The Lord of Hosts

[Music]all right good eveningeverybody it's a privilege to be sharingwith you here this evening and uh it's abeautiful here evening here in Guamisn't it yeah yeah I was speaking to mywife earlier today and she said they'vegot snow and ice and um hurry up homebecause whenever I'm home I I I clearthe driveway of snow and my wife saysthat whenever I am I I go overseas weget a lot of snow snow and uh so thebest weather forecast is my foreigntravels so anyway uh she sends hergreetings to you all and um it's just areal privilege to come and share withyou for the for this week I'd like tothank Pastor Ryland for opening up thechurch here for this week and alsosister o and Dr o for your uh for beingbehind the scenes helping to make allthis take place thank you for yourgracious invitation and for thewonderful hosts that you've been so faruh during this week together so um I'mgoing to be talkingtonight about oh let's get this um up ontheslideshow so um when I was thinkingabout what what we're going to betalking about and what kind of Journeywe're going to be making as we gothrough these these nights here togetherum when you're a preacher you alwaystend to do things in series it's justbecause you have economies of learningand when you studying the Bible um youbuild on there's a cumulative growththat you go through and um so so what Iwould like to do tonight and for thesenext uh four nights and then on Sabbathmorning um there'll be a different kindof sermon all together uh but for ourour four five nights together I'm goingto be looking at some of the names ofGod and what they reveal about God'scharacter and do you mind if I take thisoff you won't be offended no okay it'sreally nice it's really nice so anywayI'm going to be talking about some ofthe names of God and what they revealabout God's characterum to us today and but before we do thatum because you know uh maybe some of youI'm just a name um so just a bit aboutmyself um that's the country where I wasborn it was not Michigan it's in the UKand um our favorite food is fish andchips um deep fried cod in Golden batterand I get to have it about once everyfive years and it's really food for thesoul it's not food for the conscienceso um we were we were born my brotherand I twin brother and I were born in bythe city of Liverpool um was home of thefamous soccer team and there's my momand my dad they've been married now for52years and uh I would say this uh tothose of you here tonight and for thoseyou watching online uh unless two beagreed can they walk together and theanswer is no uh so you need to find aspouse who is spiritually aligned withyou and uh just something about marriagefor those of you who are younger is thatum when you get married you ultimatelymarry amind see bodies get bigger and bodiesget smaller bodies have bits chopped offbodies have bits added to them noteverybody dies with the same teeth thatthey were born with and so forth and sobodies get scars bodies go gray bodiesgo Bal and all the rest of it um but youultimately marry is a mind and so um seeseek out a God-fearing young man oryoung woman uh who is spirituallyaligned with you and with whom you havemental and spiritual compatibility andso I I praise the Lord for havingparents they were 42 years in thePastoral Ministry and then my dadretired and ever since then they've beenin heavily involved in pastoralministering so um that's how the churchworks so you go through your 40 years ofservice then you retire and they put youin another church so uh my dad reallyenjoys that so my twin brother and Iwere born back in 1972 which is a longtime ago now and there we are back inthe day um I'm not sure which one I ambut anyway I'm one of those two babiesthere and uh we have two sisters but wethe two twin brothers we're alwayshanging out together as you can see withour little policemen's hats on there uhjust a few uh hop skipping a jumpthrough history here that's me when Iwas in Tajikistan and Afghanistan in 9697 98 and I was really skinny therethat's in my um before marriage life anduh when you get married you tend to puton a bit of weight um for my wife it'sthe opposite way round um her her lifeis married her life is measured BC thatis before Conrad and AD is year of herLord so um that's me and my premaritalStates that's a joke by the wayeverybody and um you see on the rightthere there's a picture of two ladies inTajikistan there um that the SovietUnion collapsed almost overnight theentire system stopped working and ifever if any of you have ever been to theSoviet Union or were raised in theSoviet Union you'll know that pensionstopped that day the heating stoppedthat day the trolley buses stopped thatday bank accounts were Frozen and uh mymy father-in-law had kept his savingsunder the under the mattress quiteliterally because in the Soviet are theydidn't trust their banking system and umone night one morning he woke up andpresident yel had announced in the early'90s oh the Soviet Ruble is no longerlegal currency as of midnight last nightso the entire life savings were wipedout um overnight and you see these arepeople who are sitting at the side ofthe road selling their familypossessions because that's how theysurvive and when you go to visit peoplein their homes you would find homes withliterally four walls and people wereliving on the floor there was nofurniture There was everything had beensold just to buy a round piece of breadknown as leoski um un leaven bread whichis what we're eating out there there Iam saying goodbye to my mom I was skinnyback in the day and um when you'reserving as a missionary um you have alot of good buys at airports some of youknow what this feels like and uhparticularly when I when when I wasyoung I didn't think it was a problemwhen I went went first off to Israel atthe age of 17 uh 18 finished high schooland I flew off to Israel for a gap yearand I didn't quite know what I want todo at college and Saddam Hussein hadjust invaded Kuwait on August the 6th orso um in 1990 and I flew out a few dayslater and I thought as a young guy Hwhat's the problem Sadam Hussein'sinvaded Kuwait you know what have I gotto be afraid of then there was DesertStorm and then desert Shields and we hadall kinds of fun and Adventures in inIsrael with missiles coming in wearinggas masks and things like that anyway umthe point about this picture is thatwhen you're a missionary you lead peopleto Jesus which is a joyful thing butthere is a cost to being a missionaryand and that is a personal cost and youget to miss your family's major eventsyou're not there for sicknesses forweddings for funerals all the Milestonesof life you don't have those when youserve as a missionary now um there's mymy future wife she was a young communistthere and um communism is a bit likemarriage where what's mine is minewhat's mine is mine and what yours ismine as well so um this is her as ayoung young Pioneer we havePathfinders and uh in the Soviet Unionthey had pioneers and they said segdgatov which means always ready uh inRussian and there was our first date andit was it was in aaban she was fromRussia and um it the kind of part of theworld where if you were seen with ayoung lady you were expected to marryher that's kind of a terrifying Prospectactually and so my boss said veryhelpfully I will follow you with a videovideo cam on his shoulder he said andwherever you go I will be with you likea guardian angel and I will video fromthe moment you pick her up in theevening and then uh and then we're goingto follow you all through the we went toChristmas concert then we went to thethere were two restaurants in town thiswas before the oil b boom in Baku inaaban and he sat there and he videoedthe whole thing and I'm truly gratefulhe did that um but anyway not many FirstDates get videoed that was our seconddate that was when I asked her marry methat's after she degreed that's uh whenwe got married and she really hasn'tchanged at all but you can see I'veturned into a physical wreck so you know22 23 years of marriage have not beengood for me you might say but she'sblossomed in that time but I'm aphysical wreck now so um there we are afew years later 2016 getting ourcitizenships in the United States uhthere's our son David and there's ourdaughter the redhead there on the rightand um so uh but when you're amissionary thingshappen so uh this is um I was up inCanada and uh I went a day early from aspeakingengagement and I went up to see the umthe the Cambrian Shale the most famousRos fossil formations in the world andcoming down it was getting um it was getgloomy it's a 15 mile Trek up and downyou go with a guide and I slipped andfell and my foot got caught under asliding down a scree slopeand then my foot got caught under theroot of a tree and I went over the treeand my foot didn't so I had multiplebreaks Tib and fibula so they dragged medown into the tree line to get out ofthe rain and they put an inflatable caston my leg and gave me some nitrous oxidewhich felt really good actually um it'sthe first only time I've been high in mylife and I I got home I said to my wifeso what's the fuss about child birth ifthey give you nitrous oxide it's a gooddeal soanyway um this is what they did so theythey winched me up and it was too theycouldn't land the helicopter so theyjust swung me down the valley underneaththe helicopter with the paramedic and itwas quite a ride actually um so there wego and uh they winched they they took medown to the trans Canadian Highway andthey dropped us in the highway so thatwe could um get into the helicopter andbe taken to hospital which was closeddue to government cutbacks so that was agreat ride I tell you so just some ofthe things you go through as amissionary as you travel around theworld and um but let's come to the moreserious stuff heretonight yah Sab the Lord of hosts let'sbow our heads for a word ofprayer dear heavenlyfather I want to thank you for theblessings of life for the gift of lifeand the promise of LifeEverlasting father I thank you for thegift of Grace I thank you Lord that thegracethat you give us today was madeavailable to us before the foundationsof thisworld I thank you Lord that Jesus wasindeed the lamb slain from thefoundations of the world and thatprovision has been made for theForgiveness of all of our sinstoday so this evening father as we cometogether and we start this minseries onthe names of God I ask that as as we gothrough these stories from scripture andwe gain new insights into your characterthat our love for youwill will grow that our faith will putdown deeper roots that our witness willshine brightly for you Lord I pray thatyou'll speak through me and for metonight father send your angels to guardthis place may your Holy Spirit speakthrough me and for me I pray Lord thatyour spirit will move upon the hearts ofall who are present Lord whatever I maysay tonight May the message you intendto be heard reach into each heart thatis present here tonight or is watchingonline in the name of Jesus we prayamen all right so I would ask you todayum are names important what do you thinkyes if you call a tiny little likeYorkshire terer something like fangs orRipper or or slasher he's going to kindof he's going to be treated with respectby everybody and that little dog isgoing to get big dog syndrome or smalldog syndrome he's going to strut aroundlike he's a lion um if you call theGerman Shepherd Fifi or some some suchmasculine name like that he's going toknow because when you say that's myGerman Shepherd oh and her name is Fifieverybody's going to look at the dog andthe dog's going to realize the namedoesn't match the dog and so the dogalso gets a psychological problem butnames uh for us as individuals havemeaning and um there were some Englishkings these were some of their names onewas a guy called Ethel read the unre doyou think he was a good it was a goodtime to be under live living in Englandwhen eel read the unready was on thethrone what do you think probably not nothen there was Alfred the Great hekicked out the Danes from the easternhalf of England in about 800 ad thenthere was the guy that built WestminsterAbbey his name is Edward the Confessorhe spent his time in the confessional hewasn't much of a king but he was a verydevout man then you had Edgar thePeaceable and he didn't hold on to hiskingdom for very long then you hadWilliam the Conqueror he's the guy thatcame from Normandy in 1066 ad andinvaded England and turned it into aNorman Kingdom then our most famous Kingwas Richard the lionhart or Richardkuron in French and he was the guy whospent three months of his 10 and a halfyears as King on crusades and he onlyspent three months in England to raisetaxes to pay for his Crusades and he wasfollowed by another king called JohnLackland and he was called Lacklandbecause he lacked land he had no landand because he didn't have any land hehe fritted it all away um when theBarons fought him he couldn't raise anarmy to fight them and that's where weget the Magna Carta from today in 12:15ad and that is the basis for civil lawand much of Human Rights across much ofthe West today there was a king calledLackland who wasn't good at managing hishis assets now spiritually names alsohave meaning in the Bible we find thatum Jacob becomes what in the BibleIsrael Abraham becomes what AbrahamSarai becomes Sarai and Saul becomesPaul and uh Joseph of Cyprusbecomes maybody remember Barnabas andfact there are many many cases in theNew Testament where we kind of know thenew name rather than the old name Simonbecomes Peter and so each of thesechanges of names reflects something intheir spiritual experience something haschanged in their lives spiritually andthe same is true about God the psalmistwrote in Psalm 9 and verse 10 he saidsaid and those who know your name puttheir trust inyou and the names of God are like astained glass window so if you are ifjust imagine this Ro this church herehad stained glass windows if you're onthe outside of the church and you see astained glass window what do yousee you see pretty much nothing you justsee like a gray brown window that's ityou have no idea what picture it'sshowing but when you come into thechurch and you look at those same Stamglass windows with light coming inwhat do you see you see brilliantillumination there is a picture thereyou see all the colors they put into itthere's often a message there as welland so the the point about this is thatthe names of God are meaningful topeople who are inside the body of Christand when you're outside the body ofChrist like a stained glass window thosenames don't have much meaning and sowe're going to be talking tonight andfor the few more nights uh as we gothrough this week together about some ofthe names of God and the light they shedinto his character and how that relatesto us and our lives today knowing God'sname is important because it leads to asaving Faith as the psalmist said thosewho know your name put their trust inyou so God actually has many names inthe Bible we're not going to go throughall of these names uh in our nights heretogether but some of the most famousones here are Elroy that is the god whosees that we find that in the story ofhagga we'll do that later this week ElShai is God Almighty uh that's made byum Abraham in his Covenant with God inGenesis 17 L lolam is the EverlastingGod that's what Abraham reveals as beingGod's name in Genesis 21 after amilitary Victory a very famous name forGod is Jehovah Gyra or Yahweh Ur theLord will provide and that's uh we getthat story when Abraham is told by Godto sacrifice his only son Isaac inGenesis 22 and then we have um Yahweh orthat just means Lord that's what Mosescalls God at the burning bush then uhfor the doctors in our midst and thenurses one of the names for God isYahweh Rafi the Lord who heals and it'sa promise that if we do not liveaccording to the Egyptians but we liveaccording to the health laws that Godgives his people the diseases that Godbrought upon the Egyptians will not comeupon God's people and by the way thediseases of the Egyptians were cancerheart disease stroke and uh and umartherosclerosis we know that from themummies and so we today have very verysimilar Health profiles to the ancientEgyptians often because our diets aren'tthat much different then you have YahwehNissi the Lord my banner we'll beexploring that a bit later this week aswell uh we find that in the story ofMoses fighting the amalekites but italso has a direct link to Calvary thatparticular name and then we have someother names of God um elh ashla Elana uhwhich means God is a consuming fire anda jealous God and then we have kadoshIsrael the Holy One of Israel that's inLeviticus 19 and in that in that passagethere um God is calling his people toHoliness because God is Holy we arecalled to be holy as well if God is aholy God and he is our father he wantsus to live lives of personal andspiritual Holiness and then we haveYahweh Shalom the Lord is peace uh we'llbe exploring that story later this weekthat's the story of Gideon in Judgeschapter six now we know Gideon is amighty warrior who who defeated themidianites but the name of God thatcomes out in that story is yah Shalomthe Lord is peace and then you havelelon God most high and actually a paganKing in conversion gives that name toGod the Lord most high and then the mostfamous one maybe is yah sidu which meansthe Lord our righteousness a beautifulname of God there and it has a lot ofmeaning there in Jeremiah 23 so we'renot going to go through all these namesbut today we're going to look at one ofthe names of God Yahweh Saab and thentomorrow we're going to look at thestory of Gideon Yahweh Shalom the Lordis peace on Wednesday we're going tolook at the story of Hagar Elroy theLord who sees my distress on Thursdaywe're going to look at the story ofMoses and the amalekites which is YahwehNissi the Lord my banner which is adirect relationship to Calvary and thenon Friday we're going to look at JehovahGyra the Lord will provide and we wekind of as we go through these names ofGod you see kind of the Plan ofSalvation working its way through thesenames of God and if you ever want toknow like how' you explain the Plan ofSalvation just take a moment and reflecton the names of God and you'll get thewhat you'll get what salvation is allabout so tonight we're going to um focuson the most one of the most famousstories in the Bible and if you go tokindergarten kindergarteners know threestories if they don't if they knownothing else they know three storiesthere is Daniel in the Lion's Den Jonahin the in the belly of the fish andDavid and Goliath and the story of Davidand Goliath has gone all around theworld and Muslims uh they they reveredum David daud as they call him as aprophet and if you go to India orsoutheast Asia people have heard ofDavid and Goliath and in the secularmedia they talk about David and Goliatheverybody knows the story of David andGoliath it's the classic feel-good storyof the underdog who overcomes all theodds and wins an incredible back victoryover a giant but we're going to startout the story here by looking at David'sbackground because David's backgroundwas not easy and the first thing we wantto say about David tonight is this thathe had a difficult job now what job didDavid have you know as a small boy whatwas his job anybody can tell me he was aShepherd boy and what do you think beinga Shepherd was like back in the ancientnear Middle East easy job or a tough jobokay he wasn't sitting in an airconditioned office politely tapping awayon a keyboard allday he was out there with the Sheep nowuh my family used to own a couple offarms in Ireland and every summer we gothere and as small boys we our job wouldbe to run up into the hills and to findthe Sheep because you turn the Sheep outin the spring and you got to bring themin dur halfway during the summer andthen you have to dip them to get rid ofall the bugs on the bodies and you haveto clean up the bodies from the cuts andthe bruises cuz sheep can't healthemselves then you turn them looseagain but if you have to run over thehills in in in the um the um the thickgrass and also the bogs of that part ofIreland um it's a tough job to go findyour sheep it's not an easy thing to doyou also know about sheep is that youlead sheep but when you're looking forcattle you do not lead cattle you drivecattle you cannot lead cattle you drivecattle that's why the the cattle they'recalled Drovers they they they drive thecattle ahead of them but when you're aShepherd you have to find your sheep andyou have to lead them and David had adifficult job because Israel teamed withwild animals such as lions bears andserpents when David was describing whatit was like to be a Shepherd this is howhe described it to King Saul it saidDavid said to Saul your servant used tokeep sheep for his father and whenever alion or a bear came and took a lamb fromthe flock I went after it and struck itdown rescuing the lamb from its mouthand if it turned against me I wouldcatch it by the jaw door strike it downand kill it your servant has killed bothlions and bears and this uncircumcisedPhilistine shall be like one of themsince he has defied the armies of theLiving God now I don't know what youthink about this kind of testimony aboutDavid as he's a teenage boy fightinglions and bears with a sling and with astick now that's that's a brave teenageryes would you do thatif you had a hundred sheep and theybelonged to your dad and a lion came andtook one of those sheep what would youdo would you say I'm going to cut mylosses on this one we're going to hustlea 99 to safety and get let and let thethe lion take the other one well I'lltell you this I've never hunted Lionsbut I've hunted Bears in real life yesuh this is part of Men's Ministry inNorthern Canada and I'll tell you thisum when you're hunting a bear you takeyour life into your handslike if you if you if you put a bulletin the heart of a bear he has about 5minutes um oxygen left in the brain andhis sole purpose in those last fiveminutes of his life is to find whoeverjust killed him and rip you toshreds and a and a bear will run 100meters in maybe 3 seconds you can'toutrun a bear and you may be sitting ontop of a large tree and that bear willbe up that tree in seconds aswell so even with a modern hunting rifleif you take out out a bear you riskingyour life and David took out a bear witha sling and with a stick a rod so I readthis story from a hunting perspectiveand say that boy had rawcourage courage that you rarely findtoday not onlythat but what did David say he did hesaid when the lion took the lamb I wentafter the lime to get that lambback want you imagine for a minute if alion took a lamb what does that lamblooklike the lion gets the lamb in its mouthand its teeth sink into the flesh theblood is running down the white wo andthe lamb is probably um like uh in shockit's hanging his body is hanging therelimply um it's probably unconscious it'sgiven up the fight and across the Lamb'sW there's the spittle from the line andthe mixed with the blood from the lamband the lion is just walking proudly offinto the bushes he's going to rip thatlamb to shreds any second now that is asgood asgone but David went after that lion toget that bloodied broken lambback it's an amazing story you realizethat for David no cause was a lost causeno matter how badly bloody that lamb wasno matter how much s that lion had thatteeth into that lamb Satan David wasgoing to go looking for that lamb andJesus is the son of David and we are hislambs and you may have have yourchildren and as a parent you probablyconsider your children kind of your likeyour own lambs and this story here wereminded that Jesus as the son of Davidis the Good Shepherd and he told theparable about the Good Shepherd thatgoes looking for the Lostlamb and if for David there was no causewas a lost cause then for Jesus the sonof David it doesn't matter how muchSatan that roaring line from first Peterhas his fangs in you it doesn't matterhow much Satan has got his grip on youhow bloodied you are how broken andalmost conscious you might sayspiritually you may be Jesus is cominglooking for you because he's the GoodShepherd and he doesn't give up on hisLambs so you may be sitting here tonightor of you those of you watching onlineand think what does this story have todo with me David the David the shepherdboy well what David says here to Saul isan indicator what Jesus would do toSatan to get his Lambsback and you may be sitting here tonightand despite the fact we all look niceand clean uh we we all have scars in ourbodies you know we've got scarsphysically we carry scars I carry scarson my legs from that accident in theCanadian Rockies um we carry physicalscars we carry emotional scars we carryspiritual scars we carry Regrets WeCarry waves could have and should havein our hearts and Minds we carry ummemories from the past that we wish we'dnever taken partin and no matter how much Satan has gothis grip into you or me in the past theson of David comes looking for hischildren and we serve that kind ofSavior and so this this story aboutDavid yes he had a difficult job and hewas willing to risk his life for hisfather's flock and uh and that's what hedid and it's a foretaste of what Jesusdoes for you and for me the other thingwe know about David was he didn't justhave a difficult job he had a difficultfamily but we don't know much aboutDavid's mother if you look in thewritings of Judaism there's an extensiveliterature on David's mother and somepeople think that d David was that thatJesse had his first wife and after theseven boys were born um his mother theirmother died and Jesse married a secondwife who's the mother of David andDavid's mother only appears once in theentire Old Testament she's even thoughshe's alive for the time of hisanointing she's alive at the time of thestory of David and Goliath she's alivethrough his years of wandering in thewilderness she's alive while he's Kingshe only appears in one verse where hehustles his mom and his dad to safety toavoid the Philistines in wonderfulpassage just before he becomes king butDavid had a difficult relationship withhis family he didn't come from a astable family background Psalm 69 and: 8says this I've become a stranger to myKindred and alien to my mother'schildren and so you get the sense herethat maybe David and his brothers werehalf Brothers they weren't real fullbrothers and remember when David came tothe battle with with um with Goliath andhis oldest brother eliab he says whathave you done you're coming to thebattle I know the wickedness of yourheart you just come here to watch thebattle you just want to be a spectatorthey were not even grateful that hebrought them food from their father tosustain them before the battle and soDavid had a difficult family and he hada difficultjob and as well as that he had adifficultboss says there and the spirit of theLord came mightily upon David from thatday forward this is one of the saddestverses in scripture this is after Davidhas been anointed by Samuel Samuel thenset out and went to Rama now the spiritof the Lord departed from Saul and anevil spirit from the Lord tormented himso In this passage here the spirit ofGod descends upon David and the spiritof God also leaves the life of Saul it'sone of the saddest verses in thescripture and how did David respond tohis difficult boss because D Saul was amoody character and he was tormented byan evil spirit and he would be sunk indepression because he knew that the HolySpirit had left him and he knew that hiskingdom was going to go to anotherprobably to David and so how did Davidrespond to this brooding King well TheStory Goes On It says whenever the evilspirit from God Came Upon Saul Davidtook the liar or the harp and played itwith his hand and David would berelieved and feel better and the evilspirit would and Saul would be relievedand feel better and the evil spiritwould depart fromhim David knew knew he was the anointedofGod he knew that one day he would sit onthat Throne he knew that God had turnedhis back on Saul he knew that God wouldmake an Everlasting Covenant with himDavid we come upon that later in thisstudy tonight he knew that God's favorrested upon him and not upon Saul butDavid did not take matters into his ownhands he didn't say to Saul excuse meSaul but I'm now the anointed of God youneed to kind of Shuffle off the seamhere and let me take the Throne hedidn't do that he didn't try andaccelerate events according to his timeschedule he waited for God to work outhis purposes in his way and in his timeand while he patiently wa waited for Godto work things out he was a minister ofuh a Ministry of healing to his sickboss he was an agent of of healing heplayed the harp to bring peace to hisdifficult boss a man who was tormentedby an evil spirit he didn't complain hedidn't criticize he didn't confrontDavid came from a difficult job he livedin a difficult family and he had adifficult boss it was not an idealupbringing foranybody yet he was faithful in his jobhe was peace peaceful in his family andhe was an agent of healing for his bossand more most importantly he was open toGod's presence in his life and he gainedinsights into God's character thatnobody had yet in Salvation history oneof those examples will be the 23rd psalmthe Lord is my shepherd I shall not wantnow that phrase the Lord is my shepherdis not a descriptor of God like God ismy shepherd it's a name for God it's theLord my shepherd so as a teenage boydoing a difficult job in a difficultfamily with a difficult boss Godrevealed himself to that teenager in away that nobody else in Salvationhistory had yet recorded the Lord myshepherd you may be a teenager heretonight and you think oh God only speaksto gray-haired people that's not trueGod speaks to young people today as hedid back then God spoke to Samuel in thenight he could have spoken to Eli but hecalled Samuel by night and Samuel saidspeak servant Speak Lord for th servantHeth and then God speak God revealshimself to David and the 23rd psalm iswritten by a Shepherd boy and David hasinsights into the character of God as ateenager that has blessed everygeneration ever sinceif you're a pastor and somebody's dyingin hospital you go and sit and holdtheir hand more often than not thepassage they want to read is the 23rdpsalm yay though I walk through thevalley of the shadow of death I willfear no evil for thou art with me andyou go on like that that Psalm by Davidwritten by as a teenage boy is areminder to us today that even if youhave a difficult family and a difficultjob and a difficult boss if you are opento God God sees beyond your your humancircumstances and he wants to revealhimself to you in a unique and apersonalway so teenagers kids young people Godwants to speak to you and God willreveal things to you that he doesn'treveal to grayhair people likemyself but he's asking you to befaithful in what he has called you to dotoday and when he sees that he can trustyou that you are trustworthy with whathas been given you today he can give youtrue spiritualriches so then we come to the battleitself and I like thisstory David and Goliath it says therethere came out from the camp of thePhilistines a champion named Goliath ofgath whose height was six cubits and aspan he had a helmet of bronze on hishead and he was armed with a coat ofmale the weight of the coat was 5,000shekels of bronze he had Greaves ofbronze on his legs and a javelin ofbronze slung between his shoulders theshaft of his spear was like a Weaver'sbeam and his Spear's head weighed 600shekels of ironand his shield Bearer went before him sowhat do we note about Goliath from thisstory well first of all he's a he's agiant the other thing we note about himis he's clothed from head to toe inbronze armor so it's going to be hardfor David as a Shepherd boy to fight aguy clothed in armor and how much shouldthat armor weigh well 5,000 shekels ofbronze is about125 can you imagine carrying £11225 you know I have to carry that thesalts for the water softener down to mybasement I carry 40b bag in one hand anda 40 bag pounds in the other it's hardto carry 80 lb of salts down into yourbasement but this guy is going to battlecarrying 125 lb of armor on his bodythis is a serious giant we're talkingabout and that's bronze armor so DavidIf he if he slings a stone at that armorit's just going to bounce off and he hasa bronze helmet on his head and he hasGreaves on his legs that cover the frontof his legs so they David can't attackhis legs and in front of him there is ashield Bearer going before him and he'scarrying a spear and you notice thespear that the head of the spear is notmade of brass it's made of iron thisstory is happening about a thousand,11100 BC this is when the world is goingfrom the Bronze Age to the Iron Age andthis little detail tells you that thatthe tip of the Spear of of Goliath wasmade of iron so this is the latest inmetal technologyso he's clothed inbronze and we believe that uh Saul'sarmor is made of bronze but Goliath'sspear is tipped with iron that's theharder metal this is the Tipping Pointfrom the Bronze Age to the Iron Age thistells you that Goliath is armed with thelatest in weaponry and Militarytechnology this isn't just a giantcoming out at you this is a guy you knowwith the latest in military technologyandum God people areterrified The Story GoesOn he stood and shouted to the ranks ofIsrael why have you come out to draw upfor battle am I not a Philistine and areyou not Servants of Saul choose a manfor yourselves let him come down to meif he's able to fight me and kill methen we will be your servants but if IPrevail against him and kill him thenyou shall be our servants and serve usand the Philistines said today I defythe ranks of Israel give me a man thatwe may fight together when Israel andall Israel heard these words of thePhilistine they were dismayed and theywere greatly afraid and so God's peoplethe army of Israel are terrified whenthis Champion comes out and in ancienttimes this was a common practice whentwo armies were drawn up a fa to facingeach other rather than you know fight itout and half the people be maimed orkilled in a very bloody way they wouldchoose a champion and each side wouldsend out their champion and whoever wonthat fight between the Champions thenthat side would be considered to havewon the battle on the other side wouldwould surrender and so the battleeverybody had maintained their honor bycoming out to fight but the actualfighting was done by the two championsof the two armies this was a very commonpractice back in the ancient Middle Eastand throughout the Middle Ages and soGoliath is challenging the people of Godbut he calls them not the Servants ofJehovah but the Servants of of SaulGoliath does not see that God is activein this battle at all he simply sees theServants of Saul rather than theServants of Yahweh or the Servants ofJehovah before him and the people ofIsrael areterrified and in a sense it's like thattoday there are many people today whoknow what needs to be done but they'drather somebody else doit there are many people today who knowthere's a problem in our congregation Iwish that somebody would take care of itbut they don't want to do itthemselves they're looking for achampion in their congregation they'relooking for a champion in their schoolthey're looking for a champion maybe intheir family they're looking forsomebody else to stand up and speak outand be thechampion and God raises champions in histime and in his way but maybe God iscalling you to be a champion of thebattle that you know needs to be foughtmaybe there are giants in your familyGiants in your school Giants in yourcongregation Giants in the missionGiants in this nation Giants that dostalk the land they stalk your livesthey never leave your mind theysometimes never leave your bodiesalone each one of us battles Giants fromtime to time we know that there aregiants it may be poverty may be despairmay be depression it may be divorce maybe family breakdown it may bedisagreement between the Brethrenwhatever it may be we all know there aregiants outthere and in this story here God'speople were terrified they were lookingfor achampion and maybe God is asking you tobe a champion in the battles that youknow need fighting against the Giantsthat are stalking your life and each oneof us faces different Giants The StoryGoesOn um David is brought to theKing David says I'll fight thePhilistine we're going to skip quicklythrough the story here and David says toSaul he said let no one's heart failbecause of him that is the Philistineyour servants will go and fight withthis Philistine and David said the Lordthat is Yahweh who served me from thepoor of the lion and from the poor ofthe bear will save me from the hand ofthis Philistine so Saul said to David goand may the Lord be with you Davidencouraged the king and offered to fighthis battle because he knew that God waswith him who was The Logical champion ofGod'speople it was Saul why because Saulstood Head and Shoulders above everybodyelse in Israel we know that from hiscoronation and Saul was the only guy inthe army that had a coat of armor so TheLogical guy to fight that battle wasKing Saul but he wasn't going to fightGoliath he'd been called out Goliath andhe'd fail the test now this this uhShepherd boy with with a ruddy face weread later a handsome handsome Shepherdboy who's been fighting lions and bearsoff in the wilderness he comes and saysI'm going to fight the Battle For YouKing Saul you're the one that should bethe champion of Israel but I'm going todo the job for you and I know that I'mgoing to win because the god the Lordwho saved me from The Lion and the Lordwho saved me from the bear is going tosave me from this Lion and the lessonfor us today is that when you arefaithful with what God places in frontof you today God knows he can give yougreater responsibilitiestomorrow you know we we were taught aswe were growing up if if we werefaithful with 50 P then God could trustus with a pound or let's say a dollarand if God can trust you with a dollarhe can trust you with $5 when youdemonstrated the moral fiber to betrustworthy with $5 you can betrustworthy with $10 and when God cantrust you with $10 he can trust you with$100 and when God sees that you're notoverwhelmed by $100 he can trust youwith $1,000 when God sees he can trustyou with that then he can trust you with$10,000 or a million dollar whether it'sin your personal finances or your workfinances God doesn't just dump on youall this responsibility out of nowherehe grows your spiritual strength Str hegrows your spiritual shoulders he growsyour stamina your your wisdomincrementally and so because David hasbeen faithful with his father's flockhis Earthly father's flock Jesse now Godcan entrust him with his own flock thepeople ofIsrael young people be faithful withwhat God has given you tomanage when God entrusts you with aleadership role if you are asked to leada Bible study group if you're asked tolead the music Ministry if you're askedto put a series together at schoolwhatever God asks you to do do it withall your heart soul and mind and whenGod sees that you can rise to thechallenge he's going to reward you withmore responsibility in the next chapterof life and Ministry but if you're notfaithful with what God gives you whywould he give youmore and because David was faithful withhis Earthly father's flock those sheepand sheep are not nice animals have youever handled sheep sheep really stink Imean they really stink badly I used torun a micro credit program in thecaucuses and if we would we' we we'drent out sheep and loan out sheep andsell sheep and stuff like that whensomebody didn't pay back their loans I'dhave to go to the police and pick up theSheep to take them back and when you'rehauling five or 10 sheep in the back ofyour truck home you know put them withyour main herd and those sheep areurinating all over the back of your carand then all the rest of it it'sabsolutely disgusting sheepstink sheep are not nice anims they looknice and Woolly but no they stinkthey're dirty animals but because Davidhad been faithful with the Sheep of hisfather now God knew that he could trustDavid when the big battle came hisway and so what happens in the story soso Saul is impressed with this young manand he says to David try on my armor itsays Saul clothed David with his armorhe put a bronze helmet on his head justlike Goliath and and clothed him with acoat of mail just like Goliath Davidstrapped Saul's sword over the armorGoliath also had a sword and he tried toin vain to walk but he was not used tothem then David said to Saul I cannotwalk with these for I'm not used to themso David removed them this plate armorwould weigh a lot Saul's armor weighed£125 armor was very difficult to wear inthe middleages when those Knights puttheir plate armor on they were so heavythat they have have like a a hoist tolift onto the horses and they startedout in like the 10 hundreds 1100s oncein like Arab stallion but by the 1400sand 1500s they were riding horses thatlooked like those Bud visor horses youknow those Bud visor horses that theyshow in the adverts huge things only ahorse that big would carry a knight infull armor and when a knight in fullarmor fell off the horse onto his backthe armor was so heavy he couldn't movehe was trapped on the ground he justcouldn't move his body and so when Davidtries on King Saul's armor he says Icannot fight in your armor I've neverworn this armor before armor in theancient days was made for the wearer itwhat you didn't just go to Walmart andbuy large medium or more small largemedium or small it was tailored to yourbody size and your bodyshape and so David tries on AnotherMan's armor and he says I will not fightthe battle in front of me because I'mnot used to wearing thisarmor David was not going to trust inAnother Man's armor but he was going touse what he could use and that was asling and Stones David carries a slingand he's got five stones init why because Goliath has got fourbrothers and David is not just going toget rid of Goliath he's going to get ridof the whole family of Giants on behalfofIsrael so David's he's going to cleanout the problem he's going to do athorough job on Goliath'sfamily now what lesson do we learn fromthis well we may see other people doinggreat things for God but we're not tocopy them directly hoping to findsimilar success God wants people todayto use the gifts that he's given themthat he's uniquely given them becausehe's given them for your character andfor your aptitudes and your talents andyour abilities and God is asking youtoday not to fight in another man oranother woman's armor he's asking you tofight in the armor that he's given youso when you go to when when you're ayoung preacher you look at someone likepastor Dwight Nelson and you think I'mgoing to copy pastor Dwight Nelson whenI preach and passor right Nelson he goeslike boy goes you boy okay you hearyou've seen him yeah he clicks hisfingers and say boy like that you okayI'm going to do that on my sermons andPastor Sean Boer when he's preaching hehe finishes his sentences with a phrasenow he says so the Israelites crossedthe red SE now and what he's doing ishe's giving you a little verbal hook tokeep your attention for the next phaseof the story and so you watch thesepreachers if you're a preacher andthinking I'm going to do that and I'mgoing to do that and I'm going to dothat and no no no no no God has givenyou a character character and apersonality and a talent use the talentsthat God has givenyou I cannot sing like the singers thatwere up here today I Make a Joyful Noisenot a harmonious noise so I'm not goingto stand up here and try to sing I'mhappy to sing in the in the the audiencebecause my no what I the noise I make isdrowned out by everybody else okay butpraise the Lord for people that use thegifts that God has given them and don'tsay I've got the gift of music but Iwant to do something else we need themusicians we need those with hospitalitywe need those with a gift ofencouragement we need those who aregifted in personal discipleship we needall of the gifts in the church and thechurch functions best when everybodyuses the gifts that God has given themand when you don't use the gifts thatGod has given you you read the parableof talents the the slave or the servantthat does not use the talents that themaster gives him is cast into outerDarkness implies there is eternaljudgment on those to who do not use thegifts that God has given them it's a seriousmatter so I thank the Lord for everyyoung person every young boy every younggirl who says Lord whatever gifts you'regoing to give me I'm going to use themfor your honor and glory and if God hasgiven you a gift and a talent work on itand develop it and hone it and ask thechurch say Lord I think I've got a giftin this area I want opportunities todevelop this Talentfurther praise the Lord for people whowilling to fight in their ownarmor so the Philistine comes to Davidthen the when the Phil Philistine lookedup and saw David he disdained him for hewas only a youth Ruddy and handsome inappearance the Philistine said to Davidam I a dog that you come to me withsticks now all across the Middle Eastdogs are considered unclean animals youshould know that okay if you ever workamong Muslims don't have a pet dog athome they'll be horrified because in theMuslim world dogs are kept on thestreets they're unclean animals they'reno different to rats or rodents okay sowhen he says am I a dog he's implyingthat d Avid thinks that that Goliathisn't even a human being this is theworst possible kind of animal he is am Ia dog says the the Philistine Goliaththat you come to me with sticks and thePhilistine cursed David by his Gods thePhilistines said to David come to me andI'll give your flesh to the birds of theair and the wild animals of the fieldand so the Philistine approaches theIsraelite Champion that teenage boyarmed with a shepherd's rod and aslingshot no sword no helmet no armorBearer no no Spear and no and no helmetGoliath cursed David and Promises tofeed his flesh the birds of the air andthe animals of the field Goliathrepresents the pride of self-exaltationhe represents the vanity of popularclaim and the fragility of believing inyour physicalstrength yet David St stands before himcalmly manifesting a quiet trust in Godand a determination to glorify God bycarrying out God's will in that battleand how does David respond famous wordshe says but David said to the Philistineyou come to me with a sword and a spearand a javelin but I come to you in thename of the Lord of hosts the god of thearmies of Israel whom you have defiedand this very day the Lord will deliveryou into my hand and I will strike youdown and I'll cut off your head I'llgive the dead bodies of the PhilistineArmy this very day to the birds of theair and to the wild animals of the earthso everything that the Philistines saidhe'd do to David David says I'm going todo back to you that's Justiceso why is David going to do this so thatall this Earth may know that there is aGod in Israel that all this assembly mayknow that the Lord does not save bysword and spear for the battle is theLord's and he will give you into ourhands and if you're facing Giants inyour life you need to hear tonight thatthe battle belongs toGod and if you're facing a giant thathas terrorized your heart and your homeyou need to know that there is a God whowill fight your battles for you andDavid Avid says I come to you in thename of the Lord of hosts and that's thename um yah Sabo it's a Hebrew phraseLord of hosts he is the god of thearmies of Israel who the Philistine hasdefied now um you know the all famous umReformation himym A Mighty Fortress IsOur God there's a there's a in thesecond verse it says Lord Sabbat o hisname yes and I used to think as a youngboy every time I read that they'vemisspelled it it's Lord Sabbath his nameno no no it's correct take a look at itA Mighty Fortress Is Our God the secondverse uh 2/3 the way down the sixth lineit says Lord Sabbat o his name andLuther was using this name for God hereit's not a mistake in the Himel it's notLord Sabbath his name it's Lord Sabbat ohis name it means the Lord of hosts nowwhat does this name of God mean becauseif David fights Goliath in the name ofand this is the name he chooses for Godhe doesn't say I fight you in the nameof the Good Shepherd that doesn't soundtoo Marshall does it doesn't sound tooimpressive or I fight you in the name ofthe fairest of10,000 I'm not sure I want to fight inthe name of the fairest of 10,000 allright um I I I'm going to fight you inthe name of the the way the truth andthe life no no he doesn't use thosenames for God he uses Lord Sabbat o sowhat does this name mean the name talksabout God being the ruler over everyPower in theuniverse that every Angel fallen orunfallen is subject to the authority ofthe Lord of hosts that uh nature issubject to the Lord of hosts that whenthe Lord of hosts speaks creation comesin the world and the cosmos comes intoexistence all creation bows before theLord of hosts every spiritual power bowsbefore the Lord of hosts all cherubimand seraphim fallen or unfallen such asSatan um Lucifer as he was before hefell they bow before the Lord of hostsand before the Lord of host posts whatisGoliath he's nothing he's absolutelynothing physically he's enormous butspiritually he'snothing so when David stood there and hefights Goliath in the name of the Lordof hosts what did he believe about theLord of hosts there are three things nowI said this in other sermons butpreachers talk in threes okay preach isnever talking twos or fours if I sayDavid believ two things about uh Lord ofhosts you'd say you just couldn't find athird thing and if I said uh David hadfour beliefs about the Lord of hostsyou'd say we can't remember that weremember things in threes ABC thestandard sermon is a triple Decaintroduction ABC conclusion okay becausewe remember things rhetorically inthrees there's a logical progression andso let's go through what are the threethings that David believed about theLord of hosts well the first thing isfound here in Psalm 46 he says God isour refuge and strengtha very present help in trouble thereforewe will not fear though the Earth shouldchange though the mountain Shake in theheart of the sea though its Waters raarand foam though the mountains tremblewith its tumult there is a river whosestreams make glad the city of God theholy habitation of the most high God isin the midst of the city it shall not bemoved God will help it when the morningDawns the nations are in uproar thekingdoms totter he utters his voice andthe Earth melts the who is with usLord of hosts Yahweh Sab o is with usthe god of Jacob is our refuge thereforethis this Psalm tells us that when yourworld is literally falling apart whenthe islands such as Guam are moving inthe oceans when the mountains arefalling into the sea when the roads arecollapsing and like a terribleearthquake is happening and your worldis falling apart then the god of refugesare Jacob and his name is the Lord ofhosts he goes on to say in thisPsalm come Behold The Works of the Lordsee what desolations he has brought onthe earth it goes down Psalm 46:10 thereit says be still and know that I am Godswhen your world is falling apart yourbusiness is going bankrupt your marriageis on the Rocks you've just had a cancerdiagnosis the psalmist says be still andknow that I am God I that is God I amthe name for God I am that is YahwehYahweh is exalted among the NationsYahweh I am is exalted in the earthYahweh sabat oth is with us the Lord ofhosts is with us the god of Jacob is ourrefuge this this Psalm of David tells usthat when David fought Goliath he knewthat even though the world would fallapart all around him even though theIsraelite Army was not willing to fightwith him even though the king of Israelwas not willing to go into battle eithereven though his brothers were not happythat he was there at the Battle eventhough he wasn't wearing the armor orthe sword or the helmet of Saul he knewthat in the midst of that crisis hecould be still and know that God isstill in charge that the Lord of hostsis with his people in times of in timesof crisis in times of trouble you may begoing through a time of Crisis right nowI don't know you may have had a terriblediagnosis some terrible financial newsor family news or professional news Idon't know but this passage tells usthat the Lord of hosts is an everpresenthelp for his people in their times oftrouble he doesn't walk away from themhe still with them in the furnace thenext thing that David knew about theLord of hosts is found there in 2 Samuel7 and verse 8 now this is where God isspeaking to the prophet Nathan he says Iwant you to go and speak to my servantDavid so that's that the passage we'retalking about here and this is Godspeaking to Nathan and he says nowtherefore thus you shall say to myservant David thus saith the Lord ofhosts Yahweh Sabah oth I took you fromthe pasture from following the Sheep tobe Prince Over My People Israelwhat does this passage tell us about Godthis tells us that God is a promismaking and he's a promis keepingGod because In this passage here Nathanis told by God I want you to remindDavid that I promised you would be theking of Israel that I would take youfrom being a Shepherd of the of thesheep literally to being the shepherd ofmy flock Israel and uh so Nathan goesand says this to David and he remindshim that the Lord of hosts is a covenantmaking king and a covenant keeping promKing Lord you can base your life on hispromises now when David fought Goliathin 1st Samuel chapter 17 he' just beenanointed as the new king of Israel in1st Samuel16 when David fought Goliath had he yetbecome king of Israel yes or nono okay but David knows that the Lord ofhosts is a promis making and a promiskeeping God because David knew that henot God had promised he would be king ofIsrael and he'd not yet become king ofIsrael by the time the fight againstGoliath was taking place David knew onething about that fight and it was thiswhatever else happened in that battle hewas going to walk off that battlefieldof life because he'd yet become the kingof Israel God had promised him in theearlier chapter I'm going to make youthe king of Israel it hadn't yethappened so David can fight Goliath fullof confidence knowing that God'spromises to him had not yet come truetherefore he was not going to die onthatBattlefield God the and then the nameYahweh sabat o means that when Godpromises you something he followsthrough with it you can base your lifeupon it you can build your life on thePromises of God but for those promisesto to come into effect in your life youneed to step out in faith believingthose promises it's the same with thelies of Satan a man once asked me hesaid my wife and I we got we got married20 years ago we went to an astrologer weasked would we have children theastrologer said no we've never had anychildren this was on a 5:00 flight fromI don't know Spokan to Denver those inRedeyeflights and he said was the astrologertelling me thetruth does the astrologer know thefuture my response to him wasthis when Satan speaks to you he speakslies but when you believe those liesthey come true in yourlife and When God Says gives youpromises in his word when you act uponthem and you believe those promisesthose promises come true in your life aswell so you have to choose whose wordyou're going to believe you're going tochoose the words of God you going choosethe lies of Satan whichever you chooseare going to come true in your lifeDavid could fight Goliath because heknew that God is a come is a promismaking and a promisee keeping God and heknew that whatever else happened thatday he was not going to die on thatBattlefield and the last thing thatDavid knew about God we find in Psalm uh24 it's a beautiful Psalm that says theEarth um the Earth is the Lord's and allthat is in it and those who dwell uponthe Earth they belong to Yahweh itstarts out so David knew that Yahwehowns everybody on planet Earth includingGoliath and uh then it talks here aboutPsalm 24: 7-10 uh David says this hesays lift up your heads oh ye gates andbe lifted up oh ancient doors that theking of glory may come in who is theking of glory the lord or Yahweh strongand mighty the Lord Mighty and battlelift up your heads oh ye gates and belifted up o ancient doors that the kingof glory may come in who is this king ofglory Yahweh Sabo the Lord of hosts heis the king of glory so David couldfight Goliath knowing that the Lord ofhosts is strong and mighty in battle andthat he is the coming savior of mankindand so if if the Lord of hosts is thecoming savior of mankind this referringto the triumphal entry into Jerusalem ofJesus this passage here is a MessianicPsalm if David knew that he was fightingin the name of the Messiah who was goingto save his children from ultimatelyfrom The Sting of death he had nothingto be afraid of on thatBattlefield what you believe hasimplications for how youlive if you understand the truth aboutGod it changes how you live your livesif you don't know anything about Godyou're going to live your life driven byCNN or fox or the lies of the mainstreammedia what you believe about God affectshow you live your lifeso this then is the battle and whathappens well we know the battle our timeis moving on but suffice it to say thatDavid killed Goliath chopped off hishead and the Philistines fled from thefield of battle and the battle wasover but we still have the story todayGod has seen fit through the prophetSamuel to record this passage for usthis story for us why because we alsoface Giants in our livestonight you're probably facing your ownpersonalGiants I don't know what they are butI'm pretty sure from my pastoral timethat every family's got its own Giantsand every heart has its ownGiants and if men suffer from Pridewomen tend to suffer fromFear it's a very common thing amongwomen this kind of existential fear it'shard to put your finger on it sometimesit's a fear of being on your ownsometimes it's a fear of being unlovedsometimes it's just an in um a generalfear in in a fear that is so General youcan't put your think on why are YouAfraid of Anything But if men sufferfrom pride and arrogance women tend tosuffer from Fear it's not a blanket rulebut it's a general truism oflife and this story tells us that Davidcould fight and overcome the Giants ofhis life because he could fight in thename of the Lord of hosts he knew thatthe Lord of hosts is a refuge andstrength a very present help in times oftrouble he knew that the Lord of hostsis a promis making and a promiseekeeping God and he also knew that theLord of hosts is strong and mighty andmighty in battle therefore he was happyto fight Goliath because he knew thatwhatever else happened he was going towalk off that fieldalive so what Giants are you facingtonight what Giants keep you awake atnight what Giants cause you to go graywithworry what gr what Giants you maybe noteven want to admit to yourself but youknow they'rethere we've all gotthem but we can also have the promisethat there is the Lord of hosts who saysthe battle belongs to me and I willfight the battles for mychildren I'm the Lord of hosts says GodI'm a covenant making and a covenantkeeping God I'll give you promises andif you step out in faith I will honorthose promises in your life I'm the Lordof hosts which means even if your worldis falling apart you can be be still andknow that I am God I will act on yourbehalf and do the things for you thatyou cannot do for yourself I am the Lordof hosts says God through through Davidhere in this passage I the coming kingof glory and I will ultimately defeatthe Ultimate Enemy not just the Giantsyou face today but I have the authorityto defeat s um deathitself so I want to encourage youtonight as we closehere the psalmist saidand those who know your name put theirtrust in you for you oh Lord have notforsaken those who seekyou if you're facing Giants tonight Iwant to invite you to put your trust inthe Lord of hosts he wants to fight yourbattles for you there's no battle hecannot F fight there's no enemy hecannotovercome but he invites us tonight toput our trust in him and ask him to dothe fighting for us because because whenGod fights those battles we say that Godyou must fight it we we see thissolution but God sees all solutions thatare possible and he can bring aboutSolutions you cannot begin to imaginetonight so I invite you tonight to putyour trust in the Lord of hosts to fightyour battles for you and to see what Godcan do for you our time is up let'sclose with a word of prayer I invite youto Bow your heads Close OurEyes say dear heavenly father we thankyou for this story of David andGoliath we thank you for this thiswindow into your character that we findin the name Lord ofhosts I pray father that the Giants thatwe face in our lives Lord tonight as wego back to our homes there may be Giantswaiting or tomorrow at work or at schoolwhen we check our bankaccount or when we visit the doctorsLord we know there are giants out therebut tonight father we need to know thatthere is a lord of hosts who fights forhis children and who gives them thevictory because they trust in hispromises so tonight father whatever ourGiants may be we place them in yourhands asking that you fight our battlesfor us and that you be glorified in ourlives that when we come to this churchthis coming Sabbath or in the sabbathsto come this year our lips will befilled with praise and testimonies ofyour goodness on our behalf that we willspeak not of the Giants but of thevictory trees you have worked for usthat we will speak not of the despair orthe fear that is in our hearts but wewill speak of the peace that passeth allunderstanding because we've given ourproblems into your hands and you'vepromised to take care of thesechallenges for us so father fight thosebattles that we cannot fight be aneverpresent help in times of trouble bethat Covenant making and Covenantkeeping God for us tonight and uh whenyou come again in the Clouds Of Glory Ipray that each one of us will be foundlooking up saying this is our God whomwe have waited for so father dismiss usnow with your blessing go with us fightthose giants for us and may Our Lives befilled with praise to you in your HolyName we askamen so we will uh close here tonightand tomorrow we will be speaking aboutthe story of Gideon and another name ofGod that is Yahweh Shalom the Lord ourpeace we'll invite you back tomorrow at7:00 may God go with you and give youpeace on the road amen