1 SAMUEL 17: (45 - 47)
DAVID & GOLIATH
The chapter before us contains one of the best-known and most loved stories in all of Scripture- the story of David and Goliath. The story is a memorable lesson on God's faithfulness even in the most seemingly impossible situations (CIT).
The contest has embedded itself in the culture and language of the nations of the world. It is so well known that it has become the way of describing any conflict in which there is an obvious disparity between the combatants, whether describing athletes, companies, or nations. The phrase, "It was a David-and-Goliath situation" creates a certain image, and this story is the source of that picture. [Chafin, Kenneth: The Preacher's Commentary Series, Vol. 8: 1, 2 Samuel. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1989, S. 128]
Let me give you a little ...
I. BATTLE BACKGROUND (17: 1-11).
The irrepressible Philistines, the warlike inhabitants of the seacoast, were always unconsciously ready to be used as the Lord's rod of correction against His stiff necked people. Once again they had organized an attack against Israel. They mounted a force of thousands of war chariots, thousands of calvary and untold infantry. Against this army Saul arrayed his force and the two armies confronted each other on the opposite sides of the mile wide Elah (Terebinth) Valley, just eight to ten miles from Bethlehem.
The invasion was spearhead by their warrior champion Goliath of Gath, who was 9 feet and 9 inches of trained fighting machine. A seven-foot basketball player would be dwarfed in his presence. The Philistine champion had to have physical strength to go along with his massive body for his armor alone weighed 126 pounds and to hurl his spear the head of which tip the scales at about 20 pounds. An impressing weight for a spear, considering a shot-put weighs only sixteen pounds.
Day after day Goliath would taunt the army of Israel calling for an opponent worthy of his steel, demanding that the winner take all and the loser loss all, not just for the fighters but for the nations as well. An army would often avoid the high costs of battle by pitting its strongest warrior against the strongest warrior of the enemy. This individual army representative combat avoided great bloodshed because the winner's side was considered winner of the battle. But here more than bragging rights were involved. Here all dreams of independence and property were at stake because the losers would become the slaves of the others (17:9).
Morning and evening for 40 days this arrogant Goliath challenged and reproached the battle ranks of Israel (17:10) and never once did a warrior accept (17:16). [Forty is the number of testing and trial in the Bible. Rain pelted Noah's ark for forty days. The children of Israel wandered for forty years. Jesus was tested in the wilderness for forty days.] Neither army wanted to attack the other because trying to rush up the steep slopes of the valley to attack the opposing army would cause great casualties. Each side thus was waiting for the other to lose their patience and attack first. So the Israelites, every man of them afraid to challenge Goliath could only set back in dismay and silence (17:11). [It's no wonder Saul was dismayed. After all, being the tallest man in Israel made him the logical choice to face Goliath. But when the Spirit of the Lord had left Israel's leader it also left the men without the courage needed to take the fight to Israel's enemy [Barber, Cyril. The Books of Samuel. 1994. Loizeaux: Neptune, NJ. p. 199].
But man's predicament is God's opportunity. God does not always, nor even generally act immediately when situations are difficult. No, He waits so that our helplessness might be more fully realized and that His delivering hand may be seen more clearly and that His merciful action may be more greatly appreciated.
II. THE COMING OF DAVID, 12-30.
The coming of David upon the scene seems to be the result of his father Jesse's concern for David's three brothers who were in Saul's army. The youthful shepherd, [back again with his family (v.15)] in ready obedience to his father, takes the humble food of the poor to the battle line with instruction to learn of his brothers' welfare. He arrives early in the morning after about a three hour walk and drops off his load. It seemed as if by chance when just after David had arrived at the entrenchment line and greeted his brothers that Goliath came up and defiantly challenge Israel's army (v.23). You can see providence's timing as God's works His plan to honor this man after God's own heart (1 Sam. 13:14), meaning he put God's honor [glory] before all other considerations. God had been training this faithful shepherd so that He might raise him to the pinnacle of fame. Yet providence in bringing its plan together does not impair the free choice of the person in its care.
You cannot but wonder if during his PRAYER TIME that morning David received any premonition that an extraordinary trial awaited him. There is no indication that he did. His morning prayers were in all likelihood his normal prayers. His sincere prayer for forgiveness and that God would strengthen him for the duties of the day were enough. How little any of us know what each day holds for us, but on some morning that dawns just like any other a great trial or a great opportunity will come into our life. Though the future is hid from us, when we kneel each morning it would be a good idea to pray as if it is an important day of your life. An opportunity may be given you to do a great service in the cause of love and truth or temptation may assault you which could cause you to deny your Lord Jesus and wreck havoc on your soul. Our daily prayer should be O Lord be not far from us and give us Your enabling in all You have prepared for us this day....should be our morning prayer. [Blaike, W.G. 1887. A.C Armstrong & Son: Edinburgh, Scotland. pp. 280-281]
When David arrived at the entrenchment line he heard the challenge of the Giant he was astonished that no one had taken the Philistine up on it (17:23-24). With all the earnest curiosity with which the inquisitive peers into a mystery, he seeks to know what incentive was offered to the volunteer who killed this Philistine. David was not so concerned about the reward as solving why it had not been worthwhile to silence this giant who defied the armies of the Living God (v.26). Up to now everyone had been dealing with what they felt was a military problem. The youthful shepherd raised the larger theological issue. David was amazed that a heathen who worshiped Dagon should "defy the armies of the living God" (vv. 25–27).
David's question irritated his brothers, who criticized the fact that he was there, that he had left the sheep, and his motives for coming (v. 28).
The Spirit of faith stirred into full and active vigor in David's heart. Not uncommon with those who begin to walk by faith David received a withering rebuke from his brother Eliab. His brother tried to belittle him and called him proud and deceitful. [The contempt of the brothers is similar to that of Joseph's brothers.]
The man of God who walks by faith must be prepared to be misunderstood and to stand alone. For most only want to be involved in what is not directly confrontational against the enemies of God. Irritating though as the comments were they were weathered with gentleness (v. 29). Undaunted by his brothers' critical verbal blows, David turns to someone else and obtained a similar answer to his questions (v.30).
[Third we see ...]
III. DAVID'S AUDIENCE WITH SAUL (31-40).
Apparently David's indignant tone at Goliath's rebuke and his fearless reliance on the Living God of Israel excited the bystanders and they carried his words to Saul. He tells Saul in verse 32, "Let no man's heart fail on account" of Goliath that his servant David would go and fight with this Philistine. Saul, who had previously demonstrated his refusal to hear the voice of God (1 Sam. 16:22-23) thought David brave but foolish. King Saul thought Goliath too big to fight. David thought him too big to miss. He questions David, "Can you go fight the Philistine? You're a mere shepherd boy who does not know the brutality of battle, and the Philistine is a man trained for warfare since his youth" (v.33). Saul with his earthy way of viewing things, who measured strength by fleshly standards, knew nothing of the faith that moves mountains. One who knows not the empowering strength of Almighty God would think David foolish. Those that would undertake great service for God must not be daunted by those who oppose them even when they should be the very ones that should support and assist them. They must in faith go humbly forward with their work and face not only their enemies threats but their companions belittlement and suspicions.
David explains his battle strength in words that Saul was more likely to understand in verse 34, 35 and 36. "But David said to Saul. ‘Your servant was tending his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, (35) I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him. (36) Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the Living God.'"
Here noble faith is being exercised. It is the human spirit taking hold of the invisible and being fortified by the help of the Unseen God. It is a life resting on the sure word of the solid rock and flinging itself fearlessly out on to a very dangerous sea, confident of protection and victory from Him. The helper of faith was his remembrance of the encounter with the lion and the bear and the assurance of the same empowering for what ever task God gave him. [Blaike, 284]
May this truth be pondered and sink deep into our hearts. David received his training in the school of God far away from the crowds in the solitude of his work-a-day world. There he was taught through life experiences the wonderful resources which are available through faith God. There in the fields around Bethlehem by divine enablement he had slain the lion and the bear. This is ever God's way. He teaches and trains in secret that soul which He is preparing to serve Him in public. Do we really seek and esteem communion with God in life as our highest privilege? Do we realize that walking with God through life is the training ground for our future and the source of our strength (Ps. 91:1)? For it is in the secret closet where strength for the battlefield of faith is learned and received.
David recognized that it was God's merciful hand that gave him his deliverance and victory and that gave him assurance of it again. The God that helped him rescue a lamb would not fail him when he tried to rescue a nation. Would God who did not fail him when all that was involved was a lamb fail him when now the whole nation was at stake? Would He who had subdued the ferocious nature of a lion and a bear humiliate him in conflict with one who defied the armies of the Living God? The remembrance of these victories confirmed his faith and urged him into conflict where faith would once again be victorious. It swept the mind clear of all terror and sped him into the midst of the danger without a trace of doubt.
[This is the childlike faith that a child has in his father. It springs up and asserts itself. Those of us who are older that have fought the fight of faith often must first battle to gain victory over our fears and failures before we can rise up to take on new challenges. Later on in his life David too would grapple more before acting.]
Saul first told David "God be with you" and then tired to weigh him down with fleshly armor. For it was the arm of flesh where Saul's trust abided and not the arm of God. David makes an effort to adjust to the coat of mail but wisely realizes that it will only impede him.
David again falls back on the many hours of training of shooting stones from a sling that was his boyhood hobby which fill up the hours of a lonely shepherd's day. After choosing five smooth stones out of the brook in the valley, with his shepherd's staff in one hand and his sling in the other he approached the Philistine (v 40). It has been asked why David chose five stones and the reply given was incase Goliath's four brothers showed up.
IV. DAVID BATTLES GOLIATH (vv. 41-52).
When Goliath saw the handsome youth of reddish complection, no words of scorn were bitter enough. He had sought a powerful skilled warrior to fight with, but instead he gets insulted with a youth carrying a stick. With bitterest scorn and contempt he steps in front of his shield bearer and shouts, "Am I a dog that you come at me with a stick" (v 43). Then Goliath throws a satanic curse at David. The attempted curse turns the military combat into a spiritual battle. The giant's roar made the armies afraid, and would have made any man not clothed in the armor of God tremble. In beautiful contrast to the scornful arrogance of Goliath, David, who knew in his heart Who stood with him and for whose honor he fought, calls out in courageous nobleness in verses 45-47.
"You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but 1 come to you in the name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. (46) This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, (47) and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD's and He will give you into our hands."
What a living reality God was to David! He saw Him who is invisible and guided by God's wisdom in how to attack this giant he fearlessly meets this enemy who angered by David's confident words of faith now runs down to demolish him. A man of less faith would have been too nervous to take proper aim. Undisturbed at the ultimate consequence of missing, David hurls the stone from his sling.
The stone smacks Goliath in the one vulnerable spot in his defense system [the hardest bone in his body] and in a moment the smitten foe is reeling on the ground. The quick and agile David is on him in a moment. He seizes Goliath's scimitar, cuts off his once proud head, giving unmistakable evidence to both friend and foe that the champion is dead.
The demonic spell is broken. The Philistines abandon their camp, hastily flying toward home, with the Israelites on their heels in hot pursuit delivering deadly blows upon their foes all the way to the gates of Kiron (their capital).
Saul looks down at the youth who was walking away [toward Jerusalem] with Goliath's head in one hand and the sword in the other and reappraises him with new insight. He asks who this is once insignificant and unimportant man.
Whatever surprise the victory was to the tens of thousands of warriors who witnessed it, it was no surprise to the God-fearing shepherd. He knew beforehand that he could trust God. Now he prayed everyone else knew. That spirit of knowing who gave him the victory would keep him from taking any of the glory for himself. He was a simply a chosen instrument of
God and took no credit for the victory for himself.
In CONCLUSION
What David's attempted might seem to others like foolishness but he had treasured God's Word in his heart and knew that if God was for him who could be against him. David had walked with God and knew God walked with him.
This calm composed faith of David's reliance upon YHWH to enable him to conquer were all exemplified in a far higher measure in the victories of Jesus, and they are still weapons of which enable God's people to overcome. The sword of Goliath was turned against him, the weapon by which he was to annihilate his foe was used to sever his own head from his body. Christ too turned Satan's most feared weapon, death, against him. For "through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives" (Heb. 2:14-15). As David fought not for himself alone but for the whole nation so Christ fought the foe death and defeated it for all the army of faith. [Blaike, p. 290]
Now we too like victorious warriors trained by Christ must learn to never fear whatever foe might be arrayed against us in the cause of Christ. Let us boldly defeat sin whether it is in our hearts or in the world. Let us boldly defeat what ever giant may be threatening us. Be strong in the might of the Lord! Experience the enabling of God that delivered David from the claw of the bear and the teeth of the lion. Then go out in the full armor and power of Christ's Spirit to defeat whatever giant that has been taunting you. You too in the spiritual armor of God can conquer principalities and powers by the weapons of Christ's warfare! Rise up o church of God!
Bulletin Announcement
This evening we are going to look at the story of David and Goliath. The story has a special appeal for Christians. Part of the attraction is the natural support of the underdog. But a larger reason for its popularity is that so many identify with the whole situation. We are constantly challenged in our lives by the giants of the world, and we find courage and inspiration in David's faith in God and courage against all odds. Unfortunately most people, even though they have a general knowledge of the story, have never really studied it carefully. As a result they aren't able to see what our walk with God has to do with the battles that we face. Don't miss adding some smooth stones to your pouch for your fight against what ever giant that comes against you.
