Steven Furtick - I Know How This Story Ends
1 Samuel 17:50, just one scripture today that I want to share with you, but it's a good one. It says in 1 Samuel 17:50, "So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; Without a sword, in his hand, he struck down the Philistine and killed him". There's power in the mighty name of Jesus. And every war He wages, He will win. "So David triumphed over the Philistine", I'm not backing down from any giant, "With a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand, he struck down the Philistine and killed him". Would you look at your neighbor and sing my sermon titled, "I Know How This Story Ends". Come on, tell your other neighbor, the saved one, tell them, "I Know How This Story Ends".
Father, we thank You for Your Word, the power of it and that He who began a good work is faithful to complete it, In Jesus' name, amen.
You may take your seat. God bless you. I know how this story ends. Because Holly and I have a rule in our marriage that when she's telling me a story, if it's a negative story, then I need her to tell me the ending before she gives me the details because sometimes she tells expanded stories, you like how I said that? That was real PC how I said that. That was really cautious how I said that. she tells stories and puts in all the deleted scenes. It's the director's cut. But sometimes I just need to know when she says Today was a terrible day, I need to know how this ends. You know, how was your day? Oh, and then she starts with breakfast, but I need to know, like, well, how much does it cost at the end of it? Like, you know, is it $7.000? Or does this do we both have to go to the kids school this time or just one of us?
I need to know how this ends. Or I'll just get lost in the middle. It's different when you know how it ends. If you tell me how it ends, you know, don't worry, it's not that bad. We got it all worked out. Well then I can follow you on all of the the twists but I just need to know how it ends. I need to know that this is going to be all right. I need to know that it's not fatal. I need to know that they didn't quit. You just had a bad meeting, because, she'll be telling me something about something at the office. And she'll want to put, you know, she has good storytelling technique. And she's a great storyteller. But that works against us in marital communication, because I'm not looking for suspense and drama.
I just need the bottom line should be like, Oh, I had a meeting with so and so today went terrible. And I'm thinking like, are they moving back to Nebraska, where their family's from? Do we have to replace them on staff, but just tell me how it ends. And then you can give me all the details. Then you can tell me that eggs were on sale when you went back home on the way to the thing and then the thing with the thing and then the car cut off, but then it cut back on and it's not in the shop. Just tell me how it ends and then I can listen to the story.
I wanna show you something real quick. This is a picture from our summer vacation a few weeks ago. Just a picture of some family time that we had. Yeah, see, that's how it ended. I don't know, can they see that the campuses? Yeah, that's how it ended. That's how it ended with Graham smiling, with everybody breathing, with Elijah making some questionable sign with his hand. Notice, there is only one oar. There were two when we set out, and embarked on this family adventure. But it ends like this.
Thankfully for me, as I've already mentioned, I have a great wife, who when she saw struggling on the kayak, because contrary to my knowledge, sandbars are temporary. They don't just stay there. The sandbar that is there one minute might be gone in 30 minutes. There's this thing called the tides... You think I would know this stuff. You would think you would drag the kayak further than just the very edge of the sandbar before you walked all the way out to the middle of it to have a family memory. But thank God for my wife because when she saw struggling when the tide came in... how many know when God gives you a great wife when she sees you struggling, she picks up the iPhone and records it. So check out this video she took real quick.
So, you know, Graham said it best, he said, when we got back and we were telling everybody what had happened, he said, "That could have ended a whole lot different". You know, because you obviously have the leisure of laughter because you know how it ends. I mean, well, hey, Pastor, I mean, it's pretty funny actually, the binoculars, you're dry now. You're not dead. Because it's different when you know how it ends. But if the man on the jet ski hadn't come by. It could have ended, this is what Graham said "It could have ended a whole lot different", or if he wouldn't have had southern hospitality to go get my kayak and bring it back to me with his jet ski, it could have ended, look at somebody, say, "It could have ended a whole lot different".
How many know there's some things in your life that could have ended a whole lot different. That drunk driver swerved right into your lane but some kind of angel just pulled that car back over it could have ended a whole lot different Come on. You know I'm right about it. If you had got stopped by the police at the wrong time when you were in college, it could have ended a whole lot different. Some of us it's not that we never did anything wrong. We just didn't get caught. If we would have been at the wrong place at the wrong time. It could have ended a whole lot different. Polish your halo if you want, I'mma turn to the heathen section this where the heathens sit, it could have ended... Come on stand up and testify if it could have ended, if it had not been for the Lord on my side...
You better give Him praise right now before He pulls up your search history it could have ended a whole! You know I'm right. Tell somebody, "You know that preacher is right". So it's funny now and when I read David and Goliath as my text, there's some Bible nerds sitting out there. Maybe watching online going like, "Really? David and Goliath? All the stories in the Bible, you want to pick this one. Oh boy. I already know this one. David kills Goliath. Goliath goes down, every time you read it. I already know how this story ends".
And so since you already know how it ends, let me suggest something to you. David never read 1 Samuel 17:50. It's different when you know how it ends, so we can shout, but David was shaking, shaking in his sandals, holding a sling, trembling, wondering, how this ends. Wondering, will this jet ski get my kayak? Wondering... I'm preaching to somebody today and you have not read 1 Samuel 17:50, yet about this situation in your life and you are still looking at a giant that is bigger than you and since we know how David's story ends, I wanna spend just a few moments today, thinking about how it could have ended, because it could have ended a whole lot different.
Had I gone to that one school and married that other girl? How many know, it could have ended a whole lot worse for Holly. She could have missed the whole buffet. But, now think about it: If David makes some different decisions, the story ends a whole lot different. And see, God is writing your story right now, for your family, right now, for this season of your life, right now, and although we know that Goliath goes down, David has to do it in the face of uncertainty and yet, no matter how many sermons you hear about David defeating Goliath, you must recognize that there were three things that David had to face before he even ever got to Goliath. And if any of these three things had gone differently, it coulda been a whole lot different.
If David had been a typical teenager, when his father came and said, you know, he's only 17 when he kills Goliath, and if he had had a response to Jesse's instruction, when Jesse said, "I want you to run these snacks down to your brothers". If David had rolled his eyes, you know, "God, dad, seriously? I'm like a future king, dad". Samuel has already anointed David. He already knows he has a great future, but now if David refuses to be faithful in his present because he's too focused on his future, this story ends a whole lot different.
How many of you heard the story of David and Goliath? Raise your hand? Yeah, no, because there's even a sports analogy. People use it in the NBA, the NFL. It's an archetypal story. It's so famous, it's so wonderful. It's so fun to preach. I bet I've preached it at least 50 times in this one church, but watch how the story could have gone. It could have been a whole lot different. Jesse wakes David up one morning, he says, "I got a task for you; I want you to run this cheese and bread down to your brothers on the battle lines; they're in the valley of Elah, fighting with Saul".
David wakes up slowly. David rolls his eyes. David checks his phone. David posts on his Instagram story, the fake account, the one that Jesse doesn't follow. And David puts that on Instagram, "God, my dad makes me sick. This is ridiculous! God, I hate my parents, I hate my life". David goes to the battle line, but he gets there 45 minutes late. He gets there after Goliath came out to shout his usual defiance. He didn't know Goliath was on the battle line. You don't know what day God wants to use you. You don't know what conversation is gonna turn things around, you don't know what moment is gonna be holy. You don't know when a bush is gonna burst into flames and spontaneously combust with the presence of God and the direction for the next step of your life. You don't know this, but if you don't show up and do the ordinary with a good attitude, it coulda ended a whole lot different.
Do you really think they would have taught us this Bible story, in Bible school, in Sunday school, if the story went like this: Jesse woke up David, David got up, David went down to the battle lines with a bad attitude, dropped off the food, threw it at his brothers, and went back home? Yet, it coulda ended like that. That coulda been the very end of the story. It coulda ended a whole... It coulda ended with David feeling slighted because he was asked to do something that he deemed insignificant.
"You know who I am? Dad, really? You're asking me to be a delivery boy. To take this food down to my brothers? You serious, right now? God, Dad. Okay, o-okay, I'll go, but I'm not gonna run to the battle lines, and I'm not gonna have my eyes open for up to... O-okay, I'll go, but I don't have to like it. O-okay, I'll go to church, but I'm not lifting my hands. That's what the weird people do. O-okay, I'll go, but we're leaving early; that parking lot gets crazy, and I wanna be at the restaurant before the Methodist Church ends. O-okay". Coulda been a whole... come on, work with me with a vowel sound, "It coulda been a whole"... you don't even have to buy a vowel, just say it, "it coulda been a whole lot different".
"I'm David; I'm not DoorDash. Whatchu think I am, Uber Eats? I'm not droppin' nothin' off. My name is David, say my name 'David', 'King David', 'Crowned David'; 'Samuel put the oil on my head, David'". It coulda been a whole lot different if David had tripped over the ordinary. So here's what I'm learning is that opportunity presents itself as ordinary. There is not gonna be you know, "I wanna kill my Goliath. I want a great breakthrough in my life. I want to", whatever you know, we use Goliath to mean anything, by the way, in church, if you're new here, Goliath could mean anything. It could mean we want a good parking space. It can mean we want a healing in our body. It can be we wanna stop beating so many chips, Goliath can mean almost anything.
In this particular instance, it means anything that opposes the purpose of God. He was standing against the people of God opposing the purpose of God, defying the armies of the living God. That's what Goliath was. And they usually won't be physical. But before David ever got to the real battle, he had to face the ordinary. There's not gonna be one conversation with your kids, that is gonna change their life. It is gonna be picking them up and dropping them off.
And trying to get them to say more than three words to you, at a time that is gonna change their life is three words on top of three words on top of three words, on top of three words, on top of three words, you are not gonna take your son on one trip to Ireland, and reenact Braveheart or Scotland or wherever that overrated movie happened. And he's gonna come back shouting, "Freedom!" and he's a warrior now for Jesus Christ. It's not gonna be one trip, when he turns 16. It's gonna be many trips, it's gonna be many back and forth, and back and forth. And David went back and forth, and back and forth, and back and forth.
See, we know how the story ends. David Didn't he didn't even know there was a giant in the valley of Elah. Not when he sets out that day. And if he refuses to do the ordinary, it coulda been a whole lot different. What a boring story, this would have been. David's dad said, "Go". David went, did it with a bad attitude, came home, slept for eight hours; coulda been a whole lot different, if David had been typical. So then he gets there, right? He does the ordinary, fact, the Bible says, this amazing: He ran to the battle lines. He left his things with the keeper of supplies; He's very responsible. He runs to the battle lines.
So he's there, in position with the attitude to see the opportunity. And when he hears Goliath shouting, see if David goes down, like most of us go around and just gets through his day, he's not gonna be in the frame of mind to seize the opportunity. And even when he gets there, and gives the brothers the food that he brought for them, one of his brothers has such a bad attitude with him, that the second thing that David had to deal with before he even got to the real opponent, was offense.
Now, I wanna show you this, it's very powerful; how some of us are fighting the wrong battle. We are fighting a preliminary battle, and missing the real one. Because when David gets there, he's like, "What's up, guys"? You know, David, is that dude. Like, "Hey, guys, what did I miss"? And they're like, "It's nothin' new, man. This dude is nine foot two, he keeps coming out, everyday, and keeps saying the same thing. He keeps telling us, 'Send your best man, I'll kill him and you will be our slaves', but we can't do anything with him, 'cause, I mean, look at him; look how big he is". And David's like, "'Look how big he is'".
One country preacher said this. He said, "The rest of the army saw Goliath and said he's too big to kill". David looked at Goliath and said, "He's too big to miss". I wonder what's your perspective, today? I'm preaching for 15 people. God said, "This challenge in front of you, is an indication of the power within you". Yeah! Yeah! David's like, "So what do I get if I kill him"? It's like, well, Saul said like, at first he was like, does anybody wanna fight him, but it's been 40 days now.
And so Saul keeps upping the ante, like the airlines do. When they gotta overbook flight, you know, we need two volunteers from the kindness of your heart, to give up your seat. We need two volunteers we'll give you $200, We need two volunteers, we'll give you $500. We need two volunteers, we'll give you $1.000 voucher for travel, the more desperate they get, the more the reward becomes. Now you can only use the thousand dollars every 17th Thanksgiving on this voucher and blackout dates apply. But now Saul has gotten so desperate, he got to the point where he says look, I give you my daughter in marriage, the hot one. And you don't have to pay taxes. So David's like for real now. Somebody verify this.
Now here's the difference. Here's the difference. It coulda been a whole lot different. But David hadn't been out there 40 days and he hadn't gotten used to the dysfunction and he hadn't got used to standing there, defeated in a deadlock. And so he comes up and to them Goliath just sounds normal, but to David, it sounds different. Wait a minute, he's not supposed to talk like that. You know you can get comfortable in your dysfunction when you've been in it long enough? When all your sick friends are lying around in five covered colonnades, it can be easy for you to start making excuses. And David was like, "Hold on, so he said what about God? And I get what, if I kill him"?
I love this, though, 'cause this is what always happens when God is trying to do something in your life: the enemy will always present another enemy that is not the real enemy, to keep you distracted from fighting the one that you're called to defeat. In David's case, it was his brother, his big brother. His name's kind of sounds like Goliath, but it's not: Eliab. He was tall. For a minute, Samuel thought he was supposed to be the king, because Saul was tall and Samuel saw in Eliab what he'd seen in Saul, which is height, not heart.
And God said, "Don't look at his height, look at his heart". Stop judging your situation, externally. It's what's inside that counts. It's what's inside that counts. And Eliab starts judging David's motives, he's like, look at this in verse 28: He goes, "Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep"? Now all of these things David had taken care of. He's a very responsible young man, but really what's happening here is, I believe the enemy is trying to trigger David to get him to fight the wrong person. Because watch, if he stands here and argues with his brother, he will never even see his enemy. This might be the whole sermon for somebody.
Now, just look straight ahead if you're married. Sometimes, you're fighting against what you're supposed to be fighting for. And you have to call a timeout, sometimes. You have to sometimes be like, "Wait a minute; you're not my enemy. Wait a minute; you're not who I'm supposed to be fighting". And, if David gets caught up fighting Eliab, he never sees Goliath. If he gets distracted, some of us are defeated, simply because we are distracted.
David did this move, that I want to learn how to do, when I realize I'm fighting the wrong enemy. When I realize I'm fighting something outside, when I really need to be dealing with something inside. When I realize I'm trying to control how other people are versus trying to have self-control, the fruit of the Spirit for myself. This is a word today. This is a word today. It said that David did something very strategic. And this is like the turning point of the story.
It said in verse 30, that when Eliab was going back and forth, and David, David hit him real quick with an insult just to let him know, I'm not a punk. And then after he said, what he had to say, watch what he did. David turned and ask somebody else and watch this. When he turns away from Eliab, it positions him to face Goliath. So, whoever it's for, you'll never even get to Goliath, you will never even get to the insecurity that is causing the issue, if you keep blaming the people who are bringing it out for you to look at. Eliab wasn't the giant, Eliab wasn't the enemy. Eliab was his brother that he was supposed to fight for.
So now we've watched David, two different alternate endings. If he argues with Eliab then he misses Goliath. If he doesn't obey his father in a simple thing, then he misses Goliath. It coulda'... Graham was so prophetic. He said, "It could have ended a whole lot different". I was so mad at my mom for forgiving my dad, I didn't think he deserved it. What would that funeral had been like, if she had listened to me rather than listening to God, if we weren't even on speaking terms when he died. It could have ended... And I only bring it up because every story in this room is still being written.
And sometimes you think you know how it ends, but what if it's not over yet? What if it's not over yet? I'm a preach you through that little facade that you have right now. What if it's not over yet? What if you've wasted a lot of time, but what if God really is able to redeem the years that the locusts have eaten? What if it's not over yet? I'm just posing a question. What if it's not over yet? What is your best days are not behind you? What if the devil is a liar? What is everything that you have been through can serve a greater purpose? What if a generational curse was being broken through your battle. What if God brought you to the valley of E-la, 'cause He's the God of the turn around? The God of a second chance, the God of a new beginning, and the God of a new ending!
Mary and Martha said, I know how this story ends. But one thing they didn't know is that Jesus doesn't provide resurrection, He is resurrection. So if he's on the scene, watch this, when David showed up, he said, I come against you in the name of the Lord.
Now, one more thing, I gotta show you. Y'all calm down! It's a Bible study, not a football game, it's not a basketball game. There's nothing to be excited about in here. It's not like the Blood of Jesus is enough for you. It's not like the depression is defeated. It's not like the devil has to back up when you call on the name of your God. It's not like worship can push back darkness. It's not like praise can break chains. Y'all sit down. Because now he has to go through Saul. The one that should have been celebrating him. The one that should have been supporting him. "David kills Goliath". Stop being so boring when you read the Bible. "The Bible's boring". You're boring. Read it better.
This thing could have had so many endings. It could have ended when David had a bad attitude toward the ordinary. It could have ended when David was fighting against who he was supposed to be fighting for. He could got offended. It could have ended with ordinary it could have ended with offense and it could have ended with only. Do you know, only? The spirit of lack and limitation. Do you know only? What Saul said to David? David was like showing Saul his resume. He's like, I'm pretty good at beating stuff that's bigger than me. I beat a lion one time. I beat a bear. Put me in coach. And Saul said, You're only a boy.
I wonder what you're only, in your own mind. Remember, Saul wasn't the enemy. Saul was supposed to be the friend. You ever have something inside of you turn on you? You're only. I had it this week. I was thinking that I'm just a preacher. Because I was thinking how really influencing culture is done through rappers and fashion and others and I was thinking about changing a generation and I felt discouraged about it, like I'm only a preacher but there's this one verse that always comes up when I think that way, and God told Jeremiah one time, He said, "Do not say I am only".
While I was thinking about that, I know this isn't exactly what the text means, but I was thinking how God's name is "I am", so when you say "I am only", and you're supposed to take God's name, you mess up the name that he gave you by diminishing it in your own sight. "I am only". Do not say, "I am only". Do not say, "I am only". I'm only a boy. But David said, "No, no, no. I've never faced this giant before", get ready to shout, "but I brought the same God to this valley that I brought to the last valley". Because the only reason I'm preaching it, is because you're standing in front of something right now, you've never seen this before.
But David said, here's the common pattern I've noticed, okay, "I dropped the lion. I dropped the bear". It only stands to reason that if the lion didn't stand a chance, if the bear didn't stand a chance, because they opposed my father's business, if this giant opposes the purpose of God, I predict an upset victory over everything in your life that is bigger than you, that opposes the purpose of God within you. Come on, He's the God of the turnaround. So, I know. Somebody shout, "I know, how this story ends, 'cause I know who wrote it". I know who wrote it. He is the author and the perfecter off my faith.
She looked at me last weekend on our date night, and this movie was going to have a nice ending. But then she remembered that the writer of this particular movie is noted for everybody dying in the end. And she looked at me, now I want you to get this when I say okay? She said, "It can't be over. I just remembered who wrote it". Come on, you know it's the word for you. You know there's some things 'cause we tell ourselves these stories. But if God wrote it, it's not over 'til we win. It's not over until the light overcomes the darkness.
Come on Nairobi. Come on Gaston. Come on Ballentine. It's not over! It could have been a whole different story. And I want to suggest that maybe it's still can be, because I know in church we talk a lot about new beginnings. What about new endings? What about putting two more periods behind that one that you thought ended the sentence and making it and ellipses? What about new endings? What about "To be continued"? What about "the third day"? What about "Sunday morning"? What about Jesus? I know how the story ends, so when I see him on the cross, I'm not worried.
The disciples didn't know that. This is the challenge. To know how the story ends even when you don't know how it's going to get there. Might not be a straight line. It might not be perfect, it might not look like somebody else's situation. You get in the worst trouble of your life trying to wear Saul's armor. Trying to fight like everybody else fights. Yours might be messier. Can I say something for somebody that God put on my heart? Yours might look laughable. I'm only High School educated, good. God's going to get that much more glory because you didn't have a college degree.
Now, when people look at you, they're gonna have to know it had to be God. I know your GPA. It had to be God. God's purpose advances. I know your GPA. You weren't smart enough, good enough, pretty enough, you didn't pray enough, you didn't do the right things. It could have been a whole different story, but the grace of God stepped in, just in the nick of time. Spoiler alert, Goliath goes down. Plot twist, Goliath goes down. And guess what? That's not how the story ends. I'm sorry. I know it looks great on the flannel graph. David's awfully cute with a slingshot. Especially, especially when it's one that you pull back. You know, like it's a spit ball. Like it's God's. Like it's a spiritual spit ball, boom.
You know, I know it's the it's the cartoon version. Here's the grownup version. You ready? David never read 1 Samuel 17:50. Most of us never read 1 Samuel 17:51. All apologies to all the children's Bible teachers. But you don't really know how the story ended. Because David, when he hit Goliath with the rock, stunned him. But then David had something else that he had to do. In the spirit of Mortal Kombat, look at your neighbor and say, Finish him.
The Bible says, that after he knocked him down, because some of us are content just to stun our enemy, you know what I'm saying? Just just to come into church, feel good for a few hours, get a little word, go home, forget about it, go right back into the same stuff. Go right back into the same cycle, go right back into the same deadlock. Go right back into the same pretending, go right back into the same image. But David said something, he said something. He said something, he said, I didn't just come down here to bring cheese and bread.
See, I always thought that David was the delivery boy. But it turns out that the way the story ends. David wasn't the delivery boy, Goliath was. So now, I'm gonna preach us home. You ready? What did Goliath have that David needed that David didn't know that he would need? It's right in verse 50. It's right in verse 50. It said he came to the battle without a sword in his hand. Spoiler alert, he left with one. Who was carrying it? His enemy. I declare, come on, y'all. I'm trying to be good. But I declare, I know how this story ends! Goliath has got your sword. Goliath has got your grace, and if you want to see the victory, you're going to have to defeat what's standing in front of you, but you don't have to do it on your own.
Come on, let's stir something up, all over the whole church, University City, Blakeney, I want every single warrior, every single worshiper, to declare, I know how this story ends, and tell the person next to you, "I know how your story ends". Tell them, "Your story, ends with glory. God's gonna get the glory out of every situation in your life". I know how it ends. Some jet ski is going to bring me the kayak. I don't know who God's got in the water. But even now, somehow, the sister said to Jesus, God will give you what you want.
So, David stands over the giant, I always read it as being the final sequence in the battle, that after knocking him down, he, look at the verse, he took the sword from the scabbard. Anybody ever said scabbard in the last 10 years? He took the sword, little things like that keep me preaching, you know. And after he killed him, he's already dead, he cut off his head. Why did he do it? For a trophy. 'Cause this wouldn't be his last giant. Now, I always thought that the story was over, when David cut off his head. How much more savage can you be? The head is off, the giant's down, but that's not how the story ends.
See, we only think we know how it ends. You tell your story, you're like, "...and then I got a divorce". That's not the end of your story. That's not the last time you can love or be loved. That's not the end of your story. "You know, they were doing pretty good and then they did this". That's not the end of the story. That's just character development. It can't be over because I know who wrote it. I said it can't be over 'cause I know who wrote it. It's not the end of my story. I know how this story ends. I know how I'm leaving this battlefield. I'm not leaving empty handed. I'm leaving with a sword. I'm leaving with the lesson. I'm leaving with a testimony. I'm leaving with a brighter day on my mind. I'm leaving with a new praise in my spirit. I'm leaving with a prophecy. I'm leaving with a word from God.
You know, what's so crazy is that the whole point of the story has nothing to do with David to begin with. It says that after Goliath died, that all of the Philistines, do you see it? When they saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. Your story is not even about you. What you're going through right now, might not even be about you. You know how many people I've seen come out of grief, and release their greatest gift from their greatest grief. Goliath has got your sword. Goliath has got your sword. You're gonna be sitting across from somebody who needs it in five years and telling them, I've been right there in the battle, but here's what I found out, the sword that came to kill you, it's gonna be the one that God uses to deliver you.
And he killed Goliath with his own sword. Your giant has got your sword. But that's not how the story ends. He cuts off his head, sends the sword to the temple at Knob, which was where Ahimelech was the superintendent? A little while later, David goes back to Saul's palace, Saul starts going absolutely crazy trying to kill David. David has to run from Saul.
Remember now, Goliath was not the last giant that David would face. You don't want to stay stuck in just one victory of your life. The Bible says he leads us from glory to glory, from strength to strength. Stand up. I'm trying to close. I'm trying so hard. Don't leave, but stand up and clap your hands if you know this is not my last one. This is not my last victory. I come against midlife crisis in the name of the Lord. There's more for you to do, you have a legacy to pass on, you're gonna make a bigger difference in your future days. Your latter days shall be greater... 'Cause I know how this story ends.
Okay, hang on a second. So David runs down to the temple, right? He's running from Saul. He's already killed Goliath. And he has to leave so quickly that he doesn't have a sword. He runs to the temple attendant. He says, "Hey, man, I need a weapon". How many of you need a weapon to fight something in your life today? You need a strategy. You need an insight. Come on. You need a breakthrough. You need a turn around. Alright. David said to Ahimelech, "Don't you have a spear or a sword here? I haven't brought my sword or any other weapon because the Kings business was urgent". The Priest said, "Man, I'm sorry, David. I mean, I got one sword, it's the sword of Goliath the Philistine".
At least it used to be until you killed him. But now, the very weapon that you took from your enemy, the very strength you gained from the thing you survived, the sword of Goliath, the word that God spoke over your life... How many know His Word is a sword? "It's sharper than any double edged sword", Hebrews 4:12. The sword of Goliath, who you killed in the valley of Elah, is here, it's wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want it, take it. There is no sword here, but that one: and David said, "There's none like it. Give it to me". He started with a sling, he ended with a sword and the difference was the enemy, that he was willing to confront. "And I know how this"...
Now, I don't know exactly how long this story is going to take, and I don't know all the details of it, but, "I know how this story ends". We got the drop on David, we read verse 50. We got the drop on David. We've been to the empty tomb. We got the drop on David. We know how this story ends. I know that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy...
Do you hear me preaching to you right there in your living room? Do you hear me preaching to you right there in your kitchen? You hear me preaching to you. You're in a hospital room with a loved one right now. But the God of all healing, Jehovah-Ropheka, is in the hospital room with you. I know how this story ends. I know. I know, no weapon that is formed against me shall prosper.
Now the Bible doesn't say that the weapon won't be formed. It just says that it won't work. So watch this. The weapon was formed by my enemy. Isaiah 54:17 is on the screen right now. The weapon was formed by the hand of my enemy, what you're going through it might not have been from the hand of God, but you gotta read verse 16, to understand verse 17. Because Isaiah 54:16, God says, 'Behold, I have created the blacksmith, who made the weapon.' So God said, 'The enemy might have formed the weapon, but I formed the enemy and there is nothing that that enemy can bring against you' Come on, there is nothing, 'cause I know, I know! I know! Get your hands up. Get your hands up. Get your faith up. Come on, tell Goliath, "You've come against me with addiction, you come against me with anxiety, but I come against you, in the name of the Lord".