1 Samuel 17:10-37
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. 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 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!”

What can we learn from this story on how to be brave?

1. Someone will always doubt you
David was surrounded by people who doubted him, and this was long before Saul made his comments about David being too young.

1 Samuel 16:10-11
10 And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.”

David’s own father doubted him. In v5 Samuel consecrated Jesse and his sons for a sacrifice, and even then David was not there. Why? Jesse already made up his mind that David was not the one.

I know some of you have grown up in a family where you knew they believed you were not the one, not good enough, not worth the effort, never going to amount to anything.

That same doubt filled David’s brothers (along with extreme jealousy after David was anointed King) v 28 I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.”
Not only did his brother doubt David, he even doubted David’s intentions.
David was just being obedient, and even in a menial task. Yet there was a constant narrative surrounding David that he was simply not enough.

If you look at your life experience, especially in terms of your family of origin, and you see a constant pattern of family members doubting you, refusing to believe in you, of questioning your intentions at every move, you need to realize two things:
- you are not alone - even David felt that
- but more importantly, you have a new family through Jesus Christ

And this family says things like: “I can do all things through Jesus,” “I and the head and not the tail,” “I am filled with God’s power to do what he’s asked me to do.”

If you allow someone else’s doubt to drive your faith, you will never be brave enough to win the battle before you.

In the midst of others doubting, David’s bravery didn’t come from his family, or anyone around him. So then where did it come from?

Psalm 23:1-6
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

If fear is present in your life then it is an indicator that Jesus’ presence isn’t.
I’m not saying you are lost or abandoned or anything like that, but I am saying that if there is an area in your heart that is filled with fear, it is devoid of Jesus.

How can I say that?!?!?
2 Timothy 1:7
For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

Psalm 34:4
I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.

If you want to embrace courage as powerfully as David clearly did, it is going to take you embracing God’s presence as powerfully as David clearly did.

The key to more bravery is not in greater effort from your flesh, but in more relationship with your Father.

Someone will always doubt you. So spend time with those who believe in you. Start with Jesus.

2. Small battles win big wars
David’s bravery came, in part from those precious moments in the field spent with the Lord. Before we get too far away from it, you have to realize that moments with God happen anytime, not just your specified prayer times. In fact, I find God speaks to me more as I am just going through the process of my daily work than any other time. That doesn’t mean don’t have a specific time, but to stay engaged. This is a part of what is meant by the verse, “pray without ceasing.”

There are two things you need to know about David, however, before we get to Goliath.

First, David already knew King Saul. If you ever wondered how a random shepherd boy got an audience with the King, this is why.

1 Samuel 16:14-23
14 Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. 15 And Saul's servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well.” 17 So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.” 18 One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the Lord is with him.” 19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.” 20 And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul. 21 And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. 22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.” 23 And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.

Some questions…
Is 1 Samuel 16 and 1 Samuel 17 chronological? If yes, then you have to explain why Saul asked who David’s dad was. Easily explained by the fact that family would not have to pay taxes. Also, why Saul would offer his own armor? David was his armor bearer.

If no, then how would Saul, who has already been fighting the Philistines and losing, allow a shepherd boy to go face Goliath with losing the kingdom, the people becoming slaves, and Saul’s death on the line?

If it is chronological, then how is David a “man of war?” (v18) In Hebrew the actual phrase is “prudent in war.” Dive into those two words and you find the meaning is that David has a “distinctive understanding of battle or fighting.” How could he develop that? When he killed lions and bears to protect the sheep. If someone in Liberty had killed a lion and a bear with a slingshot, how long before the entire county would know?

I think we even have to step back further, though, and look at David’s anointing as king. We know that Samuel was anointing David as king, but Samuel was the only one who knew in the passage. Read it again later on, but at no time did Samuel say why he was choosing or anointing. David went back to the shepherd field anointed as king, but he didn’t know it.
The only thing that was different was what we see in 1 Samuel 16:13
And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward.

1 Samuel 16:17-18
17 So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.” 18 One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the Lord is with him.”

This is the work of the Holy Spirit and is precisely why David could do something as insane as defeat a lion and bear. After a lion and a bear, to David, this giant was no different.

Second, David’s courage was built in the shepherd’s field, not in the valley of Elah.
1 Samuel 17:33-36
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.”

Grabbed them by the beard and struck them?!?!? What would you do in that moment? I would assume the bear is Greek because it was about to get some delicious lamb to eat.

We often complain about hard situations not realizing they are godly preparations. We can look back and see the truth of that statement, but we rarely look at our current battle and see the same thing. We typically look at our current struggle as if it will be our last struggle.

Have you ever gone through a battle only to realize God was preparing you for a future one?

2018 was hard for me as a pastor. I had so much of the weight of launching a new campus on me. I had 7 hats I was wearing, spinning plates trying to keep them going. I HAD NO CLUE God was using a new campus to prepare me for a new church.

Bravery is built in battle, and most often, we don’t even realize it is happening. The problem could be that we don’t see what God is doing.

Ecclesiastes 3:11
11 Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.

David’s son Solomon wrote that. Hindsight is 20/20. Foresight is blind. It is much easier to understand what God has done, but it is so hard to understand what God is doing.

I don’t know that David had the foresight to understand that fighting a lion or bear was preparing him for Goliath. He would have to see the future to have known that. Yet his courage in the valley was forged in the field. They were just sheep! No big deal to lose one, right? Was it worth his life?

It is amazing how the Holy Spirit empowers us to face what battle is before us, but even more amazing how the Holy Spirit uses our current battles to prepare us for the next one.

Even if the battles you have faced or the one you are currently in seems insignificant, it matters!

Your courage and faithfulness in insignificant moments will determine your courage and faithfulness in significant moments. The moments that seem not to matter will make the difference. The skills were developed in what seemed to be insignificant battles that will help you win the war!

We often look at David in the valley facing Goliath and marvel at his bravery and willingness to go face the enemy. But we have to understand that courage was ready on the day he faced Goliath because that courage was built, tried, and proven in the battles in obscurity.

Don’t worry that you are being tested in places that no one sees. Your courage is being built for that moment when everyone is watching.

I want to talk to you who are fighting secret battles in obscurity that no one knows about. Maybe it is a secret sin. Maybe it is a thought process or a belief you’ve embraced. Maybe it is a struggle with the past or some event that has robbed you of courage. Maybe it is simply doubt.

David could kill Goliath because he’d already overcome insurmountable enemies. I know what you are facing seems undefeatable. David said to Saul: 1 Samuel 17:37
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.”

This same David later in his life wrote Psalm 24:8
Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle!

Battles fought in your own strength are always lost. Battles fought in his strength are always won. If you are fighting a secret battle today and losing, it is time to do it God’s way. How?

First, let’s put it in God’s hands and do what he commands.
Second, let’s tell someone so it isn’t a secret anymore. Sin in darkness grows. Sin in the light dies.

You want to be brave. Wonderful. Remember:
Someone will always doubt you, so lean into people who believe in you, starting with Jesus.
Next, realize that the battles you’ve faced and are facing are building your bravery for the battles to come.
And lastly, if you want to be brave, remember that:

3. God’s faithfulness feeds yours
God can’t be unfaithful.
2 Timothy 2:13
if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.
Faithfulness. like love, is in his base character. It isn’t simply and attribute. It defines him. Why is this so important? Because the more you dwell in his faithfulness, the more you faithful you become. Let me explain.

1 Samuel 17:34-37
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!”

Who benefited more from David’s words, Saul or David?
In Saul’s ears, this was evidence that David was a man of valor. It was yet to be seen if David was a man of war. David didn’t look the part.
David didn’t fit the armor. For Saul, David’s words were to prove his point.

For David, his words were to prove God’s faithfulness. Why would that be so important?

In their jointly written book, Words Can Change Your Brain, Dr. Andrew Newberg and Mark Robert Waldman, a communications expert state, “a single word has the power to influence the expression of genes that regulate physical and emotional stress.” Furthermore, exercising positive thoughts can quite literally change one’s reality.

By holding a positive and optimistic word in your mind, you stimulate frontal lobe activity. This area includes specific language centers that connect directly to the motor cortex responsible for moving you into action. And as our research has shown, the longer you concentrate on positive words, the more you begin to affect other areas of the brain.

Over time, given sustained positive thought, functions in the parietal lobe start to change. Consequently, this changes our perception of the self and those around us. Essentially, holding a positive viewpoint not only changes our self-perception, but moves us into positive action that creates positive change.

Psalm 143:3-5
3 For the enemy has pursued my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead. 4 Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled. 5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.

For David to have the courage to face Goliath, it took having the willingness to look back at what God had done for him, how he’d already come through for him, how God had already delivered David from impossible situations.

If you want to brave, lean into Jesus and people who speak life over you,
realize that the battles you have faced are building you, and lastly, make a list of what God has done and then meditate on it.

When we first purchased the new location, I was moved to set up stones of remembrance.
Joshua 4:19-24
19 The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped at Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. 20 And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. 21 And he said to the people of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ 23 For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, 24 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”

12 Miracles to Remember
- God speaking at the beginning of 2019 along with the prophetic words that encouraged us to step out.
- The historical marker “Turn back freedom has been won.”
- Initial $5000 from Pastor Jeff Little at Milestone Church to start the process.
- Miracle surrounding how we were able to buy our home
- God making a way during COVID by providing a house where we launched
- The miracle of our first location
- February 2022 when we were struggling financially, we received a miraculous $50,000
- Exponential growth in 2022
- $100,000 gift towards future facility
- God’s constant guidance pertaining to land on the bypass, and open doors for the new facility.
- Prophetic words about the river property from multiple people
- Closing on our forever home

What has God done that you need to be remembering, that will be a source of courage?

That’s the message today.

Learn from David.
It’s the beauty of spending time in his presence.
It’s the power of being built by battles.
It’s the encouragement in remembering how God has been faithful.

THIS is how you become brave.

How do you need to respond today?

If you aren’t spending time with God, whether it is set aside time or not, why?
If you are doing more complaining about your battles than learning from them, why?
If you aren’t remembering what God has done, why?

Let’s pray.

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message?

How does he want you to respond?