Content in all Circumstances

Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine. (1 Samuel 17:38-40)

The worst interpretation of these verses would be, "march to the beat of your own drummer."  A better interpretation would be, "don't put your faith in other people but in the Lord."  David has not tested Saul's armor, but one thing he has tested well is his own faith in the Lord, and so he sticks with what has been tested.  So should we not only be testing our own faith but trusting in the Lord above all else.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to trust in man.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to trust in princes. (Psalm 118:8-9)

This is all true, but how do we put our faith in God?  The worst thing we could do is try to conquer our Goliaths ourselves, believing that God is our source of power and strength, like an energy bar.  We take the verse of Philippians 4:13 out of context:

"I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

But in context, see how the idea behind the verse changes:

I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:10-13)

Now we see that what Paul is talking about is that Christ strengthens him to be content in all circumstances.  He's not made into a superman by Christ.  He is made content.  Indeed, David is content in his circumstance.  He doesn't take off Saul's armor shaking in fear, "what am I going to do now?"  He has a plan, based on his experience, but his faith is so solid in the Lord that he does not fear.  He is content in his circumstances.

So, if we are not to conquer our Goliaths ourselves, who is to conquer them?  Well, the obvious answer is that Christ has already conquered them on the cross, and it is a deep, abiding, penitent faith in Christ that will not help us conquer our Goliaths but be content in the knowledge that Christ has already conquered them.  Christ himself tells us not to be anxious, because anxiety is sin; it is a lack of faith in what Christ has done for us.  We don't believe that he has succeeded on the cross.  Many believe that Christ never existed.  We have many hurdles to overcome in faith.  But when one does believe in Christ and have full faith in him, what is that person desiring of Christ?  

Remember the two gospels; the newer, false one and the old, true one.  The new one is that of "helper" Jesus who is there for us, but we are our own saviors.  The old one is that of Jesus as savior, us a sinners, and the reason for salvation being for the glory of God alone.  We are not the center of the universe with God as our assistant.  God is the center, and we are the instruments of his glory.  Christ died to save the elect, so that God's loving kindness and mercy would be made manifest for all to see.

So, Christ is about to ascend in Acts 1, and this happens:

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:6-8)

Jesus corrects the disciples, shifting the focus from this new gospel we attempt to form, back to the great, old gospel of faith.  We are not to know the mind of God, but we are to proclaim the good news of Christ to the ends of the earth.  We can only do this if we are content in all circumstances, like David, like Paul, like Christ.  When we are discontent, we try hard to solve our own problems and beg God for help.  When we have a true faith in Christ, we realize that God has already helped, on the cross, and our being content as a result enables us to do the good works that God has given us to do: sharing the gospel with our family, friends and neighbors.

Summary

Let not your heart be troubled, because....

1. The Father created all things good.  He created the bear and the lion.  He created the devil.  When things become evil, he defeats the evil for the sake of his elect.

2. The Son lay down his life for his sheep. He prepares a place for us in eternity.  He will come and fetch us there.

3. The Spirit opens us to all truth.  He gives us peace and keeps us in God's word, so that we will be constantly reminded of the gospel of Christ.

Let no man's heart fail...

When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. And David said to Saul, “Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!” (1 Samuel 17:31-37)

David tells Saul (an any other person) not to fear, for he has the experience to be able to destroy Goliath.  Likewise, Jesus tells us not to fear, because he is God, and he will destroy the devil.

What else can we learn about not letting our hearts be troubled?

"Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:1-7)

1. Put your full faith in Christ.
2. Have faith in your salvation.  Christ promises not only to have a prepared place for us in his Father's house, but he promises to take us there himself.
3. Have faith in the Christ of the Bible, the only way to God.

“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here." (John 14:25-31)

1. The Holy Spirit will keep our hearts focused on the scriptures and will keep our faith sure.
2. Christ gives us the peace that passes all understanding, even in the face of persecution.
3. Christ's peace is not the same as the world's peace.  Christ's peace is everlasting.  The world's is a false peace that is only temporary.
4. The Ruler of this world has no power over us, because he has no claim over Christ, and we are in Christ.  Remember, Christ as David has defeated Goliath.

From The Mortification of Sin

"The battle is not against any particular lust but against all sinful lusts which war against the soul. . . True mortifying of sin deals with the entire body of sin. It goes to the heart of the matter and lays the axe to the root of the tree. This is the mortification which the Holy Spirit drives the believer to do.

Mortification of particular sins arises from a guilty conscience. But mortification arising from the gospel principle deals with the whole body of sin in its opposition to the renewing of the image of God in us."

John Owen, The Holy Spirit: pp168-169

Rewards from the King

All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid. And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel.” And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” And the people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.” (1 Samuel 17:24-27)

So, the man who kills Goliath will get three things from the king:

a. riches
b. the king's daughter
c. freedom within Israel

When we put our penitent faith in Christ we get

a. riches. This is not material prosperity in this life.  In fact, one has a better chance of getting true riches through material poverty.  But mainly, we are talking about spiritual riches that are only found in Christ.  2 Corinthians 8:9 reads, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich." Paul is not talking about material riches.  See what he says about Jesus himself in Philippians 2:

Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:6-11)

Jesus gave up heavenly riches to impoverish himself on our behalf on earth.  Now he is exalted with heavenly riches, so that we might, too, be exalted with heavenly riches.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells his disciples

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:19-21)

Our heavenly treasure is Jesus himself.

b. The king's daughter.  This doesn't mean that God gives us a new spouse in heaven.  It doesn't mean we get "72 virgins."  This means that we become part of the church, which is the bride of Christ.  Remember, David, the victor of Goliath, is a type and shadow of Jesus, the victor over Satan.  Jesus gets the king's daughter, which is the church, to be his bride.  Ephesians 5:25 reads, "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word."  When we put our faith in Christ, we are putting our faith in his word, and we seal this faith with our baptism.

c. Freedom. This is one of the most misunderstood aspects of Christianity on the part of the world.  The world believes that by becoming part of a religion, we lose our freedom, because now we have to obey some set of arbitrary rules. Luther and the other reformers demonstrated that this wasn't so.  Because of sin, we are incapable of choosing "the good."  We choose selfishly, and if that decision happens to be a good one, and we help others through that decision, it is still a sinful and bad decision in God's eyes, because we were doing it for ourselves, not because we truly loved God or our neighbors.  It's like staying in a relationship only because it makes you feel good.  Once the feeling goes, and you're not enjoying yourself, we find it easy to break off the relationship.  This is what sin does to us, and we are incapable of choosing the good for God's sake and our neighbor's sake.  We are incapable of loving our neighbor as ourselves.  This is slavery, not freedom.

But Jesus sets us free.  Faith in Christ's blood gives us the freedom to choose the good, to love our neighbor as ourselves, many times at the expense of our own happiness and enjoyment. As Jesus says in John 8:31-32, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."  This connects freedom with being the bride of Christ.  We are washed with the word, cleansed, and when we abide in this same word, we are truly Christ's disciples, the church, and we will know the truth and with that truth comes freedom, the freedom for do good works, which God as given us to do.

All three of these kingly rewards are found in Christ.  Jesus does the work, the heavy lifting.  He defeats Goliath for us.  He gets the riches, bride, and freedom.  It is our faith in Christ that puts us IN CHRIST, and so we get those rewards, too, through faith.  We get heavenly riches through Christ.  We become the bride of Christ and are cleansed through Christ.  And we have real freedom in Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life.