Untitled Sermon (2)

Scenes

1. The Battlefield—1 Samuel 17:1-11

1) Philistines: Camped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammin (1)

2) Israelites: Camped in the Valley of Elah (2)

Our goal for tonight is to determine what is God’s ideal for a king, or a leader for his people? What we will find in our text is that God has much to say in 1 Samuel 17 by comparing Saul’s failures to David’s successes. Let’s get right into our text. Follow with me as I read the first 11 verses of 1 Samuel 17. The story begins with taking us right to the battlefield:

1) The Philistines gathered their forces for war at Socoh in Judah and camped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammin.

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.

4) Then a champion named Goliath, 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.

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!”

11) When Saul and all Israel heard these words from the Philistine, they lost their courage and were terrified.

This is actually not the first time that the Israelites battled against the Philistines, and it is not the last. Like the Israelites, the Philistines were a people of immigrants trying to find a place to establish their kingdom. What we find in the book of 1 Samuel is that the Philistines were constantly pestering the Israelites. In chapter 4, the Philistines and the Israelites went at it a couple of times. Saul was not anointed king yet at this time, but both times, the Philistines slaughtered the Israelites. In the second battle, the Israelites thought that they could manipulate God and his power by carrying the ark of the covenant on to the battlefield. The ark as you know, is where God graciously allowed his presence to dwell in the midst of the Israelites. The Israelites thought that if they brought God’s dwelling place to battle, they would easily defeat the Philistines. That certainly was not the case. God would not allow anyone to control him. He is not a Jeanie in a bottle. So in chapter 4 the Philistines slaughter the Israelites and steal the ark of the covenant. Now what’s amazing about this account in the beginning of 1 Samuel is that though the Israelites were defeated, God would not be defeated. And if you read chapter 5, God single handedly destroys the Philistines. He destroys their primary god, Dragon, and he plagues all the Philistines with tumors. The Philistines no longer want anything to do with the ark of the covenant and they essentially beg Israel to take their God back. The priests of Israel command the Philistines to put the ark on a wagon along with a guilt offering of gold. The Philistines do as the Israelite priests commanded, and they then watch an unmanned wagon being pulled by two milk cows heading back to Israel. One commentator puts it, “God is always the primary mover in this world; we are not! The repeated use of “the hand of the Lord” in the ark narrative reminds us that God needs nothing from us and is fully capable of bringing about his will by himself without use of other means.”[1]

So we now come to chapter 17 where we see Israel have another encounter with the Philistines, and this time the Philistines pull out their secret weapon. They’re no longer going to mess around with these Israelites, they bring their champion warrior Goliath. If you look at verse 4, your translation may say that Goliath was six cubits and a span. If you were to convert that mathematically to our unit of measurement, that would place Goliath at 9 ft. 9 in. tall. I don’t know about you, but that is one big dude. Most historians agree that during this time, Israelite men were blessed if they were any taller than 5 ft. This would indeed make Goliath look like a giant. But there are some older manuscripts such as the Dead Sea Scrolls that has Goliath listed around 6 ft. 9 in. Even if Goliath was the smaller of the two heights listed, that still places him over a foot taller than any Israelite soldier.

Illustration: Does anyone know who Simone Biles is? Simone Biles is one of the most decorated gymnasts that the world has ever witnessed. She has won a combined total 30 Olympic and World Championship Medals. She is an incredible gymnast. Well Simon Biles is 4 ft 8 in. That’s pretty small in our day, but that was close to the average height of most Israelite men. There is a popular picture of Simone Biles on the internet where she is standing next to LeBron James. LeBron is 6 ft. 9 in. the same height that these older manuscripts say Goliath’s height was. When you see this picture, it is eye popping seeing how small Simone is in comparison to LeBron. I mean, Simone’s eye level is barely above where LeBron’s belly button would be. It’s insane.

To say the least, Goliath was indeed a giant. He was big and strong enough to strut armor that weighed 125 pounds. The tip of his spear alone weighed 15 pounds. He wouldn’t be carrying a spear that heavy if he was not able to throw it like Patrick Mahomes throwing a football dart.

So here you have a massive freak in Goliath challenging Israelites best to a one on one match. Out of all the Israelites, do you know who comes closest to matching Goliath’s height and strength? Does anyone know?

It is Israelites very own king, King Saul. Back in chapter 9 when the Israelites demanded from Samuel the prophet to grant the them a king, everyone wanted Saul to be their king. Chapter nine verse two describes Saul as “an impressive young man” and “there was no one more impressive among the Israelites than he” because “he stood a head taller than anyone else”. Saul had the physical stature that Israel wanted in a king. In fact, when Israel demanded a king, they said to Samuel in chapter 8 verses 19 through 20, “We must have a king over us. Then we’ll be like all the other nations: our king will judge us, go out before us, and fight our battles.” The expectation of Saul acting as king over Israel is that he would lead in such a way where he would lead the charge in battle. Not only was Saul the closest in matching Goliath’s stature, but King Saul was also the only “warrior” to having armor that matched Goliath’s! Turn a few pages back to chapter 13 verses 19 through 22. The text says this:

19. No blacksmith could be found in all the land of Israel because the Philistines had said, “Otherwise, the Hebrews will make swords or spears.”

20. So all the Israelites went to the Philistines to sharpen their plows, mattocks, axes, and sickles.

21. The price was two-thirds of a shekel for plows and mattocks, and one-third of a shekel for pitchforks and axes, and for putting a point on a cattle prod.

22. So on the day of battle not a sword or spear could be found in the hand of any of the troops who were with Saul and Jonathan; only Saul and his son Jonathan had weapons.

So King Saul is a head bigger than all the Israelite soldiers. He has the best armor and weapons out of all the Israelite soldiers. So he’ll be the one to fight Goliath, right?! I mean, he’s the obvious choice. Well, no. Verse 11 tells us:

When Saul and all Israel heard these words from the Philistine, they lost their courage and were terrified.

King Saul in that moment made Goliath bigger than God, and because of that, Saul cowered and hid himself. This isn’t the first time that King Saul embarrassed Yahweh and the people of Israel. Saul may have had the physical stature that Israel dreamed of having in a leader, but Saul had major character flaws. In chapter 13, King Saul deliberately disobeyed the command of the LORD while fighting against the Philistines. In chapter 15, we see King Saul once again deliberately disobeyed the instructions that God gave him. We also see in this chapter that Saul found great pride in himself, so much so, that Saul set up a monument in honor of himself. One of the key themes that the author of 1 and 2 Samuel wants his audience to see and understand is that God opposes the proud. This point is emphatically made known if one simply observes the reign of King Saul in 1 Samuel. It didn’t take long for Samuel to anoint a new king to eventually replace Saul. Because of Saul’s pride, he did not gain favor before the LORD. And now in our passage we see a pathetic king who is so caught up in himself and he fears Goliath more than he fears Yahweh. The author of 1 Samuel cannot paint it any clearer: this is not God’s ideal for kingship. So what is? Well, let’s continue reading. Verse 12:

2. Jesse instructs David—1 Samuel 17:12-19

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.

16) Every morning and evening for forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand.

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.”

This isn’t the first time that the author introduces David to the reader. The author introduces David for the first time in the previous chapter, chapter 16. In chapter 16, Samuel the prophet is on a quest to anoint a man that God wants to lead as king over Israel because King Saul was simply not cutting it. More than appearance, God reveals to Samuel that his ideal for a king to lead his people is one who has a heart that is pleasing to him. After Samuel rejects son after son of Jesse’s, David is finally revealed for the first time. In verse 11, the first thing the author has his reader notice about David is that he was shepherding the sheep. And again in our story here in chapter 17, the author emphasizes once again in verse 15 that David tended to his father’s flock. Do you know how the author introduces Saul for the first time? In the beginning of chapter 9, Saul is introduced as searching for his father’s lost donkeys. David on the other hand is introduced as tending to his father’s sheep.

One commentator helps us to see that, “Leaders were often called shepherds, to stress their call to provide and protect. Thus God told David in 2 Samuel (5:2), “You shall be shepherd of my people”, and he promised Israel in Jeremiah (3:15) that in the new covenant age he would provide “shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding”. Jesus identified himself in the New Testament as the good shepherd (John 10:1–18; cf. Jer. 23:1–8; Ezek. 34:1–31), and elders are called “pastors (lit., shepherds)” (Eph. 4:11), charged to watch over “all the flock” and “to care for (lit., shepherd) the church of God” (Acts 20:28; cf. 1 Peter 5:2).[2]

Unlike Saul, David possessed characteristics that ultimately points the reader to God. David found favor before God because he possessed the ability and the concern to ultimately provide and protect.

3. David leaves Bethlehem for the Battlefied—1 Samuel 17:20-31

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.

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.

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.”

26. David spoke to the men who were standing with him: “What will be done for the man who kills the 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.”

28. David’s oldest brother Eliab listened as he spoke to the men, and he became very 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.”

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.

Here we see a persistent inquiry from David about the reward given to the one who could take down Goliath. It appears that for the first time in 40 days there was actually someone on Israel’s side who was truly considering taking up on King Saul’s offer to fight Goliath. Saul made it very clear that he himself was not going to fight him. Saul was a coward. He lacked faith in the LORD. He was a passive leader, trying to bribe someone else to do the hard work for him. David’s words of inquiry are truly astonishing though. Look at verse 26: “Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” I believe David here demonstrates another quality that God desires in a leader, and that is righteous anger. David was absolutely disgusted that a mortal man in Goliath was being allowed to walk all over God’s army with his mouth. It wasn’t so much that Goliath was mocking the Israelites that angered David, but it was the fact that he was mocking Yahweh and his might. Let’s continue reading.

4. David speaks with King Saul—1 Samuel 17:32-37

32. David said to Saul, “Don’t let anyone be discouraged by him; your servant David 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.”

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; the 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 the Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and may the LORD be with you.”

Just as David demonstrated no fear in Goliath, he also demonstrated no fear in King Saul. David ultimately feared the LORD. Concerning Goliath, the author makes it appear that David gets straight to the point with King Saul. Verse 32, ““Don’t let anyone be discouraged by him; your servant David will go and fight this Philistine!” While David did indeed have experience in fighting against lions and bears, his confidence in himself was rooted in his dependence on the LORD. David acknowledges it wasn’t he that delivered himself from the paws of the beasts; rather, verse 37: “The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of the Philistine.” Continuing on:

5. Saul tries to help David by dressing him in battle gear—1 Samuel 17:38-40

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 cannot help but question Saul’s motives here. Did he truly have confidence in David? Did Saul feel remorse for not being the one to fight against Goliath, so he tried to make himself feel better by giving David the best of the best battle gear? Or was Saul trying to find a “crack in the door” and find a way to give himself credit if David actually defeated Goliath? “Well, yes David defeated Goliath, but he couldn’t have done it without my sword and shield?” Or was Saul genuinely trying to put David in the best position possible to win?

One could speculate all day. But here we see that all of the military gear was too much for David. David was not use to it. He instead chose to use what he was most familiar with, his sling and stones. For some, this is the part of the story that seems just the most ridiculous. But as Pastor Chipman notes in his commentary what’s more ridiculous is, “the fact that all of the other Israelites—being the army of the living God (v. 26)—had yet to test their arms against the Philistine! Stones and a sling were common defensive gear for shepherds of David’s day.” David used what he knew best. Now we come to the climax, the most gripping part of this story. God uses David to demonstrate his greatness and power. Verse 41:

6. David vs. Goliath—1 Samuel 17:40-51

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.

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!”

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 had 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.”

48. When the Philistine started forward to attack him, David ran quickly to the battle line to meet the Philistine.

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, pull 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.

53. When the Israelites returned from the pursuit of the Philistines, they plundered their camps.

54. David took Goliath’s head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put Goliath’s weapons in his own tent.

55. When Saul had seen David going out to confront the Philistine, he asked Abner the commander of the army, “Whose son is this youth, Abner?” “Your Majesty, as surely as you live, I don’t know,” Abner replied.

56. The king said, “Find out whose son this young man is!”

57. When David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the Philistine’s head still in his hand.

58. Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” “The son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem,” David answered.

Many people read this story and it becomes nothing more than a moral lesson and even come to false conclusions. Be like David! Who are the Goliath’s in your life? Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!” But this story in one sense has nothing to do with you. That’s not the author’s goal here. I’m sure we could gather some good moral lessons from this account, but if we dig just a bit deeper, we’re going to find where the true gold is at when it comes to this story. The whole entire point of 1 and 2 Samuel is to show the reader God’s solution for Israel’s mess. Israel desperately needed a king. They needed a leader. But not just any leader, because if you read to the very end of 1 Samuel you will find the King Saul was a horrible king. Commentator Daniel Hays says, “Yahweh clearly wanted a king who placed his faith in him rather than in human abilities or military forces, a king characterized by humility as well as bravery, and a king who would place true worship of Yahweh at the center of his life.”[3]

If you continue reading 1 Samuel and into 2 Samuel, you will find that David eventually rose to power and united the Israelites, thus the stark difference between he and Saul continued. In 2 Samuel 5, David defeats the Philistines. Unlike Saul who couldn’t shake off the Philistines. In 2 Samuel chapter 6, David restores Israel to true worship towards God. And in chapter 7, God in turn blesses David with a special covenant, “Your throne will be established forever” (7:16). If you think about the entire story of the Bible, David’s temporary reign as king of Israel foreshadows the greatness of Jesus Christ. David is not the final solution to Israel’s problems. While he was indeed a man after God’s own heart, there were times in David’s reign where he failed miserably. He did not always exemplify God’s ideal for a king. God fulfills his covenant with David and he fulfills his ultimate ideal for a king when he sent his Holy son, Jesus Christ to establish his throne after defeating the curse of sin and death. Israel wanted a king to judge them (1 Samuel 8). What we see in the New Testament is that it is Jesus, not David, who will judge all of humanity.

[1] J. Daniel Hays, “1-2 Samuel,” in What the Old Testament Authors Really Cared about: A Survey of Jesus’ Bible, ed. Jason S. DeRouchie (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2013), 205.

[2] J. Daniel Hays, “1-2 Samuel,” in What the Old Testament Authors Really Cared about: A Survey of Jesus’ Bible, ed. Jason S. DeRouchie (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2013), 209.

[3] J. Daniel Hays, “1-2 Samuel,” in What the Old Testament Authors Really Cared about: A Survey of Jesus’ Bible, ed. Jason S. DeRouchie (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2013), 210.