1 Samuel 17: David and Goliath

Exposition: v.1-7
Crisis: v.8-11
Rising Tension: v.12-47
Resolution: v.48-50
Conclusion: v.51-58


Well as I understand it John has been teaching through 1 Samuel on Sunday nights, while there's been a bit of a break from that the past few weeks. He stopped at Ch.16. What I wanna do tonight is pick up right where we left off at Ch.17. So, turn there if you would to 1 Samuel Ch.17. This is a very familiar story. If you've been raised in the church you've likely been through a Sunday school class or watched a children's cartoon on this very story, whether it got the details right or not. Sometimes children's videos miss things or imprint images in our minds that we carry for years. They can make Jonah get lost in the belly of a whale, when the Bible just calls it a fish. They can show the ark as a modernly designed boat, when the dimensions on it were really flat, plain, and rectangular. Don't let the children's videos color how you hear this story today, alright? Even if you weren't raised in the church, as I wasn't you've likely heard of or about this story before.

What I want to do tonight is look at this great story through the lens of our personal struggle with sin. We all struggle with sin. If you've turned your back on a lifestyle characterized by sin and placed your trust in Christ alone, you've probably noticed that you're still in the same body and still have temptations to sin. If you don't struggle with sin today it means one of two things; 1. You're fourth part of the Trinity and perfect, or 2. You have no desire to honor God. Those who want to honor God are His children and in this life they experience in a very real way the tension living a life that honors God. But what I want us to look at this story and ask,

1.How does victory over sin come? Often our sins look so big to us, nearly impossible to overcome. We battle and we battle and yet we fear we'll never be able to see victory. We know we'll win the war, but what about the battle right now?
2.Who in this story should we focus on to help us answer that question? Of the major characters in this story, which one should we focus on? You may be surprised at the answer.

But before we look at this chapter I wanna set the context a bit and look just briefly at Ch.16 and point out a couple things that will prepare us for our famous battle in Ch.17. King Saul disobeyed God. He disobeyed God by only doing part of what God commanded him and not all of it. For him the principle rang true, “Partial obedience is total disobedience.” Because of this God sent Samuel to tell him God had rejected him as king and God would now raise up a new king to take his place. So we now enter a transitional period in the kingship of Israel. Saul was on his way out and a new king was on his way in. But I want you to notice a few verses in Ch.16 here. Look at 16:1. This new king would be a “son of Jesse.” I want you to remember that, because it serves as a kind of bookend to our story. Secondly look at v.6-7. God told Samuel not to look on the appearance nor the height of the man to be king. This is significant because when the people chose Saul as king they chose him because he “stood a head above the rest.” He looked like a leader, yet he became a failure. This new king would be someone who was not noticed by his height or his appearance. And we know that Samuel found young David and here anointed him king. Chapter 17 was the first major even in the life of David to prepare him for king, especially in the eyes of the people. David's ability to lead Israel is established in their eyes based on this battle and it was not according to his size.

Let's begin by reading v.1-7.
Socoh: SOH koh
Azekah: uh ZEE kuh
Ephes-Dammim: EE fess DAM im
Elah: EE luh

V.1-7 form what's called the Exposition of the story. The stage is set. Can you picture it? The army of Israel is camped on one mountain and the army of the Philistines are camped on the opposite mountain, with a battleground between them. They're both in good defensive positions. They know each other is there and yet they haven't started fighting. Why? Because a man has stepped out from the Philistine army. (PAUSE) But this is no ordinary man... in fact the Bible calls him a champion and his name is Goliath. His name means “great, large” and he is exactly that. He's from Gath, one of the 5 major cities in Philistia.

He's estimated between 9 and 12 feet tall. The best estimates though put him at about 9 and a half inches. In Chicago I do corporate catering for work sometimes and I was once working at a party for the elite in a clothing store when one of the Chicago Bulls players came in. Now I'm 6'1”. I'm pretty tall, but this man towered over me. The average basketball player is 6'5” and the tallest known basketball players are only about 7 and a half feet tall. Goliath was over 9 feet tall. Goliath was a descendant of the race of giants also known as the Nephilim. These were tall people. His armor of bronze weighed about 126 lbs and the head of his spear weighed about 15 lbs. The head of the spear was made of iron and this was a technological advantage the Philistines had over Israel. Israel didn't have iron weapons. To get the picture of how heavy this spear was I want you to do something. Next time you go into the grocery store... make your way over the Produce dept. and find a 10 lb and 5 lb bag of potatoes. Put one on top of the other and imagine that on the end of a spear that someone's expected to throw. Goliath was not only tall, but he was strong.

What are the Israelites thinking as this man walks out into the open valley between them... alone? He looks scary. But not only did he look scary, he spoke with scary words. V.8-11 bring us to the Crisis in our story. Look with me at v.8-10. Goliath speaks and no one seems to have trouble hearing him. In a blaze of arrogant bravado, he assumes his victory and puts forth a challenge. He says this battle can be won here and now if any one man can come and defeat me. Now, you and have seen the way these bargains with the bad guy seem to go. Do they ever keep their end of the bargain? Usually not. We have no indication the whole army of the Philistines will surrender if Goliath dies, but we don't to think about that because they're not expecting him to lose... after all, he's Goliath. Goliath represented the personified strength of the Philistine army in one man. But he's more than that. He's a symbol of the best mankind has to offer in modern warfare. He's a symbol of man's wisdom and ingenuity... man's strength. Keep that in mind. He gives them this challenge. How do they respond? READ v.11. They were afraid (pause). They looked at the size of their circumstances and quivered. But this isn't the first time this has happened. Turn with me to Numbers 13:32-33. Here is a very similar situation. God said to take possession of the land He was giving them. HE said they could go into battle with the peoples of the land in confidence that they would win because they have the Lord God on their side and if He's on your side you are the majority. Yet they were afraid of the giants... and here in Numbers there THREE giants! In 1 Samuel there's only one! What was the punishment for their lack of faith in God and misplaced fear? They would wander in the wilderness for 40 years. The people didn't seem to learn their lesson.

Do you look at the size of your circumstances only to run and hide? Or in the case of the lens we're looking through, do you look at the apparent size of your sin and cower in fear? You shouldn't. Why? We're not there yet. V.12-47 form the rising tension of the chapter. We won't be able to look at all these verses, but here David is introduced. David was the youngest of 4 brothers. He's 3 brothers were serving the army of Israel and were camped there opposite the Philistines. David was at home in Bethlehem tending the sheep. But David's father said to bring his brothers some food and get a report on how they're doing.

READ v.16.

So David obeys his father. READ v.20-25. V.26 begins saying David spoke to the men who were standing by him. Now these are David's first recorded words in the entire Bible. What do we find in the first words of David? READ v.26-27. David was appalled that no one had accepted the challenge. His concern was God's honor. Goliath was defying Israel and therefore defying God. How often do you concern yourself with God's honor? When someone takes the Lord's name in vain, does that phase you? When actors are paid to do it in the movies we enjoy, does that phase us? It did David. It put a righteous anger in his heart and I think we need to have the same zeal for God that He did. He also said Goliath was taunting the armies of the living God. Goliath's false gods weren't living. The Philistines worshiped the gods Dagon and Ashtaroth and they were idols. But our God is the same as David's and He lives. He's the living God.

And as David is saying this, someone is listening. (PAUSE) And he doesn't like what he's hearing. Look at v.28-29. Eliab is enraged in a mixture of jealousy and conviction. You see his brother knew that the implications of David's questions pointed directly at the fear of the army and no one likes to admit their fear. In typical big brother and little brother fashion, He says to David, “You just wanted to see the battle!” And David says, “I just asked a question.”

When David said all this, it got back to king Saul. So they brought David before Saul. They had an important conversation. Let's look at v.32-40.

(On v.33) Here David is called a "youth." Often when the Old Testament uses this word it means "young man." David was not a 12 yr. old boy as some children's videos seem to tell us. He was about 20-23 yrs. old by this time. (On v.35) The NASB translates "beard." Others translate "hair." BEcause David says he rescues sheep from the mouths of these beasts, this is likely a reference to the lower jaw, not the fashion of the animals of his time as they wear and groom beards like we do.

(After v.37) Why would king Saul allow this? David was a young man and not a child (above). This is proven by the fact that a king with any sense and an entire army wouldn't have bet the whole battle on a small boy. He at least must have looked old enough to fight. The king did question David's experience and age, but more likely with the major concern on his experience. This led David to answer saying he has fought off lions and bears, even rescuing the sheep from the mouths of these animals. To accomplish this task (and as seems apparent) for the sheep to still live... is an amazing feat. It obviously and naturally impressed Saul enough to allow David to fight. David's bravery is clear too as he says in essence, “Your grown trained warriors have no reason to fear... I'll take care of it.” This bravery likely impressed the king too. The king did have his doubts however in that he said, “may the Lord be with you.” Saul knew David would need the help of God.

To prepare David Saul gives him his own armor, but he was awkward and couldn't walk in it. This wasn't because he was a little boy who was wearing a man's armor as some would give you the impression. No, he was a shepherd. He wasn't trained for war. So he chose not to wear it. In doing this David became the exact opposite of Goliath. He become the symbol of man's weakness, not man's strength and modern ingenuity.

Let's read through v.40-47. (At v.40) David lived near those of the tribe of Benjamin. They were famed through all Israel as those who could handle a sling and a stone, some of whom could sling at a hair and not miss (Judges 20:16). These stones could be launched at speeds of around 100 miles per hour by those who were experienced. We imagine David practiced this skill, but he may have been influenced and/or trained by those of the tribe of Benjamin. (At v.42) When it says David was "ruddy" and handsome in appearance the word ruddy means "of a reddish complexion." David was by modern terminology a kind of pretty boy. He wasn't battle-scarred and battle-worn. He was the Abercrombie model. He didn't look like he'd fought a battle in his life and Goliath was a bit insulted by his acceptance of the challenge. (At 44-46) Notice here that Goliath says he will give David's body to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field, but David says he will give not only Goliath's body, but the entire Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field. David's courage matched and raised on Goliath's arrogance.

(At 46 and 47) This is the whole point of the story! Don't miss this! Reread 46-47. David says there is a twofold purpose in his victory; So that 1. All the earth may know there is a God in Israel (For God's glory) and 2. So all the assembly may know that God does not deliver by sword, but the battle is the Lord's (For God's power/ability to overcome under impossible circumstances).

The tension is resolved and the crisis is averted in v.48-50. Read 48-50 with me. David has won. The story concludes in v.51-58. (At v.50-51) Notice that the verses say "killed him" both with the sling and with the sword. It's best that the emphasis be placed on the sling though, because otherwise the whole point of the weapon and the victory wouldn't make sense. The Bible says at least twice that "there was no sword in the hand of David" when he killed Goliath and 1 Samuel 19:5 says the "Lord won a great victory." The battle was the Lord's and the death of Goliath was not by the sword David used... this was merely to collect the head as a trophy. There may be some kind of answer in the Hebrew about the repetition of "killed him," but I haven't studied Hebrew yet.

v.55-58 present a challenge for us. Some Hebrew manuscripts don't include the entire section. Some say this erases the difficulty. What's the difficulty? Well if you look at the end of Ch.16, it looks like Saul already was very familiar with David; He was told David was a son of Jesse and became the king's musician and even his armor bearer. Then when we come to v.55-58 it seems like Abner and Saul himself didn't even know David. Is this a contradiction? There is much discussion about this debate. Some point out that David was with Saul and yet he came from his father's house in Bethlehem to get to the battle. But this may easily answered by v.15 that tells us, "David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father's flock at Bethlehem." It's possible he only served Saul occasionally or for a season. I believe Saul's ignorance is best attributed to simple forgetfulness. A busy king after the passing of time in his service actually forgot who David's father was. Abner's lack of knowledge could have been similar seeing as he was the captain of the army. Usually the high high officials occupy themselves with their immediate business and aren't quite as involved in the details of all their servants. While the armor-bearer worked closely with his military leader he was likely employed for and thought of primarily in that capacity and little else. It's true that David was more special than the average armor-bearer because he was employed also for his music AND it's said that Saul “loved him greatly.”

It's also true that Jesse (David's father) was well known because Saul's servants didn't need to explain who he was when they remembered David as a good musician. I believe still though that Saul forgot this fact connected to David. After all, he didn't ask WHO David was, but simply whose "son" he was. In Saul's mind it's very possible that David's music was such a pain killer for his emotional torment that this was the primary extent of how he thought of David. This would cause him to forget all other irrelevant details about David. This would explain his words “whose son is this youth?” (17:55 and “young man” in 58) as being anaphoric referring back to his known relationship with David instead of his just meeting David (for example, someone says, “Look, it's a lost dog. To whom does this dog belong?” instead of just asking the question without having seen and met the dog first). Here we also find the other end of the bookend to 16:1. This shows the fulfillment of God's words to Samuel and provides a reminder that this is a major event in the preparation of David as king. Also, after this encounter Saul's jealousy stemming from David's accolades after the battle causes Saul to never forget that David is the son of Jesse with his three later contemptuous references to David as “the son of Jesse” in 1Sa_20:27, 1Sa_20:30, 1Sa_20:31.

The story ends with David being known as the son of Jesse (the other bookend). This was to show fulfillment of what God told Samuel in 16:1 (that the new king would be one of Jesse's sons) and it would secondarily set a context and cement it in Saul's mind for his future negative references to David.

But returning back to our initial question, How does victory over sin come? Here's what we're to learn from this chapter. This is the point of it all...


Victory comes when the glory is the Lord's and the battle is the Lord's.
Psalm 20:7 says “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.”
Psalm 44:6 says “For I will not trust in my bow, Nor will my sword save me.”


And who should we focus on this story? Should we focus on Goliath? Goliath looks big and bad. He shouts strong scary words and threatens our loss of the battle with a ringing certainty that makes us want to join the ranks of the rest of the Israelites in fear and be paralyzed to inaction. The temptation is to do exactly this in regard to our struggle with sin. We look at our sin and it seems so overwhelming to overcome. It challenges us and declares its' own victory while it's only standing in the valley of temptation before the battle begins. We often fear it and give in to its' taunts and lose the battle. Should we focus on our Goliath? The sin that seems so big and tall? No.

Should we focus on Eliab and Saul? David's brother Eliab questioned his motives after he saw his faith in God combined with a righteous anger at Goliath to defend God's name. Saul said David wasn't ready for such a battle. He said he couldn't handle it because he wasn't trained the ways of modern warfare, when this guy was an expert in it. The world says to us, “Oh just have a little fun” but we know their definition of fun is not God's. Can you imagine if you said to someone like that, “Oh I'd love to have fun. You know what would be really fun?” Sin-loving unbeliever: “What?” You: “If we sat down and studied Romans chapter 1!” Satan says, “You're not ready to deal with this sin. I know you want to and you'll break the habit next time, but maybe it's best that you give in this time. You'll learn from it and do better next time. After all, you're already forgiven right?” Should we focus on the taunts of others? No.

Should we focus on David? David was a young man of faith. He waned nothing more than to uphold the honor of God. A giant challenge didn't compare to the honor of God. Goliath had committed public arrogant blasphemy and David wouldn't stand for it. David also put his faith in God to win the battle. We can look at David and in our struggles say, “I wanna be like David!” Or maybe it's not David... maybe there's someone in your life (pastor, mentor) or someone you see as mature in their walk and you say, “I wanna be like them!” Should we focus on David? On a man of God who won a great victory? If we do... then we miss the whole point of this story. “What do you mean? David is the good guy! David did the right thing!” you may be thinking. Yes we can learn from David's faith, but this story wasn't written to put the spotlight on David and his faith. It was written for us to put the spotlight on the God in whom David had faith. If we focus on David then all David did was recorded in vain, because this is not David's story it's God's story.

The Bible is not the story of David.
It's not the story of Samuel.
It's not the story of Saul.
It's the story of God and how He interacts with His people.

The purpose of this story is found in v.46-47. David says the victory will be so that “all the earth may know there is a God in Israel and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the Lord's....” The purpose of this story and David's victory is so that God may get the glory that all may know that He is God and no idol can compare. It's also so that people may know the power to defeat our Goliaths is not by the inventions and wisdom of man, no matter how good they are, but by the power of God fighting the battle. We should focus on God in our struggle against sin. In those moments we need to say, “Lord, I want you to be glorified in this battle! I want the world to know you are a God that is greater than all our sin. You are a God who can overcome sin” but we must also focus on God's power and God's ability to win the battle.1 Samuel 19:5 says “the Lord won a great victory” in this battle. We can't focus on our power, because we are so weak. We'll look more at that in a minute. We also can't focus on a 12-step program or the latest big time Christian leaders' book on “7 Steps to victory over sin in your life.” We can't focus on the victories or the tactics of others. There are some good ideas out there. Christians have come up with some good things, but without the Lord we will lose every battle. It's often said, “you may have lost the battle, but you'll win the war.” We may win the war, we'll get to heaven, but the heartache we'll suffer and the sanctification we'll sacrifice will cause great regret when we stand before God.


I also want us to see that God is great in the face of man's weakness.

If Goliath represented man's achievements and strength, David represented man's weakness. He was small and by all visual account an impending failure in this battle. For the onlooking armies in the heat of such a moment including the army of Israel... David's height, choice of weapons, lack of experience, vocation as a shepherd, and general appearance were signs of weakness and detriments to what he was about to do. Yet God was the invisible factor that won the victory. Man couldn't see God because fear was covering his eyes. What God told Samuel as he went to anoint David still rings true, “Take no notice of his appearance or his tall stature” (16:7).

Paul echoed this in 2 Cor. 12:9-10, “And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness " Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” This story and 1 Cor. 1:25-29 remind us of this “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.”

I'm an introvert. In many ways, people terrify me. Some of you know I've a good share of street preaching and you see me up here and are forced to say, “No, that can't be true.” But it is! It's not easy for me to get up here in front of you. But I boast in that weakness, because in it God may be glorified! He has been glorified. He continues to show off in my life in preparing me for this task of preaching and I praise Him for that because no matter much I practice... if the Lord's not in it, it's worthless.

As I looked through the bulletin last Sunday and as I read the church prayer requests by email every now and then I notice that most if not all of them are health concerns. Some of you here tonight may have health concerns, perhaps some you haven't told the church. Or maybe the effects of a health problem are still with you. To you it is a weakness. But you know what... there were two whole armies that saw David as a weakness. But God used that weakness to His glory because God was with David. If you have turned your back on a life of sin and placed your trust in Christ tonight, the same God who was with David is with you and He will use that weakness to His glory. It may not mean he heals you completely, immediately, or heals you at all. What I'm saying is that our prayer should not be that God takes away our weakness, but that He uses it to His glory. Our focus in our weakness should be God and not our weakness.