I Samuel 17: David vs. Goliath

Take your Bibles and turn to . As you’re turning, does anyone remember what happened 2 weeks ago in chapter 16? We saw that God is going to provide Himself a king. He picks the youngest son of Jesse, a boy named David. David is picked because he’s humble! He’s all about God and not himself. He gets exalted to the royal court, living in close proximity (and relationship) to the king of the nation- Saul.

So, if you’re familiar with how a story works, you have 7 main parts of a story: the introduction, the inciting event, the rising action, the climax, the falling action, the resolution, and the conclusion. is the inciting event in the story of the relationship between Saul and David. For the rest of I Samuel, the way Saul and David interact is grounded in the way people respond to this event. So, this is really significant.

Now, this is also a really familiar story. Don’t check out. A lot of people have taught on this, but frankly, I think a lot of people have missed the main point of this story. This is the David and Goliath story. I’m sure that many of you have heard something about “facing your giants” in connection to this passage. I think that message misses what’s really going on here, and that’s far bigger than an example of bravery when facing a giant. Let’s take a look!

The armies are at a stalemate. If one goes down into the valley, they lose the high ground, and their army will almost certainly be destroyed.

Goliath’s size: 9ft. 9in. tall; 126 lbs. of bronze armor; a scimitar (javelin) slung across his back; a massive spear with a ~15 lb. head. It’s likely that Goliath wouldn’t have been able to move around super well. It seems that his appearance is intended to be as intimidating as possible.

Goliath openly taunts (“defy”) Israel’s army. Since Israel’s army only goes to war when God commands it, Goliath is, by extension, insulting God’s honor. Verse 16 tells us that this happens 2x a day for 40 days, and no one does anything but sit around in terror.

Remember what made Saul the first choice for king? He was tall! It’s possible that he’s the biggest Israelite in the army! By virtue of being the largest and by virtue of his position as king of Israel, Saul should totally have taken Goliath’s offer. If God really was the true God, then Saul should have not allowed this pagan man to insult God and get away with it. However, like verse 12 says, Saul and all Israel were so scared of the intimidating giant that they weren’t all that concerned about God’s honor.

David is not with the army at this point (narrator makes sure we know this by including v.12-15). Saul lets him go home occasionally to help keep his father’s sheep. David’s three oldest brothers go to war, so it’s likely that David himself isn’t even old enough to go to war. In other words, David is probably in his late teens at this point (under 20 years old).

Let’s see what happens when God’s choice for the king shows up at the battle. Verses 17-19 explain that Jesse wants to know how his sons are doing at the battle, so he sends David with supplies and asks for a report.

David hears Goliath for the first time. The army has been hearing this twice a day for 40 days. In fact, Saul has even offered a reward: riches, a position as the son-in-law to the king, and tax exemption (a great honor) for his family to anyone who will fight the Philistine. Saul would rather pay through the nose to have someone else fight than do it himself. David hears this giant’s taunt for the first time and begins asking around about the reward. But there’s one question in particular that David asks that shows what his real concern is (v.26), “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” David is more concerned about the fact that this pagan is taunting and insulting the living God and getting away with it than he is about the reward. David is consumed with the glory of God. David is perplexed as to why the army of the living God cares more about their own life than the honor of the all-powerful God!

The reaction David’s older brother Eliab in verses 28-30 shows how radical this mindset is. He thinks that David just wants to see the battle and build his own pride. However, David won’t be easily deterred by people who don’t understand his priorities. He keeps asking around, and eventually, news of David’s potential willingness to represent Israel reaches the ears of the king. Saul brings in David, and David boldly volunteers to fight the giant. Saul’s a bit concerned, though. David is very young, and Goliath has years of military experience. David isn’t bothered by that. Check out his statement in verses 34-37.

David has been in life-threatening situations before. Each time, God had delivered him. There’s no reason to expect this time to be any different! David is confident that this Philistine’s cursing and taunting of God will result in God’s vengeance and a victory for Israel. Verse 37 has an interesting progression: God delivered from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, and, literally, will deliver from the paw of the Philistine. David is totally confident in God’s ability to defend Israel, provided someone is willing to fight for God’s honor.

Saul offers David his armor, but David is likely a good bit smaller than Saul. The armor is too clunky and totally unnecessary. David won’t need it. He approaches the Philistine with his staff, a sling, and five smooth stones about the size of a tennis ball. He’s got weapons that he’s familiar with, and his sling is capable of doing extreme damage.

Imagine this scene: here’s Goliath, this 9’9” giant who’s armed to the teeth and protected by impressive armor. Here’s David, a boy who isn’t old enough to be in the army, with no armor and a stick and a sling. If we’re judging on appearances, Goliath has this in the bag. But God isn’t impressed with the outward stuff (remember chapter 16?). Goliath taunts David in verses 43-44. He’s going to kill David and feed his body to the birds! David responds in verses 45-47.

David recognizes what’s really going on. This is bigger than David and Goliath; this is God versus Goliath’s idols. This is for the honor of God, and God won’t let His glory be diminished without retribution. David is totally confident that God will win the fight. Goliath comes out with all his weapons and armor, and David comes out with the power of God. This battle will show, not only to the Israelites and Philistines, but to the entire world that the God of Israel is real and living. He’s the true God who is capable of delivering His people with or without man’s tools of deliverance in battle.

You guys probably know the rest of the story. David’s first shot hits Goliath square in the head. David runs over and cuts off Goliath’s head with his own sword. The Philistines run away, Israel plunders their camp, and David takes the spoils of his fight with Goliath to the new camp near Jerusalem (more neutral ground [Israel doesn’t own Jerusalem yet, but there seems to be peace with the city generally]). Saul starts to make good on his promise for tax exemption by finding out about David’s father. This event is really important because, like I said at the beginning, it lays the foundation of the rest of David and Saul’s relationship. We’ll look more at that next time.

So, what’s the main point of this story? Why do we have this in here? Well, this story is one more illustration of a major theme of 1 and 2 Samuel: God uses humble people. Humble people are those who are willing to set aside their own rights and desires to pursue the glory of God. So, what we could say is that God uses people that are consumed with His glory above all else. David is shown to be that man, particularly in contrast to Saul. In fact, this chapter is less about David and Goliath than it is about David and Saul! Saul was the most qualified person there to fight Goliath. Saul should have gone to fight for the honor of God. He should have been willing to risk his life for the glory of God. But he didn’t. He hid in the camp and tried to get anyone else to do it. He was more concerned about his own comfort and well-being than he was about God’s glory. David, on the other hand, was willing to risk his own life as a teenager to fight for the honor of God. God’s glory was more important to him than his own well-being. And God used him to bring about the deliverance of the nation. God used the man who was willing to put his life on the line for God’s glory.

So, as New Testament believers, how does this affect us? Let me show you something. Turn over to . Look at verses 9-11. God’s program is to bring glory to His name through Jesus Christ! Jesus functions within this program by bringing the gospel. Jesus died and rose again, conquering sin and death, SO THAT God would receive great glory and mankind could become rightly related to Him. The encouragement for us today from looking at David’s life is this: BUY IN. Get on board with God’s goals. Get with the program of bringing glory to God through Jesus Christ in the gospel. This looks like making every decision with this filter in mind: what will best bring God glory through Jesus Christ in the gospel? How can I use my life to show other people how awesome God is? This might mean that you’ll live in a smaller house someday so that you can live near people who need to hear the gospel. This might mean that you pass up on a promotion at work someday so that you can still have the time you need to be involved in your local church. This might mean that you sell your Xbox so that won’t waste your time on video games when you could be pursuing God. This might mean that you sit with that weird person at lunch so that you can show them how awesome God is. Guys, the glory of God is totally worth pursuing with all your heart. God will use people who value his glory above their own.

Questions:

Unbeliever: perhaps, for the first time, you realized that God is awesome. You’re realizing that you can’t be a part of bringing God glory if you haven’t believed the gospel. Please come talk to me or Pastor Phil. We’d love to help you understand and believe the gospel.

Believer: Perhaps you’re realizing that you’ve been living for you. You aren’t even close to valuing the glory of God. Maybe you need to confess that pride and humble yourself. Perhaps you needed to be reminded that it’s worth it. I know this is a big reminder that I need a lot. Keep pursuing the glory of God above all else. It’s totally worth it!

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