1
Samuel 17:32-37,42-50
Context:
1 Samuel 17:1-58
Memory
Verse: 1 Samuel 17:46
Main
Idea: God uses faithful servants to deliver
His people.
FIRST
THOUGHTS
Few adults consider themselves heroes.
The same is not true for children. As a kid, all you need is a tablecloth cape
and a little imagination, and you can save the world. Around every tree is
another villain to stop, a robber to catch, or a damsel in distress. When we
transition from childhood to adulthood, we tend to lower our expectations from
saving the day to just doing our best. What if God intended the fantasies of
childhood to prepare us for the adventures of adulthood? Is it possible that
God is calling us to a heroic life, but we’ve wrongly defined what it means to
be a hero?
What
heroic characteristics or feats most appealed to you as a child?
The account of David and Goliath has
become synonymous with heroism, taking on big challenges, or doing the impossible.
The bigness of the story makes it exciting, but it’s that same quality that
makes it hard for people to relate. Most of us are not fighting giants or
saving a nation. We’re holding down jobs. We’re making mortgage payments. We’re
dropping off our kids at ball practice, going to school and church, and trying
to live well. Who has the time or energy to think about heroic adventure?
First Samuel 17 teaches a great truth.
Heroes do in times of crisis what they’ve faithfully done in times of calm.
David’s early life was a picture of faithful service and trust in God. Yet
there is an even greater truth in this chapter, for it points us to Jesus, who
faced the giants of sin and death. He won the victory that we could not win on
our own, and His victory is ours. He is the ultimate Hero.
I. UNDERSTAND
THE CONTEXT
1
Samuel 17:1-58
By the time we get to 1 Samuel 17, Saul
had for many years waged wars against Israel’s enemies, and his army had become
quite formidable. Prior to this time, the Philistines had enjoyed military
supremacy in the region, but now the Israelites were an equal adversary. The
two armies thus stood opposite each other in a stalemate, each looking for a
weakness and neither willing to engage prematurely.
Because the two armies were in a standoff,
the Philistines hoped to gain the advantage through single combat by a
champion. As told in Homer’s The Iliad, the Greeks and Trojans before
the gates of Troy were also in a prolonged standoff, and they, too, practiced
single combat by champion. Heroes such as Achilles, Hector, Aeneas, Ajax, and
Odysseus would not march in ranks of battle lines but would go forth to engage
each other in one-on-one combat. No single combat decided the war, but the loss
of a champion was devastating to his side, as when the Greek Achilles slew the
Trojan Hector. Although The Iliad is a literary tale, it probably
reflects the reality of warfare as waged by people around the Aegean Sea area
in about 1000 B.C. The Philistines seem to have come from this area, and their
military ethos was similar to what we see in Homeric kings and warriors.
The Philistines had one particular
warrior, Goliath, whom they considered unbeatable. He was a large man even by
our standards. To the average Israelite he would have seemed truly enormous,
since ancient people were generally much shorter than people today. No single
man in the Israelite army could match Goliath, and thus the challenge he issued
went unanswered for days.
The standoff was near Socoh, in
southwestern Judah. Socoh was about 12 miles west of Bethlehem as the crow
flies, but traversing the hill country would have made it a considerably longer
journey. It would have taken David at least a full day to get from his home to
the Israelite camp.
We do not know how old David was at this
time. Since he had already fought against lions and bears, he was certainly not
a small boy. The standard age at which an Israelite man was eligible for
military service was twenty, as illustrated in Numbers 1:3. David was probably
not yet of military age.
II. EXPLORE
THE TEXT
A. Confidence in God (1 Sam. 17:32-37)
32
And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant
will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 And Saul said to David,
“You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are
but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” 34 But
David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when
there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I
went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he
arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 36
Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised
Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the
living God.” 37 And David said, “The Lord
who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will
deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and
the Lord be with you!”
Verses 26-31 tell us that
David went around the camp inquiring about Goliath’s challenge and voicing his
irritation that no one had stood up to the Philistine champion. Goliath had
been mocking the armies of the living God, and more was at stake than national
pride. David thought it necessary to silence this blasphemer and show that the
true God, the Maker of heaven and earth, was Yahweh, the God of Israel. For
David, faith in God required that Israel put forth a warrior to show that they
were sure He was watching over them. David gave his thoughts on the matter
repeatedly and forthrightly. For his brother Eliab, this was insulting. It was
as if David were calling him and all the other soldiers cowards (v. 28). But
many of the troops were impressed by David’s confidence, and he probably raised
the morale of quite a few of them. Eventually, discussion in the ranks about
this young man from Bethlehem reached Saul’s ears. Desperate to find a way out
of this impasse, the king was willing to give David a hearing. David’s courage
had made for a refreshing change of attitude after days of fear and paralysis
in the Israelite camp. Verses 32-37 tell us what the marks of godly confidence
are.
Verse 32
First, David gave thought to
the needs of his people and not just to his own needs and desires. David said, “Let
no man’s heart fail because of him.” He did not say, “I’ll go out and gain
glory for myself by killing that giant!” Personal prestige and renown were in
fact extremely important to warriors of this era. But David began by stating
that the reason he was willing to go fight Goliath was that he did not want the
morale of the Israelite army to break.
Second, David volunteered to
deal with Goliath personally, saying, “Your servant will go and fight with
this Philistine.” He did not claim that he had faith in God and then ask
for someone else to go fight the battle.
VerseS 33-37
Third, David listened to an
argument against his proposal and gave a reasonable answer. Saul said, “You
are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a
youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” David did not reply,
“Hey! Don’t you have faith in God?” He did not pout that he was being
ill-treated because of his age. He gave a sensible answer based on how he had
approached dangerous enemies in the past with God’s help.
Saul
questioned David’s experience in battle. How could David’s lack of battle
experience have been a disadvantage? How could it have been an advantage?
Fourth, although David’s
confidence was in God, he also had evidence for his faith based on his personal
history. He had killed large and dangerous carnivores—lions and bears—while
tending sheep. These episodes demonstrated his courage, his skill with weapons,
and his agility. Faith in God is not contradicted by employment of human
skills. Nor is it wrong for someone who is gifted by God for certain tasks to
also train and develop the skills relevant to those tasks. That is why those
who are called to the ministry should train by studying theology, biblical
languages, preaching, counseling, and other related skills. Developing one’s
knowledge is not opposed to reliance upon God. In Psalm 18:34, David said, “He
trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.” David
affirmed that ultimately it was God who gave him his military prowess, but he
also asserted that he had those skills and that proper use of them involved
practice. The evidence of David’s accomplishments against wild animals
supported his confidence in God but did not replace it.
Fifth, David reiterated what
was at stake: the claim of Israel to be the people of God. He told Saul that
Goliath had defied the armies of the living God. David reminded Saul
that this was an intolerable situation and called on him to do his duty by
letting David fight.
Sixth, David forthrightly
declared that God, and not his own martial prowess, was the source of his
confidence: “The Lord who
delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver
me from the hand of this Philistine.” As the final point of his argument,
David claimed that God, not his own proficiency, would save him. David showed
maturity and balance here. He was an accomplished fighter, but he also
acknowledged that ultimately victory comes from God.
How do
David’s six declarations in verses 32-37 help us to understand what it means to
walk by faith?
B. False Confidence in HImself (1 Sam. 17:42-44)
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.”
Verse 42
Verse 42 gives us three
reasons that Goliath despised David. First, he was but a youth. This
does not mean that Goliath was many years older than David. He was almost
certainly in the prime of life, since he was chosen as champion. Perhaps he was
about 30 years old. We should think of how, in many schools, especially
military academies and the like, upperclassmen look down on freshmen even
though the freshmen may be only a year younger than themselves. This is not a
particularly mature attitude, and it is a false basis for confidence.
Second, David was ruddy.
This literally means “reddish,” and perhaps implies that he had a deep tan. It
may be that his coloration marked him as someone who spent all day out watching
the sheep. Curiously, the woman of Song of Solomon makes a related comment,
complaining that the other women looked down on her because of her dark
complexion, something she got while working in the vineyards (Song of Sol.
1:6). Perhaps it was obvious to Goliath that David was by profession a shepherd
and not a warrior.
Third, Goliath despised
David because he was handsome. He perhaps took David for a pampered,
pretty boy who was unprepared for the grim work of a soldier.
Verses 43-44
All of Goliath’s reasons for
despising David and for his confidence that David posed no threat were
superficial. He had no idea what David had really done during his life, and he
had no reason to suppose that David was not up for a fight. He should have been
suspicious and cautious, knowing that someone who approached him as David did
would fight in an unconventional manner. Had David approached in full armor and
with sword in hand, prepared to go toe-to-toe with Goliath, the Philistine
would have known exactly how to deal with him. But David’s approach to the
battle was altogether unexpected, and Goliath should have known that something
was not right. In his arrogance, he did not. He saw David’s staff and foolishly
assumed that David meant to fight him with sticks. He cursed David
because he thought it was an insult that Israel had sent him such a ridiculous
opponent.
We often think of how lack
of faith in God makes us fearful and how faith gives us courage, and that is
true. But there is another side to it. People who do not trust God may be
arrogantly reckless, because they have far too much faith in themselves.
Trusting God also makes us aware that life is not in our control. God-fearers
are aware of their own limitations and will not assume that they are better
than everyone else. Humility enables us to assess a situation accurately.
Counterintuitively, faith in God can make a person more circumspect and less
reckless.
In reality, the advantage in
combat was not altogether on Goliath’s side. He was dressed as a heavy
infantryman, with full body armor, a large shield, and a long spear (vv. 4-7).
The shield was so large that a servant carried it ahead of him to the fight,
but in the battle itself, Goliath would have to manage the shield on top of the
weight and encumbrance of everything else.
David, by contrast, was
going out as a skirmisher. These were light infantry who wore either no armor
or very light armor, who may have carried no sword and no shield (or a very
small sword or lightweight shield), and whose main weapons were projectiles
(javelins, arrows, or stones from slings). Later in his military career, David
had a sizable contingent of such skirmishers drawn from the tribe of Benjamin
(1 Chron. 12:1-2).
Unlike the heavy infantry,
the skirmishers did not line up in closed ranks. Their success depended on
maneuverability. They would fire their weapons and retreat, remaining fleet of
foot to keep themselves from harm while inflicting damage on the enemy. When
David refused to take Saul’s armor and sword, we should not imagine him as a
small boy who was swallowed up by the size and bulk of a grown man’s gear. He
was no doubt large enough to wear the armor. But wearing it contradicted his
purpose, which was to remain nimble while launching stones (a lethal form of
attack) at his opponent. When David said he could not move in Saul’s armor, he
did not mean that he was utterly immobile. But the armor did rob him of the
agility that he needed.
If David had lacked
confidence as he went into battle, then he would have grabbed every weapon and
every bit of armor he could get his hands on. But because he had faith in God,
he chose wisely. Once again, faith in God is not opposed to skill, discernment,
or a cool-headed assessment of the situation. To the contrary, faith enabled
David to exercise those traits to the fullest.
How can
excessive confidence in our skills or assets undermine our faith in God? What
characterizes presumption, as opposed to walking in faith? How can faith enable
us to make the most of our skills and assets?
C. God’s Victory (1 Sam. 17:45-50)
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.
Like two athletes in a
bitter rivalry, Goliath and David began their combat with trash talk, a way of
seeking a psychological advantage by putting doubt into the heart of the
opposition. The text gives us only a brief summary of Goliath’s taunt: he would
kill David and feed his flesh to the wild animals (v. 44). Verses 45-47 give us
a much more complete account of what David said.
Verses 45-50
David, too, said he would
kill his adversary and give his body to the wild animals, but he actually made
a much larger claim: 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. He threatened to turn the
entire Philistine army, and not just Goliath personally, into a feast for the
birds and beasts. Remarkably, though, everything David predicted came about.
The reasons that David’s boasts became historical facts are found within his
speech.
First, David was not relying
on weapons and human strength: 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. It is of course true
that David did not go into combat weaponless, and faith did not demand that he
fight Goliath barehanded. But the actual source of his confidence was not his
weapons but God.
Second, he said, all this
assembly may know that the Lord saves
not with sword and spear. David did not enter the battle to prove that he
was a mighty warrior and to gain fame. He wanted everyone present to know that
victory comes from God. He not only gave glory to God; he also set an example
of faith and action for every man in the army. As Israel gained further
victories, the nation would be more secure and God would get more praise and
honor. David became that day not just a champion but a teacher and leader of
his people.
Third, David summarized his
beliefs with the simple axiom, the battle is the Lord’s. This is not a claim that those who are on the
Lord’s side always win, although David was sure he would win this time. Rather,
it asserts that win or lose, the believer can always go into conflict knowing
that all things are in God’s hands. Ultimately, faith is a matter of doing the
right thing when confronting a severe trial. That is the essence of courage.
Faith does not proceed on the expectation that the believer can never be
beaten. Rather, our faith tells us that God will determine the outcome and will
in the end be glorified.
David
could have gone into the fight without answering Goliath at all. Why does the
Bible tell us about David’s answer? Why is it important to vocalize our
faith—especially when we are taking a risk—instead of just believing in our
hearts?
With a stone, a sling, and a
faithful servant, God delivered His people. God used David, who in appearance
was weak and insignificant, to win victory on behalf of his people. This
account ultimately points us to Jesus, the representative leader of His people.
Jesus faced and defeated the giants of sin and death on our behalf. On the
cross, He delivered us from an enemy we were powerless to defeat.
KEY
DOCTRINE
The Kingdom
The Kingdom of God includes
both His general sovereignty over the universe and His particular kingship over
men who willfully acknowledge Him as King.
BIBLE SKILL
Compare and contrast passages with related themes.
Read Luke 2:41-50 and Luke
4:1-13, identifying actions that prepared Jesus as a leader. Compare these
actions to the actions taken by David to prepare to be a leader. What is
unique? What is similar? What role did their relationship with the Father play
in their preparation?
