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.

For all of the buildup over the past couple of weeks in 1 Samuel 17, we now come to the climax of the chapter and the presentation of David to God’s people as their champion and king. Thus far, we have learned from David and Goliath that God cares for His people in their struggle. We face an enemy that overwhelms our strength. That enemy threatens us with bondage and brings fear. But God has provided us a Champion. Just as David expressed genuine concern for the armies of Israel as Goliath opposed them, had a great zeal for the cause of God’s name as Goliath defied it, and refused the armor of Saul to go out in faith to fight Goliath, so the Lord Jesus Christ has come as the greater Champion of God’s people who perfectly cares for us, glorified God’s name in all that He did, and overcame the world in the strength of the Lord. This week, we will look at the third and final lesson that the story of David and Goliath teaches us and that is about the great victory that God gives to His people who trust in Him. In this final portion (v. 41-58), we learn three essential things to us sharing in the victory that God has provided His people through His Son.

First, we see here that we are called to trust in God’s Word. As David approached Goliath, Goliath mocked him for coming to fight him with no sword, spear, or amor. Instead, David approached Goliath with his shepherd tools: a staff and sling. As David approached Goliath “cursed David by his gods” and threatened to give his “flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.” The insult of Goliath was the threat of a dishonorable death. To leave someone unburied in battle meant a total and complete victory that left no one to bury the person. For a person not to be buried was the highest of insults and dishonors. This is the third time David has been insulted. First, he was insulted by Eliab, his brother for being nosy and prideful (v. 28). Then he was insulted by Saul for being an inexperienced “youth” (v. 33). Lastly, he was insulted by Goliath as an unfit warrior. No one expected David to be victorious in the battle because, by all human ingenuity, David was no match for Goliath. However, it is the continual story in God’s great plan of redemption that “God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence” (1 Corinthians 1:27-29). God’s “strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). While Goliath trusted in his size, strength, armor, sword, spear, and shield, David’s trust was “in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel.” He recognized “that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s.” David trusted in who God had revealed Himself to be. He trusted in God’s Word and God’s promise that he would be king. He knew that the victory was inevitable because of the greatness of who God had revealed Himself to be, not because David was stronger than Goliath. Likewise, it is God’s Word that tells us who He is, who we are, and what He has done for us. It is our only offensive weapon in the battle (Ephesians 6:17). We must learn to trust, not in what we can do, not in what we face or feel on a certain day, but we must trust in what His Word has revealed.

Next, we see that we are called to trust in God’s work. David charged at Goliath, he let the sling throw the stone, and down came the giant. The Bible tells us that it sank into the giant’s forehead and that he fell face first to the ground. In the aftermath, since David did not carry a sword of his own, he took Goliath’s sword and cut off his head. His victory over Goliath is one of the greatest pictures of Christ’s work on the cross. The concept of him penetrating Goliath’s head points back to the promise of Genesis 3:15 where the “seed” of Eve would one day “bruise” the head of the serpent. Ultimately, this promise was about Christ crushing the head of Satan at the cross. Further, the picture of using Goliath’s own sword to cut off his head points to the reality that Jesus destroyed Satan through death itself (Hebrews 2:14-15). Death was Satan’s because through it mankind was held captive in bondage to sin (Hebrews 2:14-15). Through Christ’s death on the cross, He used Satan’s own weapon against him, overcame it, and rendered him powerless over the people of God. Next, we can see in the text that the Israelites go after David’s victory and “spoil” the Philistines and their cities. His victory led to an overwhelming victory for God’s people in what ensued. This is a picture of our Christian life today. When Christ died on the cross, the Bible tells us that He embarrassed and “spoiled” the “principalities and powers” (Colossians 2:15). As believers, we do not fight for victory, but from victory just as Israel fought from David’s victory. Romans 8:37 tells us that even though we have all sorts of battles left to fight in this world against Satan, sin, the flesh, and the world, that “we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” The victory is ours, not because of our strength, but because God’s Champion has come and conquered for us. We now overcome through faith in Him (1 John 5:4) because nothing can ultimately thwart His plan to conform us “to the image His Son” (Romans 8:28-30) nor “separate us from the love of God in Christ” (Romans 8:31-39). The last great detail of the passage is found in verse 54 where David took Goliath’s head to Jerusalem. Jerusalem at that time would have been a Jebusite stronghold. He would have likely put the head on a pole outside the city walls and it would have had the purpose of showing the Jebusites that the city they lived in would one day belong to Israel because God’s king was coming for them. There is a second picture there, however, that would point to an event that would occur over a thousand years later when the Son of God would be crucified outside the same city and God would give the perpetual sign of the victory that He brought for His people. While the head of the giant stood in 1 Samuel 17, a thousand years later the head of the true enemy of God’s people (Satan) would be crushed through God’s Son being lifted up on the cross outside Jerusalem for our sin. It would be at “Golgotha” (Hebrew/Aramaic) or “Calvary” (Latin) – “The Place of the Skull” – that the victory would be won for the people of God by the greater son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ. You and I are called to trust in His finished work and march in the victory He has provided.

Lastly, we see that we are called to trust in God’s Son. It is not just what God has said and what He has done, but ultimately who He has revealed Himself to be that we must come to believe in. God has revealed Himself in the fullest way in the person of His Son (Hebrews 1:1-3; John 1:14-18). Saul inquired about the identity of the young man, David, who had just slain the giant. Perhaps he did not realize that it was the same David that played for him. Maybe he not well acquainted with David before during those times when David played. This is unlikely because David was made an armorbearer of Saul’s. Or maybe Saul was so amazed that he doubted whether it could be the same young man. Either way, David’s identity is formally brought forth before the king and, as a result, all of Israel. From then on, Saul and all of Israel would gradually come to realize that David was the king God had chosen for His people. David being identified here should point us forward and remind us of the descendant of David who, through His death on the cross and resurrection, sits as King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16), that God has “given him a name which is above every name,” and that one day “every knee should bow” and “every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11). You and I are called to trust in that King. Trust in God’s Son.

The story of David and Goliath is about far more than God getting us out of sticky situations or difficulties in life. It is not about us “slaying the giants in our lives,” but about the reality that we have One who stood up to fight for us against our insurmountable foes in Satan, sin, and death. It is about the greater David, the Lord Jesus, who conquered for us and has given us the victory over those enemies so that all that we face in this life, we now face from that victory. All that we face now, what we often call “the giants” in our lives are actually the battles we face in light of the victory Christ has already provided. Because of Christ, “we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us” (Romans 8:37). We must trust in God’s Word and that it has told us of these things. We must trust in His work and that He is the One who has overcome and gives us strength. We must trust in His Son because in Him are all things and to Him belong all things. The giant has fallen. Christ has overcome.