You know what the people did, eventually, after I won that great victory against Goliath? They made me their king. And God gave me many successes, and you know about my failures too. God’s people needed a better king than me. Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. I’m David Pick, and today, Colin, we’re looking at the Christmas story through the eyes of King David. Yeah, and David is significant because he was Israel’s greatest king. No one higher in all of the Old Testament in terms of his accomplishments. And yet, David himself knows he needs someone greater than himself. And, you know, that’s really the beginning of Christian faith, isn’t it? I come to the place of realizing I need someone greater than myself. I need someone who’s going to rule my life, whatever my accomplishments, and someone who’s going to be my redeemer. And thank God for David’s greater son, our Lord Jesus Christ. David, to whom people looked up as Lord, looks up to Jesus as Lord. And that’s what Christ calls us to do as well. So today, we’re in the first book of Samuel, chapter 17. As we continue David’s story, here’s Colin. Now, you know, people have fallen into the habit of calling me Israel’s greatest king. Frankly, I wish they wouldn’t do that. But here’s why they do. When I was king, God gave us victory over our enemies. Our borders were secure, and we lived with peace in our time. And get this, during the entire period of my reign, you’ll like this, our economy was booming. Now, just thinking about that and being around here, I’m thinking maybe I should stick around and have a shot at running to be your president. But I’m not here to talk about myself. I’m here today to talk to you about my greater son, whose name is Jesus. By the way, have you noticed that I get a direct personal mention in the very first verse of the New Testament? Did you notice that? Here’s what it says. Matthew chapter 1 and verse 1, a record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David. My favorite verse in the New Testament. By the way, while we’re on that, you might be interested to know, did you know this? That both Joseph and Mary were descended from my line through different sons. Joseph was my descendant through Solomon, and his line is traced in the Gospel of Matthew. Mary was my descendant through Nathan, the son that I named after the prophet, and her line is traced in the Gospel of Luke. Both of them were off the royal bloodline. Both of them living in obscurity. Amazing. Actually, I get a mention all over the Christmas story. Do you remember when the angel appeared to Mary? He said that the son that she would bear would be called the son of the Most High, and that God would give him the throne of his father, David. My son on my throne. And then when Caesar called for that census and everyone had to return to their own town of origin in order to register, where did Mary and Joseph go? But to Bethlehem, which was my hometown. Now think about this. Has it ever occurred to you? I was a shepherd from Bethlehem. I knew what it was to be out on those hills watching sheep at night. That’s what I did as the youngest brother for years before God had given me opportunity to serve in other ways. I knew what it was like for these guys who were out on the hills behind Bethlehem watching sheep on the night when Jesus was born and the angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them. And you remember what the angel said to them? Don’t be afraid, he said. Today there’s good news of great joy because today in the town of David, Bethlehem, they’d renamed it really. Because that’s where I came from. A savior has been born to you and he is Christ the Lord. Roll the story forward. Because if you end at Christmas, you really don’t get what it’s all about. Roll the story forward and you find Jesus beginning his public ministry. And he healed people. And folks were astonished at what he did. On one occasion, you can read about this in Matthew in chapter 12, some people found a person who seemed to be a uniquely difficult case. This man couldn’t speak and he couldn’t see. And on top of that, he was possessed by many evil spirits, demons. I guess these folks wanted to test Jesus. We’ve seen him doing some miracles. Let’s see what he can do with this fellow. So they brought this fellow who can’t see and can’t speak and is possessed by many demons. They bring him to Jesus. Let’s see what he can do with him. And you know what Jesus did? He healed him and delivered him on the spot. Well, that absolutely astonished everyone. You can read this in your Bible. Here’s what people started to say. They said, could this be the son of David? Could this Jesus be the one who for all these centuries and generations we’ve been looking since God gave the promise to me? Word about him spread, of course. And eventually he came to Jerusalem. And you celebrate this a little nearer to Easter. There was a day when he came into the city riding on a donkey. And more and more people had come to the same conclusion that they expressed that day. You remember they picked up palm branches and they said, say it with me, Hosanna to the son of David. They’d come to believe that this is the one in whom that great promise to me would be fulfilled. You know, as you read through the Gospels, Jesus referred to me on many, many occasions. But my favorite is the time when Jesus quoted one of my Psalms and threw the Pharisees into utter confusion. I wonder if you know this story. Here’s what I wrote in Psalm 110. I wrote these words. They’re very important. In fact, they’re so important that these words are the most quoted words from the Old Testament in all of the New Testament Scriptures. Psalm 110, verse 1. Here’s what I wrote. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, I said, the Lord, that is God Almighty, Yahweh. The Lord, I wrote, said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until all your enemies are under your feet. You see, it had been revealed to me by God that beside the Almighty himself would be one who I could only describe as my Lord. And that the Almighty would say to the one I can only describe as my Lord, that he should sit at the right hand of the Almighty. And that he should sit there until all his enemies have been placed under his feet. It was all a little hazy to me, but enough was revealed to me so that I knew that the one I could only describe as my Lord would be at the right hand of the Almighty. And that all his enemies would be put under his feet. And I wrote that in Psalm 110 under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And it’s so important that it is the most quoted single statement from all the Old Testament scriptures in the New Testament. I wonder if you knew that. Well, Jesus took that up. The Pharisees, you see, knew that the Messiah would be one of my descendants. They were always talking about this. The Son of David, the Son of David, the Son of David, the Son of David. So Jesus asked them this question. How is it that the teachers of the law say that the Christ is the Son of David? And then he quoted what I had said in Psalm 110. He said, David calls the Messiah his Lord. Since David calls the Messiah his Lord, how then is the Messiah David’s son? Well, that had them absolutely staggered. The crowd loved it. These pompous folks. Here was their mistake. They were always telling people that the Messiah would be the Son of David. They never said the Messiah will be the Son of God. And you see, that’s my relationship with Jesus. He’s my Son. He’s my Lord. And He’s both my Son and my Lord because He’s God and man. He’s born into the line of my descent. But He is God of God, God in the flesh, God with us. God come to us. God for us. And He is the focus of my worship and my adoration and my praise. The Pharisees couldn’t get that because they did not read the Old Testament Scriptures properly. They did not hear what God had said. Not only will the Christ be the Son of David, but I will be His Father and He will be my Son. You’re listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and David’s Story. Part of our series, Christmas Stories, in which we look at the Christmas story from the perspective of different biblical characters. And if you’ve missed any of the series or if you’d like to go back and listen again, you can always do that by coming online to our website. That’s openthebible.org.uk. You can listen to any of the broadcasts which have already gone out. Right, now to the message. We’re in the first book of Samuel, chapter 17. As we continue David’s story. Here’s Colin. Now there’s all kinds of other stories that I could tell you. So let me tell you just one more story that I think you’ll know. Have any of you heard the story about the day I fought a giant? You have? Let me tell you about that day. What a man Goliath was. Nine feet tall. And he carried body armor that weighed 125 pounds. Can you imagine that? Carrying armor that is 125 pounds in weight. The Philistines, of whom he was one, were the enemies of the people of God. They were cruel and they were violent and they wanted to make us their slaves. Goliath was really their champion. And every day as the armies of the Philistines were camped on one side of the valley of Elah, and our armies were camped on the other side of the valley of Elah, every morning this giant of a man, Goliath, would step forward and he would defy the armies of Israel. He would say to them this, Choose one man who will come out and fight me. One man. And then he would say this, If your man wins, you win. And we’ll all be your slaves. But if I beat your man, you’ll be our slaves. And you’ll all be the losers. He would come out and he would say this every morning. He did it for 40 days. Same taunt. And here’s our armies and everyone’s looking at each other and thinking, I don’t fancy going. Any of us is going to be a loser against him. And none of them wanted to step up and to prove the point. So the taunts and the humiliation continued day after day after day after day after day. Then one day, while all this was going on, I’m back home, minding the sheep while my brothers are camped out there with the armies of Israel in the valley. Dad says to me, David, I want you to go and take some food to your brothers and take some cheese for the commander of their unit. I was so pleased I got the food, went there, and I arrived just as Goliath was coming out to do his morning routine. What in the world’s all this about, I asked. And they explained it to me. This man keeps coming out and defying the armies of Israel. Then they told me something else. They said, you know, King Saul is so anxious about this man that he has decided that to anyone who can kill Goliath, he will give great wealth, he will give his daughter in marriage, and, get this, I think some of you will like this, and King Saul had said to the man who kills Goliath, neither he nor his family would pay any taxes to the government for the rest of their lives. Now that got my attention. I guess it might have got yours. I said, I’ll fight him. So they took me to Saul. And Saul said to me, God be with you. God be with you, he said. Well, you know the story. Down to the brook, I picked up a stone, I put it in my sling. Wow, that shot flew so fast and right on target. Goliath didn’t know what hit him. He fell forward, face down, stone dead. Now you know that story. I wonder how much you’ve thought about it. Why did it happen? You see, I asked that question many times afterwards. God has a thousand ways of dealing with giants. It wouldn’t be me to do that. God has a thousand ways of dealing with the armies of enemy nations. He did it in all kinds of different ways, if you read through the Old Testament story. So why did God orchestrate this whole situation in which you have this enemy coming out and laying down the gauntlet and throwing out the taunt? Why this wager that the future of all the people of God would rest on a battle in which only one man would engage? Why all this story about one man who should come out and fight on behalf of everyone else? Of course, I understand that now, having been up there these thousands of years. That story that you know so well but may not have thought about so much gives the most marvelous window into who Jesus is and why he came. That’s why it says in the New Testament that for all the gracious things that God did for us living before Jesus, from your point of view, everything that happened before Jesus is given to give you light onto who he is and why he came and what it is that he has done. See, my greater son, Jesus, came to fight a greater giant and to engage in a greater battle and to win a greater victory that would be for a greater number of people. You all face far bigger giants than Goliath. Whatever the problems that you’re dealing with in your life right now, you know the three real biggies are these. Sin and death and hell. I promise you, having been in heaven for 3,000 years, all the problems of my life seem a long, long way away. Once you’re in eternity, everything else is in an entirely different perspective. But these are the three ones that really matter. To be in eternity with your sins. To be in an everlasting death. To be in an everlasting hell. These are the giants you really need to be concerned about. And they’re the giants that none of us are able to overcome. They come and they intimidate and they humiliate. And there we are. Who can face the great giant of sin and death and hell? And here’s what the Christmas story is all about. God has come to us in Jesus Christ and arrived on our field of battle. And in Jesus Christ, he goes down into the valley. And he faces the giant for us. Just as it was in those days with the two armies on either side of the valley. And our guides were saying, if he wins, we win. If he loses, we’re all gone. So when Jesus goes into the battle, if he wins, we win. And if he loses, there’s no other hope for us. We’re all gone. And he goes there and you see him on the cross. And he looks so weak and you think, how can he possibly win? And yet right there he is bearing sin. And he’s bringing death to death. And he’s splintering the gates of hell and making a way through death for all his people. That is opened by his marvelous resurrection. He wins! He comes to our field of battle. He comes to us and he fights for us. And his victory belongs to all who are his people. That is why Christmas is such good news. I know folks have the idea that Jesus came simply to show us how to live. If that’s all it was, then however wonderful the example, Christmas would simply be one more demand being placed on you. This is what you should be like. Why not be perfect? And I tell you, Christmas isn’t one more demand that God places upon you. It’s not about what you have to do. It is about what has been done for you. It’s about the one that comes and takes his stand in the battle you cannot win and goes to fight it for you so that you may share his victory. If he wins, we win. And in his death and resurrection, the God-man has triumphed for all his people. That’s why the greatest thing in all of life is to be one of his people. That’s why I said to you at the beginning that the most important thing about you is your relationship to him. You know what the people did eventually after I won that great victory against Goliath? They made me their king. It took them a long time to do it, by the way. And God gave me many successes, and you know about my failures, too. God’s people needed a better king than me. God’s people need my greater son, who is the king of kings. And he’s the Lord of lords. He’s my son. He’s my Lord. And one day every eye is going to see his glory, and I hope that before that day comes, you will come through a relationship of faith in him to call him your Lord. And it will be the most important thing about you. You’ve been listening to David’s Story, part of our series, Christmas Stories, here on Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. And if you’ve missed any of the series, please come online to our website, openthebible.org.uk. You can hear any of the previously broadcast messages on our website. And you can also find them as podcasts. Go to your favorite podcast site, search for Open the Bible UK, and subscribe to receive regular updates. Open the Bible is a worldwide ministry, and as we approach the end of the year, we’ve released a video. It’s called Celebration of Impact, and you can find a link to it on our website. That’s openthebible.org.uk. Or go to YouTube and search for Open the Bible Celebration of Impact 2023. Open the Bible is supported entirely by our listeners. That’s people just like you. And if you’re able this month to set up a new donation to the work of Open the Bible in the amount of £5 per month or more, we’d love to thank you by sending you a gift. It’s a book called The Valley of Vision. It’s a book of prayers. And Colin, what makes this book so special? Well, it is a profoundly helpful book of prayers. And, you know, sometimes when we pray, we have words. And other times, you know, words don’t come so easily. And, you know, what am I going to say to God today? And I find that when you feel dry in that way, it’s useful to reach for something that will help you. Sometimes a hymn book may be helpful. And just using these words will stimulate the mind and the heart. The Valley of Vision is an absolute gem for stimulating prayer when you feel dry. And it is beautiful. These are prayers that were crafted by believers in earlier centuries. And they bear not only reading and praying, but going back to again and again and again. That’s why they have stood the test over hundreds of years. They have continued to provide value to Christian believers. Let me just read from the first prayer here, speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me find your light in my darkness, your life in my death, your joy in my sorrow, your grace in my sin, your riches in my poverty. You know, this is a book full of wisdom and a beautiful expression of prayer to God. I think it’s very rich. And I think anyone who has this book will find that they return to it and use it again and again. Well, we’d love to send you a copy of this book, and we’ll do that as a free gift if you’re able to set up a new donation to the work of Open the Bible in the amount of £5 per month or more. Full details of this offer and lots more resources on our website, that’s openthebible.org.uk. For Open the Bible and Pastor Colin Smith, I’m David Pick, and I very much hope you’ll join us again soon. Sometimes we’re motivated by guilt. Sometimes we’re motivated by pride. Find out what it means to be motivated by the gospel. That’s next time on Open the Bible.