Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship – BLCF Church Message for Sunday:
‘David: Humble Shepherd, Defender of the Faith, and God’s Fearless Champion’
© October 22, 2017, by Steve Mickelson
Announcements and Call to Worship; Prayer
Opening Hymn #49: A Pilgrim Was I and A-wandering; Choruses
Prayer and Tithing Hymn #572: Praise God from Whom All Blessings
Responsive Reading #598(a): The Holy City (Psalm 23 – first half)
Message by Steve Mickelson:
‘David: Humble Shepherd, Defender of the Faith, and God’s Fearless Champion’ 
Let us pray…
Welcome to our Sunday Morning Worship and Prayer Service at BLCF. For today’s lesson, we will examine the actions and testimony of David in two passages of Scripture: 1 Samuel 17:1-51 and Psalm 23.
Before we examine these Bible passages, let us briefly take a brief overview of this King, who proved the power of his faith on the battlefield. The following biographical sketch comes from Wikipedia, the Online Encyclopedia:
King David
David[a] is described in the Hebrew Bible as the second king of the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah.
In the biblical narrative, David is a young shepherd who first gains fame as a musician and later by killing Goliath. He becomes a favorite of King Saul and a close friend of Saul’s son Jonathan. Worried that David is trying to take his throne, Saul turns on David. After Saul and Jonathan are killed in battle, David is anointed as King. David conquers Jerusalem, taking the Ark of the Covenant into the city, and establishing the kingdom founded by Saul. As king, David arranges the death of Uriah the Hittite to cover his adultery with Bathsheba. The text does not state whether she consented to sex. According to the same biblical text, God denies David the opportunity to build the temple and his son, Absalom, tries to overthrow him. David flees Jerusalem during Absalom’s rebellion, but after Absalom’s death he returns to the city to rule Israel. Before his peaceful death, he chooses his son Solomon as his successor. He is mentioned in the prophetic literature as an ideal king and an ancestor of a future Messiah, and many psalms are ascribed to him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David
It is interesting that on more than one occasion, God chose to raise a humble shepherd to become a leader to His Chosen People. You may recall that the other herdsman chosen by the Lord was Moses, who was chosen to lead People of the House of Israel, from their bondage in Egypt.
Let us now look at the account of how young David convinced King Saul that the shepherd would be the best choice to be champion of God’s Chosen people against the giant Philistine warrior, named Goliath, in 1 Samuel 17:1-51 (ESV):
David and Goliath
17 Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. 2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines. 3 And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. 4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six[a] cubits[b] and a span. 5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels[c] of bronze. 6 And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And his shield-bearer went before him. 8 He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” 10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years.[d] 13 The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14 David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. 16 For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.
17 And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah[e] of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers. 18 Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.”
19 Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20 And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry. 21 And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. 22 And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers. 23 As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him.
24 All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid. 25 And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father’s house free in Israel.” 26 And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” 27 And the people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.”
28 Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, “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.” 29 And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?” 30 And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before.
31 When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. 32 And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 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.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 36 Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 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.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”
38 Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, 39 and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.
41 And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42 And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome 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, 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.”
48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.
50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. 51 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.
Footnotes: a. 1 Samuel 17:4 Hebrew; Septuagint, Dead Sea Scroll and Josephus four b. 1 Samuel 17:4 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters c. 1 Samuel 17:5 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams d. 1 Samuel 17:12 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew advanced among men e. 1 Samuel 17:17 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters
Looking at the footnotes on the height and size of Goliath, you may calculate, using the conversion of 1 cubit being equal to 18 inches or 45 centimeters, we have the warrior at 8 feet 8 inches plus a span or 270 cm, plus a span. And using the shekel of 1 unit being the equivalent of 2/5 ounces or 11 grams, the armor of mail, Goliath, at 5,000 shekels, would weigh about 2,000 ounces or 22 Kilograms.
Goliath was faced on the battlefield by David, the youngest of the eight sons of Jesse. It was while he was bringing food to his brothers on the battle lines, that David heard the taunts of the Philistine champion against the armies of God’s Chosen and volunteered to face Goliath not only as a champion of the army of Israel, but more importantly, he came in the name of Lord of hosts who is the God of the armies of Israel.
Who else was more qualified to be champion of God, King Saul, and the People of Israel than this young shepherd who bravely slew both bear and lion to protect his flock, giving praise to God for his victories saying, “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 Samuel 17:37
This brings us to our second Scripture passage, Psalm 23, where David acknowledges this King of God’s Chosen testimony is that he is but a member of a flock, who is guided, protected, comforted, and anointed by His Father in heaven.
We read this Psalm which praises and honors the Lord, in today’s Responsive Reading, entitled: The Holy City, and echoed in our Opening Hymn: A Pilgrim Was I and A-wandering, which we sang earlier in the service. For a better understanding of King David’s Psalm 23, here is the Good News Bible translation:
The LORD our Shepherd
1The LORD is my shepherd;
I have everything I need.
2He lets me rest in fields of green grass
and leads me to quiet pools of fresh water.
3He gives me new strength.
He guides me in the right paths,
as he has promised.
4Even if I go through the deepest darkness,
I will not be afraid, LORD,
for you are with me.
Your shepherd’s rod and staff protect me.
5You prepare a banquet for me,
where all my enemies can see me;
you welcome me as an honoured guest
and fill my cup to the brim.
6I know that your goodness and love will be with me all my life;
and your house will be my home as long as I live.
https://www.biblesociety.org.uk/explore-the-bible/read/eng/GNB/Ps/23/
I wonder how many of the BLCF Congregation have the 1 Samuel 17 account of David and Goliath come to mind as they read The Lord is My Shepherd in Psalm 23 and vice versa?
While the words and actions of David against the champion of the army of the Philistines described in 1 Samuel 17:1-51 speak for themselves, the metaphors used in Psalm 23 certainly bear witness to David’s battle against Goliath, and how he trusted God, and continues to praise Him.
Let us pray…
Closing Hymn #284: Yesterday He Died for Me
Benediction – (2 Corinthians 13:14):
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship BLCF Church 