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.

Moving from shepherding in the fields on a full-time basis to ministering to King Saul in the palace was a drastic change for the young David. His life had been turned upside down, or so we would assume, in the time period of 1 Samuel 16 and 17. God sent Samuel to anoint him as king despite the fact that he was the youngest son in his father’s house and then he was chosen to play music for Saul to alleviate the “evil spirit” that had been sent by the Lord to trouble him because of his sin. While there, David would be exposed to the king’s court and to the future position that God would have for him. David submitted to and honored Saul while there despite knowing that Saul had been rejected by God and that David had been selected to replace him. God not only providentially positions David there so that he could learn the kingdom and some of what a king does, but also so that he might be put in position for God to use him to deliver his people from an insurmountable foe. As we pointed out last week, Goliath was an imposing force. He stood at 9 feet, 9 inches tall and wore a coat of armor that weighed about 125 lbs. among other heavy components; all while being able to hurl a spear with a head that weighed 15-17 lbs. All of Israel cowered in fear before this giant and refused to accept the challenge that he put forward for forty days as he taunted God’s people. God cared for His people’s struggle and He provided His people a champion. That servant of God cared for God’s people. David heard about the giant and heard his taunts. After questioning his brothers and other soldiers when his father sent him out to them with food one day, David went before Saul to volunteer himself as the man who would accept the Philistine’s challenge. We learned from this story about the greater enemies that all of us face in sin, death, the flesh, and Satan, how God cared about us in our struggle, and how He sent His Son as our Champion who was concerned for us. This week, we will learn more from David and about the great Champion that God has provided for His people. Last week, we learned that God has provided His people a Champion and that that Servant is concerned for His people. This week, we will learn two more things from David about the Champion that God provides His people.

The second thing we learn from David concerning God’s Servant that came to be our Champion is that God’s servant glorifies His name. Earthly rulers are predominantly concerned with the glory of their own name and perhaps the glory of their kingdom and people. This was Saul. It is why, at every turn, he feared the people and gave them what they wanted instead of obeying God. He was concerned about his own glory and not God’s. David’s concern in all of this was not Goliath’s height or strength, but God’s name. In verses 28-37 of 1 Samuel 17, we find a contrast immediately put forward in verse 28 between the concern of David expressed in verses 12-27 and the envy of Eliab, his oldest brother. Eliab criticized David for being concerned about the situation and he demeaned David being a shepherd referring to that responsibility as tending “those few sheep.” Ironically accusing David of pride, Eliab revealed his own lack of humility before the Lord. Further, if he were really concerned about the situation, then he would have been the one to volunteer to fight Goliath, but he wasn’t. David’s words, “Is there not a cause?” is a powerful question. God’s name was at stake before His people and the watching world. Of course, there was a cause. It was that cause that concerned David. He was brought before Saul and volunteered to go and fight the Philistine for God’s people. Saul’s response was to point out the human limitations of David. He was too young (“for thou art but a youth”) and Goliath was too experienced (“and he a man of war from his youth”).  However, David had experienced God’s power and deliverance in the wilderness from “a lion, and a bear” when he willingly put his life on the line for his father’s sheep. Despite being a youth, he had more experience walking with God faithfully than any of the men in Saul’s army. God was no different in the wilderness with those sheep than He was before Goliath and the Philistines. David also reasoned from the lesser to the greater, that if God would deliver a lion and a bear into his hands to protect some animals, then He could and would certainly deliver this giant to protect and deliver His people. David serves as a type of the Lord Jesus Christ who was concerned for the glory of God’s name. He perfectly obeyed all of His Father’s will and fulfilled the purpose for which He came into the world in dying on the cross and atoning for sin. God’s creation had been corrupted by sin and His people marred by it. Jesus came to glorify His Father by delivering His people from sin and death. In the same way that David and Christ were concerned with God’s glory, you and I are called to be primarily concerned with the glory of God’s name in our lives. Why do we do what we do? The Apostle Paul told the Corinthians, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

The last thing we learn from David about God’s Servant and Champion is that He fights in God’s strength. To help equip David for the battle with Goliath, Saul gave his own armor to him. Now, remember that Saul should have been the one out fighting for God’s people as their king that they had chosen to fight their battles for them (1 Samuel 8:20). Instead, he cowered in fear with the rest because he had interest in self-preservation. He was truly a king “like all the nations” had. His armor did not fit David and verse 39 tells us that “David put them off him.” Saul gave David his armor because that is all he could give David. He didn’t have the spiritual resources that were needed for the task because the Spirit of the Lord had left him. Carnal men can only offer carnal means even for spiritual causes. In the same way, people may give us advice or offer help to others, but if they do not do so from a genuine, abiding relationship with Jesus Christ, they really have nothing to offer. Our weapons and armor are not carnal, but spiritual (2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Ephesians 6:10-13). David refusing Saul’s armor and weapons and choosing to walk out with the same weapons and attire he had while tending sheep shows us that he chose to go forward with what God had provided him and with what he had from faithfully walking with God while tending sheep in the wilderness. He chose to act with what God provided, not what Saul provided. David was comfortable with those weapons, not because he trusted them or his skill, but because he trusted the Lord. Saul had all of the resources, humanly speaking, but he did not have the one thing that David had, the Spirit of the Lord. Many years later, a descendant of David would lead the charge to rebuild God’s temple in Jerusalem in the Book of Ezra. God’s prophet Zechariah came with the Word of the Lord and gave him encouragement with words that David understood as he went out to face Goliath: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). The Lord Jesus Christ has the fullness of God’s Spirit because He is God’s Son. His life and obedience mark out for us perfect obedience in all that He did. Through His work on the cross and resurrection, He gives the Holy Spirit to all who call upon Him and follow Him as Lord and Savior. The Spirit comes and equips for all that we face in this life and all that we may be called to do in God’s name (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 1 Corinthians 12:7-13). He gave us the Word of God that He inspired that is our “sword” in spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:17). We are called to be filled with the Spirit, walking in obedience to Him (Ephesians 5:17-18). We are called to take on God’s armor (Ephesians 6:10-18) and fight with the spiritual weapons He has given us (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

God has provided His people a Champion in a Servant who is concerned for His people, glorifies His name, and fights in His strength. David was that king and champion that God provided for Israel in 1 Samuel 17 and the Lord Jesus, the greater son of David, is our Champion who overcame our great enemy for us. He calls us to serve Him by glorifying His name and living for Him in this world by fighting in His strength. He has provided all that we need. Will we trust Him? The greatest place you and I can come to is a place of utter dependence. Independence and personal strength are the enemies of the Christian life. Humble dependence upon God for all things in our weakness is when you and I are at our strongest (2 Corinthians 12:7-10) because it is no longer then about us living, but about Christ and His power living through us (Galatians 2:20).