1 Samuel 17:1-18:5 "How David Got A Head and Took the Lead" I sometimes enjoy looking around at online sermons to get a sense of what other preachers do with a text. Reading sermons on David and Goliath can be depressing. I decided to read the top ten sermons in my Google search. The overwhelming focus of these sermons is "what is the Goliath that you face?!" Is cancer your Goliath? Unemployment? Lust? God was with David. God will be with you! Another favorite is, David defeated Goliath when he was young so the church should value young people! A third so-called "application" is that David followed his heart, therefore if you are a man after God's own heart, then you should follow your heart too. I don't want to ridicule these preachers. Their sermons breathe with concern for their flocks and confidence in God's grace and power. But there is something tragically absent from these sermons. Christ. There was one exception in my top-ten list. Tim Keller's comments on David and Goliath. Keller rightly points out that the story of David and Goliath tells us that Goliath is too big for us. We aren't David in this story. We are David's brothers cowering in the hills as our enemies defy the living God. We need a Spirit-anointed champion to go before us and defeat our enemies! 1. Saul Is Benched (17:1-11) Because the whole point of 1 Samuel 17 is to show how David is different from everyone else. In all of Israel, there is no one like David. You and I are not like David. The first thing we need to see is that Saul has failed as a king. The king is supposed to go before Israel and lead his people into battle. But Saul is sitting in the Valley of Elah, "dismayed and greatly afraid." Israel had demonstrated their failure to be the son of God, and so God rebuked them and gave them a king. Saul has now demonstrated that he is not going to be a faithful son of God, and so both Israel and their king are quaking in their boots as "Goliath of Gath" stands there breathing threats and violence against Israel. We can appreciate Saul's wimping out. Goliath was an impressive opponent. Saul had been a consensus pick as king because he was head and shoulders taller than all the Israelites. Now he is faced with a man who is six cubits and a span (around 10 feet). Some ancient translations say four cubits and a span (nearly 7 feet), and since adult males rarely reached more than 5'6, either of those would still be pretty tall. Especially since the Holy Spirit has departed from Saul, Saul has no illusions about his chances of success against Goliath! Besides, Saul is getting old. If David is a teenager, then Saul must be around 60. But Goliath challenges Israel to choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight against me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us. (9) Our text goes into great detail about Goliath. Besides his height, we hear about his coat of mail weighing 5,000 shekels of bronze (around 125 pounds) and his spear head weighing 600 shekels (about 15 pounds). In other words, he's big, he's strong, and nobody in Israel has a chance to defeat him in hand-to-hand combat. 2. Enter the Second String (17:12-30) Verse 12 then takes us away from the battlefield to the little town of Bethlehem. Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. An Ephrathite. of Bethlehem. Ephrathah was the old name of Bethlehem. It's use cannot be accidental. Bethlehem has played a prominent role in Israel's history especially during the history of the Judges. The last two stories in the book of Judges are all about people from Bethlehem. For that matter, the story of Ruth takes place largely in Bethlehem. Perhaps a better way of putting it is that the authors of Judges and Ruth paid special attention to Bethlehem because of David but nonetheless, Bethlehem has had a number of interesting roles in redemptive history. But it is only here in 1 Samuel 17 that Jesse is called an Ephrathite. Though Ruth also mentions that Elimelech and his sons were Ephrathites. Why? Who was buried in Ephrathah? Rachel Jacob's beloved wife the mother not of Judah, but of Joseph and Benjamin. So in our story Rachel's blood flows not in the veins of David, but of Saul. Yet Saul is from Gibeah (the town worse than Sodom) while David is from Bethlehem Ephrathah the town where Saul's foremother was buried. And this Jesse had eight sons. Given the prominence of the number 8 in the Bible, I cannot see this as accidental either. If it had been Jesse's seventh son, then we would have spoken of the completeness of the number. But it is Jesse's eighth son showing that completeness is not enough. Just as the eighth day worship of Israel showed that redemption requires a day beyond the creation (Pentecost, Tabernacles as well as circumcision and the consecration of the priests were all about the eighth day), so also the eighth son of Jesse shows that redemption requires more than seven sons. We heard in chapter 16 that David had been anointed by Samuel as the next king of Israel. We also heard that David had great skill with the lyre, and that when he who had been anointed with the Holy Spirit played the lyre, King Saul, who now had an evil spirit from God, would be refreshed. But David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. And while David is going back and forth, Goliath spends 40 days taunting the Israelites. Morning and evening he took his stand, and morning and evening Israel sat there, "dismayed and greatly afraid." It is important for us to remember that David is "going back and forth." He was Saul's armor-bearer, and a court musician, but he still had domestic responsibilities at home. In verses 17-18 we hear that Jesse sent David to the camp in order to see how his brothers were doing. We often think that this is the first time that David hears of Goliath. But if he has been going back and forth from Saul to his father, then surely he had heard of Goliath challenge before. And he came to the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry. Every morning, for forty days, the two armies faced each other. And every morning, for forty days, Goliath came and tempted Israel to say in their hearts, "The nations are too strong for us!" The temptation of Deuteronomy 7. The temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. And David heard him It has been rightly pointed out that whereas the men of Israel say "have you seen him?" David says, "have you heard him?" David hears Goliath's challenge and remembers what Moses had said. Do not say in your heart "my enemies are too strong." And David also hears what the people say, Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And he answers, who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? In effect, David says, have you forgotten who you are? You are the army of the living God? And David hears what shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel: (Again, an interesting way of putting it David understands that Israel's cowardice is a reproach. Goliath's taunts are a rebuke to a people who have failed to trust in their God). But David is told that the one who kills Goliath the king will enrich him . . . and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel. In other words, you'll get wealth, the king's daughter in marriage, and your whole family will live tax-free. But Eliab, the eldest brother, grew angry with David, the little pipsqueak, and said, Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle. Was Eliab jealous? He, after all, had been passed over when David was anointed by Samuel. Here's his little brother (probably a teenager) talking tough. But we often dismiss Eliab because we know the end of the story! But from the perspective of the middle of the story, Eliab is right. David is rebuking the troops for not going out and fighting Goliath, but what would have happened to Eliab, if Eliab had volunteered? Eliab would have been crushed like a bug. The point of our text is that there is no Israelite who is big enough and strong enough to beat Goliath! You cannot defeat Goliath. And since Israel has failed to be the son of God, we should not expect an ordinary Israelite to have success against Goliath. And since King Saul has been rejected by God, we should not expect the house of Saul to have success against Goliath. We need a Spirit-anointed warrior to defeat the big, ugly goon who is breathing threats and murder against the people of God. 3. A Wardrobe Malfunction (17:31-40) So they bring David to Saul, and David offers to fight Goliath. And Saul says, "no way." After all, if David loses, Israel will have to submit to the Philistines. But David says, look, this uncircumcised Philistine is no different than the lions and bears that I fought while protecting my sheep. And the key to David's confidence is found in verse 37 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. This speech convinces Saul. Let's give Saul due credit. He had failed to be the LORD's anointed but he has his moments: Go, and the LORD be with you! So Saul gives David his armor but David has never tested the armor, he's not used to it, so he takes it off. Instead, he selects five smooth stones from the brook and heads off with his sling and his staff to face the Philistine. 4. David Gets A Head (17:41-54) Now Goliath has challenged an Israelite to single combat. According to the rules of such combat, David was supposed to come down and fight in hand-to-hand combat. David's choice of the sling as his weapon neutralizes all of Goliath's advantages. David can stay at a distance and keep slinging stones while Goliath has to chase him. There's a sense in which David is "cheating." (Incidentally, that is probably why the Philistines do not feel obligated to become Israel's servants. David did not follow the rules of hand-to-hand combat, so he forfeited the right to claim the prize that Goliath offered.) On the other hand, Goliath certainly accepted David's own challenge! If Goliath had turned away in a huff and said that he would wait for hand-to-hand combat, then it would certainly have been inappropriate for David to start slinging stones at his back. But Goliath's response is ridicule and scorn: seeing this little boy coming toward him, he says Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field. But David responded (v45-47), 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. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hand. David makes it clear that this is not just about David vs. Goliath. This is about the LORD vs. Dagon. The God of Israel vs. the gods of the Philistines. When God brought his people out of Egypt and established them as his son, the Exodus demonstrated of the power of Yahweh against the gods of Egypt. Even so, when God established David as his son, his victory over Goliath demonstrated the power of Yahweh against the gods of the Philistines. And when God established Jesus as his son, declaring at his baptism, "this is my beloved son!" He then sent him into the wilderness where David's greater Son was tested by Goliath's master. Do you see why you cannot simply put yourself in David's shoes? You are not the Messiah. You are not God's anointed king who has been chosen by God to deliver your people! You are the host of Israel, whom Goliath has threatened and insulted. You are the army of the God of Israel. And when Jesus cut down Goliath on the cross, and overthrew the powers of sin, death, and the devil, then we, with the all the heavenly hosts, come charging into battle in order to rout an already defeated foe. We chase the armies of the devil and plunder their camp. If a preacher tells you "you can fight Goliath," ask him, "How? He's lying there dead with his cut off!" Jesus has defeated Goliath. The imagery of David and Goliath fits beautifully with Paul's discussion of spiritual warfare. Our spiritual warfare is conducted against foes who are already defeated, but not yet utterly destroyed. The Philistines were defeated the moment Goliath fell. But it takes a little while to finish the job. Jesus has defeated and bound the strong man. We live in that "little while" in which the hosts of heaven are mopping up and plundering the strong man's house. 5. David Takes the Lead (17:55-18:5) So David has gotten a head (notice that he brought it to Jerusalem suggesting that David may have already decided where he wanted his future capital to be). And Saul takes note of David (apparently for the first time). David was already his court musician and armor-bearer, but court musicians and armor-bearers are just servants. Saul does not seem to have paid much attention to David before, and so now he asks Abner, the commander of his army, "Whose son is this youth?" Abner did not know, so he brought David, still carrying the head of Goliath, before Saul and Saul asks, Whose son are you, young man? And David answered, "I am the son of your servant Jesse, the Bethlehemite. I think that we have established that you and I are not like David. We are not the Spirit-anointed king who defeats the enemies of the people of God. But at our best, we are like Jonathan who responded to David with self-denying love. As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father's house. Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt. In short, Jonathan yielded all to David. Whether he understood that David was God's anointed yet is not clear. What is clear is that he didn't care. If someone had said to Jonathan at that moment, "But David will usurp your place!" Jonathan would have responded, "thanks be to God! For this is one who will faithfully shepherd God's people!" Jonathan denied himself and followed David. You and I are not called to be the Spirit-anointed king. We are called to follow the Spirit-anointed king! We are called to yield all that we have and all that we are to him. And David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul set him over the men of war. And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul's servants. At least at first, (we seem to say that a lot about Saul!) at first, Saul starts off well! But as we will see, Saul does not yield all to David. Saul tries to use David for his own advantage. He looks pious and good, but in reality, Saul is about Saul. We try to do that too. We try to use Jesus for our advantage. We try to use God's Spirit-anointed conqueror as our personal agent. Too often we are not seeking the kingdom of God, we are seeking our own kingdoms. But as Saul will learn the hard way, if you will not bow to God's Spirit-anointed warrior, soon you won't have any kingdom at all!