1 Samuel 17:38-58
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 339 viewsNotes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
As we finish going through David and Goliath, a few big picture reminders
Samuel is very much about the rise of the Messiah in Israel
the term Messiah, comes from the Hebrew word for the Lord’s Anointed King over his people,
a word used in that way for the first time in 1 Samuel 2, in Hannah’s prayer before Israel even has a king
and this is a title applied to both Saul and David in Samuel, translated in the ESV as “Lord’s Anointed”
and while the book contrasts these two kings, the book is also holding them up to the standard set out in Deuteronomy 17
of who Israel’s king is supposed to be:
the perfectly righteous, law keeping king who leads his people in following the Lord
to that end, the book of Samuel also ties the fate of God’s people to the faithfulness of their king in the prophet Samuel’s farewell address in chapter 12
so Saul being unfaithful is not just bad for Saul, it’s bad for all of Israel
meaning they need to be rescued from unfaithful Saul by the faithful king, the Deuteronomy 17 king
Why am I bringing all of this up now?
because I want us to understand how this book is ultimately all about Jesus, showing our need for the true Messiah, the final Messiah
in Samuel, Saul is shown to fail miserably almost immediately, showing our need for the faithful David
and while David is closer, the book will eventually point also to his failure as the Messiah
but especially in this section of the book leading up to God’s covenant with David in 2 samuel 7
the focus is on how David the Messiah’s love and faithfulness for the Lord, and his love for his people, gives us pictures of what the true Messiah will be like
David, as the Messiah here, functions as a type pointing forward to the Messiah, Jesus
the one who completely fulfills Deuteronomy 17
the one who faithfully leads God’s people
So when I cut to Jesus from David quickly at times, this is what’s behind it
Going to our passage, we see the people of Israel including King Saul, have been driven to fear and despair by Goliath
the Philistine warrior who seems impossible to overcome
who has been challenging and mocking Israel for 40 days
and the shepherd boy David shows up
he’s been sent by his father. Jesse, to bring provisions for his 3 oldest brothers
and when he witnesses Goliath’s challenge, his reaction is completely different than everyone else’s
where Israel has fallen into worldly fear, David shows that his trust is in the Lord
that compared to the Lord, Goliath is nothing
so people hear him and he’s taken to Saul, and after Saul first says no,
David talks him into letting him go and face Goliath,
saying that the Lord will deliver him, that he will be the one behind the victory
bringing us to our passage today
starting in verse 38:
38 Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, 39 and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine. 41 And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42 And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. 43 And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” 45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with 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 defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.” 48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. 50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. 52 And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. 53 And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. 54 And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent. 55 As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.” 56 And the king said, “Inquire whose son the boy is.” 57 And as soon as David returned from the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58 And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”
If you are a sports fan, no matter the sport, you have been victimized by prospects
for college football, there’s signing day, when your team hopefully loads up on 4 or 5 star recruits
or the NFL, where you draft some highly touted impact player out of college
or baseball, when you sign 18 year-olds who are hailed as the next fill in the blank current or past superstar
and when it happens, we think, yes, look at all of these prospects, when they show up and contribute
no one will stop us, next stop, championship
the issue is, being a prospect means you haven’t really done anything yet
almost all of their hype is based on potential, it’s looking at a high ceiling and hoping it works out
they fit this profile physically, or they seem to have this skill set, or they’ve done this at a lower level, so if they develop the way we think they should
then they will turn into greatness
but we’ve all seen the next great running back or quarterback
or if you’re the Braves, the next great pitching prospect,
show up and fizzle out
when it comes time to actually perform, all of those projections don’t really matter
Going to our passage, David is not a prospect
everything the author has done to this point shows that almost no one looks at him and sees any real potential
he is insignificant in the eyes of everyone, except the Lord
because the Lord doesn’t just see a physical profile or skill set, he looks on the heart
but unlike Saul, who the people look at and see potential but then he fails, David’s significance among God’s people is based on what he’s done
not his profile or potential
David shows who he is through his actions, through delivering his people
Taking this to Jesus
why do we talk about Jesus? why is he important?
because he has shown us who he is through what he has done
it’s not because he is recognized as some good moral teacher
it’s not just about what he said, because what he said becomes meaningless if you remove what he did
in fact it’s more than meaningless, because if Jesus did not die for us and rise again, then what he says points to him being either crazy or intentionally misleading people
in worldly terms, he is insignificant, he is a failure
but then he does delivers his people, he conquers death
that is why he is important, that’s why people continued to talk about him after he was executed
that’s why the apostles and many other witnesses died
because they could not stop telling others about what he had done
that he lives, and he delivers his people from death
and how that confirms who he is: our King, the Messiah, the Christ
we follow a king who lives, a king who reigns, a king who has delivered us
A king where we don’t see potential that we hope works out in some worldly way
our hope is sure, it is knowledge of what will be based on what has already happened
Let’s go to our passage and see how David gives us a picture of Jesus as the true Messiah
verses 38-39:
38 Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, 39 and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off.
Saul doesn’t just say the Lord be with you, ok, bye, and good luck
he tries to help David
he likes David, David is going to represent his people in front of Goliath
so he’s going to do what he can to help
and he gives him his armor
when the author of Samuel talks about Goliath and how he is armed
the first two things he mentions are his bronze helmet and his coat of mail
so what Saul is doing, is trying to help David, as best he can, match what Goliath is wearing
he’s encouraging David to go out and meet Goliath on Goliath’s terms and face him that way
he’s advising David to face Goliath the way he would if he wasn’t afraid
But David hasn’t used this kind of armor before
that’s not the way he has faced bears and lions
and so this equipping, however well-intentioned it might be
is wrong for him
it’s not who he is
How often do we do this with Jesus?
Jesus goes forward to deliver us, he goes forward to be our king
and he is very clear about who he is and who we are
but we try to arm him, we try to make him into someone he is not
we hijack him to maybe support our point of view
our agenda, justifying the way we live our lives
our choices about how we spend our money, or what we do in our jobs
maybe not loving others the way we are called
often ignoring the parts of the Bible that make us uncomfortable
that don’t fit with what we want to do, or be
Jesus was poor, he went from place to place preaching and ministering, often without a place to lay his head
he associated with the poor and outcast in society
the people in power did not like or listen to him
they felt threatened
this is not to say that we can’t be a follower of Jesus, unless we are socioeconomically in the lower class
but part of being a follower of Jesus is realizing that we are poor, we are outcasts as far as the kingdom of God is concerned
and that Jesus lowered himself, he gave up everything to be with us
so that he could bring us to himself, and give us everything
we have nothing to offer Jesus
nothing to help make him better
nothing we try to arm him with is an improvement
it becomes a source of stumbling, an obstacle
because he brings everything to us just as he is
this practice has been going on for a long time in the church
there’s been this ongoing search ever since the enlightenment in biblical criticism
to find the true historical Jesus and everyone comes to a different conclusion
How is that? I’ll give you a summary of how it works
first Jesus is important, because everyone says so
second, the bible cannot be reliable, basically because I don’t want it to be
third, I’ll pick the parts of the Bible that support my view of what Jesus should be, making some subjective argument that these are the reliable parts that really give a picture of Jesus
and fourth, poof, I have made a Jesus in my own image
this is who I want Jesus to be, this is the armor I want him to wear
therefore, that’s who he is
We need to allow Jesus to change us to his image, not the other way around
We need to recognize as followers of Christ
that the world is always trying to arm us
always trying to make us use its tools, use its ways
but those ways don’t fit us, because it’s not who we are
the ways of the world will ultimately lead to disaster
so when the world hands us a suit of armor and we walk around with it awkwardly for a minute
we need to feel free to take it off
to go against worldly wisdom
to follow the one who is ultimately in charge
David, pointing us to Jesus here, is being who he is as someone who is trusting not in the world
but in the Lord
that the way to follow the Lord here is to not follow Saul’s recommendations
David must be David
verse 40:
40 Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.
Who is David?
he is a shepherd
so he’s going to Goliath not with the pretense of something he is not
he is going as a shepherd
Jesus goes for us as he is
not armed with worldly greatness
not armed with hype
he goes without any worldly pretense of significance
not with any external advantage
all of the external boxes of what a king should be and look like that were checked off by Saul
were empty when it came to David
and they were empty when it came to Jesus
When he came the world tried to arm him
Israel and even his own disciples thought he was coming to be a military leader
that he would be the new version of Solomon
leading Israel to worldly greatness
but he came as a servant, he came as a faithful and loving shepherd
to rescue God’s people, rescue his sheep
out of ultimate fear, ultimate distress
to rescue us from being separated from God, to bring us to God
something way more important than worldly greatness
David gives us a picture not just of Christ, but also an example of someone who is in Christ
someone who follows the Lord and is looking to him for salvation
As we highlighted last week, David is facing Goliath not because he is believing in himself
he’s going because he believes in the Lord
and that just as the Lord has delivered him from lions and bears in the past
that he will deliver him now from Goliath
remember, that’s what he told Saul in verse 37
the Lord will deliver me
Do we trust that the Lord will protect us from the world in situations like this?
where we aren’t armed with worldly weapons, only with what God has given us?
do we trust that what God has given us is enough to accomplish his purposes?
in situations like this, we may lose as far as the world is concerned
Christ died, he gave himself to accomplish God’s will
and many Christians have gone to their death with only what God has given them
but our reality us, our identity tells us, to live is Christ, to die is gain
we will never lose Christ
the Lord will always keep us as his children
verses 41-44:
41 And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42 And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. 43 And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.”
As David approaches Goliath
he is again reminded of his insignificance
Goliath is insulted by the appearance of his opponent
David does not look worthy of his time or effort
he sees a shepherd boy with a staff and says
oh, you’re going to come at me with a stick like a dog little boy
the author has been very intentional in highlighting how insignificant David is
he’s the youngest of 8 sons in a family of farmers in the insignificant little town of Bethlehem
so little was thought of him in his family, that he was left with the sheep when Samuel came to anoint one of Jesse’s sons
he’s still watching the sheep, even now that he is on Saul’s court as a musician and armor bearer
on top of that, Jesse his father is making him run errands, bringing provisions to his brothers at the battle
while his oldest 3 brothers follow Saul into battle
when he speaks up about Goliath, his oldest brother insults him and tries to put him in his place
what are you even doing here? don’t you have some sheep to watch?
when David talks to Saul, Saul says, you’re just a boy you can’t do this
even after Saul lets him go, he says, what you are is not enough
I need to make you like Goliath or like me in order for you to have a chance
David has been belittled and insulted at every turn, and now even his opponent belittles him
Again, David is showing us Jesus
Jesus was derided by those who opposed him
he was mocked in his hometown when he came to preach to them
where does this man get these things? is not this the carpenter?
as we talked last week, his family was scared fro him, trying to protect him by calling him crazy
because they didn’t understand him
and as he is dying on the cross
people are mocking him, if you are the Christ, come down and prove it
show us, so we may believe
but those who are mocking don’t understand that the very act that they are using to mock him
is an act of love, of faithfulness, of deliverance
verses 45-47:
45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with 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 defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.”
David has been belittled and mocked at every turn
but that does not change who he is, it does not change his love for the Lord
his desire to show that nothing the world can do matters
worldly armor will fail, it is meaningless
the Lord is mighty to save
no matter what trouble the world may throw at him and his people
he wants the world to know who the Lord is
that when Goliath mocks God’s people, he is mocking the Lord himself
and he wants Israel to recognize him again
to recognize that salvation comes from the Lord
not from being like the world
he wants the assembly to know that the Lord saves
David is not believing in himself
he is not showing Israel, you are all cowards and I am the smart, brave one
look how easy this is, I’m going to take him down with a rock
David is showing that no matter the battle
it belongs to the Lord, he will always accomplish what he sets out to do
As he headed towards the Cross, Jesus had been belittled and mocked at every turn
but he goes through with it
he lowers himself, he makes himself insignificant, our Lord does that
because he loves us, he dies for a people who deride him, who belittle him, who don’t understand him
to bring us to himself, to bring us to relationship
to bring us to the king
and he endures the mocking of those who will never believe
48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.
and just like that, the confrontation is over
there has been 47 verses in this chapter building up to this face off between David and Goliath
and it takes two verses to get through
the author is emphasizing that no matter the trouble, no matter what the world throws at us or how daunting things seem
nothing is impossible with God
what seems impossible is easy, because David doesn’t get lucky here, the Lord is with him
the battle truly is the Lord’s
there is no other way to interpret how easy all of this was
the build up to the Cross begins in Genesis 3
and we need the entire old testament to help us understand how daunting our trouble is
how awful the effects of our sin are
how our rebelliousness towards the Lord, our desire to make God insignificant and elevate ourselves
which began in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve
has resulted in a broken world we cannot fix
and a death we cannot overcome
and we need the Old Testament to tell us what must happen
how there is no way for us to save ourselves
how God has given us every opportunity and advantage to fix it ourselves
to overcome things on our own
one example of this, of course, is Saul
the top prospect king who looks the part
but fails continually, including here, due to his lack of faith
he is trusting in himself, and he knows that he cannot overcome Goliath on his own
he needs someone else
he’s allowing a shepherd boy with no armor to go and face Goliath for him
this is humbling for all of Israel
and this should be humbling for us
knowing that we need the Lord himself to come and deliver us
we cannot deliver ourselves
God humiliates himself, becoming a man with little to no advantage in a worldly sense
we need the poor carpenter to come and save us
and we have done nothing to earn his love, his favor, his faithfulness
all we’ve done is mock and deride him like Goliath, or live in fear like Saul
but he comes and does it
living a life of complete faithfulness for us in our place
and defeating death in a matter of days with his death on the Cross
and resurrection 3 days later
What Jesus does to deliver does not take that long, he is on earth for 33 years
but to understand it
we need the entire Old Testament to pointing us forward to what he will do
and the entire New Testament to point us to what he has done and is doing, now that he reigns at the right hand of the Father
because what he has done is that big, it’s that important
so we get a short summary and see what’s next in verses 50-51:
50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.
The author takes time to emphasize that David did all of this with the tools of a shepherd
that the humble one has now humiliated his opponent
and the reaction from the troubling ones, the reaction of the Philistines is fear, despair
in that moment, the situation flips
Israel has been brought from fear and despair to victory by the king
Jesus was executed, he bore the ultimate worldly humiliation in being publicly put down like a criminal
and he prevailed, he humiliated death in his resurrection
not by worldly means, but through faithfulness to the Father
he was raised, because he did what Adam and Eve could not
at the resurrection, God is saying that Jesus now gets what was promised to Adam for perfect obedience
life and blessing
this is what our the king has done for us
he has brought us from fear and despair to victory, to life and blessing
and he did it from a place of humility that leads us to say, the Lord has done this
and we get a picture of it here with what David has done for Israel
So what’s Israel’s response to David’s faithfulness, to the Lord’s deliverance?
verses 52-53:
52 And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. 53 And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp.
They follow the king
they don’t even know that David is king
but they see what he has done for them, and it leads them to faith
trusting that the Lord does overcome his enemies, no matter how daunting they may be for us
even without Goliath, the Philistines are much stronger
better weapons, more chariots, more horses
but that doesn’t matter, because the battle is the Lord’s
that’s our call
we follow the king
Jesus did not just come to to talk or teach, he delivered us by his actions
so how do we follow him?
we show our trust in him with our actions
he humiliated himself and lived his life to deliver us
and now he lives, so we live for him
we live without fear of the world
we live knowing that we belong to the Lord and nothing can change that
we have been delivered, past tense, it’s over
so we live as those who have been delivered
those who live under a king who reigns now
we answer to him, the one who defeated death
no amount of trouble we go through in this world is worse than what Jesus has already defeated
verse 54:
54 And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.
this is an interesting verse, because at this point, Israel does not have control of Jerusalem
it is occupied by the Jebusites
so maybe David is doing this right after it happened in a city controlled by another people
also, David was just bringing provisions to his brothers, he didn’t have a tent when he fought Goliath
so, and I think this is more likely, the author is sharing future actions of David
this is where Goliath’s head was eventually deposited
and he kept Goliath’s armor with him in his tent
When isn’t really what this is about
the question to answer is why?
Jerusalem is a central location for unified Israel
it connects northern Israel to southern Judah
so David could have put it there to remind the people of their deliverance
that this is an act where the Lord delivered all of God’s people
that remembering this event should unify God’s people
and the armor could be a constant reminder for David
that it is the Lord who saves
the Lord delivered him that day and he is the one who is with him now
this becomes a defining event for not just David personally, but for Israel
verses 55-56:
55 As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.” 56 And the king said, “Inquire whose son the boy is.”
And we have this odd interaction at the end of the passage
chronologically, verses 55-58 all take place before verse 54
with this first interaction belonging around verse 40, as David is leaving to fight
so the fact that these verses aren’t chronological tells us that the author is pulling out this interaction to make a point
almost as an exclamation point for the entire passage
David has been serving Saul faithfully as an armor bearer and playing the lyre
Saul knows David and chapter 16 says Saul loves him and favors him
but as we see here, David is not important enough to Saul for him to remember who his family is
David, even as someone favored in Saul’s court, is still an insignificant boy to Saul
Saul doesn’t even call David by name here when asking Abner about him
Abner, the commander of the army, is Saul’s uncle
David is leaving to fight Goliath, to take care of this enemy that has oppressed Israel
and Saul says something like, “now, who is his dad? where is he from?”
verses 57-58:
57 And as soon as David returned from the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58 And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”
And now that David returns from striking down Goliath
from showing the Lord’s power in delivering his people
Saul asks his name and David answers
an answer that will not be forgotten
because David has gone from a nobody to someone who must be remembered
who is to be honored by Saul, by his family, and by all of Israel
not because of some hype, or some externally recognized potential of what he could do
it’s because of what he has done
his actions show who he is
Jesus’ actions show who he is
to deny who Jesus is is to find some way to deny what he has done
because the church exists
because of who he is and what he has done
That is the king we follow