you. He's trying to work out a plan in your life and in mine. And if we frustrate the ministry of the Holy Spirit, we destroy that image that God is trying to produce. So I think this is the first thing we could note about this insight into David's character, the spiritual development of the lonely life. Also, you notice his faithfulness and daily conflict. I pray a lot for faithfulness amongst the Lord's people today, sticking by the stuff. It's what my mother used to call having stick-tuitiveness. But we find a lot of restlessness these days. People leave our congregations and you go to visit them and they don't have any reason why they left. They just wondered what was over the next hill, you know. And there's a lot of restlessness these days. We don't have a stick to it of this. But you notice here in First Samuel chapter seventeen, verses thirty-four and thirty-five of our chapter. Verses thirty-four and thirty-five. David said to Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep. And there came a lion and a bear and took a lamb out of the flock. And I went out after him and smote him and delivered it out of his mouth. And when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and smote him and slew him. Now here's a shepherd boy hazarding his life against two ferocious animals, and they could have killed him or mauled him for life, you see. Well, then why did he do it? Somebody might have said, David, that was a stupid decision. What is your life in comparison to the life of a little lamb? You should have let the animals have the lamb. That's all. You've got a lot of other lambs, you know, and the lambing season comes along, and here comes all these little lambs, you know. And David, I think, would say, that is my responsibility. My father sent me out to care for the sheep, to care for the lambs, and if I die in the attempt, that is what my father has commissioned me to do. Now, you see, you can relay it to your heavenly father. He has given each one of us a job to do. According to First Corinthians chapter twelve, everyone has at least one gift of the Spirit, and I'm convinced that most Christians today have two or three gifts of the Spirit. Whether the Holy Spirit intended it that way, or whether there's Christians that don't do what they're supposed to do, so we have to double and triple up on the gifts, I don't know. But you know, the Lord expects you to exercise your gift so that all may profit, your Bible says. And if you have a gift and you're not exercising it, you're robbing me of something that God has for me, you see. And David says, it was only a lamb, I know that, and I hazarded my life, but that was the That was what I was supposed to do. And so this then is a faithfulness in the daily conflict. And he's way off in the South Florida. Nobody's going to know what's going on down there. But David says there's somebody that knows, somebody that sees. And his faithfulness in these things prepares them then for faithfulness in fighting the giant. And faithfulness in doing the work of the king's ministry and duties that are to follow him. All right, here's the third one. consideration in responsibilities. This is the ministry that my Father has given to me, and I will be faithful to this ministry until my Father takes it away from me. That's what David says. Where does he say it? He says it in verse number twenty. First Samuel chapter seventeen verse number twenty. David rose up early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper. His father, you remember, said, I want you to take some food stuff to your sons, and I want you to take a present to the commanding general. That's not a bad idea. And I want you to do that. And I think David was thrilled because it was some kind of a different job, a little more exciting than taking care of sheep, you know. But he says, my first responsibility is to be faithful to the job that I have presently. I'm not just going to leave these sheep to wander all over. And so he doesn't go with the cheese and so forth, off to the army to see his brothers and so forth, until he has made provision for the sheep which are under his responsibility. Now that, dear friends, is consideration in responsibility. And whatever it is that the Lord has given you to do, you say, this is my responsibility. I am going to be faithful to this until my Father relieves me of this responsibility and gives me another one to do. You know, I think the Lord operates that way. I think the Lord gives us a rather small task to begin with. And if we are faithful to that, I think he elevates us. I think he promotes us. You know, we have some young fellows that come our way, and maybe they've been off the Bible school somewhere, and we've had some trouble with them, because they want to become the preacher all the time. They say, I know more Greek and Hebrew than any man in this congregation. I think I ought to do all the preachings. And we say, the only fellow that starts off at the top is the son of the guy who owns the business. Everybody else starts in the mail room. They start sweeping floors. They do these other stuff. And I think that's the same way God trains his children. And if we're not faithful in the little things, he will not make your ruler over many things. Isn't that what the word teaches? So you're faithful in this little job. And you find that after a while, the Lord promotes you if you're faithful in that job. And usually... Usually the Christian is rather surprised and a bit panic-stricken when the Lord gives them the next job to do. I can't handle that, you know. And that's a good feeling to have because then you really lean on the Lord. You really lean on the Lord. So David is faithful in his ministry and he is considerate of his responsibilities until he has made provision for those responsibilities, even though there be a flock of sheep. Fourth thing is this. This is the confidence of the obedient believer. Now, we're still in I Samuel seventeen. You come over to verse twenty-eight and twenty-nine. Verse twenty-eight and twenty-nine. Eliab, his eldest brother, heard when he spake unto the men, and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? Remember, this is the fellow now that Samuel thought was going to be the second king of Israel. If Samuel heard these words, he would have said, boy, was I wrong. Look at the way he jumps on his brother. And if he pounds his brother this way, what's he going to do with the rest of us who aren't related to him? Boy, was I wrong in thinking Eliab ought to be the next king. Anyway, you have that in verse twenty-eight. Anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? And with whom has thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? This is what Eliab thinks of David's job. Doesn't say they've had just a few sheep, but this is what Eli thinks about it. Your ministry is a minor ministry. Your ministry is a little ministry, and if you didn't do it, nobody would notice that it wasn't getting done. That's not the way it is in God's economy. There's no such thing as a little job, is it? A little boy brought his little lunch, and thousands of people were miraculously fed. This is the way the Lord works. You find that the Lord... If there's something that man can do, he lets man do it. Last week, I guess it was, when David Adams was here and I was trying to give him some sermon material, you know, and so forth. The dear brother needs help. And we were talking last Tuesday when my wife and I were over here and saying about the fact that the Lord does this sort of thing. And we said, you know, in Genesis eighteen, the Lord and two celestial companions come to talk with Abraham. And Abraham says, let me fix lunch for you. And the Lord says, okay. Does the Lord have to eat to stay alive? No. That's a delightful experience, isn't it? We'll find that out tonight at five o'clock. But you imagine, no microwaves in those days. Your Bible says Abraham had to go out and select an animal. and kill the animal and dress the animal and cook the meat. It must have taken several hours before he got lunch for the Lord. But the Lord let Abraham do it. And I think God does the same thing in nineteen ninety eight. If there's something that you and I can do, the Lord lets us do it. One time the Lord borrowed Peter's fishing boat for a floating pulpit. Now any person who can walk on water could stand on water. He didn't need Peter's fishing boat, but he let Peter loan it to him. And afterwards he said, now we're going to go out and make up for all the business hours that you lost while I was teaching these people. And the thing was flooded with fish, wasn't it, you see? That's what the Lord does. And sometimes I think we pray that the Lord would do things that you and I could do ourselves. The Father who prayed, oh, Lord, provide groceries. For that destitute family down the street, and the little girl reached over and tugged on a sleeve and said, Daddy, you could answer that prayer. And the father said, That's right, I could. I could. Oh, Lord, send in the unsaved. We often pray that, don't we? What did the Lord say? You go out into all the world and preach the gospel, you see. But we try to do it the easiest way. And then if unsaved don't come in, we say, well, the Lord doesn't send them in. She's all God's fault. Well, we must get off that. The confidence of the obedient believer, with whom hath thou left those few sheep in the wilderness. And verse twenty-nine, David said, what have I now done? What is it you are accusing me of having done wrong? He didn't defend the fact, I have a big job. He says, I have done what I'm supposed to do. I have the care of the sheep. I have left them in the hands of a responsible shepherd, and I am doing now my father's will, which is to come up and to see you guys and bring you something to eat. What have I done wrong? What have I now done? Then he says, I think referring to Goliath, is there not a cause? Is there not a cause, you see? And I think here he rejects compromise. This is one of the most interesting parts of the whole passage because It's rather ludicrous. And that's when David tries on Saul's armor. And you have that, you see, in verse thirty-eight and thirty-nine. Saul armed David with his armor. Now, remember, Saul is how tall? Head and shoulders above anybody else. You can imagine the armor that was built for Saul. And we're going to try to ask a seventeen-year-old boy to wear that armor that was built for this semi-giant, you see. And yet David is so gracious. He doesn't say, that's a stupid idea, King. He very graciously tries on, what does David know about armor? What does he know about a coat of mail? What does he know about a sword? But with great graciousness, you see, he tries them on. And verse thirty-eight, Saul armed David with his armor, and he put on a helmet of brass upon his head, probably very heavy. And he armed him with a coat of mail, and David girded his sword upon his armor, and he is saved to go. for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I think this is graciously because I appreciate the offer. It's certainly a fine coat of mail and certainly a sword of tempered steel. But I can't go because I haven't tried them. You see, he takes the responsibility back upon himself. It's my fault, King Saul, that the armor won't fit and won't work. It's not your fault. It's my fault because I haven't tried it. What grace there is? It sounds like the Son of David, doesn't it? The Lord Jesus Christ. Who, about the only time he ever went someplace he wasn't invited was when he went to Zacchaeus' house in Luke. All the other times, even in a fishing boat in the midst of the storm, he waited until he was invited aboard. And that's the way he worked. The graciousness of the Lord. Let me tell you this. The Lord Jesus Christ is the most perfect man that you have ever met. And manhood is his. John chapter eight, woman taken in the very act of adultery. Even the Lord Jesus Christ wouldn't look at her and embarrass her anymore. But he stooped over, your Bible says, and wrote in the sand. We have speculated what he has written. Maybe we've missed the point of the thing. Maybe he bent over and wrote because he wouldn't have to look at her, you see. Always perfect manhood. Always perfect grace. Always perfect politeness in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I've tried to visualize David inside Saul's armor, this man who stands head and shoulders above everybody else around them about, standing head and shoulders. And I think when David spoke, his voice sounded like he was speaking from the bottom of a well, down inside this armor, you see. And Saul maybe said, David, move around a little bit. And David would have said, I've taken three steps. Didn't the armor move yet? No, hadn't moved an inch to see. And David in his grace began taking the stuff off and said, King, I really appreciate your desire to help me and so on and so forth, but I can't wear somebody else's armor. And you see, you relate that to yourself. Because sometimes we so admire some Christian brother or sister, we would like to do what they're doing. We would like to have the gift of the Spirit that God has given to them. But it won't work. You can't wear somebody else's armor because it has been fashioned for them. Do what God wants you to do. Wear the armor that God has fashioned for you, you see. And don't try to... I hear people say, oh, if I had her gift of the Spirit, I could really take it and run with it, you see. Well, you better develop and exercise your own gift of the Spirit that God has given to you. Somebody has said... Oh, what we need is another Billy Graham. And somebody said, if God wanted another Billy Graham, he would have made him twins. You know, isn't it amazing? We're all different, aren't we? Some of us are more different than others. But, you know, we're all different, aren't we? And Vance Havner, you say, if you don't believe God has a sense of humor, you turn to look at that person seated next to you. We're all different, and that's the way I think we are in the family of God. God has given gifts of the Spirit, and if all of these things are exercised, what a healthy body the Church is. When everybody does what he does. You remember the woman that did something nice for the Lord, and she was severely criticized for it. The Lord said, You let her alone. You let her alone. She has done what she could. And if we as believers would only do what we can, You know, the Lord would bless it and he'd multiply it and he'd make it fruitful and you'd be surprised that the folks who would be getting saved and Christians who would be getting revived and restored and enjoying being saved. Oh, these days, you know, I don't do it anymore because I'm afraid of the results. But you know, I used to get so excited about the things and I'd say to a congregation, isn't the Lord wonderful? And I didn't even get that amen. And people would look at me. You know, I wouldn't get this or this or circular, which means I don't know. David taught us that last week. But, you know, they seem to look back at me and say, now we're going to have a congregational meeting Tuesday night. We'll vote on whether or not the Lord is wonderful and we'll get back to you on it, you see. You know, or, uh-oh, we've got some kind of an emotional fanatic on our hands out, you see. But I've seen people get excited over Super Bowl or over somebody getting elected to office. And when you say, isn't the Lord wonderful? Absolutely no response. No response. If everybody was doing what he or she could do, the Holy Spirit would bless and people would be saved and people would be enthused about being saved. That's who we need today. And I think with all the negative things that the unsaved world can read about, happens in the lives of Christians or congregations, I think it will reverse a lot of that. Reverse a lot of that. Insight to character. All of these things here. Over in First Peter, before we leave it. First Peter chapter two. First Peter chapter two. Poor David gets scolded by his own brothers. His eldest brother should have known better than that. First Peter chapter two and verse number twenty. Peter by the Holy Spirit says in First Peter two twenty four. What glory is it? If when ye are buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently. Now tonight at five o'clock we're having a buffet. And buffet and buffet are spelled exactly the same, aren't they? But if you had a choice, which one would you want? Right. I'll see you at five o'clock. What glory is it if when you are buffeted, you're pounded, you're beaten on for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? And folks do that. person might be obnoxious present company accepted of course a person might be obnoxious and somebody says you know you're hard to deal with and they would say I'm suffering for Jesus you know some folks are like that you know they step on somebody well anyway he shall take it patiently but if when you do well and suffer for it he take it patiently this is acceptable with God now that's David he done everything exactly right and he was still buffeted for it and he took it patiently For even thereon hereon too were ye called, because Christ also has suffered for us, leaving us an example. Example means to trace, that ye should follow his steps, who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judges righteously. There's your example, the Lord Jesus Christ. Insight to character. Now, back here in I Samuel seventeen, insight to conquering. One thing you have to do is recognize the spiritual or the theological implications of that particular thing. David is the only one who recognized this. This is more than a great big tall guy, well-armed, defying the army of Saul. David says he has defied the armies of the living God. He says, he's put himself in a desperate situation. Saul is not that he doesn't like you and he doesn't like my brothers in the army and the rest of it. This man has dared to shake his fist in the face of God and he's going to suffer for it. And David's only followed there on the battlefield to see that. And he's just a kid. He's just a kid. To recognize the spiritual implications. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness in high places. And the church has no greater challenge than ever before, as it has now, in nineteen ninety-eight regarding those things. Everywhere you look or the things you hear about and see is in the occult, isn't it? People are interested in out-of-body experiences. People are interested in all sort of spooky things. I don't want to know about that. It's simply enough for me to say, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against spirits. I don't want to know about all the rest of these sorts of things. Now, someone has said the devil is getting people used to the fact that an alien object came down and snatched me away and examined my brain, and the devil's feeding people with this idea, and that's the way the devil's going to explain away the rapture. I'm not saying that's the way it is. Later on, if you all agree with me, then I'll say that's the way it is. It seems to be heading up in this way, the occult, you know, all these sort of weird types of things. And you have this to recognize the spiritual implications. First Samuel, verse number twenty-six. David spoke to the men that stood by him, saying, and I think David speaks this in a rather incredulous tone. He says, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine and taketh away the reproach from Israel? He says, but for who is this uncircumcised Philistine? He's the only one that sees Goliath as the uncircumcised Philistine. This man has no covenant relationship with God. And nobody else had seen that in this passage, you see. David figures it out that he should defy the armies of the living God. Nobody had seen that either. The armies, plural. More than just Saul's army. Is the Lord not the Lord of hosts? And this giant is defying all the armies of God. Because, see, the soldiers were bragging about the fact, the last part of verse twenty-five, it shall be that the man who kills Goliath, the king will enrich him with great riches, will give him his daughter, it's a good way to get rid of an ugly daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel. That's the only thing the other fellas could talk about. They're talking about gold, girl, and glory. Same thing that an unsaved world was after today. Or we might say the fortune, a bit of romance in there, and a bit of the fact that everybody's going to know who I am, and I can ride in the second convertible in the state parade. And that's what these other guys are fighting for. And David repeats it again, and I think he does so incredulously. He says, you fellas talking about the gold and the girl and the glory, don't you recognize that this is a spiritual battle? But nobody recognized it, but David. This man has defied the armies of the living God. And because of this, he is going to suffer because of it. He's going to suffer because of it. Close to this. You remember, Belshazzar had a great party one day. Theologians called this Belshazzar's impious feast. And things were going along. And then you remember Belshazzar sent and brought the sacred vessels from the temple in Jerusalem that his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had brought, and his wives and his concubines and all the guests at the party began to drink wine out of these sacred vessels, and as soon as he did that, he brought God into the picture. And he's going to suffer, and he did, didn't he? At that point, there was handwriting on the wall. He didn't even read the writing, let no one know what it meant, and he had to bring a man named Daniel in to read this for him. And isn't that what the Lord taught, dear friends? Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of these, the least of my brethren, ye have done it unto me. We're not conscious of that. Here's somebody who has a need. Here's somebody who has a problem. We help this one. And the Lord said, Not only were you helping that one, you were helping me. So the thing can be seen in a negative situation. Goliath, Belshazzar, it can also be seen in a positive situation. And as much as you've done it unto me, you've done it unto the least of my brethren, you've done it unto me. So, maybe we'll start with the rest of this evening hour, Lord willing, if it gives it to us, and we will depart, because I have to make room for another preacher whose name is also Morgan to take over. Shall we pray? Our Father and our God, we thank you for the encouragement given to us by the Holy Spirit. As we look into the Word of God, We thank you, Father, that the same God who could work in and through the life and the commitment and dedication of David can still work in us in the church age in nineteen ninety eight. We pray, Father, our hearts will be encouraged these days, encouraged in our prayer ministry, encouraged in our times of fellowship. We pray, Father, we shall be encouraged to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, to do those things which are our particular responsibilities. Blessed Father, we pray the remainder of the day. We pray, Father, once again that in all things the Lord Jesus Christ himself shall have the preeminence. We ask this, Father, for thanksgiving in Christ's name, amen.