1 Samuel 17 – Penuel Baptist Chapel, Roch

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Facing our Giants

“Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”
1 Samuel 17:47

Every Christian is at war. We are seeking the extension of his Kingdom on earth in a hostile environment. If today you do not feel this may be so, it may be because you have not yet enlisted in the armed forces of Jesus, or you have gone AWOL (absent without leave). The gospel is very much about war and peace.

The victorious battles within the Old Testament are there for two reasons. One reason is to teach the art of Christian warfare, and the second reason is to point us to the greatest battle of all time, that was won by Jesus at the cross. Both these aspects are here in the David – Goliath narrative. Is there a Goliath standing in front of you at this present time? That seemingly and surmountable obstacle threatening your spiritual life and most importantly the honour and glory of God.

Get to know your enemy (verses 1-11).

An important rule of war is to fight it on your own terms. That was not happening here. God’s people had been duped into thinking that the battle was all about Goliath (v8). As a consequence, God’s people are dismayed and terrified (v11). Disobedience had led to paralysis. The enemy was dictating the terms. God’s people had forgotten that ‘The battle is the Lord’s.’

The enemy had presented a ferocious gladiator of immense proportions: 9 foot tall, standing in scale chest armour weighing in at 57 kilogrammes. He had the full kit: sword, javelin and spear. His PPE was impressive. He even had a lackey to carry his shield.

What was the deal? Let’s make it a one-to-one, and in that way we can save a lot of bloodshed (v9). One death, not many. This is how the devil often comes to the Christian. Jesus made it clear that to be his disciple is to put your life on the line. There is no death-free path to victory. There must be a cross before a crown (Luke 14:33).

Isn’t it comforting to know that every battle we face ‘Is the Lord’s’ and he is the General who loves his serving men and women. We don’t need to fear his plans. We have a daily prayer, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

Get to know your Lord.

From where does the mindset come from that causes a young man without any military experience to ask the question of his elders, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (v26). This was “A man after God’s own heart.” (1 Samuel 13:14). David could see the battle from God’s perspective.

Where was David’s military academy? Where did he get a heart like that? It was the place that his brothers disparagingly described in v.28 with, “A few sheep in the desert.” Let’s visit that desert and see what was happening there.

a) David was feasting on the Word of God (the law and the prophets) and prayerfully worshipping his God. He would be singing his praises with his harp. Battles are won in the solitary place, alone with God in prayer. Mark’s gospel tells us how essential prayer was to the battles that Jesus faced, “Very early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” Where was the final battle to face the cross won? Was it not in the garden of Gethsemane?

b) David was proving God. God was part of his daily work. David’s skills on the battlefield didn’t just come out of the blue. He was learning to trust God in his daily work and be a good shepherd, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw off the bear” (v37). David learned to fight effectively using his sling and staff to rescue sheep. He was faithful in the small things.

c) David was waiting on God’s timing for his promotion. The solitary place kept him humble. He had been anointed (1 Samuel 16:13). He had the Spirit of the Lord. He had power to serve but he humbly waited upon Gods say-so. God wanted a humble shepherd to front his deliverance. David knew what it was to keep in step with the Spirit and not run ahead.

3) Get to know great David’s Greater Son.

“So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone.” (v50). God fights and rescues his people in unusual ways e.g. Joshua, Gideon. God’s strategy to rescue humanity comes across to many people as extremely odd. But therein lies the wisdom and beauty of the gospel. The wisdom of the cross was God’s wisest ever act.

Remember, Jesus walks the pages of the Old Testament. He is there in many different guises, in lineage, prophecy, pre-incarnate appearances and types (pre-figuring). This story is clearly a type of Christ’s battle with its one-to-one encounter. David, the ‘anointed one,’ goes out alone on behalf of his people. He goes out as a good shepherd, scorned by his brothers into “the valley of the shadow of death.” He runs towards the enemy and puts his life on the line. Can you see the glorious New Testament picture of Jesus emerging? This was the young man who, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, was enabled to see into the far distance to “great David’s Greater Son” (Jame Montgomery). His prophetic utterances right there in the lyrics of his songs. Did you realise this, David co-authored the hymn book and prayer book of Jesus?

For each one of us there can be various different Goliath’s throughout life. But there is one we will face one day and his name is Death (the last enemy). Death is a truly menacing giant looming large over all of us. And what is it that makes Death so menacing? Because death is not the end for anyone. For anyone who is not safe in Jesus, death has a nasty sting in its tail. It is not a peaceful release for those outside of Christ but an eternal death.

But here is the good news. Jesus thrashed death at the cross by taking the punishment we deserve onto himself. God punished Jesus instead of you and I. He took the hit and satisfied divine justice. His resurrection proved that he did indeed strike a death blow to Death itself. William Williams Pantycelyn puts it like this, “Death of death, and Hell’s destruction.”

Jesus was able to say these words to his recently bereaved friends, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.” (John 11:25).

Do you realise that Jesus not only took our penalty at the cross from his father, but he had to fight a lonely battle to get to that cross. He truly went onto the field alone. He had the religious elite to contend with, Satan around the corner, and the unbelief of the common folk like you and I. Jesus didn’t only suffer at the cross, he suffered throughout his life.

But this is the most poignant bit. David had God with him all the way through the clash with Goliath and he didn’t get killed. But with Jesus there came a point when he, “suffered and died alone,” in the darkness. He cried out using the first line of David’s song, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22). Theologically, we have to stand back, stand in awe and recognise that there was in the darkness a profound distress within the Godhead that we will never understand, all because Jesus was counted the sinner instead of you and I.

Are you able to accept right now that Jesus so loved you that he was prepared to go out onto the field alone, face the cross and gain you peace with God?

If you today, are prepared to crossover from the enemy lines to God’s side and rest in what he did on your behalf, you can know today, “Death of death, and Hell’s destruction.” What is more, God will help you take on all your other Goliath’s as well.

I Samuel chapter 17

I read a newspaper article about Francis Dymoke, the King’s champion, who died in December 2023. The ancient role of the King’s champion was to fight battles and single combat on the King’s behalf. Francis Dymoke was a fairly well-off, old accountant. He was not a man of fighting. The position of a king’s champion has become just a title. In the past, during a King’s coronation, the king’s champion would ride a white horse and raise a defiant cry to those who would deny the sovereign’s status. He would take part in single combat. That is what we see here in this passage of scripture. David versus Goliath.

This event is usually used as an image of a great underdog. This account of David and Goliath is historical fact. Some see it as Jesus conquering sin and death but that is not the complete picture. The original picture cannot mean what it can’t mean to the original readers. They’re reading it to remember how God saved the Israelites from the Philistines. It is an historical event. Read it as history and learn from it. Here we see:

verses 1-19: The champion;
verses 20-39: The challenge accepted;
verses 40-58: The conquest.

1.The Champion

The champion is introduced. The Philistines prepare for war, march across the border. Saul hears about this and gathers his men. More and more armour and tents. The Philistines set up a base camp on one mountain and the Israelites on another. There are thousands of them. They are a fairly equal force. They are lined up and ready, facing each other. Who will move first? Then, this big spear, taller than the rest, comes through the Philistines. Out strides a giant. 9 foot 9. Huge! To clothe him in armour would have cost a lot. He had been a warrior from his youth. He is ready. He wants a man to fight (v.8).

This has happened before; the Philistines and Israelites are grave enemies. The hundreds of thousands of Israelites were dismayed and terrified. They felt broken, having no hope. Fear in an army of 300,000 is contagious. Then we see David, the little shepherd boy. Here is a drama. David’s other brothers go to Saul; they are older. But David is a small shepherd boy. He is a youth, yet strong enough to later pick up Goliath’s sword. Here we have the arrogant versus the meek, the warrior versus the shepherd. For 40 days Goliath comes to the Israelites.

2. Challenge accepted.

Jesse had no idea his sons are terrified, hiding behind their shields, not fighting. David goes to them. It is morning. It’s hot. The sun is beating down on them. They sweat so much. They eat, they sleep, then do this over and over again. Imagine the grumbles. Whenever the Israelites saw Goliath they fled from him (v.24). Fear took hold of them.

David arrives and goes out to the battle lines. He hears Goliath’s challenge and speaks his mind, “And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (v.26). What is the one word in that sentence that has not been mentioned so far? God. The Israelites are not thinking about God, about being His chosen people. David speaks his mind.

Saul calls David. He wants to see if he has a champion in David. He has no idea who he is, even though he is already in Saul’s service (chapter 16). Saul wants to know why David is saying this. David responds by saying he will go and fight. We see courage.

Why is David so different? Why does he have courage? The Israelites have forgotten God but David is courageous because he knows who God is. In verses 34-37 we see the true extent of David’s courage. He sees the threat and chases after it, “And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!” (v.37).

If you were forced to do something, that is not courage. In David’s case he was willing to front pain and agony because he knows the Lord is with him. Every one of the Israelites was ruled by fear because they lacked faith. David was probably fearful but because God is with him, he goes anyway. He was willing to go despite everyone’s fear.

We want courage like this. What does courage look like to you on a day-to-day basis? C.S. Lewis declared, “Since it is so likely that children will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making their destiny not brighter but darker.” Every single one of us, day by day, faces some kind of enemy. It is all too easy to say no on a day, a week, a month. Tell your kids stories of courage. This historical account shows God with His people. If you are His people, God goes with you.

There are fears we face as individuals and as a church, but God promises to go with us. Each day, you can wake up and know what’s coming could be awful; it could be colleagues criticising you, bullies in school, problems at home, worries about the war in Ukraine spreading west. Thing is outside of God’s hands. God is with us. Have confidence and do not let your fear rule you.

David puts on the armour he is given but says he cannot go in this as he is not used to it. He knows a battle will come and armour will help, but it is too big. He picks five small calmer smooth stones and went to face Goliath.

3.The Conquest.

Imagine Goliath facing the vast army of Israel, then he sees David in his tunic, staff in his hand and stones in the other. He mocks David. The conversation in verses 43 to 47 is the climax of the story – not the killing of Goliath. David says, “Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” (v.45). David declares that God has not defied Israel, Goliath has defied Israel. The whole world will know there is a God, including the Israelites. There is a God who protects His people. This is what the whole passage builds towards.

Goliath runs towards David, who runs towards him. David has a sling in his hand. He puts a stone in it. The sling goes faster and faster. The stone hurtles toward and sinks into the forehead of the enemy – while he was wearing a bronze helmet. It punches forward into the enemy. The ranks of Israelites are filled with slingers, yet it was David who stood up to the giant, who faced the enemy.

God triumphed and was glorified through David’s courage. What fears will you face tomorrow? God is with us. God knows your fears. If you don’t know Jesus and want to put yourself in the story, you are part of the Philistines. Because they didn’t trust in God they died. But Jesus died for you. You can trust in Him. Your fears will be conquered. He died on the cross that you might live.

“I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
²My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.”
Psalm 121:1

Is that your truth?

Tag: 1 Samuel 17

January 12th 2025: Phil Meiring

May 19th 2024: Evan Millership