1 Samuel 17
-The Philistines gathered again to oppose the armies of the
Living God in Israel. The Philistines gathered at Socoh, a Judean area, and the
camped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim. Saul and his men were
assembled and camped in the valley of Elah to the southeast of the Philistines.
The Philistines controlled one mountain while Israel stood on their mountain on
the other side with a valley between them (1 Samuel 17:1-3).
-“Then a champion came out from the armies of the
Philistines named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span
(over 9 feet tall).” This gargantuan wore a bronze helmet, was clothed in
scale-armor weighing 5,000 shekels of bronze, and had shin guards of bronze
with a javelin slung between his shoulders. This dude was indeed an intense and
imposing figure. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and head of
it weighed a hefty 600 shekels of iron. If that was not enough intimidation, he
had a shield-carrier who also walked before him in protection (1 Samuel 17:4-7).
He would stand and shout at the Israeli army with taunts trying to draw them
down to battle with him. He wanted a one-on-one encounter. If someone could
kill him, the promise was that the Philistines would become Israel’s servants.
However, if he killed his opponent, Israel would serve them as servants. He
defied the ranks of Israel, and craved this battle with boasting and arrogance.
“When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were
dismayed and greatly afraid,” much like their ancestors when the ten spies
observed giants in this same land of Promise (Numbers 13, 1 Samuel 17:8-11).
This was a petrifying and stifling anxiety.
-Now we learn of David and his growing involvement in the
national life of Israel as he stood in the strength and courage of the
anointing of the LORD God Almighty. The son of Jesse, who by this time was an
aged man, was instructed to take provisions to Saul and his three oldest
brothers, who were at the battle line with the Israeli army. He was also a messenger for their well-being
during this time. The family needed to know how the boys were doing. For 40
days, Goliath came forward morning and evening to take his stand and demand a challenger
to his awesome brawn. Leaving the flock with a keeper, David rose early in the
morning to take the supplies as his father had commanded him. He came to the
circle of the camp just when the army was going out in battle array shouting
the war cry. Both sides stood opposing one another. The excitement drew David
to leave his baggage in the care of a servant keeper, and he ran to the battle
line and entered in order to greet his brothers. As he was conversing with them
and checking up on their well-being, “the champion,” the Philistine from Gath,
Goliath, came out from the enemy’s ranks and spoke his taunting words in the
hearing of young David. David observed the fear and trepidation of the Israeli
army as they fled the opposer in great fear. He was informed of the reward for
the person who would challenge him and defeat this mammoth. The king would
enrich the one who killed Goliath. Saul would even give him his daughter in
marriage and make his father’s house “free” (taxes and public service) in Israel.
David upped the ante, “What will 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 taunt the armies of the Living God?” This really
irritated his oldest brother, Eliab, who was part of the pageantry of fear. His
anger burned against young David, “Why have you come down? And with whom have
you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your insolence and the
wickedness of your heart; for you have come down in order to see the battle.”
This was the spirit of accusation at its finest. David replied like so many
other brotherly scenarios down through the annuals of time, “What have I done
now? Was it not just a question?” He kept right on talking and showing
confidence in the situation. He did not back down, nor show a spirit of fear (1
Samuel 17:12-30).
-Soon enough, the assured words of David were relayed to King
Saul, and he sent for David, the shepherd boy. David passionately told the king
not to let his heart fail, for he would go and fight with this ungodly
Philistine. Saul showed no confidence in him initially. He spoke negatively
claiming rightly that he was just a youth in comparison to Goliath’s vast
warrior experience from his own youth. Undaunted by the situation, David
displayed no fear of man as he stated, “Your servant has been tending his
father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I
went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he
rose up against me, I seized him by
his beard and struck him and killed him.” This passage shows the preparation stage
of David’s life, and how God was using his every experience to mold him into
the best military leader Israel would ehave. He went on, “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. The LORD
who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will
deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” At this, Saul did not try to dissuade
him any further as he said, “Go, and may the LORD be with you.” Saul even tried
to help out by giving the youth his garments for war. But, remember that Saul
was head and shoulders taller than anyone else in Israel. David was just a
youth, and the armor did not fit properly. As David tried to gird this gear with
his sword and walk, the test failed, for David was not use to them. David then
took these garments off and went with what he knew. He took his stick in his
hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook. These stones he
placed in his shepherd’s bag, plus he had an all-important sling in his hand.
He approached the mighty Goliath with just a stick, a sling and five smooth
stones. As the Philistines approached with his shield-bearer in front of him,
he observed the young, ruddy, handsome David and mused, “Am I a dog, that you
come to me with sticks?” He cursed David by his false gods and told him that he
would soon give his young flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field.
But David confidently replied, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a
javelin, but I come to you in the Name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the
armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. 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, 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.” How about that trash talk and reply? Intimidation did
not work with David; his faith and call was genuine. David “ran quickly” toward
the battle line when Goliath arose to come draw near to meet him. With decisive
action he put his hand into his bag and took out a stone. Then he put it in his
sling and slung it right at the Philistine’s head. Bullseye!!! The stone
smacked Goliath right in the forehead, the only place he was vulnerable. The
stone sank into his forehead, and he fell flat on his face to the ground. “Thus
David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck the
Philistines and killed him; but there was no sword in David’s hand.” Not a bad
arm. If he was born in this time he might have had a major league baseball pitching
career J.
Quickly, David ran and stood over the vanquished foe. He then took the giant’s
sword out of its sheath and finished him off for good by cutting off his head
with it. Seeing all this transpire, the Philistines fled with the men of Israel
and Judah rising to pursue them with valiant shouts. They chased them all the
way to Ekron, a stronghold city of the Philistines to the west. Dead bodies
fulfilled David’s prediction as they lay strewn out along the way to Shaaraim,
even to Gath and Ekron. As the sons of Israel returned from their chase, they plundered
the Philistines deserted camps. For David, he took Goliath’s head and brought
it to Jerusalem, but he kept the giant’s weapons in his own tent (1 Samuel
17:31-54).
-In an aside that seems to be out of sequence with the
narrative, Saul asks his uncle and commander of his army, Abner, whose son this
young man was as he saw David going out against the Philistine enemy. Abner had
no idea, and so King Saul commanded him go and inquire who his father was. When
David returned from killing the Philistine with Abner, he had the destroyed man’s
head with him in his hand. Saul asked whose son he was. And David replied, “I
am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite (1 Samuel 17:55-58).”
-*Application* So much has been made through the years of
this narrative between the seemingly invincible foe and the unlikely hero.
Books, devotionals, sermons, motivational speeches, movies, and more have heralded
the triumphs of this man of valor and faith in his God. We all face giants of
many kinds through the course of our lives. The main point we should see here
in this passage is that it is the LORD who fights our battles and gives us the
victory when we stand confidently, not cockily, in His Name. Fear has no part
of the Kingdom of Christ Jesus when facing our foe. Remember, insurmountable
odds and impossible circumstances can be conquered when we surely and solely trust
the LORD for His deliverance.
Verses to Memorize:
1 Samuel 17:37, 45, 47
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