David And Goliath
Text: I Samuel 1:41-51
Pastor Philip Hughes, American Fork Presbyterian Church, UT
July 28, 2024
David and Goliath has a life all its own. This story is known by people who wouldn’t know a Bible from a box of Kleenex. Many sermons on this treasured story leave us believing it is about facing our giants. But is that really the point of the story?
It’s a long story, taking all of 1 Samuel 17. 58 verses. We just read a very small portion.
Goliath was always before my eyes as a child. In the room where we gathered for our Sunday School opening at the First Presbyterian Church in Richmond, California, our teacher had stuck a bright metallic star on the wall, the kind used on the charts to mark your attendance in Sunday School. She did this to show us children the height of Goliath. That star was there for years and every time we walked into Sanford Hall and saw that star we were reminded of the massive stature of Goliath.
In many ways, the account of David’s encounter with Goliath has been reduced to the size of a children’s story, in the same way that it has happened to the story of Noah, and even how we have popularized the story of the birth of Christ. This morning we want to restore this story to its proper size. We want this story to do for us what it did for the people of God who were first fed by the account of this event and were encouraged by it for generations to come. I don’t think the first Israelites heard this as a children’s story.
The account not only introduces us to David the shepherd boy who would be king, but it also challenges our faith and trust, and perhaps more importantly in what or in whom we place our faith and trust.
The Philistines and Israel have met for battle. Each army occupies a mountain with the Valley of Elah between them. Goliath, the great champion of the Philistines, is decked out with bronze shields and plates. His spear is made of iron and said to be the size of a “weaver’s rod.” Such a rod was long and thick, used to lift the shuttle in the weaving process. If you know as much about weaving as I do, then let’s just say it was big.
Goliath challenges Israel to send one man forth for a one-on-one battle to determine who will be enslaved to whom. This goes on for 40 days with the armies of Saul paralyzed with fear. It is into this scene that David comes.
David has been sent by his father Jesse to bring provisions to his oldest three brothers who serve in Saul’s army. While doing this David sees the armies and hears the challenges of Goliath.
First notice David’s faith. David comes into a situation filled with fear, paralysis, and deep anxiety. Everyone has “Goliath-phobia.” Both the king and the army of Israel are beside themselves.
David asks what will be done for the person who kills this Philistine and takes away the disgrace of Israel. David’s vision isn’t one of defeat but one of defending the honor of Israel. David is told that if someone can take out this Philistine then he gets to marry king Saul’s daughter (we will assume that is a good thing as I have little historical info on what she was like). And, secondly, anyone who can defeat Goliath doesn’t have to pay taxes in Israel. No taxes. That right there might empower anyone to win a great battle.
David’s questions also reveal that he sees Israel being disgraced. And then David asks, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” David is the first to bring up God. And as you read 1 Samuel 17 please notice how David keeps speaking of the living God.
Up to this point no one has done this. Not Saul, the king. Not anyone in the army. Not Eliab the oldest son of Jesse. While the warriors of Israel are focused on the size and power of what faces them David is focused on God. He is also absolutely staggered that anyone could defy the living God.
Sometimes in our moments of challenge someone needs to bring up God. Is he with us? What difference does he make? The next time you are afraid take account of God. Your problems may not immediately go away but seeing God as part of a situation can bring hope and strength where there was none before.
David recognizes what is at stake. Saul’s honor is not at stake. David’s own personal honor is not at stake. David recognizes that what is at stake in Goliath’s challenge is God’s honor. Goliath’s taunting is a direct affront to the living God.
The Israelite army is so paralyzed by fear that it acts as if God is irrelevant to the battle.
But “For David it is unthinkable to assess a battle (or anything else) apart from the rule of the living God.”[1]
David tells Saul that he will go out and fight Goliath. Saul sees the absurdity of this. David is so young and has no battle experience. Where does David get this courage? Well, we find out David does have some experience. David tells Saul how he has been keeping his father’s sheep and whenever a lion or a bear came and took a sheep from the flock David went after it, killed it and rescued the sheep.
He says,
When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”
David knows the Lord and has experienced his hand in his life.
Lions and bears are not mild. I’ve heard stories of Masai warriors in African killing lions. I suppose if you have taken on a lion you aren’t so scared of other things. But again, David says it was the Lord who rescued him. And he has faith the Lord can do the same with “this Philistine” (note he doesn’t say Goliath’s name).
David supercedes Goliath’s challenge to the Israelites with this challenge, “Is there a living God in Israel?” and if so, why be intimidated by this single taunter? That’s really what David is asking by his words and actions.
Is there a God who is over life and death?
Is there a God who is indeed the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end?
Is there a living God who is all-powerful, all-glorious, and sovereign?
Is there a living God in our church?
Is there a living God in your life?
And if we find ourselves much more fearful and intimidated by circumstances and events in our life than we are confident in the face of them, then maybe our idea, experience, and knowledge of God is too small. More than I would like to admit probably most of my failings and fears come from a vision of God that is too small.
Maybe we shouldn’t be praying for this or that so that we can survive, or for this or that to happen, but we should pray for a bigger vision and experience of the living God who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ.
Second, there was David’s preparation. Battle was not new to him. In his experience of shepherding his father’s sheep, David had killed lions and bears. It was away from the crowds in the quiet of being a shepherd that David had been taught how to fight with the fiercest of foes. His previous experiences had prepared him unbeknownst even to him for a great battle that came in that valley.
Some of our struggles and battles right now might be God’s preparation of us for something else. Some of our more mundane experiences might be God preparing us. God can do a lot in the unseen places of our lives.
Arthur Pink, in his book on the life of David, commented on this when he said that “the closet is the great battlefield of faith… Let the foe be met and conquered in private, and we shall not have to mourn defeat when we meet him in public.”[2] David had been prepared by God through his life experience. He’d seen some tough opponents before.
Third, take note of David’s weapons. Or lack of weapons. You say, “a sling and five smooth stones.” Yes, but that wasn’t all. David yells out to the champion, “You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts.” He doesn’t say his sling. David’s most potent weapon was the name of the Lord of hosts.
Pay attention to that name for God. “Lord of hosts” is used nearly 300 times in the Old Testament, mostly in the prophets. It is a title of might and power and is used frequently in a military context. The original meaning of the title is “Lord of armies” or “God of the battle” referring to God’s leadership of the heavenly armies. God is over the host of heaven which are the unseen armies of the angels. That’s right, when the heavenly host shows up above the shepherds in Bethlehem it is an army.
In Revelation 12 we read of Michael and the angels who fight as a heavenly army. Lord of hosts is used twice in Psalm 46 which portrays the Lord as Savior and protector of his people.
Now, we’re reading into this but when David says that he does battle with the name of the Lord of hosts could David be acknowledging that he is aware of unseen forces around him? That the armies of God’s angels are present and ready to bring victory? That as large as Goliath may loom he knows, perhaps only by faith, that as Elisha told his servant, “that there are more with us than there are with them”?[3]
The sword and spear which is what others choose to trust in are not what save, according to David. Rather, David says, “the Lord does not save by sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and he will give (Goliath) into my hand.” David will use his sling and one of five stones, but he sees the battle as the Lord’s.
We read that “David prevailed over the Philistine (note his name isn’t even used anymore) with a sling and stone, striking down the Philistine and killing him;” And then we read this, “there was no sword in David’s hand” – and that right here is the point, the punch line of the story!
There was no sword in David’s hand. He did not rely upon nor win the victory through the usual weapons of war. How did he win? Because there is a living God, and God doesn’t save with sword or spear. Nor does he save through our wisdom, intelligence, money, influence, family name, position, ability to argue or finesse, or through institutional power. He doesn’t save through any of our most trusted personal weapons because the battle is not ours. Rather, the battle belongs to the Lord.
Others can’t always see him, but those who see with eyes of faith know he’s present and there.
On Sunday, May 5, 1962, early in the civil rights movement, 3,000 young people led by Reverend Charles Billups went on a prayer pilgrimage through the streets of Birmingham, Alabama where four black men were being held in jail, unjustly. As they moved they sang “I Want Jesus To Walk With Me”.
Witnesses saw the young prayer pilgrims approach the police barricade. The ministers and the children were ready to pit their bodies against Sheriff Bull Connor’s dogs, fire hoses, and armored car.
The marchers came to a stop and knelt in prayer as Connor repeatedly shouted at them to turn back. But the people continued their praying, and then more singing, and then their praying again.
Suddenly, Rev. Billups stood and confronted the police, like David confronted Goliath. “We’re not turning back. We haven’t done anything wrong. All we want is our freedom. How do you feel doing these things?. Bring on your dogs. Beat us up. Turn on your hoses. We’re not going to retreat.” Then he started forward, followed by the other ministers and the children.
Bull Connor whirled around and yelled to his armored men, “Turn on the hoses.” His men just stood there. Connor swore and screamed at them again to turn on the hoses. But as the black people marched on, the firemen and the police fell back as though they were hypnotized. Some of the firemen were seen crying.
The pilgrims continued their journey unimpeded marching all the way to the jail. They prayed for their friends, then headed back to their neighborhood singing “I Got Freedom Over My Head.”
Some would say, “just one of those things.” Fine. Say that. But those in that urban valley that day knew it was God![4]
Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians of the Christian life, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”[5]
You know sometimes, “Reality is mostly made up of what we cannot see” and life is “mostly a matter of what never gets reported in the newspapers [media].”[6]
When David said he came up against Goliath in the name of the Lord it says, “…so that the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”
When the authorities came for Jesus, he told his followers to put away their swords. His weapon was the cross. He died but the victory ended up being much greater than anyone knew or expected.
Are you looking at God, or Goliath? Only a God-saturated, as opposed to a Goliath-saturated, mind can account for what made holy history that day in the Valley of Elah.”[7]
Who do we put our faith in? Who do we trust? What is our mind focused upon?
There are all kinds of swords and spears to fight with. But we will come in the name of the Lord of hosts. Listen to David who was victorious and won: the battle belongs to the Lord.
And so went the battle of David over Goliath.
Prayer: Lord of hosts, we do not trust in our own hand, strength or wisdom. We trust in your being with us to lead us, help us, and save us when the need is great. Amen.
[1] Walter Brueggemann, Interpretation Commentary, I & II Samuel, p.128
[2] Pink, p.33
[3] 2 Kings 6:16
[4] Let The Trumpet Sound, Stephen B. Oates, p. 229
[5] 2 Cor. 10:3-4
[6] Eugene Peterson, Westminter Bible Commentary, p.99
[7] WBC Commentary, p.99