1 Samuel 17:1-58

Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim. ² And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. ³ And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. ⁴ And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. ⁵ And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass. ⁶ And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders. ⁷ And the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him. ⁸ And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. ⁹ If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us. ¹⁰ And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together. ¹¹ When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid. ¹² Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehemjudah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul. ¹³ And the three eldest sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next unto him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. ¹⁴ And David was the youngest: and the three eldest followed Saul. ¹⁵ But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. ¹⁶ And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. ¹⁷ And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp of thy brethren; ¹⁸ And carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge. ¹⁹ Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. ²⁰ And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle. ²¹ For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army. ²² And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren. ²³ And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them. ²⁴ And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid. ²⁵ And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father’s house free in Israel. ²⁶ And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? ²⁷ And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him. ²⁸ And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. ²⁹ And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause? ³⁰ And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner. ³¹ And when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul: and he sent for him. ³² And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. ³³ And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. ³⁴ And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: ³⁵ And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. ³⁶ Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. ³⁷ David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee. ³⁸ And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail. ³⁹ And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him. ⁴⁰ And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine. ⁴¹ And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him. ⁴² And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. ⁴³ And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴ And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field. ⁴⁵ Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. ⁴⁶ This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls 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 all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hands. ⁴⁸ And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came, and drew nigh to meet David, that David hastened, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. ⁴⁹ And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. ⁵⁰ So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. ⁵¹ Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. ⁵² And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron. ⁵³ And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents. ⁵⁴ And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent. ⁵⁵ And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell. ⁵⁶ And the king said, Enquire thou whose son the stripling is. ⁵⁷ And as David returned from the slaughter 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 art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.

Before us in 1 Samuel 17 is one of the great stories of the Bible. Adults and children alike all resonate with the story of the shepherd boy David defeating the Philistine giant Goliath with a sling and a stone. It is a story that is often used to illustrate faith, courage, victory, and overcoming the most insurmountable of odds. It is the original “upset” story where the underdog won. However, what if the meaning of David and Goliath ran much deeper for us? What if it was more than about us doing great things or “overcoming giants” in our lives with a little help from God? What if the story is not about us, or at least not in the way that we first imagine? As we look into this story over the next three weeks in the month of December approaching Christmas, we must begin with what this story teaches us about God and His great redemptive plan. Only then can we rightly apply it to our own lives. There are three overarching truths about God that this story teaches us and three things about each of those truths that we must understand about what God has done for us. This week, we will begin with the first of those great truths: God cares about His people’s struggle. We will learn three things about the great enemy that we all face. Lastly, we will be introduced to the second of those great truths in that God has provided His people a champion.

1 Samuel 17 opens with an amazing scene. The Philistines had gathered together at “Shochoh” (which we are told was in the Israelite territory in the south in Judah – about 12-14 miles from Bethlehem) and they camped between two cities of Judah in “Ephesdammim.” The Israelites camped adjacent to them on an opposing mountain with a valley running between the two armies. The Israelites had been at war with the Philistines on and off for a couple hundred years at this point, going all the way back to the time of Sampson and the Judges. The Philistines settled in the regions south of Israel and were a perpetual thorn in their side before and during the time period of 1 Samuel. The first thing that chapter 17 does after giving us the setting is it introduces us to the great enemy that stood to oppose God’s people. Virtually everyone has heard of Goliath. He was the Philistine giant who stood “six cubits and a span” tall (roughly 9 feet, 9 inches tall) and was a terrifying show of strength. Humanly speaking, anyone would conclude that Goliath was too much for any one man of Israel. Just the apron of armor (“coat of mail”) that he wore weighed “five thousand shekels of brass” (approximately 125 lbs.). In addition to having brass armor on his legs and shoulders, he carried a spear that was said to be “like a weaver’s beam” (a strong, thick wooden pool used in weaving) and the “iron” head of the spear weighed “six hundred shekels of iron” (approximately 15-17 lbs.). He was, no doubt, skilled at hurling that spear great distances and demolishing anything that he hit. He was a seasoned warrior who stood daily to oppose God’s people. What we are meant to take away from these physical descriptions of Goliath is that he overwhelmed all human strength. No one in Israel could stand against him and be victorious. Since he was the challenger that had to be overcome, we are told that Saul and his army cowered in fear. What does this mean for us? We don’t have to get up in the morning and literally fight a giant tomorrow? In this story, for us Goliath represents an even greater problem. He represents the great giants that all of humankind and all of God’s people face: sin, death, the flesh, and Satan. Paul described our enemies in Ephesians 6:12 when he wrote, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” We face “the great dragon” who is also called “that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world” (Revelation 12:9). What’s worse is we have no power in and of ourselves to overcome him. In fact, theologically prior to our coming to Christ, we were in league with him.

The text goes on to illustrate for us a second thing about our enemy, that he threatens bondage. Goliath put forward a proposition. A champion had to be chosen from among Israel to defeat him. Whoever won that battle would win the victory for his people and the losing opposition would become slaves of the winning side. He stood and taunted Israel’s armies for “forty days” (v. 16). At the conclusion of his challenge, Goliath would say, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.” He stood against God and His people. The word “defy” occurs six more times in 1 Samuel 17 (v. 10, 25, 26 [2x], 36, 45). The word in Hebrew means “to taunt” or “to blaspheme.” Here was an enemy that no one had the strength to fight that blasphemed God and His people and threatened them with bondage. Like Goliath, our enemy stands as a blasphemer of God and His people. The devil was cast out of heaven because he desired the worship that belonged to God and he took one-third of the angels with him in rebellion against God (Revelation 12:4). In his rebellion against God, he tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden which led to the fall of the human race and the curse falling upon God’s perfect creation. Fallen humanity (every one of us apart from God’s saving grace) lives in rebellion to God and is in bondage to our fallen, sinful nature. Paul described our nature in rebellion against God and in following Satan in Ephesians 2:1-3 which says, “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.” He described our spiritual warfare now as we wage war against our enemies to be “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God” (2 Corinthians 10:5). Our enemy threatens and brought bondage, the bondage of sin.

The third thing that we learn from this beginning section that teaches us that God cares for His people’s struggle is found in verse 11. We find that the response of Saul and his people was that “they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.” No one was willing to go out and fight Goliath, and understandably so. If no one from among Israel’s ranks were willing, Saul should have been the one to step up and fight for his people. That was his duty as king (1 Samuel 8:18-20). The sad thing is that when you and I read the story of David and Goliath we always see ourselves as courageous David who boldly fights the giant. The problem is that in this story, you and I are not David. David represents someone else that we will introduce in a moment. You and I are Saul and the cowering Israelite army, helpless against this overwhelming enemy. In our lostness, the Bible describes us as those who “were all their lifetime subject to bondage” in “the fear of death” (Hebrews 2:15). That’s us. We are lost sinners headed inevitably to the end that all men face (Hebrews 9:27). What are we to do? Our enemy overwhelms our strength, threatens bondage, and brings fear and we are helpless in and of ourselves to do anything about it.

The good news comes in the next verses. In verses 12-40 we are taught that God has provided His people a Champion. While Saul had been rejected as king, we know from 1 Samuel 16 that David had been anointed as God’s chosen king and it would be through God’s chosen king that He would deliver His people. David, in this story, foreshadows the Lord Jesus Christ. He showed up on the scene in verses 12-27 running an errand for his father and he inquired from his brothers and other soldiers about the situation with Goliath. His concern for God’s people marked him as the true king of the people. That same concern for God’s people and for lost sinners in this world marked the Lord Jesus, who left heaven’s glory to come and bring victory for God’s people. And that same concern marks all who follow Him. The greatest problem that people face today is not financial debt, bad relationships, a pesky coworker, a hard authority figure, or a physical sickness. They exist because of the great problem, but they are not the problem itself. Our ultimate problem, our great enemy is sin in our hearts and in the world system of Satan. Thank God that He has provided a Champion who cares for us and brings the ultimate victory over it all (Revelation 21:3-4). You and I must come to the place where we look outside ourselves to the only One who can save us. There is no salvation in us or in cowering in our tents in fear. Salvation is found in Christ. God has provided His people a Champion.