The Bible is filled with stories about teenagers who faced great problems; they were ordinary people, yet some of them became kings and queens, others were mighty heroes. But there are some who just made a mess of their own lives (and their world). I’m glad that the people God tells us about are not perfect—because I don’t know anyone who’s perfect.

 You might think that stuff that happened to thousands of years ago could not relate to things that you’re going through in 2006. But I’ve found that God is a lot smarter than we can imagine. He sees into the future and He inspired the writers of the Bible to include things that would help us centuries after they were written. It doesn’t matter who we are, where we live, how old we are or what century we live in—the Bible speaks directly to what you need today.

A BOY WHO WAS DIFFERENT

Let’s start with a teenager who became a hero even though he was the youngest in the family and the rest of the family didn’t think very much of him. His name was David and God called him to be the king of God’s people, Israel when he was just a young boy because God saw something great in David’s heart. While his older brothers did big “important” stuff, David took care of his father’s sheep by himself. It wasn’t considered to be a glamorous job and his brothers often dissed him , but he didn’t care.  

 IF YOU GET NOTHING ELSE OUT OF THIS STUDY, I HOPE YOU REMEMBER THIS: It doesn’t matter what you look like on the outside or even if people don’t think you’re special. What people think about you doesn’t matter to God. He looks at your heart.

 He was different than the others in his family—he thought differently and acted different than the others but, in his case, that was a good thing.

     Being alone 

IF YOU CAN’T CHANGE WHAT MAKES YOU DIFFERENT, THEN YOU NEED TO ACEPT IT AND LEARN TO MAKE IT INTO SOMETHING GOOD.

David did just that. He was a singer and a writer. He worshipped God and thought completely differently than his brothers did. He used it to his advantage while he spent most of his time alone with his sheep. His brothers didn’t help him and there’s no mention of him having any friends at this time in his life. But he was okay with it.

 DO YOU SPEND A LOT OF TIME ALONE?

• Is being alone always bad? No. Solitude can be good. It gives you time to think and be creative.

• Is being alone the same as being lonely? Not at all. You can be alone and not feel lonely if you’re happy with who you are.

• Can you be with a lot of other people and still feel lonely? You bet. You can be in the middle of a crowd and feel like you’re invisible.

• How can you be alone and not be lonely? If you’re at peace with who you are and you have a personal relationship with God, you don’t have to feel lonely.

If you are here on this website reading and listening to this message, you probably have something in your life that makes you different. Maybe you’re have a chronic illness or one or both of your parents do. Maybe you can’t even go out with your friends. Maybe nobody understands you and you spend a lot of time alone. Maybe you suffer from depression. Maybe you just feel like you don’t fit in anywhere and you don’t even know why.

David was different in a very good way. He had such faith in God that it overcame his fears—it made him do things that his brothers and other kids would never try to do. David loved God and He knew that God loved him and would protect him. And David loved to praise and worship God. He didn’t try to change himself to fit in or be a poser (pretend to be something he wasn’t). How about you? Do want so badly to be recognized that you’re frontin’?

David was different in a very good way and he had a great attitude. He was thankful for everything God gave him and he didn’t complain about what he didn’t have.

 He had such faith in God that it overcame all loneliness, doubts, and fears. It made him do things that his brothers and other kids would never try to do. David loved God and He knew that God loved him and would protect him. And David loved to praise and worship God. He didn’t try to change himself to fit in or be a poser. How about you? Do want so badly to be recognized that you’re pretending to be something you’re not?

 Because of  David’s “differences” and faith, God selected David to be the next king of Israel and He sent His prophet Samuel to anoint David to be king. God taught everyone a lesson when He did this. Samuel, the judge and leader of Israel went to the house of Jesse, David’s father and Samuel called out all the young men in the family. 

 One by one, they stood before Samuel and one, by one, God said “no!” They couldn’t understand why, Jesse couldn’t understand why, and even Samuel couldn’t understand why.

 Isn’t that true? We judge people by what they look like or even how they dress. But, it’s what’s INSIDE that counts.   Do people judge you by what you look like or how you dress?  Do you judge others that way?

 Well, Samuel got the message.

 11 So he asked Jesse, "Are these all the sons you have?"  "There is still the youngest," Jesse answered, "but he is tending the sheep."  Samuel said, "Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives."  12 So he sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features.  Then the LORD said, "Rise and anoint him; he is the one."

The Message Bible says it like this: 11 Then he asked Jesse, "Is this it? Are there no more sons?"     "Well, yes, there's the runt. But he's out tending the sheep."    Samuel ordered Jesse, "Go get him. We're not moving from this spot until he's here."  12 Jesse sent for him. He was brought in, the very picture of health— bright-eyed, good-looking.  God said, "Up on your feet! Anoint him! This is the one."

David, the little brother that was scorned (even by his own father) and left to take care of the sheep was the one that was chosen. Boy, that must have upset the big tough brothers of his! We'll see later that his brothers took every opportunity to say bad things to him and judge him, but they now saw him anointed by God. It didn't change the way they acted and it didn't stop David from continuing to take care of the little sheep who needed someone to lead them--someone who would really care for them. God saw the strength in David that the others didn't want to see. 

13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power. Samuel then went to Ramah.

His brothers were big and strong and looked it. You wouldn’t be messing with them. They were all really good looking too and so was David. But he was small compared to them and he didn’t look tough at all. Everyone thought they could mess with him. But things aren’t always what they seem to be. David’s brothers looked tough, acted tough, and boy did they talk tough—but when the time came to stand up for what they believed in and FIGHT---they ran away instead because they were scared.

Now, being scared isn’t bad; in fact, being scared can be really healthy if you’re scared of the right things—like getting your mind mashed like potatoes with drugs, or like messing with guns or knives—you know, stuff like that. And, we should be scared of things that are dangerous---like jumping off a roof or exposing ourselves to incurable diseases, or standing in the middle of the street with our eyes closed when traffic is coming from both directions.

Okay, that sounds pretty simple. Everyone knows that and who would be dumb enough to do such things? Well, everybody actually. We all do some pretty stupid things that are just as dangerous and we don’t even know it sometimes, and that’s what God’s Word will help us avoid. It’s one thing to face danger for a good cause and to do something good for someone. It’s another thing to just do something because we’re dared to do it, or to impress someone—or for no reason at all. There’s a word for that: d u m b. And even smart people can act dumb.

• Can you think of some things you do that might be dangerous and could get you into a lot of trouble?

• Is there a good reason for doing them? Will it help people? And, even if it does--is it legal--moral?

• Are you doing it unselfishly?
• Or are you doing it to impress someone?

But David’s brothers weren’t just scared---they were cowards. They wouldn’t stand up for what was right even though they served the mighty God of Israel. David was just the opposite. He looked small and didn’t ACT tough, but this boy was so strong and so cool that he actually killed a lion and a bear with his own hands when they attacked the sheep he was shepherding. That sounds pretty brave to me. He might have been a boy, but he acted like a real man. He was given a responsibility; take car of his Dad’s sheep. He took it seriously and he was pretty determined that no person and nor animal—no matter how fierce—was going to harm the sheep he was taking care of. Not while HE was watching them. Later on, when he had to explain his qualifications for going into battle for the King, David would just tell it like it was:

 34-35 David said, "I've been a shepherd, tending sheep for my father. Whenever a lion or bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I'd go after it, knock it down, and rescue the lamb. If it turned on me, I'd grab it by the throat, wring its neck, and kill it. Lion or bear, it made no difference—I killed it. And I'll do the same to this Philistine pig who is taunting the troops of God-Alive. God, who delivered me from the teeth of the lion and the claws of the bear, will deliver me from this Philistine."

You might think that attacking a bear or a lion was pretty stupid—like jumping off a roof. But, David knew the God of Israel. He worshipped Him and believed in God’s power to save him. David also knew what God had called him to be---a mighty man of God. He knew that God would be with him while he protected the sheep.

Because He knew God’s power and protection and had a very strong sense of what was right and wrong, God was going to use David to defeat Israel’s enemies and save his own people. All the armies of Israel were going to stand helpless and defeated while this boy, David faced ALONE what Israel’s army and king would not face: ONE MAN.

 1 Samuel 17:4-7 A giant nearly ten feet tall stepped out from the Philistine line into the open, Goliath from Gath. He had a bronze helmet on his head and was dressed in armor—126 pounds of it! He wore bronze shin guards and carried a bronze sword. His spear was like a fence rail—the spear tip alone weighed over fifteen pounds. His shield bearer walked ahead of him.

 8-10 Goliath stood there and called out to the Israelite troops, "Why bother using your whole army? Am I not Philistine enough for you? And you're all committed to Saul, aren't you? So pick your best fighter and pit him against me. If he gets the upper hand and kills me, the Philistines will all become your slaves. But if I get the upper hand and kill him, you'll all become our slaves and serve us. I challenge the troops of Israel this day. Give me a man. Let us fight it out together!"

Okay, he wasn’t just an ordinary man. His name was Goliath and he was a real live GIANT! Huge, powerful, mean, and all thugged out. He had major attitude and he was strapped!!! He stood and defied the armies of Israel. Now, as big as he was---he was still one man. But Goliath trusted so much in his own strength that he challenged Israel—he dared them to come and fight him. No one volunteered—not even the king or his strongest warriors. And certainly not David’s big brothers. All they wanted to do is dip out of there fast.

 vs 11 When Saul and his troops heard the Philistine's challenge, they were terrified and lost all hope.

But little David did want to fight him. And, by the way, l boys grow up to be men and they’re not so little anymore. David would be a powerful soldier when he got just a little older. But, David was a powerful warrior RIGHT NOW—while he was still a boy---because He believed in God and in the cause he was fighting for.

vs 32 David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him."

Which basically means: be easy ‘cause this dude is checkin’ out soon.

But that’s another story and though you may think you know it, I guarantee it happened differently than you think it did. Come back next time for:

 “GET A-HEAD OF A GIANT”