David and Goliath

Good morning everyone and welcome. We are continuing in our Gospel Story sermon series. Today we are continuing with David, two weeks ago we looked at how God had told Samuel to annoint David as the next king even though David was kind of the runt of his family. After his annointing David goes back to being a shepherd and taking care of his family’s flock. But, in the meantime, a conflict between the Israelites and the Philistines is happening. The Philistines are one of the groups that God had told Israel to drive out of the promise land when they first entered, but they didn’t obey God. As a result, these different groups of people are pretty much a constant source of frustration and pain for the people of Israel. And in our passage this morning, we will see what the Philistines think of Israel, as well as what Israel thinks of God.

Prayer

Engage / Tension

As we begin, I want to read a quote from A. W. Tozer that I think points us in the right direction as we look at this passage.

“Christianity at any given time is strong or weak depending upon her concept of God. And I insist upon this and I have said it many times, that the basic trouble with the church today is her unworthy concept of God.”

Tozer is pointing out that one of the biggest issues we face is how we perceive God. That we lack an understanding of how great and how big God is. When we really begin to grasp how big God is (I say begin because God is so great that even after a life of study and a relationship with God we still can’t understand how big God is) it changes how we look at different obstacles in our life. As we read through this chapter then, keep in mind these questions. 1) Who is talking about God? 2) What are they saying about God?

Who is Goliath?

1 Samuel 17:1–11 NIV

Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Sokoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Sokoh and Azekah. Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them. A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span. He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels; on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him. Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

The chapter begins by setting the stage for what is happening. The Philistines and Israelites are squared off ready to battle one another. It is a pretty impressive picture that we are given. Both armies are on hills facing each other with a valley between them. As they would line up thinking battle was about to happen, Goliath would step out and ridicule them. Goliath is a massive man, has all kinds of great weapons and armor, he is the guy that you don’t want to fight against. And every day that Goliath would mock and ridicule the Israelites, they would be terrified and essentially lose all hope. It’s a fairly bleak start to the chapter, being introduced to Goliath. But, we are transported back to Bethlehem and back to David in verse 12.

Who is David?

1 Samuel 17:12–19 NIV

Now David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul’s time he was very old. Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab; the second, Abinadab; and the third, Shammah. David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul, but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand. Now Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance from them. They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.”

Now, we have been introduced to David before, in chapter 16, but we are reminded of exactly who David is here and his family. David would travel back and forth from the sheep and Saul because David would occasionally play the lyre for Saul to help calm him down. Considering though that David’s brothers are with the army, their father, Jesse, sends David on an errand to take some food to them and to check up on them.

The Importance of God

1 Samuel 17:20–31 NIV

Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other. David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were. As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear. Now the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his family from taxes in Israel.” David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.” When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.” “Now what have I done?” said David. “Can’t I even speak?” He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before. What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him.

David does what Jesse asked him to and shows up to the camp right as they were going out to line up for battle once again. As David is checking in with his brothers, Goliath begins he usual speel. It’s apparent to David immediately that things aren’t going well because of Goliath. The men all retreat in fear when he comes out and they are talking about how much wealth the person will get that kills Goliath.

And in verse 26 we see something important. Even though we have been introduced to David for a while in scripture, in verse 26 we see David speak for the first time. We weren’t given his name until after he was annointed, and we are only given his first words in scripture when he comes across Goliath. David has surely been talking before this, but the author here wants us to see what David is concerned about. At first it might seem like David is purely interested in the reward for killing Goliath, but we see that he is really more concerned with what Goliath is saying about Israel and as a result, God. David is the only one so far who has brought up God in all of this conflict. And his main concern is how Goliath is going against God. David has this deep concern for how Goliath is mocking and ridiculing God and he is not okay with it. David’s brother, Eliab, speaks up. He get’s angry at his little brother and accuses him of being there for the wrong reasons. David continues though despite his brother’s rebuke, talking to others about this Philistine who is going against God. Word of this makes it’s way back to Saul, and he sends for David.

Faith in the Past Provides Faith in the Present

1 Samuel 17:32–40 NIV

David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.” Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. “I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

When David gets in front of Saul, he explains why he will be able to fight and defeat Goliath. He brings up his past as a shepherd and how he had to fight against lions and bears to protect his sheep. In all of those battles, David acknowledges that God was the one who rescued him, who ultimately helped him to defeat those predators that were attacking his flock. In the same way then, David believes that God will defeat Goliath.

He does not credit his escapes to luck or skill; God delivered me. Looking back in faith enables him to look forward in faith: “He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” What God has done in the wilderness of Judah he will do in this valley.

This is an application for all of us this morning. David looked back on his past and how God sustained and delivered him, which allows him to continue in faith in this current situation.

It is here that memory (Yahweh delivered me then and there) and logic (If he handled that, is he not adequate for this?) can be handmaids of faith.

It is so crucial to remember God’s past deliverances. If you’ve trouble doing so, invest in a diary. You must keep verse 37 (“He will deliver me”) before you. If you don’t, you will misconstrue verses 34–36. David will be delivered not because he is tough and strong, but because he knows the true God. Circumstances vary, but God is the same whether among the sheep or in front of the Philistines.

God’s Victory

1 Samuel 17:41–53 NIV

Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!” David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him. David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron. When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp.

Application

David had a proper perspective of God. He understood something that no one else did in the Israelite army. That battle wasn’t between Goliath and a champion, that battle was between God and Goliath. David knew this and understood that God was way bigger than Goliath. The one person who could beat Goliath was God.

David and Goliath is a great story, and often when we read it we want to place ourselves in David’s shoes. We are David, going up against the giants in our lives. But really, this story of David and Goliath points us to Jesus and the real Goliath in our life. When we look at this story, we have to realize that we are not David, rushing forward into battle. We are really more like Israel, cowering in the back, terrified of Goliath.

Jesus took out the real giant in our lives.

The real Goliath that all of us have in our lives is not what mountain we are currently looking at. The real goliath has already been defeated, the giant of sin, death, the giant of separation from God. Jesus has already defeated the Goliath in our lives that we ultimately couldn’t defeat on our own. I don’t say this to downsize whatever struggle you are going through. God knows that we still face giants in our lives, we still face mountains, and they are still extremely difficult. But, when we realize that the true Goliath in our life is sin, separation from God, we can approach these other giants in our life in a unique way.

Even when faced with death, whether it be a family member, a friend, or even thinking of our own death, we can face it with confidence because Jesus has taken away the sting of death. Jesus has made a way so that death does not have the final say. In Jesus we don’t have to feel lost when our future seems to be spinning out of our control. Because of Jesus, we know that we will always be taken care of, that we will always receive God’s care and compassion.

When we know that the Goliath of sin and death has been swallowed up by Christ, we can face all of the other obstacles in life that come our way.

We can follow Christ in His victory.

In this story of David and Goliath, notice what Israel does once Goliath is defeated. They follow David in his victory. So we also are called to follow after Christ in his victory. Once again, this doesn’t mean that we won’t face obstacles in our life. We are going to face huge obstacles, obstacles that make it seem like we can’t continue that we can’t push through them. Going back to the quote from Tozer though, What is your concept of God? Is your concept of God one that sees these obstacles in your life and think there is no hope? Or is your concept of God that of David’s? Do you view God as bigger and mightier than anything that you can face in this life?