Sight vs Faith

Order of Service

• Hymn — All Glory, Laud and Honor
• Call to Worship — Psalm 9:1-2
• Hymn — All Glory, Laud and Honor
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Faith — Belgic Confession, Article 1
• Scripture Reading — Acts 9:23-43
• Hymn — And Can It Be
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Prayer of Dedication
• Hymn — Hallelujah, Thine the Glory
• Sermon
• Hymn — Who Is on the Lord's Side?
• Benediction

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Sermon Title: Sight vs Faith

Scripture: 1 Samuel 17:1-27

I. The Eyes of Faith Rest on God's Providence

A. The scene is set with Goliath's imposing presence and Saul's failure of nerve

1. Goliath stood over nine feet tall, his armor weighing approximately 125 pounds, his spear's iron head 15–16 pounds
2. For 40 days he taunted Israel, and not one man — including Saul — stepped forward
3. Saul, as in 1 Samuel 13, sees the battle only in physical terms; fear is the natural result of sight without faith

B. This is a spiritual battle, not merely a physical one

1. In ancient Near Eastern warfare, champion vs. champion represented god vs. god; the victor's deity was deemed supreme
2. The earlier episode with Dagon foreshadows this: when the ark was captured, Yahweh proved his supremacy over Dagon (1 Samuel 5)
3. Goliath's challenge is ultimately a challenge to Yahweh himself

C. The transition from Saul to David in verse 12 is deliberate and significant

1. The ominous scene ends with Saul cowering; verse 12 opens with "Now David" — the hero enters
2. David sees with the eyes of faith, not merely physical sight

D. David models quiet, obedient service while trusting God's timing

1. Prior to verse 26, David has no recorded speech; he serves silently and faithfully
2. In 1 Samuel 16:1-13, while his brothers stand before Samuel, David is tending sheep
3. Though anointed king and filled with the Spirit (1 Samuel 16:13), he does not rush to his coronation; he continues serving Saul, his father, and his brothers
4. Jesus likewise waited on the Father's timing: John 2:4 ("My hour has not yet come"), John 7:6 ("My time is not yet here"); he resisted the serpent's offer of immediate kingship
5. Adam's failure was the inverse: he grasped at being "like God" immediately rather than trusting God's provision and passing the probationary test

E. God's hidden providence orchestrates David's path to kingship

1. Bringing food to his brothers in obedience to Jesse places David precisely where God needs him
2. His role as musician in Saul's court and his coming role as son-in-law draw him closer to the throne step by step
3. Application: like David — and like Christ — we receive our daily bread, serve faithfully in whatever is before us, and wait on God's good timing (Matthew 6:11)

II. The Eyes of Faith Rest on God's Promises

A. David's first recorded words reveal covenant vision (1 Samuel 17:26)

1. He calls Goliath "this uncircumcised Philistine" — the same language Jonathan used in 1 Samuel 14
2. Jonathan and David share the same covenantal perspective: Goliath is not merely a giant but one outside the covenant promises of the living God
3. The deep covenant bond between David and Jonathan (1 Samuel 18:3) flows from their shared vertical covenant with Yahweh; the horizontal bond is the fruit of the vertical

B. Circumcision was the covenant sign pointing to God's promises in Genesis 17

1. God promised Abraham that his offspring would be numberless and that his covenant would stand
2. The circumcised male was to look at that sign and trust that God's promises are immutable — no enemy can extinguish them
3. David's courage before Goliath is grounded in this: no human power, however great, can nullify the covenant of an unchangeable God

C. The Reformers and Puritans applied this principle to baptism for new covenant believers

1. As circumcision was a covenant sign for Israel, baptism is the covenant sign for the new covenant people of God
2. Believers are to look back on their baptism — not as a one-time checklist item but as an ongoing source of faith and courage
3. Baptism points to Christ, the final offspring of Abraham (Galatians 3:16), whose shed blood is our victory over sin, death, and Satan
4. As we face the spiritual forces described in Ephesians 6:12 — rulers, authorities, cosmic powers of darkness — we look to our baptism and are reminded: in Christ we are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37)
5. Nothing — neither death nor life nor anything else — can sever us from the love and victory that is ours in Christ (Romans 8:38-39)