The Unlikely Hero
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· 14 viewsGod will not be mocked. God will defend his glory and use the most unlikely people, like a shepherd boy, to do it.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
PRAY AT BEGINNING!
Recap where we are and why we are here
David was anointed next King of Israel
the name sake in the lineage of Jesus
Matthew starts off, the Son of David, the son of Abraham
If I was going over this story for teamKid I would make them act it out
have some Philistines and Israelites on opposites sides of the room
I would make Jimmy be our giant and get the smallest kid in the room to be David
The story is so familiar I asked ChatGPT to give me a summary of it and how I should give this message
From The story of David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17) tells how a young shepherd named David faced a giant Philistine warrior, Goliath, who terrified Israel’s army. While trained soldiers shrank back in fear, David trusted in God rather than armor or weapons. With only a sling and a stone, he defeated Goliath, showing that the battle belonged to the Lord—not to human strength.
Application:
This story reminds us that the biggest challenges in our lives aren’t overcome by our own ability, but by trusting God’s power and faithfulness. What looks overwhelming to us is not overwhelming to Him. When we step forward in faith—obedient and confident in God—we can face our “giants” with courage, knowing He is the one who ultimately brings victory.
The story is not about "David and Goliath" as our Bibles label the episode. It is about "David and Saul," and how they differed in the way they handled the challenge and insult from Goliath.
J. Daniel Hays
It is easier story to swallow when we make ourselves David and the problems in this life our Goliath. If we trust in God he will defeat out Goliaths
but that is not what this passage about
it is not about you or even frankly your problems
not to belittle your problems
when a person is facing a Goliath of a problem it is a giant issue staring them down
Goliath is not David’s problem
he is sent there by his father to care and get a report on his brothers
David inserts himself in the battle of this Giant
Setting the Scene
Setting the Scene
The scene is drawn out in Samuel 17,
from where the battle is taking place to
how they are aligned
where David is and how he got to this place
1 The Philistines gathered their forces for war at Socoh in Judah and camped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim.
about 15 miles to the west of Bethlehem
strategic this is a big deal
this valley, with what they have taken over would give them a direct path to Bethlehem and the Israelites would be at a big disadvantage
2 Saul and the men of Israel gathered and camped in the Valley of Elah; then they lined up in battle formation to face the Philistines.
3 The Philistines were standing on one hill, and the Israelites were standing on another hill with a ravine between them.
We have the scene
two nations on opposite hills ready to battle it out
I have seen this valley…
I have a picture of it
it is a blurry green picture and you cannot tell what you are looking at
while I was in Israel as we were driving our guide went, that’s where David and Goliath battled… like it was an afterthought
4 Then a champion named Goliath, from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was nine feet, nine inches tall
5 and wore a bronze helmet and bronze scale armor that weighed one hundred twenty-five pounds.
6 There was bronze armor on his shins, and a bronze javelin was slung between his shoulders.
7 His spear shaft was like a weaver’s beam, and the iron point of his spear weighed fifteen pounds. In addition, a shield-bearer was walking in front of him.
Wow! What a sight
that is the point of the details, to make the reader sense the fear that would come upon somebody seeing this sight
9 foot 9 inches tall (top of the ceiling fan)
as if that is not enough, about 150 pounds of armour and weapons
you are supposed to be afraid of this sight
8 He stood and shouted to the Israelite battle formations, “Why do you come out to line up in battle formation?” He asked them, “Am I not a Philistine and are you not servants of Saul? Choose one of your men and have him come down against me.
9 If he wins in a fight against me and kills me, we will be your servants. But if I win against him and kill him, then you will be our servants and serve us.”
10 Then the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel today. Send me a man so we can fight each other!”
defy
he-rap-ti = to taunt or annoy
who is he taunting… he is taunting or defying God
when Goliath profanes the name or the armies of Israel, he is profaning the Lord of Armies, God himself
Battles of the nations and peoples were battles of their gods
Philistines worshipped a false god, Dagon
11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words from the Philistine, they lost their courage and were terrified.
This is common stature for Saul
He his after he was anointed King
he was fearful when his people were turning from him
after this he will be fearful of David and losing his position as king
with the battle scene set, we learn about David
12 Now David was the son of the Ephrathite from Bethlehem of Judah named Jesse. Jesse had eight sons and during Saul’s reign was already an old man.
13 Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war, and their names were Eliab, the firstborn, Abinadab, the next, and Shammah, the third,
14 and David was the youngest. The three oldest had followed Saul,
15 but David kept going back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s flock in Bethlehem.
This is the second time that the author reminds us that David was the youngest,
term means insignificant
we saw last week how insignificant when he wasn’t even consecrated with the rest of the family for the sacrifice
Now even after all his family saw Samuel anoint him the next king, he still had to be the one to tend the sheep
16 Every morning and evening for forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand.
imagine for five weeks ready for battle only to be scared when this giant comes out
this is one of those places where we are tempted to make this passage about us…
this giant problem stares us down every day until face it head on
what we should see is that for at least 40 days a man comes forward and blasphemes God
and everyone is too afraid to stand
including the king
17 One day Jesse had told his son David, “Take this half-bushel of roasted grain along with these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp.
18 Also take these ten portions of cheese to the field commander. Check on the well-being of your brothers and bring a confirmation from them.
19 They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah fighting with the Philistines.”
no official army, not like today where the military provides for the fighters
I am not saying they provide well
but at that point families would have to send provisions to the troops if the troops were going to eat
20 So David got up early in the morning, left the flock with someone to keep it, loaded up, and set out as Jesse had charged him. He arrived at the perimeter of the camp as the army was marching out to its battle formation shouting their battle cry.
21 Israel and the Philistines lined up in battle formation facing each other.
22 David left his supplies in the care of the quartermaster and ran to the battle line. When he arrived, he asked his brothers how they were.
The scene is set
Goliath blasphemes the Lord of Armies for weeks
the Israelites and their King are trembling in fear and back down every time
David sent and arrives just in time to see the Israelites and Philistines lining up for battle
David is walking into this knowing that there is a battle.
but he is unaware at this time of the spiritual battle that will be laid out right in front of him
Sending the Shepherd
Sending the Shepherd
If a leader has to look for a message, his leadership is doomed. Leaders communicate because they cannot not communicate, and their message flows out of them as naturally as a geyser releases its energy.
Albert Mohler
We see the weak leadership of King Saul through all of this.
some say he should have been the one to go fight Goliath
If they are speaking of custom at the time, maybe, I am not sure
as a leader, no. But he should have recognized who best to fight this giant
Saul had no message for his army, only fear of a giant.
he obviously feared the giant more than he feared the Lord
23 While he was speaking with them, suddenly the champion named
Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, came forward from the Philistine battle line and shouted his usual words, which David heard.
David heard the blasphemous words of the giant
day forty, day forty-one who knows, but this day was different, David heard the words
24 When all the Israelite men saw Goliath, they retreated from him terrified.
25 Previously, an Israelite man had declared, “Do you see this man who keeps coming out? He comes to defy Israel. The king will make the man who kills him very rich and will give him his daughter. The king will also make the family of that man’s father exempt from paying taxes in Israel.”
This can read a little odd… the narrator is breaking away from the story to give context
at a different time… previously somebody said
now back to David hearing the words
26 David spoke to the men who were standing with him: “What will be done for the man who kills that Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
27 The troops told him about the offer, concluding, “That is what will be done for the man who kills him.”
do not miss the big truth in all the talk of what will be done for the man who kills him
Goliath is defying the armies of the Living God!
we get no sense that David has heard that this has happened for forty days
he is hearing these words yelled out
offended that one would dare to speak about God in that way
I believe we get offended way to easy in our culture
we get offended by all sorts of ways, from all sorts of people
all of them are about self
you have spoken bad about me, or some way that I believe politically
we do not get near offended enough about the Lord and the way he is spoken about
I hate when scripture is misinterpreted and used to justify your position on something ungodly
28 David’s oldest brother Eliab listened as he spoke to the men, and he became angry with him. “Why did you come down here?” he asked. “Who did you leave those few sheep with in the wilderness? I know your arrogance and your evil heart—you came down to see the battle!”
29 “What have I done now?” protested David. “It was just a question.”
Younger siblings showing up…
and one that you had seen the prophet Samuel anoint as the next King
thing about siblings, you see the good bad and ugly
you know they are not perfect, they know you are not perfect
I believe it is an honest question
not arrogance of a teenager, which David would have been at this time
I believe he really wants to know who is going to go defeat this giant and what are they getting, how will they be celebrated
30 Then he turned from those beside him to others in front of him and asked about the offer. The people gave him the same answer as before.
31 What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, so he had David brought to him.
32 David said to Saul, “Don’t let anyone be discouraged by him; your servant will go and fight this Philistine!”
33 But Saul replied, “You can’t go fight this Philistine. You’re just a youth, and he’s been a warrior since he was young.”
When everyone else is afraid, David keeps talking boldly
who is going and defeating this guy
it is not what he says that draws attention to himself, but the way that he says it
when the leader is communicating fear to the nation, David is standing out in the crowd because he is not afraid
his confidence stands out
Saul is mocking him… and the person who brought David to Saul
you are a kid… He has been in battles as a warrior since he was a kid
of course, he was only 7-8 feet tall in middle school, so sure he was training then to be a warrior
34 David answered Saul, “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock,
35 I went after it, struck it down, and rescued the lamb from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, and kill it.
36 Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”
37 Then David said, “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 may the Lord be with you.”
We see again in David’s explanation to the King why Goliath will be defeated
he has defied the armies of the living God
this should stand out to us, being repeated in the story as to what the giant is doing
he is defying God and God will stand up for his reputation
God will fight that battle and he will use whatever means he desires, at times it is his people
David says that God will deliver him
not because David is special, but because David is fighting for the glory of God
Will you stand up when the Lord is being defied, when blaspheme is happening
truthfully we are more afraid of the world then we are of God
we hear of his love and grace which are amazing, but we do not talk about the passion and zeal for his glory
he does not share that with another
Sending the Stone
Sending the Stone
38 Then Saul had his own military clothes put on David. He put a bronze helmet on David’s head and had him put on armor.
39 David strapped his sword on over the military clothes and tried to walk, but he was not used to them. “I can’t walk in these,” David said to Saul, “I’m not used to them.” So David took them off.
40 Instead, he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the wadi and put them in the pouch, in his shepherd’s bag. Then, with his sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.
I have seen a lot of teaching done on these verse about how he was dressed and the rocks he took
we do not want to over simplify the text, but we also do not want to over sensualize the text either
we are being told a narrative
when the king agreed to send David to fight, he put armour on him… that did not work well
David had fought lions and bears but not in armour
The text gives us no reason why he picked up five stones, so we cannot assign a meaning
The text is telling us that David went to battle the giant, because the giant defied the armies of God and by such is profaning the name of God
David is not afraid, because he knows that God will stand up for his name and deliver him from this man
41 The Philistine came closer and closer to David, with the shield-bearer in front of him.
42 When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him because he was just a youth, healthy and handsome.
despised - look down on with disgust and sneering, contempt
like seeing him and rolling his eyes in laughter almost being offended that this kid would dare come out against him
43 He said to David, “Am I a dog that you come against me with sticks?” Then he cursed David by his gods.
44 “Come here,” the Philistine called to David, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts!”
trash talk at its finest…
45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with a sword, spear, and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of Armies, the God of the ranks of Israel—you have defied him.
46 Today, the Lord will hand you over to me. Today, I’ll strike you down, remove your head, and give the corpses of the Philistine camp to the birds of the sky and the wild creatures of the earth. Then all the world will know that Israel has a God,
47 and this whole assembly will know that it is not by sword or by spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord’s. He will hand you over to us.”
The battle is the Lord’s…
what battle… the battle of his name, his glory
The giant has defied God and God will defend himself
we are not naming giants and expecting God to fight on our behalf
if we are honest, we are the giant defying God with our sin and disobedience
we are the ones who trample all over the glory of God and the ones trembling on the side afraid of others that do
48 When the Philistine started forward to attack him, David ran quickly to the battle line to meet the Philistine.
the way it reads… it is trying to draw out that the giant is slowly moving with all his garb on
David is quick and mobile
49 David put his hand in the bag, took out a stone, slung it, and hit the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown to the ground.
50 David defeated the Philistine with a sling and a stone. David overpowered the Philistine and killed him without having a sword.
51 David ran and stood over him. He grabbed the Philistine’s sword, pulled it from its sheath, and used it to kill him. Then he cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they fled.
52 The men of Israel and Judah rallied, shouting their battle cry, and chased the Philistines to the entrance of the valley and to the gates of Ekron. Philistine bodies were strewn all along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.
The battle was quick…
one shot with the rock, one swipe of the sword and the giant is no more
Application
Application
In every challenge you face, stand on God’s word, trust in his power and live for his glory.
You cannot do this part way, you have to have all aspects
stand on God’s word… live for and on the truth
trust that He can destroy giants!
live for his glory
we can stand for truth, believe in his power
but if we are seeking our own glory why would we expect him to fight for that
Ask God to do amazing things through you for his glory
do not hide away… plan to do amazing things for God
as we get into the summer, more events with different people
lets open ourselves up to doing amazing things for the glory of God
Jesus has defeated Satan, sin and death and gives victory to all who trust in him
the biggest battle has been won
