You think about King David. Of course, we're not talking about David the King yet, he will be king, the future King David, you might say here. But, we're talking about his faith and his trust. And his preparation that he went forth out to defeat this giant Goliath. And so, we know the story. It's probably one of the most famous stories in the Bible.
You think about the idea of David versus Goliath idea that we applied in all kinds of ways. Anybody playing the Chiefs is a David versus Goliath. Uh, anybody that the Royals play, they're the David versus whoever is a Goliath. And so, it's the idea of overcoming that which seems insurmountable.
- It's a story about a shepherd's bravery and his trust in God.
- It's a story about a young man who is prepared.
And so, as we look here in First Samuel chapter 17 let us kind of set the scene of the battle.
- 1 Samuel 17:1-3
And so, the picture here of Elah, is believed to be where this battle took place. You see there is that great wide valley that is now filled with vineyards, but then it was maybe just pasture, trodden under the foot of all of these soldiers, certainly. And so you got the Philistines on one side, the Israelites on the other, they're arrayed in battle. They can look out across the valley and they can see one another.
Somewhere down in this valley there's a little brook that runs through it. Sometimes with water in it, a lot of times during parts of the year with no water in it. And so that little brook, of course, is going to play an important part. And so you have both sides here, the Philistines and the Israelites.
Introducing the Giant Goliath
Now, during this battle, at times, someone comes forth from the Philistine side and challenges the Israelites.
- 1 Samuel 17:4
Here the Israelites and the Philistines they're kind of sizing each other up. The champion, the warrior comes out of the Philistine camp. His name is Goliath, of Gath. He's six cubics in a span about nine or nine and a half feet tall. You know, a cubic is a length from the tip of your finger to the end of your elbow. And so, based upon whoever elbow arm you're talking about, it's between 18 and 19 inches on an average man today.
Now notice, you know, Goliath, he's got all of this armor, you know, he's covered in, in this armor of bronze or brass. The armor weighs about, depending on how you figure a shekel about 150 pounds. So he is wearing 150 pounds of armor. How many of you can pick up A 150-pound barbell and carry it around? You're not gonna be able to do that. Most of us wouldn't be able to do that. But here he's wearing 150 pounds of armor and he's planning to fight in it. He had a shield that was carried by a shieldbearer. He had a spear that weighed 17 pounds. Now I can lift 17 pounds pretty easily, but, you figure on the end of a spear, you know, the average spear length is about six to eight feet long for an average size person. What about the giant, how, how long is his spear? 12 feet long? Maybe it weighs 17 pounds and you know, he is gonna fight with that. That's pretty heavy after a while, certainly.
And then, he comes up there and he challenges them. He says, you know, you come out and fight me if, if you're man enough, if there's any one of you that can fight me and beat me, and then we will serve you, but if not, y'all will serve us.
And so in all his fierceness, he stands before them, and he basically taunts Israel. He's taunting them. He wanted them to send their champion out to fight. And this would be, you know, what would decide the battle. And so, the Israelites, when they heard this individually, they're greatly afraid.
Now, who can face this man in battle?
You think the average Israelite was maybe, five foot, or five foot two or three. They weren't very tall people back in those days. And so, there's someone who you only come up maybe past his waist and you wanna fight that guy? Nobody wants to fight. And so certainly they're afraid.
And so, there seems to be a standstill for 40 days it seems.
David Comes to the Battleground
- 1 Samuel 17:12
David, So they're called out to war. The three oldest go along with David. So, David going out to war, we see at least he's old enough to go to war at about the age of 20. I picture him as age 20. A lot of folks wanna picture him as much younger, but, but it seems like if he went to war originally, he was probably 20 years old or a little even older than that, but he is there. But, then he returns, he goes back to take care of his father's sheep. This battle is not going to be fought imminently, so, he returns to take care of the sheep.
- 1 Samuel 17:16-21
So, it seemed like this is what happens every day. While they are gathered here, got one army that they get ready to go to the. And, uh, then Goliath comes out and challenges, and everybody just kind of cowers and holds back.
No one wants to be the first one to charge into that fray and have to face that man. And so, 40 days this goes on and they're getting ready again. This challenge is about to take place.
- 1 Samuel 17:22-24
David returns to the battle, and so, it happens again. They're there, he comes forth, and they run before him. They don't want to face him.
- 1 Samuel 17:25-26
We see right away David's response to this is, Who is this man? And how dare he stand up here and defy God himself? How dare he do that? How dare he stand up and how dare we just flee before him?
I think he's just amazed that, that they're so fearful that this one man is holding back an entire army. And so, he's like, Who is this man that he should defy the armies of living God?
- 1 Samuel 17:26-29
You know, he kind of comes over here and he basically shames the Israelites. He's putting shame upon this army that they won't stand up to this one man. And his brother, maybe feeling the bite of that shame says, you're just here to cause trouble. You're just here because you don't want to take care of the things you're supposed to take care of. You're just coming down here to watch the battle and not to engage in the battle to take part in the battle.
David though says, don't I have a cause too? This man is defying my God. He is defying my nation. He is defying the army of my people and of my God. Don't I have a cause? Don't I have a right to be here? That's what he's saying here.
- 1 Samuel 17:30-31
And so a lot of people will keep going, well, who is this person that is saying that we should go up and fight him? Who is this? And finally, it gets around that there was someone there who was willing to stand up. And so they bring it to Saul, they bring the news to Saul.
- 1 Samuel 17:31-32
David simply says, don't be afraid, don't let anybody's heart fail. Don't let your hearts be troubled or let your hearts fail for this. I will go and deal with this and I will fight with him.
- 1 Samuel 17:32-32
David just goes back on his own experience. He doesn't know how to use a sword. He doesn't know how to wear armor. We're gonna find that out in a moment. But he knows how to use the weapons at his disposal, the staff and, and the sling. And he's able, using just those things and, maybe even his own hands, to slay a bear and a lion. And so that's quite a feat to be able to do that. He's done it and he recognizes that it was God who gave him the ability to deal with those things. And he says, I can slay this giant too.
- 1 Samuel 17:32-32
Now you think about it, remember what happened in the previous chapter? Samuel came to the house of Jesse and he was told to anoint one of the sons of Jesse to be the next king over Israel. And of course, he anointed David. David knows that he's going to be king over Israel, and so he knows that if I go and fight, God's going to deliver me. He's got that kind of trust. He recognizes that God can deliver him from this Philistine. And Saul said in David, go and the Lord be with thee.
- 1 Samuel 17:38-39
You know, to wear armor and to fight in armor it takes a little bit of practice. It takes some skill, it takes some know-how. David says I've never done it before. I've never fought in armor. I don't know what to do in armor. I can't wear this armor. And so, he takes it off.
David Goes Out to Prepare to Face Goliath
- 1 Samuel 17:40
Here's the brook Elah that runs down in this valley. He takes some stones from that. Very simple things, a stick, a string, and some rocks.
He comes there and he takes the things that he knows how to use. He doesn't try to worry about things he can't use. He doesn't know how to use those things. Yet later we're gonna see David as a man of mighty valor, and he slays thousands of Philistines, at least according to the Song of the Women.
But he, at this time, he doesn't, hasn't proved, he hasn't tested, he hasn't trained in these weapons, and this type of warfare. So he takes what he has and he goes, and he fights this Goliath.
- 1 Samuel 17:41-43
You know, if you got a problem with dogs bothering your flock, you're gonna go out there with what? A slingshot and maybe a stick. And that's good enough. And, so this giant says, What am I a dog? Are you gonna come over here and, and throw rocks at me? Hit me with a stick boy? Really? I'm just trembling in my boots here. And so that's basically, he sees him and he disdains him. But notice how David reacts to this.
David Declares His Faith in God
- 1 Samuel 17:44
He says You come to me with all these great mighty weapons. You're laughing at my sling. You're laughing at my staff. You're laughing at me for being a child or a young man, but I'm not coming to fight you with weapons of man's devise. God is going to deliver me.
Notice he, he says, it's not gonna be me that's fighting you. It's God fighting you, and God is going to deliver you into my hand. And no, not only you, but the entire army God is going, to destroy.
The Courage of David
The army to meet the Philistine. He is not afraid at all. He is running to meet him. He's not just timidly sneaking up. He is boldly running at him.
- 1 Samuel 17:47-50
David is victorious. Israel is victorious when David comes forth and he overcomes and overthrows this Goliath.
David Fought For the Lord
As we look at this story about Goliath and David notice a few things that kind of stand out here, he fought for the Lord.
- 1 Samuel 17:32
He had seen how all of Israel was afraid to confront Goliath. David knew it was up to him to do it. You know, Goliath had defied the armies of God and he needed to be taken down. And so, David runs to go meet him. He runs to go fight him. He's eager to go take him down.
You know, all the fighting for the Lord was not always done in a physical battle. There were many great men and women in the Bible who were willing to fight for the Lord.
You know, there are other forms of bravery besides military bravery. There are other forms of courage besides martial courage.
- Noah fought for the Lord. He stood up and he was a preacher of righteousness while he was building the ark.
- Abraham was willing to do whatever God told him to do, to leave his country to go somewhere else, and to take his only son and kill him.
- Joseph stood his ground in Egypt. He would not sin against Potipher.
- Elijah fought for the Lord to the point that Ahab and Jezebel wanted to kill him.
- John the Baptizer literally lost his head in fighting for truth and righteousness.
- Peter and John in Acts four and five, fought for the Lord even though they had been warned not to by the Jewish leaders.
- Paul thought for the Lord to the point that he was stoned, and left for dead at one point.
You know, we need to fight for the Lord. Just like those great men of the past have done.
- Jude 1:3
- 1 Timothy 6:13
- Hebrews 11:32-40
You know, these men and women of faith, went through great hardships fighting for the Lord. They were stoned, they were tortured, they were imprisoned. And they were put to death. They received no promise.
They haven't received the promises that we have. Yet, how much more then should we be fighting for?
David Trusted in the Lord
We need to be like David, who fought for the Lord even when no one else would notice. He put his trust in God.
- 1 Samuel 17:47
He put his trust in God that God would see them. You know, lack of trust in God was the very reason that Saul's army would not face this man. David, though, put his trust in God, he was willing to face an awesome task.
You know, he trusted in the Lord before and had not been let down. Those times when he delivered him out of the hand of the bear and out of the hand of the lion without trusting God. David would've been just like any other in Israel. David's trust is clearly seen there in verse 47, and we need this same kind of trust today.
We need this type of trust even in times of anxiety, as James says.
- James 1:2-4
Do we trust God enough to find joy in times of trouble? Do we trust God enough to stand firm in the face of all kinds of trials?
"Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." — James 1:12
You know man is going to let us down over and over. We see that man will let us down. But God never, never will. And David understood that. David recognized that and he put his trust in God.
David Went Prepared for Battle
And then, David went into battle. He went into battle prepared to fight.
- 1 Samuel 17:40
Notice that David trusted in God, but we still see him collecting five stones instead of one. One would've been enough and one was enough, but he grabbed five. Just in case David wanted to make sure he was prepared. God was David's armor. He couldn't wear that armor of David of King.
He wasn't able to use that. He hadn't trained in it. He trusted in God, his trust in God was all the armor he needed. You know, God always wants us to do our part. Uh, and David recognized that he had to go forward and face that Philistine. He had to go forward prepared to fight that Philistine so that God could deliver him into his hand.
Are You Prepared to Face Goliath?
You know we are in a battle today, and we've gotta prepare ourselves. We've gotta put on the whole armor of God so that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, [Ephesians 6:11]. We're to arm ourselves spiritually.
- 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
You know, we acquire this armor through the study and application of the Word of God in our lives.
- 2 Timothy 2:15
Also, we need to think about this. You may not have all the tools at your disposal. You're not skilled in all the weapons of this warfare. Like David. He could not fight with armor, with a sword, but like David, you can use the things that you do know how to do and use them with great effect.
Putting trust in God, David, took the simple weapons he knew how to use and he overcame Goliath with them. Now, later David becomes a man of great skill, a warrior of great, renown, skilled in all the more sophisticated weapons. But at this time he didn't have those skills, but he took what he did have and he put it to God's use and he overcame this man.
If we use what we have now, then we will develop more skills in other areas. You know the best way to learn is by doing. If we go out there and we engage in the spiritual warfare that we ought to be engaged in, if we go up there and we stand up and face those Goliaths that are in our life today, the Goliath of sin, perhaps the Goliath of false doctrine, the Goliath of apathy, the Goliath that is our society that stands so opposed to everything that God is... Are we ready to face that in our life? Are we preparing ourselves to be more skilled in the future? To face him? To face Goliath? Will we be victorious like David? Will we stand up and will we run to the battle, have we prepared ourselves and put our trust in God?
We usually look at this story as David versus Goliath, but from another point of view, you might think of this as Israel versus Goliath. The men of Israel are paralyzed with fear for 40 days. They felt Goliath was an obstacle too big to overcome, and none of them had the strength to face him alone.
They needed someone who would come forth and stand up for them. They needed a savior. And the most unlikely savior then comes on the scene, this young shepherd, when they were without strength, David came forth to fight on their behalf. So from this point of view, David is not a type of you and me. He is a type of Christ, a type of savior.
David is not a picture of you and me overcoming the obstacles in our lives. From this point of view, he is a picture of Christ, the true David who conquered the greatest giant of all sin and death.
- Romans 5:6-8
We can overcome the Goliath of sin in our life. We can overcome the obstacles that face us. If we will put our trust in God, we will put our trust in the Savior who has delivered us from this bondage of sin today.
If you are one who believes in Jesus and believes in God but, you still have not obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ. We urge you to do so. If you believe, confess your belief, and repent of your sin, you can be baptized for the remission of your sins. Perhaps, you're a Christian who has not been faithful to God.
If there is any way that can assist you in studying we invite you to contact us.
