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1st
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 Ephes-dammim. 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 [9’6” using the 18” cubit].
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 we will 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 Bethlehem-judah, 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 [Goliath] 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 to 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 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 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 [attempted] 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 carcasses 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 hasted, 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.” [Audio
version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED656]
Introduction “Chapter
17 of 1st Samuel. I would
encourage you as we head into this again, to remember several things. One is, David hadn’t read the chapter. You know as we track him through the process,
he’s called a youth, a stripling, a young man, we’re not sure how old he is at
this point in time, 18, 20? we don’t know.
Ah, but he’s young, he never read the chapter. And when Goliath comes chomping out onto the
battlefield David doesn’t say to the army ‘Wait until you see this, this is
one of my favorite Bible stories, this will blow your mind.’ He does not have the advantage that we do
tonight, he doesn’t know how this chapter ends.
Now look, there are chapters in your life, and you don’t know how they
end. They haven’t been written yet. But there are giants that we face, of
different kinds. Our warfare, Paul says,
is not against flesh and blood, ‘We wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities and powers, rulers of darkness in this present
world,’ malovent influences, and no doubt the races of giants in the
Bible were born out of malovent origin, they were Satanic in their
beginnings. It is an interesting picture
for us in that sense. There are just
some great lessons here for us as we begin to go into this. And again, not about fighting literal giants,
I doubt whether we’ll ever make application in that sense. The
Set-Up For The Battle In A Valley Called “The Boundary of Blood” It
says “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 Ephes-dammim.” (verse 1) right in the
territory of Judah. Interesting, Shochoh
means to hedge or fortify, Azekah means to fence in, it seems like this place
had been put together, and it says that is in Ephes-dammim, and I love that,
Ephes-dammim is a compilation of Hebrew words that means “the boundary of
blood,” possibly because there had been many battles there. But we are in the valley of Elah, we’re going
to read in the next verse. Both armies
are on the high ground, that was the advantage, you want to make the other army
fight uphill coming at you. So you go
the valley of Elah today, I’ve been there at least 15 times, many of you have
been on the trips with us, we love to go to the valley of Elah, and in the
middle of the valley, it's about a mile wide, you can see the two ridges that
the armies were on, and in the middle there’s the Brook of Elah where David
took the five smooth stones. And when we
go there, you know, I’ve brought home way too many stones from the Brook of
Elah. Once I brought them home for my
son’s kindergarten class, I brought 22 of them home. And you know, you hit a giant in the
forehead, they’re not these little stones that go boyng and bounce off and get
him mad, David took some stones, you get 22 or 23 of those in your suitcase, it
feels like you have a suitcase full of rocks, because you do. [laughter] But we’ve made the Valley of Elah deeper, our
church, just by itself, we’ve brought home tons of stones from there. But Ephes-dammim, the Boundary of Blood. Whatever giant we face, on the positive side
of that, whatever enemy there stands before us, there is a boundary of
blood. Jesus says ‘The evil one
comes, he touches us not, that we have been sealed by the Spirit until the day
of promise.’ We are God’s
“blood-bought children,” and there is a boundary of blood in our lives, on our
battlefield, and the enemy has no right to cross it. He trespasses when he tries to get that close
to us, and I’m thankful that this picture is put before us here, at the Boundary
of Blood, Ephes-dammim. “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.” (verse 2) So you have these two armies set in
array, out in the open where they can see each other. “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.”
(verse 3) There was a valley between
them, about a mile wide, each camp on the high ground, wanting to maintain that
position. Goliath
the Giant, Champion Of The Philistines And
it says in verse 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.” Now from verse 4 to 11 we’re going to have a description of
Goliath. This is the most in-depth
description in the Bible of a particular warrior’s gear, and there’s great
description given here for us to understand, the Philistines were famous for
their metallurgy, hardening of iron and alloys and so forth. And we have this giant, Goliath of Gath. It says here “And there went out a
champion” interesting, the roots of it in new Ugaritic literature and in
Hebrew means “one who stands in the middle, one who stands between.” The Greeks were famous for having their
armies face one another and say ‘Look, we’ll put forth our champion, you put
forth your champion, we’ll let the champions fight, then the armies don’t have
to fight.’ But it goes all the way
back, and this idea of a champion here
is “the one who came out to stand in the middle.” Now, for us there’s one Mediator, we’re
thankful, between God and men, this is a different valley here. And Goliath comes out and stands out in the
middle in front of both armies “a champion came out of the camp of the
Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a
span.” (verse 4) now depending on your cubits, he’s at least 9-foot-six,
figure this is a ten-footer. So if he’s
onstage with me, he goes to the ceiling. ok? And
this is not Minute Bull, this is not a big, skinny guy. This is a ten-foot Mike
Tyson, ah, this is a ten-foot Arnold Schwarzenegger…this is a tree trunk is
what this is, this is a huge guy, there’s a lot of beef on the hoof, this is a
huge human being, he’s a ten-footer. You
can laugh, but that’s just remarkable, if you can imagine. So he’s six cubits and a span, his height, “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.” (verse 5) now a coat of
mail, you’ve seen that armour that looks like scales woven together, this
little plate upon plate, just like the scales of a fish, he’s clothed with a
coat of mail, “and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels
of brass.” So just the coat he’s
wearing weighs between 175 and 200 lbs.
That’s a big boy, you have a 200lb jacket on. And it says “And he had greaves of
brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders.” (verse 6)
like shin-guards of brass, you’ve seen those Roman soldiers [also Greek Hoplite
soldiers, especially the Spartans]. “and
a target” most likely the word which indicates a javelin of brass between his
shoulders, like he-men wore the sword, right down the back there [like on 13th
Warrior, Vladimir Kulich’s broadsword and sheath running down his back], he had
a big javelin, that was smaller than the spear he carried we’re going to find
out. It says “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.” (verse 7) “weavers beam,” that’s the big beam at
the top of a loom. 600 shekels of iron,
that’s about 25lbs. So imagine a spear
with a 25-lb frozen turkey on the front of it as you’re coming to
Thanksgiving. That’s quite a
weapon. And the beam of the spear has to
balance, or he can’t throw it ahead, so you’re talking about a spear that
weighs over 50lbs. Not to him, of
course, that’s to us, it’s relative. “and
one bearing a shield went before him.” so he’s got somebody running,
carrying a full shield in front of him. “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.”
(verse 8) Now anyone knows what his voice
was like, it was big, you know, he doesn’t sound like Pee-Wee Herman or
something, this is, and he’s in the valley, so all of this echoes, ‘WHY
ARE YOU COME TO SET YOUR BATTLE IN ARRAY!?’ ooh, this is a ten-footer,
we’re having a bad-hair day. So you have
to try to imagine this, he screams “WHY ARE YOU COME OUT TO SET YOUR
BATTLE IN ARRAY!? AM I NOT A PHILISTINE
AND YOU ARE SERVANTS OF SAUL.” Now
they knew that, Saul had had a tremendous victory over the Philistines early in
his life. Maybe they’ve heard that the
Spirit of God is departed from Saul and he’s being troubled by an evil spirit,
maybe they know at this time, Saul has lost his mind, they feel he’s not
capable of leading the armies of Israel, maybe they’ve been emboldened by
that. [Any enemy has spies and military
intelligence, so it is something they most definitely could have learned from
their spies in the land.] They say, ‘I’m
a Philistine, you’re servants of Saul,’ and this is such a setup, “choose
you a man for you, and let him come down to me.” so he’s down in the valley
yelling to them up on the ridge, “let him come down to me.” “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.” (verse 9) He’s
saying, ‘Let’s settle this in a civilized manner.’ Sure, this guy’s out there, this giant. Now, it’s interesting, we’re told in the Book
of Joshua, in chapter 11 it says “And at that time Joshua cut
off the Anakims from the mountains, from Hebron and Debir and from Anab, and
from all the mountains of Judah and from all the mountains of Israel.” The Anakim were the giants, “Joshua
destroyed them utterly with their cities, there was none of the Anakim left in
the land of the children of Israel, only in Gaza, and in Gath, and in Ashdod
there remained.” So this is Goliath
from Gath, the one of the cities where Joshua’s men hadn’t wiped out the
Anakim. You remember when the children
of Israel came to Kadesh-barnea, they sent in the 12 spies, they came back
terrified, they came back with the fruit of the land, incredible fruit, and ten
of the twelve spies said ‘the sons of Anak were there, and we were as
grasshoppers in their sight, we were as grasshoppers in their sight, they eat
up the inhabitants of the land, they’re huge,’ I don’t know if they
were insinuating they were cannibalistic, but they eat up the inhabitants of
the land, we always had that imagery going with giants. So this is one of the Anakims, one of the
families still remaining in Gath, this is Goliath. We find out in 2nd Samuel he has
four brothers. Imagine raising that
brood of boys, terrible-twos, they’re all six foot, seven foot tall you
know. So he’s challenging. Look, giants, there are things that will
challenge us in our lives. The church,
we don’t want to be like the children of Israel, setting ourselves in array,
all kinds of stuff. Listen, sometimes I
think the Church, we’re loaded for bear on the horizontal, we got all the sound
systems, we got all the Rock Band worship, we got all the rear-screen
projection, we got the smoke machines, we got all this stuff going, and we got
nothing vertical cooking. We’re in
array, we set ourselves in array, but there’s no battle and there’s no
victory. We’re going to see David’s
connection is vertical. What sets David
aside from everyone else in this scene is his relationship, and it says over
and over again, with the Living God, the Living God, over and
over. And there are many things, giants
that would ensnare us. That’s what he
says, ‘If I whup you, then you’re going to be my slaves.’ And for you and I sometimes it’s bitterness,
sometimes it’s unforgiveness, sometimes the fear of man, sometimes it’s
wrestling with lust, sometimes it’s some hurt from the past, sometimes it’s our
peers, we’re afraid to open our mouth and stand up, we know what’s right, the
fear of man brings a snare. We’re going
to see one boy stands up in the middle of the army, and by the end of this
picture, the whole army of Israel is emboldened to run to the battle, one
person can make a difference. One person
can make a difference, what are your giants, and my giants? And look, they can be terrible, sometimes,
physical illness, they can be just so, there can be things so intimidating
sometimes, so hard for us. There can be
condemnation that hangs over our heads, and Satan can walk out onto the
battlefield every day and mock us, and it seems like we never win, he can walk
out there every day and put himself on display and yell at us, ‘You
hypocrite, you backslider!’ it can just go on and on. We’re going to find out, that’s what he does
here, day in and day out. But he says ‘Let’s
settle it, you send me somebody, send me somebody down here, if he beats me
we’ll be your servants.’ He’s
not expecting that, by the way, to lose.
‘If I beat him, you will be our servants.’ “And the Philistine said, I defy the
armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.” (verse
10) and did he ever. “When Saul
and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and
greatly afraid.” (verse 11) Now
look, Saul is Israel’s giant. He’s about
seven foot tall, he's head and shoulders taller than anybody else in Israel,
and Israel’s thinking ‘If our giant isn’t fightin’ this guy, we ain’t
fightin’ him. If our giant’s afraid and
he's staying in the camp, none of us going down there.’ So, Saul, you know, the Spirit’s gone
from him, he is not emboldened, he doesn’t have the moving of the Spirit in his
life, very interesting to watch this picture.
It’s all taking place in Judah’s territory. Young
David, God’s Champion Now,
verse 12, “Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of
Bethlehem-judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man” Jesse, “went among men for
an old man in the days of Saul.” He,
Jesse, is an old man considered to the men of his day, in the days of
Saul. Jesse was considered aged. “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.” (verse 13) David is following the LORD,
but they 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 Shammu.” Are you paying attention [laughter], wake up, “the
third was Shammah. And David was
the youngest: and the three eldest
followed Saul.” (verses 13b-14) I love this, “But David” I love
that, the three oldest followed Saul. “But
David went and returned from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.”
(verse 15) What an interesting
picture. You know, in the last chapter,
Samuel had come and anointed him king.
And again, Josephus tells us and the ancient rabbis say, that Samuel
leaned over and whispered in his ear “Thou art the king of Israel.” You can imagine an older brother, ‘What’d
he say? what’d he say?’ ‘Ah, nothing,’
‘Come on, what’d he say!? The Prophet
was here, he wasn’t foolin’ around,’ ‘oh, he said I’m the king of Israel,’ ‘Oh ya, hahaha,’ they hold him in
disdain here, they have no regard for him.
It says David goes back to keeping his father’s sheep. He didn’t say ‘Dad, I’m the king now, I
don’t do sheep anymore, I’m the king of Israel, you gotta find somebody else to
do the sheep now.’ This is David’s
seminary, this is David’s seminary, this is where he realized ‘the heavens
declare the glory of God, the earth sheweth forth his handiwork, night after
night they utter…’ he just looked at the stars, thought about Abraham, and
he heard the voice of God. This is where
he wrote ‘O LORD,
O LORD,
how excellent is thy name in all the earth, when I consider the heavens, LORD,
the work of thy fingers, what is man that thou art mindful of him.’
This is where his heart began to churn with
the ideas of ‘The LORD
is my shepherd, I shall lack no good thing.
Though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death,’ it’s
just the shadow of death, ‘I will fear no evil,’ it’s where so
many things were born in his heart. And
it’s where he ends up confronting, and we’re going to talk about this, a bear
and a lion. Listen, we’d have never
known if it wasn’t for this chapter. David
is not braggadocios, didn’t write songs like ‘I killed a bear, I killed a
lion,’ those are not the songs he writes, he writes about God’s glory not
his own. And it’s only because Saul said
‘Hey, man, you’re a shrimp, how are you going to go out and fight this
giant?’ that we hear him say, ‘Hey, I killed a bear, I killed a
lion, God enabled me to do it, the same God who kills bears, kills lions, kills
giants, no problem.’ David goes
back here, he’s keeping the flock, and he’s confronting things that someone his
age and his strength had no ability to confront in the natural, he’s learning that
his God is a Living God, and he hears his God’s voice in the morning when he
rises. He hears God’s voice at night
before he lays down, he hears God’s voice when he hears a lamb bleating, and he
sees a lion with a lamb in its mouth he hears his God’s voice say ‘You go,
I’ll deliver that lion into your hand.’
You gotta hear God pretty clear to do that. I’d say ‘No, Lord, I’m not sure if that’s
you and I don’t do lions, send Rob.’ David
went, he returned from Saul when he was playing his harp there, and he’s
feeding his father’s sheep in Bethlehem.
Listen to this, “And the Philistine drew near morning and evening,
and presented himself forty days.” (verse 16) taunting them twice a day, he
presented himself for forty days, just like the giants in our lives,
relentless, you wake up, they slap you in the face, ‘I’m glad you’re awake,
slap! Now I’m gonna hassle you all day,’
you try to go to sleep at night, ‘na, na, na, na,’ you wake up, ‘I’m
not done with you yet,’ Forty days, morning and evening, “And Jesse
said unto David his son,” now God evidently poked Jesse, just at the right
time, “Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and
these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren;” God’s providence
here, Jesse’s a good dad, ‘Go to your brothers,’ “And carry these ten
cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren
fare, and take their pledge.” (verses 17-18) that makes sure they stay in good with their
officer, dad’s smart. “take their
pledge” ‘bring me word again, get their promise, if they’re doing
good come back and let me know.’
“Now Saul, and they” David’s brothers, “and all the men of
Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.”
(verse 19) At this point they’re
just posturing, screaming, going back and forth, daring one another to leave
the high ground. “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 fight, and shouted for the battle.” (verse 20) to him it was a morning
like any other morning in his life, it would end like any day, and unlike any
other day in his life. So in the morning
they’d all get up, and they’d stand on opposing ridges, they’re all screaming
at each other, you know how you saw on Brave Heart, they’re all yelling at each
other, that’s what they would do. And
then the giant would come out and hassle everybody. “For Israel and the Philistines had put
the battle in array, army against army.
And David left his carriage” the thing he had moved the food and
supplies for his brothers, “in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and
ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren.” (verses 21-22) he
knew where their camp was, he knew it was always camped forefront in the army,
Judah was always in the front when the armies of Israel went to battle, we know
that David knew where the camp of Judah was.
“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.” (verse 23) so
as David’s talking with the guys, all of a sudden he hears, Crunch, Crunch, here’s
this guy walking on the battlefield, this monster, he looks out there and he
sees the guy, and he spake according to the same words, he’s challenging the
armies of Israel. “And all the men of
Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid.” (verse 24)
what an army. “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.” (verse 25) Now David only sees one giant, and that’s
Jehovah his God, is the only giant he sees throughout this chapter. Now interesting, it may just be an idiom in
the Hebrew, but before, he’s challenging them to come down to him, now it seems
like he’s coming up, walking up and ascending the slope on their side of the
valley to some degree. “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.” So the king’s put out an incentive package
there, ‘anybody who kills ole Goliath, I’m too tired, but any of you guys
can feel free to step out there with him.’
“and will give him his daughter, and make his father’s house free in
Israel.” that’s a bit contradictory, his daughter’s someone he’s looking to
get rid of. And when we get to chapter
18 we’re going to hear “And Michal Saul’s daughter loved David, and told
Saul,” who hates David by now, “and the thing pleased him, and Saul
said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him.” ‘I know how to get him now, marry my
daughter off to him, that’ll fix him.’ Here
he says anybody who defeats Goliath, I’ll increase with great riches, I’ll give
him my daughter, only a giant-killer can handle her anyway, “and make his
father’s house free in Israel.” tax exempt, I’ll free the father’s house,
there won’t be any tax levied against him.
“And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be
done to the man the 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?” (verse 26) ‘Are you kidding me, this is your
motivation, the king’s gonna pay you? you’re a bunch of hirelings, what shall
be done to the man who kills the Philistine, and takes away the reproach of
Israel?’ “for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should
defy the armies of the living God?” plural throughout, it’s very
interesting “armies of the living God?”
Now he's a youth, he’s a stripling, we don’t even know, has his
voice changed? He’s a kid, he’s a
stripling, he’s a youth, that’s what it tells us a number of times. I want to believe his voice has changed, but
I don’t even know. David knows the Word,
‘the guy’s an uncircumcised Philistine, he’s outside the Covenant, he’s a
trespasser, he shouldn’t even be in the territory of Judah. You guys are saying, O the king’s going to
give his daughter and his riches? You
gotta be kidding me, is that your motivation?
What about the glory of God? This
guy’s defying the armies of the Living God.’
“And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it
be done to the man that killeth him.” (verse 27) ‘Well that’s what the king
said he would do to whoever kills him.’ David’s
First Battle: Don’t Let Your Family Deter You Now
Eliab his older brother knows his voice, ‘Are you kidding me? I know that voice, that’s David!’ “Eliab” verse 28 “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.” Now
he’s the firstborn, David is the last of eight, so he’s gotta be at least 30,
he’s gotta have at least ten years if not more on David, so he’s probably been
treating him like a little kid his entire life.
“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?” that’s to mortify him, to
embarrass him, ‘who have you left those few sheep up in the wilderness
with, that’s what your job is,’ I
know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that
thou mightest see the battle.” ‘You’re
a rascal, you’re down here, driving a cart, causing a gaper delay, all you did
was to come down here to see what’s going on, you don’t really care what’s
happening,’ he’s got seven older brothers, so maybe he was a rascal,
you got seven older brothers you learn the ropes. This is beautiful in the Hebrew, “And
David said, What have I now done? Is
there not a cause?” (verse 29) that’s the Hebrew for ‘What have I
done now?’ These are things that
brothers say to each other, ‘What are you picking on me for? What did I do now? Isn’t there a cause, isn’t there something to
be concerned about here? Get off my
back!’ typical family stuff going on here on the battlefield, God
doesn’t mind the humanness of their family.
Look, as we go into this, then it says David turned his back on Eliab
and ignores him and starts talking to somebody else again (verse 30). Smart move.
This is the first battle, and all of you have to understand
it. If you want to step out in faith and
you want to do something for the Lord, those closest to you, wife, husband,
family, kids, parents, are going to be the first ones to hassle you. If you want to step out and do something great
for the Lord, one of the battles that immediately arises, and it’s not
intentional sometimes on the part of people, they love you, but Paul said “Henceforth
we know no man after the flesh but after the Spirit.’ It’s hard, particularly if we’ve
grown up around someone, to realize who they are and what the Lord’s done in
their life, because we knew them so much.
He knows David, Eliab knows David, he watched him grow up, changing
whatever they were, they didn’t have Huggies back then. He knows him.
But David’s got something cooking with God that sets him aside that
nobody can recognize. And you have to
understand this, Jesus himself was reproved by his mother and brethren and
Jesus would say “A prophet is not without honour, except in his own home
amongst his own family.” And if
you want to step out and do something for the Lord, the first battle you’re
going fight is not with a giant, it’s with Ma, or Pa, husband or wife [been
there, had that happen to me] or family or kids. And if you’re foolish enough to engage in the
battle there, you’re never gonna get to the real issue. If you’re foolish enough to let the battle go
there and not understand the whiles of the enemy, then you end up condemned,
you end up saying ‘I can’t believe I said what I said, I can’t believe I
slugged my brother,’ you know, David wins the battle here, he’s not there
to fight with Eliab, he’s not there to settle family problems, he's genuinely
concerned about God’s glory, he’s jealous for the LORD
at this point in time. He’s had such a
great time with God in the field, he’s not gonna fight with Eliab, and that’s a
very important lesson for us to see, it will take place in all of our lives if
we want to step out and do something for the Lord, and you’re all giant
killers, but somebody that knows you too well is always going to put a limit on
you, they’re always going to put a limit on you. It says he turned from him, he turns away
from Eliab and ignores him, and Eliab is used to that I’m sure, “And he
turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the
former manner. And when the words were
heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul: and he sent for him. And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart
fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”
(verses 30-32) David, what a kid,
he’s a stripling. David’s
2nd Battle: Don’t Listen To
The “Experts” “And
Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight
with him: for thou art a youth,
and he a man of war from his youth.” (verse 33)
‘Thanks Saul, appreciate your confidence.’ David knows God is able. Listen to Saul’s reason, “for thou art
a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.” ‘he’s trained, he’s a killer,
and not only that, he’s been a man of war from his youth. You’re not able to do this.’ Remember back in chapter 16, verse 7, when
Samuel came to the house of Jesse, he went to anoint Eliab, and the LORD
said ‘What are you doing? the LORD
doesn’t see the way man sees, man looks on the outward appearance, but God
looks upon the heart.’ And
Saul doesn’t understand that lesson, Saul is looking at David, and he doesn’t
see David’s heart, he doesn’t see what’s going on between him and God, he says ‘You’re
a kid, this guy’s a monster, what are you talking about, how are you going to
go out there and fight with him?’ Second
battle, this is the second battle that we all fight. Don’t listen to the experts. I see so many people in church caught in the
paralysis of analysis, it’s like Peter standing on the side of the boat, ‘Lord,
is that you? If that’s you tell me to
come to you on the water.’ ‘Come.’ ‘Lord I didn’t think you’d say that, ah,
there is a law of gravity, human beings can’t walk on water, maybe we should
consider this, if you get over here a little closer to the side of the boat, we
can do a piggyback thing, I’ll jump on your back, because evidently you can
walk on water.’ Look, you get caught
in the paralysis of analysis. He says
Come, and Peter steps out of the boat onto the water. Don’t let someone say to you ‘You can’t do
that, did a mission board send you? Did
you go to seminary, where’s your degree, where’s your pedigree, where’s your
demon?’ I don’t have a demon, Saul’s
got the demon, remember, that’s in the last chapter. Don’t let the experts tell you what God can
do and what God can’t do, because the church will sit around and nothing will
ever get done. God is not looking for
people that are qualified, he’s looking for people that are available, and if
you’re available and qualified, that’s wonderful. But he took Moses 40 years on the backside of
the desert to whup him into shape. He
took John the Baptist how many years in the wilderness? he took Paul on the
backside of Arabia. If you want to serve
the Lord, these days, he’ll make young men and women old fast, because there’s
not a lot of time, and God has a seminary for us, and he has places he leads us
to, and he works deep within our hearts and minds, and he can kill a giant with
a stripling, and that’s why this story is recorded and placed in front of us,
so that we never limit our God. It tells
us the same thing in the New Testament, Paul says ‘He’s chosen the weak
and foolish things of this world to confound the wise, so that no flesh would
ever glory in his presence.’ Here’s
the second battle ‘You can’t do this, you’re a kid, this guy’s a monster,
he’s a hero and a valiant warrior, you don’t stand a chance.’ Here’s David’s answer, “And David said
unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a
bear,” I’m assuming they didn’t team up, they normally don’t get along,
these must have been two separate incidents, “and took a lamb out of the
flock: 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.” (verses 34-35) he’s gotta be
talking about the lion because bears don’t have beards, not anything long
enough to grab the hair on his chiney-chin-chin. What is he saying? He’s a kid.
He goes after the lion, gets the lamb out of his mouth, and the lion
turns around and roars at him and comes at him, he says he grabs the lion by
his beard? What’s in his other
hand? Not a sling, there’s not enough
room to sling it. You know, I want a .45
in my other hand. [He had a shepherds
knife, which are very sharp.] When you
got a lion by the beard, what do you want in your other hand, somebody real
skinny you can feed to him I guess.
What’s he got, a club? He’s got a
lion by the beard, what do you want in your other hand? One of the men that comes to church, not sure
if he’s here this evening, been friends for years. When he was in Vietnam, he said a man in his
company, they heard him screaming, they looked up, and a tiger, they end up
shooting the tiger, the tiger was over ten foot from his nose to the tip of his
tail [Vietnamese Tigers, very deadly]. A
tiger, took him out of the foxhole, grabbed him, his one arm was pinned against
the side, was in the tiger’s mouth, the tiger was running up the side of the
hill with the guy flopping in his mouth.
He said, we didn’t want to take the shot, because we didn’t want to kill
the guy. We didn’t know what to do. But the guy had just got a package from home,
and he had a can of shaving cream in his big pocket on his fatigues, and he had
enough presence of mind, because his one arm is jammed in the tiger’s mouth, he
pulled out the can of shaving cream, and shot the shaving cream up the tiger’s
nose. [laughter] And the tiger spit him out and was going Foof!
foof! foof! And then they shot the
tiger and killed him. So what do you
want in your other hand when you got a lion by the beard? A can of shaving cream? What do you want in your other hand? That’s a true story, I made him tell it to me
at least twice, tell me that again. [He had a shepherds knife, which are
very sharp, read A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23.] Look, we would never have heard about this
lion and bear, except Saul challenged him, and somebody tried to get him to
analyze the capability he needed to kill a giant. David said if I analyze my capability, I
would never have fought a bear and a lion.
He said, ‘When he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and
I smote him, and slew him.’ “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.”
(verse 36) “seeing” this is
what he sees, “he hath defied the armies of the living God.” David says ‘My God was alive, he was
alive when I fought a bear, he was alive when I fought a lion, he’s alive
today.’ This is his confidence, “David
said moreover, The LORD
that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear,” listen
to his assurance, “he will deliver me out of the hand of this
Philistine. And Saul said unto David,
Go, and the LORD
be with thee.” (verse 37) This
is what you need to see, what we are in solitude, is what we will be in
public. If we trust the Lord when we’re
alone and no one’s watching, if we love him and we worship him, if we pray, if
we confess our sins, if we have communion with him when we are alone, when we
are thrust out into the open, we will be in public what we are in
solitude. And the rarer times will be in
public. And it’s wonderful for you and
I, when we’re alone to cultivate a relationship with a Living God to the point
where we know his presence, we know his Word, we know his leading, so when
we’re thrust out into an insane situation like this, we have the same assurance
that we fought a lion and a bear with, nobody was there to watch. David’s
3rd Battle--Never Fight With Somebody Else’s Armour And
Saul, look what Saul says, “Go, and the LORD
be with thee.” (verse 37c) he must all of a
sudden remembered something Samuel said, his heart is stirred, something deep
within, he hasn’t had this kind of faith in a long time, he said ‘You
go.’ And look now, “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. And
David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed [“assayed,” archaic
English for “attempted”] 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.” (verses 38-39) he tried to walk, he couldn’t walk, you know,
Saul wears a Triple XL, Saul’s seven-foot tall, and he’s trying to put his
outfit on this stripling, this kid, and David’s thinking ‘I can’t even
walk, let alone fight a giant with this outfit on.’ “And
David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.” This is the third battle before you get
to the giant, never fight with somebody else’s armour, you can’t fight with
somebody else’s relationship with the Lord, you can’t fight with someone else’s
weapons. And listen, this is
what you have to understand here, it’s one thing when somebody maligns us, to
blow them off, ‘What are you doing here? punky kid, little brother, you
shouldn’t be here, you’re no good,’ you can kind of turn your back and walk
away from that, and say ‘Alright, I’m not gonna listen to that.’ It’s a little bit harder when someone’s being
logical, ‘Hey, this guy’s huge, man, how are you going to manage that?’ That’s a different thing, to say, ‘No, the
LORD
handled the lion,’ but it’s most difficult
when somebody’s appealing for your wellbeing, but they’re doing it in the
flesh, ‘Here, take my sword, take my helmet, you do need to go, the LORD
be with you, but you need this, and you need that,’
and they want to load you down with all this junk, and that’s the third battle
that we have to face. We can’t do it,
with some expert telling us, an expert giant killer, but you can say to him ‘But
why aren’t you out there killing the giant?’
‘This is how you do it, this is what you wear,’ and he almost sounds
concerned, and sometimes we can let someone stifle us, even when they’re being
concerned, and the things they want to give us will bridle us and weigh us
down. David steps past all of that, look
he says ‘I haven’t proved these weapons, this armour,’ David puts
them off, and look what it says, “And he took his staff in his hand,” he
had proved that, “and he chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and
put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip;” a leather bag,
“and his sling was in his hand:
and he drew near to the Philistine.” (verse 40) These are the things he had proven, his
shepherd’s staff, his sling, he’s going in there, he said the LORD
who delivered me from the bear and the lion, it’s his battle, he’s the one
whose, it’s not your sword and your armour. David’s
Faith & The Battle He
goes out there. Listen, many scholars
make a point, the brook is in the middle of the valley, the armies are on the
two ridges, there’s about a mile between the armies, and in the middle is the
brook. David doesn’t have his ammo until
he gets to the brook. He’s already
committed to this battle before he has any ammo. Don’t let people say ‘You can’t serve the
Lord, you don’t have the resources, you don’t have this, you don’t have that,’
no, David is fully committed before he even gets the stones for the sling. And he’s out there, no doubt, everybody’s looking,
‘Whose this skin-n’ bones out there?’ and Goliath, maybe his
shield-bearer is wakening him up, ‘Wake up, there’s somebody out there! Somebody’s come out to challenge ya,’ and
David’s out there feeling the stones, he’s taken five of them, it tells us in 2nd
Samuel 19 that Goliath had four brothers, so he doesn’t know what he’s going to
run into out there, so he gets five stones, one for Goliath, one for each of
the brothers. And he must be feeling, ‘Ya,
this one feels good, ya this one’s good,’ and you’re hearing ‘Chagunk!
Chagunk’ Goliath’s coming out, and he’s picking out stones, he’s picking
out stones. “And the Philistine came
on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before
him.” (verse 41) he has a little guy running ahead of him with a
shield. Maybe David saw the shield guy
and said ‘Hey, you ain’t that big, now that we’re out here,’ wrong
guy. And what was it like after 40 days,
the armies on both sides, their mouths must be hanging open, watching this
confrontation. “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.” (verse 42) he was a good-looking kid, everybody’s
thinking ‘This isn’t a contest, this is murder is what this is.’ “And the Philistine said to David, Am
I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his
gods.” Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum, that’s not
what he said. ‘Are you come to
fight me with staves?’ it was a shepherd’s staff. “and the Philistine cursed David by his
gods.” such arrogance.
[Comment: After watching Last
Kingdom, about the Sword Danes attempting to conquer Alfred the Great’s
England, this is something Ubba would have said to the English, ‘Am I a dog,
that you’d come to me with staves, I curse you by our gods, Thor and Oden!’ These Sword Danes were fierce viking warriors. Goliath would have made a good viking.] “And the Philistine said to David,” and
this must be echoing through the valley, “Come to me, and I will give thy
flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.” (verse 44) Eliab’s probably thinking ‘Oh dad’s gonna
kill us, I can’t believe he’s out there.’
“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” listen, he’s got a name, he doesn’t have a
sword, and he doesn’t have a spear, he doesn’t have a shield, he has a name,
and how many times have we walked into a battlefield in regards to someone’s
life with a name, Jesus, and we said it to somebody and their life is changed…a
name. He says “but I come to thee in the name of the LORD
of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.” (verse
45) Is
he thinking of Menenaam, where Jacob returning to the Promised Land said he saw
the camps of angels and named it “the place of two camps”? is he thinking of Joshua who saw the Captain
of the LORD’s
host with his sword drawn standing there in the Plains of Gilgal? He says ‘I come to you in the name of
the LORD
of hosts of armies,’ he’s not alone, ‘the
God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.’ David feels like he’s surrounded by
armies of angels, the LORD
is there on his side. Listen to what he
says to Goliath, “This day will the LORD
deliver thee into mine hand;” this little kid
out there, you know, “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.” (verse 46) ‘You think you’re going to give my
carcase to the wild animals? I’m gonna
kill you, and cut off your fat head, and I’m gonna give the bodies of your
entire army to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the air.’ The armies of Israel are listening to this,
they must be going ‘Uh-oh, he’s getting him really mad.’ I think God’s sitting on the throne
saying to the angels ‘You hear that?!
I love it! You hear what that kid
just said, man, oh man, that makes my day! you hear him down there?’ Here’s the reason, he says “that all
the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.” all heaven must be
rejoicing. And all the 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.” (verse 47) David is entering
this battle from victory, he’s not entering the battle for victory, the army
has it. “and he will give you into
our hands. And it came to pass, when the
Philistine arose,” he’s just getting angry, listening to David, “and
came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to
meet the Philistine.” (verse 48) I
wonder what Goliath’s thinking, ‘This kid’s running at me, he can’t wait for
me to kill him.’ Listen, “And
David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it,” that’s
the end of Goliath, “and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the
stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.” (verse
49) David, David slang it, he didn’t
have to aim, I’m sure he aimed, but he didn’t have to, the angels are clapping
now, everybody’s rooting, he could have shot that thing straight up in the air,
it would have come down and it would have hit Goliath on the top of the head,
he could have shot it backwards, it would have went around the world and hit
Goliath on the back of the head, he just let that thing out of the sling,
because God was all over that stone. [in
Pastor Joe’s opinion, if David really knew how to use a sling, as I’m sure he
did, these slings were very deadly, and someone who knew how to
use one could be very accurate, as the Greek and Roman soldiers were. Pastor Joe is just waxing eloquent here, he
does that.] It says he just took a stone
and slang it. Oh man, he took that stone
and went ‘Yeaaa!’ that was a dead giant, man. And “it smote the Philistine in his forehead,”
did it go through his brass helmet, we’re not even told, God’s glory was all
over that rock, that the stone sunk into his forehead, not into his eyeballs,
sunk through his thick skull, and he fell upon his face to the earth. So you can see both armies watching, this kid
‘Yeaaa!’ and you see Goliath, they can’t see the stone from there, they
must have just seen him go like this, teeter, both armies dead silent, and this
guy goes ‘Boooom!’ dust comes up from the ground, they must all be
watching, just quiet. And the
Philistines must be thinking ‘He’s tricking him, he’s tricking him, when he
gets close he’s going to reach out and grab his legs, and go whack, whack,
whack, whack,’ ‘He’s gonna get
up, you’ll see,’ and the armies of Israel thinking ‘Don’t get close,
he’s gonna get up,’ that’s what their thinking. God gives us a comment, I’m glad he says “So
David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone,” and
with the army of the Living God behind him, “and smote the Philistine, and
slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran,” King James says “and
stood upon the Philistine,” he stood over him is the idea, “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.” (verses 50-51) Now, at this point in time, when he cuts his
head off, he’s removed any question as to whether he’s gonna get up again. He’s removed all doubt. Does he cut his head off and look up at the
Philistine army and say ‘Next?’
You know, all eyes front and center, and it says “And when the
Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.” They’re heading for the hills. “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.” (verse 52) Look, now the
armies of Israel are emboldened, they heard David’s screaming ‘Oh
ya?! The God of Israel is gonna give you
into my hand, I’m gonna cut off your head.
And I’m gonna give all the armies of the Philistines to the fowls of the
air!’ Look, it took one, it took
one man, a boy, a stripling. I guarantee
you, some of you have friends, that are Christians, they’re good individuals,
and they need one person to stand up, and it’ll make a difference in all their
lives. It took one person to infect an
entire army, it took one. And sometimes
one can make all of the difference in the world, it becomes a flame, it
becomes, it’s like a spark, like a forest fire, it begins to engulf and enwrap
everybody else in. The whole army now is
emboldened, they know that the LORD
has joined the battle and they run after the Philistines and slaughter
them. “And the children of Israel
returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents.”
(verse 53) and look at David here, “And David took thee head of the
Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent.” (verse
54) So, David’s tent, he’s got a
lion head, a bear head, a giant head, you know, took them to the
taxidermist. It says he takes his
armour, puts it in the tent. He probably
has a bearskin, a lionskin, and a coat of mail in there, probably hangs his
sling on it. ‘Somebody take a
picture, get a picture of me next to this.
Good to hang my sling and my memories on this thing.’ Saul
Asks Abner, “Whose Kid Is This, Anyway?” “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.” (verse 55) because
Saul must have said ‘I told him, he’s too small, I told him he don’t stand a
chance, I told him to take my armour, I told him to take my sword, I told him
to go, the LORD
was with him.’ ‘Saul saw him go
against the Philistine, he says to Abner, the captain of his host, ‘Abner,
whose son is this youth?’ How could he not know who David is, David
played the harp for him, no that’s not what he asks, he says ‘Whose son
is he? Whose the family again Abner? and Abner says ‘As my soul lives, O
king, I cannot tell.’ “And the king
said, Enquire thou whose son the stripling is. And as David returned from the slaughter of
the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul” look at this,
“with the head of the Philistine in his hand.” and Saul said, ‘What are
you doing walking around with that disgusting thing?’ This guy’s head, imagine how big his head is,
this is a big thing to carry around. I
don’t know if he’s got the lion by the beard, maybe he’s got Goliath by the
beard, but this is a thing to lug around, I’ll tell you that. There’s a little sick side to David I think. He brings him before Saul with the head of
the Philistine in his hand, “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.” (verses 56-58) David, listen, at the highest point in his
carrier to date, in this scene on the battlefield, he is brought into Saul’s
court, Saul immediately becomes jealous, we’ll see as we move on, because the
people in Jerusalem were singing “Saul has slain his thousands, but David
has slain his tens of thousands.’ And
Saul will become insanely jealous. You
know, here’s David, he steps out and does something great for God, it’s the
highest point spiritually in his career as it were, and for the next fifteen
years he will be persecuted, he will be driven like a partridge upon the
mountains, it says. You would think, ‘LORD,
what are you doing? This isn’t fair, when I stepped out on the battlefield for
you, I faced a giant with nothing, I exercised more faith than all of the men
of Israel put together, and this is what happens?’ You see, because God has anointed him through
Samuel to be king, but it would be years before he was the king that he’d been
anointed to be. We’re going to follow a
wonderful path as we go forward, please, very important as we move ahead, in
the weeks ahead, to read ahead. Because
the pathway that God leads David on is the same pathway, he loves us as much as
he loves David. And the lessons are so
applicable and so plain to be seen, as we slowly journey and look at the things
that take place, the things that God would do in our lives, to draw us closer,
to make us into the men and the women that he would have us be. Read ahead.
Let’s stand, let’s pray. If you
have a giant in your life, if you have a situation that seems insurmountable,
and somehow in your heart you know the Lord wants you to exercise faith, don’t
let your family or the closest people to you demoralize you. Don’t let the “experts” analyze the situation
for you. And don’t try to face it in someone
else’s armour, God has called you, and he’s called you with a staff and a
sling, he knows what’s in your hand. And
that may apply in your life many different ways, and I’m not gonna try to
prescribe that, please. But I know God
didn’t put the story in here just so we can say ‘This is a great Sunday
school skit, let’s make some flannel grabs for our kids,’ no, it’s in there
for you and me, it’s in there for our hearts, it’s in there for us to take hold
of particular things as we walk with him.
Because we will all face giants, all of us, as time goes on, of
different sorts…[transcript of a connective expository sermon on 1st
Samuel 17:1-58, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia,
13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116] related
links: “A
Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23” see,
https://unityinchrist.com/pom/AShepherdLooks.htm
David & Goliath (music video
version) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDCU0hQV0Pk Who Were the Philistines? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3eLWgy2jus Audio
version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED656
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