1 Samuel 17
McGeeCHAPTERS 17 AND 18THEME: God trains DavidChapter 17 is one of the most familiar in the Bible. This wonderful episode of David and Goliath reveals more than human bravery. It reveals that, even as a boy, David had a heart for God. He didn’t volunteer to fight the giant because his people were being shamed, but because Goliath was defying the armies of the living God! As he faced his formidable foe, he testified to his faith in God: “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” (1Sa_17:45).
1 Samuel 17:1
DAVID SLAYS GOLIATH, GIANT OF GATHIsrael is at war again with the Philistines, their perennial and perpetual enemy.
1 Samuel 17:3
These two armies were at a standstill. They were poised to enter the battle and did not want to fight. It was similar to Israel’s present conflict. At the Suez Canal Israel is on one side and Egypt is on the other. Well, here are the Philistines on one mountain; Israel is on the other mountain, with a valley between. The Philistines are the aggressors.
1 Samuel 17:4
If a cubit is eighteen inches, Goliath was a pretty tall man. Since one span is about nine inches, Goliath was about nine feet, nine inches tall. He was a big boy. He could have played center or forward on any basketball team. Certainly these soldiers wanted to put the decision of the battle in the hands of Goliath and one Israelite.
1 Samuel 17:7
Every day Goliath challenged the Israelites to send out a man to fight him, but after forty days, no one had accepted. David came on the scene because he had brought food to his brothers who were serving in the army. David was alarmed that no one would accept the challenge. His brothers tried to send him home, but David would not go. When Saul heard that David would go against Goliath, he tried to put his armor on him. David, however, was just a boy.
He said, “I can’t fight with these because I haven’t tested them. I will just have to fight with the equipment I’m used to.” What a lesson there is for us in this. Let’s not try to be something we are not, or try to do something we are really not called to do. If God has called you to use a slingshot, friend, don’t try to use a sword. If God has called you to speak, then speak. If God has called you to do something else, well, do that.
If God has called you to sing, sing. But if He has not called you to sing, for goodness sake, don’t do it. Too many people are trying to use a sword when the slingshot is really more their size.
1 Samuel 17:40
Some people believe that David chose five smooth stones so that if he missed his first shot, he could use one or all of the others. David did not intend to miss, friend. Then why did he select five stones? The answer is found in 2Sa_21:22: “These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.” Goliath had four sons, and David was sure they would come out when he killed their father. This is why David picked up five stones. That was the number he needed.
1 Samuel 17:45
You know the rest of the story. It is so familiar. God gave David the victory, and he killed Goliath. The battle was the Lord’s, and the giant was delivered into David’s hands. There are many great spiritual lessons in this chapter. For example, the giant represents the world; Saul, I think, represents Satan; and David represents the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are admonished, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1Jn_2:15). We are in the world but not of it. What a difference there is between David and Samson.
Samson treated the Philistines as friendshe even married one of them. David treated Goliath as an enemy. The world system, the Kosmoswhich includes all governments, educational programs, and entertainmentsis the enemy of the believer today. The interesting thing is that David’s faith enabled him to go out to meet the giant and defeat him. “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1Jn_5:4). It is the same lesson Joshua learned at Jericho: he found out that the battle is the Lord’s. David also learned that he could not use the weapons of this world to fight the battle.
He had to use his own weapons, his own methodsthose in which God had schooled him. The believer today needs to recognize that the world can be overcome only by his faith and confidence in God.