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First Samuel chapter 17. First Samuel chapter 17. It's a long chapter. I'll read the 
whole chapter, but our study tonight will probably just be 
about half of it. It's a very famous story, probably 
one of all of our favorites, the story of David and Goliath. 
Beginning in chapter 17 at verse one, now the Philistines gathered 
their armies together to battle and were gathered at Soka, which 
belongs to Judah. They encamped between Soka and 
Azekah in Ephes, Damien. And Saul and the men of Israel 
were gathered together and they encamped in the Valley of Elah 
and drew up in battle array against the Philistines. The Philistines 
stood on a mountain on one side and Israel stood on a mountain 
on the other side with a valley between them. And a champion 
went out from the camp of the Philistines named Goliath from 
Gath, whose height was six cubits in a span. He had a bronze helmet 
on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the 
weight of the coat was 5,000 shekels of bronze. and he had 
bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his 
shoulders. Now the staff of his spear was 
like a weaver's beam, and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred 
shekels, and a shield-bearer went before him. Then he stood 
and cried out to the armies of Israel and said to them, Why 
have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, 
and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and 
let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with 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. And the Philistines said, I defy 
the armies of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight 
together. When Saul and all Israel heard 
these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly 
afraid. Now David was the son of that 
Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse, and who 
had eight sons. And the man was old, advanced 
in years in the days of Saul. The three oldest sons of Jesse 
had gone to follow Saul to the battle. The names of his three 
sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, next to 
him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. David was the youngest, and the 
three oldest followed Saul. But David occasionally went and 
returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. 
And the Philistine drew near and presented himself forty days, 
morning and evening. Then Jesse said to his son David, 
Take now for your brothers an ephah of this dried grain and 
these ten loaves, and run to your brothers at the camp, and 
carry these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and 
see how your brothers fare, and bring back news of them. And 
Saul, and Day, and all the men of Israel were in the valley 
of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. So David rose early in the morning, 
left the sheep with the keeper, and took the things, and went 
as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the camp as the 
army was going out to the fight and shouting for the battle. 
For Israel and the Philistines had drawn up in battle array, 
army against army. And David left his supplies in 
the hand of the supply keeper, ran to the army, and came and 
greeted his brothers. Then as he talked with them, 
there was the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, coming 
up from the armies of the Philistines. And he spoke according to the 
same words. So David heard them, and all 
the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and 
were dreadfully afraid. So the men of Israel said, have 
you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to 
defy Israel. And it shall be that the man 
who kills him the king will enrich with great riches, will give 
him his daughter, and give his father's house exemption from 
taxes in Israel. And David spoke to the men who 
stood by him, saying, 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? And the people answered him in 
this manner, saying, So shall it be done for the man who kills 
him. Now Eliab and his oldest brother heard when he spoke to 
the men, and Eliab's anger was aroused against David, and he 
said, Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those 
few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence 
of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle. And David 
said, what have I done now? Is there not a cause? And he 
turned from him toward another and said the same thing. And 
these people answered him as the first ones did. Now when 
the words which David spoke were heard, they reported them to 
Saul, and he sent for him. And David said to Saul, let no 
man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight 
with his Philistine. And Saul said to David, you are 
not able to go against this Philistine to fight with them, for you are 
a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. David said to 
Saul, your servant used to keep his father's sheep. And when 
a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went 
after it and struck it and delivered the lamb from its mouth. And 
when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard and struck and 
killed it. Your servant has killed both lion and bear, and this 
uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he 
has defied the armies of the living God. Moreover, David said, 
the Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from 
the paw of the bear, he will deliver me from the hand of this 
Philistine. And Saul said to David, go and 
the Lord be with you. So Saul clothed David with his 
armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head. He also clothed 
him with a coat of mail. David fastened his sword to his 
armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David 
said to Saul, I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested 
them. So David took them off. Then he took his staff in his 
hand, and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, 
and put them in a shepherd's bag, in a pouch which he had, 
and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. 
So the Philistine came and began drawing near to David, and the 
man who bore the shield went before him. And when the Philistine 
looked about and saw David, he disdained him, for he was only 
a youth, ruddy and good-looking. So the Philistine said to David, 
am I a dog that you come to me with sticks? And the Philistine 
cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David, 
come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air 
and the beasts of the field. And David said to the Philistine, 
you come to me with a sword, 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 and take your head 
from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp 
of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts 
of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God 
in Israel. And 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. So it was 
when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, 
that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 
And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone, and 
he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the 
stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the 
earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and 
a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was 
no sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran and stood 
over the Philistine, took his sword, and drew it out of its 
sheath, and killed him, and cut off his head with it. And when 
the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. 
Now the men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted and pursued 
the Philistines as far as the entrance of the valley into the 
gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines 
fell along the road to Sharan, even as far as Gath and Ekron. 
Then the children of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines 
and they plundered their tents. And David took the head of the 
Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor 
in his tent. When Saul saw David going out 
against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the 
army, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As your 
soul lives, O king, I do not know. So the king said, Inquire 
whose son this young man is. Then as David returned from the 
slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him 
before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. And 
Saul said to him, Whose son are you, young man? So David answered, 
I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite. Amen. It's a long chapter, but a rousing 
chapter. Certainly we see the faith of 
David manifested clearly in the various expressions that he engages 
in. Up to this particular point in 
our study in Samuel, we have seen the story of Samuel, chapters 
1 to 7, the story of Saul, chapters 9 to 15, and the story of Saul 
and David go from 16 all the way to 31. David Samura says 
concerning this particular section, In the rest of 1 Samuel, God, 
the Lord of history, providentially guides the lives of two persons, 
Saul and David. The former's decline and the 
latter's rise. However, the emphasis is not 
so much on their political actions as on their internal conditions. that is, their spiritual relationships 
with God, and certainly that's evident in 1 Samuel 17. Saul is, with the armies of Israel, 
fearful of this man Goliath, whereas David is faithful in 
the living, or has faith in the living and true God, that God 
will indeed deliver the armies of Israel. In a manner similar 
to the rise of Saul, remember when Saul was identified as a 
king, And then he was anointed by Samuel in chapter 10. On the 
heels of that, Saul engaged in a military victory. Remember, 
he was killing Ammonites until the heat of the day. And the 
same way in chapter 16, David is anointed by Samuel. And here 
in chapter 17, David acquires his first great victory in terms 
of his military prowess. Now, as we come to 1 Samuel 17, 
many people or commentators or persons that have read this story 
take it out of its context and try to make it appropriate to 
their own lives. Now, there's nothing wrong with 
getting application or implication from the Bible, but we need to 
understand that 1 Samuel 17 in the first place is not instructing 
you on how to deal with your Goliaths. It is not instructing 
you on how to deal with bullies down the street. It is not instructing 
you on how to deal with a bad self, poor self-esteem, or anything 
like that. The purpose of 1st Samuel 17 
is to vindicate the glory and the honor and the excellence 
of God Almighty. 1st Samuel 17 is about God. It's not about you and me. It's 
not about slaying our giants. It's not about battling our particular 
sins. Again, we can pull principles 
out and there's things we ought to learn in terms of a practical 
nature, but we need to understand the theological emphasis in the 
passage. Davis states it this way, if 
we don't listen to this text, then we'll end up bringing in 
all the junk about being courageous in the face of our Goliaths. 
whether the bully down the street or everyone's preoccupation, 
one's poor self-image. We must protect ourselves from 
such deafness to the text. One such protection is to note 
where a narrative talks about Yahweh. That is liable to be 
where the accent falls. And one of the recurring words 
in the particular chapter that we're looking at is reproach, 
or defy, or mock, or deride. Goliath is casting these sorts 
of things, this reproach, upon the living and true God. David, 
on the other hand, is the one who comes to rescue, not God, 
but to rescue, hopefully, Israel so that they will see that the 
God whom they serve is, in fact, glorious, worthy to be praised, 
worthy to be honored, worthy to be glorified. I suspect that 
the primary emphasis is found in verses 45 to 47. in chapter 17 when David makes 
his declaration to Goliath. But God willing, we will see 
that next week. I want to look at three things 
in terms of this particular chapter. First, the battle in the Valley 
of Elah. Secondly, the arrival of David 
in Elah. And then the victory of David 
over Goliath. Those are three broad categories. As I said, we're probably going 
to get about halfway through the chapter this evening. But 
in the first place, notice the battle in the Valley of Elah. 
Chapter 17, verses 1 to 11. The setting is important. Notice 
in verse 1, the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle, 
and were gathered at Soka, which belongs to Judah. They encamp 
between Soka and Azekah and Ephes Damim. So it belongs to Judah. We see that this is a threat 
posed to the nation of Israel. When you've got Philistines that 
close to our territory, this is a problem. Samora again says, 
set against this geographical background, the goal of this 
strategically important battle was certainly to secure the Valley 
of Ela, the natural point of entry from the Philistine homeland 
into the hill country of the Saulide Kingdom. The battle was 
thus crucial. So in verses 1 to 3, as the author 
sets the stage of the context for us, he underscores how important 
this particular battle is. If Israel is going to run and 
hide from Goliath, if Israel is going to be too fearful to 
engage this champion in battle, then the Philistines have easy 
access into Israel territory. they have easy access to make 
incursions upon the promised land and start to devastate the 
people of God. So it's a very crucial time in 
Israel's history. Verse 3 tells us the Philistines 
stood on a mountain on one side and Israel stood on a mountain 
on the other side with a valley between them. And then as we 
consider this setting still, this battle in the Valley of 
Elah, we note secondly the appearance of Goliath in verses 4 to 10. 
Now essentially what Goliath is doing is he's challenging 
Israel to produce a warrior so that Goliath and that warrior 
can have a duel. You remember those old duels? 
I actually can't say that I remember them. I've never witnessed anything 
like that, but you've heard about it where the guys have their 
pistols and they take ten steps and they turn around and they 
shoot each other. I just do not see The wisdom 
in that whatsoever, it seems like a lose-lose proposition 
to me, but dueling was something that was practiced, and that 
is precisely what Goliath is doing. Now certainly, as a man 
of his stature, and a man equipped with his weaponry, certainly 
he's going to have a boldness about this whole aspect of dueling. I certainly, if I was a dueler, 
I certainly wouldn't step into the ring with Goliath. I mean, 
the man was a monstrous beast. As we look at him in verses 4 
to 10, we note his name and his city. His name is Goliath. He's 
from Gath. Gath is one of those Philistine 
cities. Notice his size. His height was six cubits in 
a span. This means he was nine feet, 
nine inches tall. So he was one big, burly fellow. He had a lot going on in terms 
of a champion, in terms of a battle-proven man. Note his weapons in verses 
five to seven. He had a bronze helmet on his 
head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the 
coat was 5,000 shekels of bronze. He had bronze armor on his legs 
and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. Now the staff 
of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his iron spearhead 
weighed 600 shekels, and a shield-bearer went out before him. So basically, 
he's carrying about 126 pounds of armor. 126 pounds of armor. This is a strong 
fellow. He had eaten his eggs and he 
had drank his milk and he was certainly equipped to do battle 
in Israel. The spear, the iron head of the 
spear itself weighed about 15 to 16 pounds. So in order to 
pick that up and to be accurate with it, certainly the arm behind 
it was quite mighty and quite strong. What is the author doing 
here? the author is presenting to us 
just how dismal the picture is if we accept the idea that there's 
no God in Israel. In other words, if the Philistines, 
led by Goliath, have their way, then Israel will be no more. 
I think the author takes pains to describe Goliath in this particular 
manner, so that when we get to the victory, God's majesty, God's 
honor, and God's sovereignty is all the more on display. Didn't we already learn that 
in this book, in chapter 14, specifically at verse 6, when 
Jonathan makes his incursion, or he makes an attack upon the 
Philistines, Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, 
Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may 
be that the Lord will work for us. for nothing restrains the 
Lord from saving by many or by few. What the author in chapter 
17 is doing is so structuring it that we cannot miss the fact, 
we cannot miss the reality that the God of Israel is almighty. He is sovereign, He is all-powerful, 
He is most excellent, and He doesn't need giants, and He doesn't 
need arms, He doesn't need spears, He doesn't need all these things. 
to deal with and to defeat his foes. The God of heaven and earth 
is quite capable, in and of himself, to do that which extends his 
kingdom and advances his cause and his project. And this is 
the lesson that we need to learn in 1 Samuel 17. The picture developed. The menacing appearance of Goliath 
portrays how much of a threat he posed. And interestingly enough, 
as he is doing this, he's probably conscious of the fact, he must 
be conscious of the fact, that in chapter 16, he's already set 
down a principle. Notice in 16.7. 16.7 says, the Lord said to Samuel, 
do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature. This 
was in the choice of David. Remember, Samuel's looking at 
Jesse's son saying, wait a minute, this man, this man, this man, 
And when he calls or he makes eyes on Eliah, but Samuel thinks, 
well, certainly this is the Lord's anointed. But the Lord says to 
Samuel, do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because 
I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as 
man sees. For man looks at the outward 
appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. So the author in 
chapter 17 is describing to us Eliah. But if we paid attention 
to chapter 16, we ought not to fret. We shouldn't run with the 
armies of Israel, according to verse 11, and hide and cower 
from this Goliath. We ought not look at the external 
threat, but we ought to rather look at our great and glorious 
God. God will vindicate His name. 
God will save and spare His people. God will indeed preserve His 
peculiar chosen nation. That's what the author wants 
to give to us. Notice the giant's words in verses 
8 to 10. Then he stood and cried out to 
the armies of Israel and said to them, why have you come out 
to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine and you 
the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and 
let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with 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." There's the challenge for the duel. If your man wins, 
then we, the Philistines, will serve you. But if your man wins, the Philistines will serve 
you. But if I win, then the Israelites will serve me. We need to understand 
that at this point, this is a taunt speech. It's not making a real 
deal. I don't think that Goliath probably 
had that ability. Because when we get to the end, 
after Goliath has his head dislodged from his neck, what do we find? The Philistines don't submit 
and become their servants. The Israelites end up killing 
them and destroying them, to be sure. And Samorah says, as 
this was a taunt speech, not a negotiation, it is not surprising 
that the promise was not kept. So it is pointless to talk about 
the Philistines not keeping this agreement in verses 51 to 52. Now notice, he defies the armies 
of Israel. This is verse 10. The Philistines 
said, I defy the armies of Israel this day. Give me a man that 
we may fight together. So he is challenging, he is bringing 
a reproach, he is defying, he is mocking, he is deriding. Remember 
that this man operates according to a pagan or heathen deities. He probably worships Dagon and 
Astra. He is a godless man and he is 
defying the armies of the living and the true God. Now note the 
effect that this has upon Israel in verse 11. When Saul and all 
Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed 
and greatly afraid." They were dismayed and greatly afraid. 
Now notice, conspicuously, Saul is included here. It's not just 
the armies of Israel, but Saul. Remember in chapter 16, the spirit 
departs from Saul. This distressing spirit comes 
upon Saul. He is troubled, he makes the 
servants call for David the harpist, and he comes and plays to soothe 
Saul. We'll deal with that whole thing in just a moment. But it's 
interesting for us to see, when the Spirit departs from Saul, 
he becomes a coward. When the Spirit enters David, 
he becomes even more emboldened, more empowered, and more full 
of courage to serve his God. Not that David was without courage 
prior to this, because as he rehearses to King Saul, When 
he was a shepherd, he used to kill lions and bears. I mean, 
David was no piker. David was a man who had ability. But it is intriguing. The Spirit 
comes upon David, and he's emboldened and he has courage. The Spirit 
departs from Saul, and Saul and all Israel heard these words 
of the Philistine. They were dismayed and greatly 
afraid. This is another big theme. in 
this chapter. There were those who did not 
believe God and there was one who did believe God. Notice in 
verse 24, the response of Israel again. All the men of Israel, 
when they saw the man, fled from him and were dreadfully afraid. Note the contrast with David. 
In verse 26, the first time David ever talks, in the Bible. I'm 
sure David spoke up to this point, but up to this point in the narrative, 
David has been silent. The first thing David says, who 
is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies 
of the living God? Notice in verse 32, Let no man's 
heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight 
with this Philistine. Notice in verses 36 and 37, Your 
servant has killed both lion and bear, and this uncircumcised 
Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the 
armies of the living God. Moreover, David said, The Lord 
who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw 
of the bear, he will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. 
And then that great declaration in 45 to 47, The author is showing 
us what fear looks like and what faith looks like. Perhaps some 
of us find ourselves with those Israelites, the armies of Israel, 
who are fearful, not of this nine-foot, nine-inch man who 
wore 126 pounds of armor and who wielded a spear that had 
a tip that weighed 15 to 16 pounds, but we may be fearful of the 
various things that confront us in our day. Are we like the 
armies of Israel when we see threats coming against the church 
of Jesus Christ? Are we running and hiding? Are 
we cowering and quivering? You know, you talk to people 
at times and they say, wow, you know, Islam is increasing so 
rapidly and, you know, what's going to become of the Christian 
church? Jesus will most certainly look after his church. Jesus 
has promised in Matthew 16, I will build my church in the gates 
of Hades shall not prevail against it." Now that doesn't mean we 
should lie down and not pray and not cry out to God that Islam 
falls, but we ought never to get in the mindset that it's 
going to fail, that the church is lost, that everything is all 
done. We can be a very negative and 
a very pessimistic And I'm not suggesting that we'd be pie-in-the-sky, 
you know, unrealistic, having these thoughts that, you know, 
we're going to fly through this world just attended by bluebirds 
and having no problems. But there is a pessimism that 
runs deep in the heart of God's people at times. You see it back 
when Moses first sent out the spies to investigate the promised 
land. God said, tell them to go look 
at the land that I am giving you. God's already said He's 
giving it. God already promised to Abraham. God does not break covenant. 
God will provide what He has determined. So the twelve spies 
go out and they look at the land, and all the spies say it's a 
good land, there's good fruit, but there's these giants in the 
land. There are only two spies, Joshua and Caleb, who say, we 
can take the land. In fact, when they return from 
this reconnaissance mission, Caleb says, we must go at once. But these 10 spies whine, and 
they moan, and they grumble. And then the second time, they 
start to speak these things out. They don't mention the goodness 
of the land or the goodness of the fruit. All they talk about 
are the giants in the land. Now it should not surprise us 
that the congregation of Israel listens to and sides with the 
ten whining, grumbling spies. They don't listen to Joshua, 
they don't listen to Caleb, they listen to the ten grumblers. 
It is as a result of that faithlessness on the part of Israel that God 
kills that generation. That's the reason they would 
not enter in because of unbelief. When we come here to 1 Samuel 
17, do we think that the God of heaven and earth, do we think 
that the God who made this world and all things in it, the God 
who causes the blood to flow in Goliath while he is taunting 
the armies of the living God, do we actually think that God 
cannot deal with this 9 foot 9 inch monstrosity of a man who 
is basically belching out threats against the people of God. The 
children of Israel didn't think so. The children of Israel scattered. 
The children of Israel were terrified. They were dismayed and greatly 
afraid. And they were led into that by 
their own king Saul. This is a shame, and it is a 
problem, and David is the one that is the hero, no, well, God's 
the hero in the narrative, but David is certainly the man who 
operates according to faith in this particular chapter. Now 
notice, secondly, the arrival of David in Elah, verses 12 to 
22. Verse 12 is interesting. We go 
from this description of this horrific man, this champion of 
Philistia, and we hear his taunts, we hear his defying the armies 
of the living God, we get this statement concerning Saul and 
all Israel hearing these words and being dismayed and greatly 
afraid, and then the scene shifts from the Valley of Elah over 
to Bethlehem. But didn't we already do this 
scene in Bethlehem? Didn't we already meet David 
and Jesse and the sons of Jesse in chapter 16? If you are familiar 
with what's called the Septuagint, it is the Greek translation of 
the Hebrew Bible. It's the Greek translation of 
the Old Testament scriptures. It is greatly reduced in chapter 
17. Chapter 17 has presented several 
problems to interpreters and Bible readers over the years. 
Notice we have in verses 12 and following the introduction of 
David, but wasn't David already introduced? Didn't we already 
meet him? Doesn't Saul already use David 
in his own court so that he can play that harp to him and soothe 
him when he's in this frenzy or when this trouble comes upon 
him? That certainly presents itself as a problem. Chapter 
7, we reintroduce Jesse and David, and then as well, if Saul was 
ministered to by David in 1623, why does he not seem to know 
him at the end of chapter 17? When we get to chapter 17, beginning 
in verse 55, Saul asks about David. He inquires about David. Certainly, Saul, you must have 
seen him while he was there harping for you while you were in your 
frenzy. Certainly, you must have observed David doing his thing 
while you were sitting there in a freaked out state of mind. 
Maybe he was so freaked out he didn't remember David. So the 
Septuagint is greatly reduced and it's smoothed out, and that's 
one of the reasons why we ought to be suspicious of it. A smoothed 
out text isn't necessarily the right text. Men will typically 
seek to smooth things out, but nothing in chapter 17 presents 
any difficulties whatsoever to see it on the heels of chapter 
16. Note specifically verse 15, David occasionally went and returned 
from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. That solves 
the problem as to how David could have been in Saul's court and 
now he's back in Bethlehem. Now certainly the people who 
call into question this chapter say, well, verse 15 must have 
been put in there. No, verse 15 is there to explain 
and to give us the sense of what is happening. So verse 15 indicates 
this movement for David between Saltsport and Bethlehem. The 
description of David the second time as we get to verse 12, and 
it describes for us this young man, David. balances out what's 
already been said about Goliath. What we are doing or what the 
narrator is doing is presenting the two men who are going to 
duel. He presents Goliath and all of 
his blathering reproach upon Israel and then he produces or 
presents to us David. So there is a balancing out with 
reference to what appears to be a reintroduction. And then 
at the end of the chapter, the question posed by Saul is not 
about the identity of David. It's about the identity of Jesse. Three times Saul says, whose 
son is this? Certainly Saul knew David, but 
probably he didn't know Jesse. You say, well in chapter 16 he 
was introduced as the son of Jesse. Yeah, but in chapter 16 
we have a king, we have a kingdom, we have an administration, we 
probably have bureaucracy. You know, we can't fault Saul 
for not keeping into his head this detail about his new harpist's 
father. And remember that the promise 
was very specifically stated. To the man that kills Goliath, 
what happens? He gets Saul's daughter, and 
then the man's father or household gets tax exempt status. So when we get to the end of 
chapter 17, I think Saul is making good on his promises. He needs 
to give his daughter to David, and he needs to provide tax exemption 
to David's father's house. There is no discrepancy whatsoever. The reintroducing is simply to 
balance out the fact that we have Goliath introduced and now 
we have David. This whole idea of how did David 
go from place to place? He's David. He could go from 
place to place. About a ten mile jaunt. He goes 
and he serves in Saul's court. He goes back to Bethlehem to 
tend his father's sheep. At the end of the chapter, it's 
not David that Saul seeks his identity. It's David's father. 
It's David's household. So we'll take this passage as 
it stands, as the English versions treat it, according to the Masoretic 
text and not according to the Septuagint. Now that that's out 
of the way and everybody's sufficiently bored, let's look at what happens 
in verses 12 to 22. And the son of Jesse is introduced, 
the brothers of David, we've already met them in chapter 16, 
we won't spend a lot of time there. David's activity, verse 
15, he occasionally went and returned from Saul to feed his 
father's sheep at Bethlehem. Now notice, verse 16, the Philistine 
drew near and presented himself forty days morning and evening. The writer is going to continually 
remind us Goliath's there. Yeah, we're looking at Bethlehem 
right now, and looking at Jesse, and looking at David, and looking 
at Eliab, and looking at this family, but we mustn't forget 
the current crisis. In the Valley of Elah, there 
is this big giant, and he's continuing to challenge, and he's continuing 
to breathe out these taunts, and he continues to want to engage 
one from Israel. Now, notice David's mission in 
verses 17 to 19. This is truly amazing. You wonder, 
how could it be that this is amazing? Notice there's an instruction 
to take food. David, I want you to take now 
for your brothers an ephah of this dried grain, these ten loaves, 
and run to your brothers at the camp, and carry these ten cheeses. I just have this vision of wheels 
of Gouda. I don't know if that's accurate, 
but that's what I can't get out of my head. Wheels of Gouda. 
"'Yet he's taking these 10 wheels of Gouda to his brothers. "'Take 
now for your brothers an ephah of this dried grain, "'these 
10 loaves, and run to your brothers. "'Carry these 10 cheeses to the 
captain of their thousand, "'and see how your brothers fare, "'and 
bring back news of them. "'Now Saul and Day and all the 
men of Israel "'were in the valley of Elah fighting with the Philistines.'" 
Now notice, this is a very simple mission, isn't it? It's a very 
natural mission as well. Jesse is no doubt concerned with 
his older sons. If they are in a battle against 
the Philistines, and there's this huge man that is taunting 
and defying the armies of Israel, it would be normal and natural 
for Jesse to say to his youngest son, David, I want you to take 
this food to the battle line, I want you to feed your brothers, 
and I want you to find out how they're doing, and I want you 
to return to me and give me that particular information. Now this 
is intriguing for this very reason. We see at work the providence 
of God. We have seen that throughout 
this particular book. Just going back for a moment 
to chapter nine. Remember, how does God identify 
a king in Israel? It comes about as a result of 
a search for lost donkeys. Something as mundane and something 
as normal and something as run-of-the-mill as looking for your lost donkeys 
yields a king in Israel. David is sent on a mission simply 
to deliver food and to find out some information from his brothers 
to report back to his father, Jesse. David doesn't realize, 
nor does his father Jesse, nor does anyone else at this particular 
time, that God in his providence is moving David from Bethlehem 
to the Valley of Elah, so it will be David who takes that 
sling and swings it and downs that giant, who lands that rock 
right square smack in his head. What we have here is God's providence 
in the normal and the mundane bringing about the extraordinary. Even back in chapter 16, remember 
the idea, when Saul starts to have his fits, we'll just call 
it that, he's distressed, a distressing spirit is sent by the Lord, Saul 
is troubled, and he starts to manifest this because his servant 
says, Wait a minute, you look like you're having trouble. Wait 
a minute, I have an idea. I know that music will be quite 
the thing for you. Heart music especially. And I 
happen to know that there's this man named David and he's really 
skilled in playing the heart. All of that is the providence 
of God governing all his creatures. and all their actions, working 
out every detail to bring David to Saul's court. In the same 
manner, these 10 cheeses are simply the means by which David 
gets placed onto the field of battle in the Valley of Elah 
so that he can undertake for the God of heaven and earth. 
He arrives in the valley in verses 20 to 22. He executes his mission 
successfully, as he ought to. David brought the supplies. He 
left his supplies in the hand of the supply keeper, ran to 
the army, and came and greeted his brothers. This is how David 
Samora reports it. He says, one can see here, in 
a seemingly ordinary event in the life of David, God's providential 
guidance, as in Hannah's life, see 1 Samuel 1. Although David, 
when he went, had no intention of getting into a fight with 
a Philistine champion. You think David woke up that 
morning and said, you know, I'm going to be the one that goes out there 
and kills this big, you know, meathead. I'm going to be the 
one that downs this big giant. I'm going to be... No, he doesn't 
think that at all. You see, this is God's providence. 
You see, there are many times we try and we try and we try 
to work things out. We just need to do what God calls 
us to do and be faithful. Greatness is achieved not by 
trying to be great, but by being faithful and doing what God calls 
you to do. You see, the idea here is be 
a David. David went, he played his harp, 
so he could calm Saul down. Once Saul was calmed down, what 
did David do? Did he sign up for a course on 
how to achieve greatness in Israel? No, he went back to Bethlehem, 
and he watched the sheep for his father. When his father says, 
I want you to take this food to your brothers, and I want 
you to find out how they're doing, he says, okay, dad. You see, 
the people who are used by God are not necessarily the people 
who are trying to be used by God. They are the people who 
are faithful to God. If you want to be useful in the 
Kingdom of Heaven, be a faithful man, a faithful woman, a faithful 
boy or a faithful girl. Read your Bibles, pray, go to 
church, don't miss the Lord's Supper, don't absent yourselves 
from things that God has ordained for your good. You want to be 
great? Be faithful. There's a push and 
a press in every generation on this radical Christianity, this 
extra-special Christianity. Do you know what that is? That 
is a push to do something that God hasn't necessarily commanded. God calls us to be faithful. That's it. Isn't it intriguing 
that after the resurrection from the dead, when Jesus appears 
to his disciples, what does he find them doing? They're fishing. He doesn't rebuke them, he doesn't 
reprove them, he doesn't say, how dare you in the light of 
my resurrection, you are not having conferences, and you are, 
he tells them where to fish. God is not at war with the mundane. God is not at war with the ordinary. God is not at war with our day 
in and day out. God is at war with our faithlessness, 
our unrighteousness, and our desire to be something that we're 
not. The beauty of David is that he's 
just doing what he's supposed to be doing. But he's doing it 
as a faithful man, such that when he comes into contact with 
his big meathead, can't say his mouth anymore. And he says, who 
is this uncircumcised who thinks he can defy the armies of the 
living God? But up to this point, he is faithful. That's the point we need to appreciate. Samorah says, although David, 
when he went, had no intention of getting into a fight with 
a Philistine champion, God was preparing him for a dramatic 
debut in the history of Israel for promoting the divine plan 
of salvation among the covenant people. Do you understand that's 
David's entrance into greatness? First and foremost, because he 
could play art and soothe Saul. I mean, that was his first claim 
to fame. Don't we get a snapshot of David too? Chapter 16, he's 
the sweet psalmist of Israel, isn't he? He's a harpist, he's 
a poet. He's not effeminate, but he's 
not this, you know, meathead like Goliath. When we get to 
chapter 17, what do we get? We have a warrior. We have a 
man who takes a sling and downs this Philistine giant. Don't 
we get the David of the Psalter in 1 Samuel 16 and 17? Don't 
we get this snapshot in 1st Samuel 16 and 17 that is developed for 
us by David himself under the inspiration of the Spirit in 
his psalms? David is God's warrior poet. He is the sweet psalmist of Israel, 
but you better not get too close when he's, you know, spitting 
that slang because he'll bring you down. David is a faithful 
man, brethren. That's what we ought to appreciate 
in this particular part of the narrative. Now, notice. It brings 
us to the victory of David over Goliath. We're only going to 
get to a few points here. The words of Goliath, verses 
23 and 24. He's just like, you know, he 
just keeps doing it. Blah, blah, blah. He just keeps taunting 
and reproaching and reviling. I mean, it's like somebody put 
a quarter in and turned him on. And he just can't shut up. I 
mean, that's what Goliath is doing. Just this big, bumbling 
oaf that wants to challenge Israel to produce a warrior. Verse 23, 
As he talked with them, there was the champion, the Philistine 
of Gath, Goliath by name, coming up from the armies of the Philistines. 
And he spoke according to the same words. So David heard them, 
and all the men of Israel, and they saw the man fled from him, 
and were dreadfully afraid. It's terrible. It's wrong. Don't 
miss that stuff in your Bible reading. When you read that the 
covenant people flee from the enemies of God and are terribly 
afraid. Now, it's not necessarily wrong 
to flee from the enemies of God if they're coming at you and 
they're, you know. Paul ran. Paul was lowered down, you know, 
by a basket out of the gate so that he could, you know, live 
his life. But in this particular instance, they're on the field 
of battle. What do you do on the field of battle? You don't 
go on to the field of battle to run from the enemy. You go 
on the field of battle to engage the enemy and to die trying if 
necessary. So David sees what's going on. 
Verse 25, the men of Israel basically rehearse what Saul's going to 
do for the man who kills the giant. Verse 26, David didn't 
hear verse 25. Don't think that this is just 
weird repetition. David obviously didn't hear what 
was being said in verse 25. Because in verse 26, David spoke 
to the man who stood by him saying, what shall be done for the man 
who kills this Philistine and who takes away the approach from 
Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy 
the armies of the living God? thing he says is a theological 
statement. The first thing he says is, what 
are we doing in this situation? There is a God, a living God. And when David says, who is this 
uncircumcised Philistine? I don't know that we can rightfully 
give it the twist that it probably had. He is just incredulous. He is amazed. He's in shock. Here he is, tending sheep. Jesse 
says, take the wheels of Gouda, run down to the brothers, feed 
them, find out how they're doing. He goes and he sees the battlefield, 
and this is what's happening? The armies of the living God 
are dreadfully afraid. They're in fear. They're trembling. 
David is incredulous. He says, who is this uncircumcised 
Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? Davis says this. David has never 
spoken before in our story. He spends a bit of time in the 
commentary, Davis does, to underscore this reality. People who don't 
speak a lot, when they do speak, you pay attention, don't you? 
I mean, people that talk all the time, you kind of tune them 
out. This is always my fear when people 
are tuning me out. Please don't tune me out. This 
is important. It's not me. It's what the Bible said. But 
people who talk a lot, we tend to, yeah, OK, you know, I'm trying 
to be interesting. I'm sorry I'm not trying to be 
a mean guy. Now you're going to say, when 
I'm talking to him, does he do that to me? I genuinely try to 
listen to everything people tell me. It's identification. But people who don't talk a lot. 
Imagine you had a father that didn't say a whole lot, but when 
he spoke, it was gold, it was wisdom. Davis develops that and 
says, that's what we have here. We've got David in chapter 16, 
David in chapter 17. He hasn't said a word, and now 
this is what he says. David has never spoken before 
in our story. Now the silence is broken. David 
brings a whole new worldview. To this point, the narrative 
has been godless, much like our own stewing over some insoluble 
dilemma. But now David injects the godly 
question into the episode. Doesn't having a living God make 
a difference in all this? This fellow has mocked the ranks 
of the living God? If God is so identified with 
Israel, do you think he is indifferent toward such slurs on his reputation? Do you expect a living God to 
allow an uncircumcised Philistine to trample his name in military 
and theological mud? Israel thought the Philistine 
invulnerable. For David, he was only uncircumcised. A living God gives a whole new 
view of things. That's what David brings to the 
scene. He brings the conscious reality 
that what are we doing, Israel? This man defies the armies of 
the living God. We cannot stand for this. We 
cannot allow this. We cannot let this continue. David, as a man of faith and 
a great God, understands the greatness of his God, and so 
David wants to undertake to engage in this particular situation. Notice verses 28 to 30. Now Eliab, his oldest brother, 
heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab's anger was aroused 
against David, and he said, why did you come down here? This 
indicates that Eliab probably was not privy to the anointing 
of David by Samuel in 1 Samuel 16. Probably Jesse was, but Eliab 
obviously... I hope Eliab wasn't, because 
if he's talking this way to the Lord's anointed, he's in bad 
shape. Eliab's anger was aroused against 
David, and he said, Why did you come down here? And with whom 
have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your 
pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down 
to see the battle. And David said, What have I done 
now? Is there not a cause? Now basically 
what we have is the older brother criticizing the little brother. 
What are you doing here? What's wrong with you? You do 
not belong here. Drop off your cheeses and head 
on out. But then he gets particularly 
nasty. I know your pride and the insolence 
of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle. Now, 
of course, David responds as a younger brother might answer 
the older brother. The NIV, I think, captures it 
well. Now, what have I done, said David? 
Can't I even speak? Don't I have the opportunity 
to weigh in on this? I mean, it's a pretty important 
matter, don't you think? There's a big giant taunting 
the armies of the living God. Can't I even mention or utter 
a particular word? But notice something intriguing 
here that Davis alerted me to, is that David has to deal with 
three Goliaths. He actually has to deal with 
three Goliaths in chapter 17. One might say, according to Ralph 
Davis, David has to fight three Goliaths in this chapter. For 
in Eliab, he faces the contempt of Goliath. Isn't Eliab sound 
like what Goliath does ultimately to David? Who do you think you 
are? You're nothing. You're this, you know, proud, 
arrogant, insolent young man. And in Saul, he meets the mind 
of Goliath, i.e., it's only the experience, verse 33. And the equipped, verse 38 to 
39, warrior who carries the odds of winning. You understand that 
everything that Goliath throws upon David, David's already heard 
from Eliab as a brother and from Saul as king. When David presents 
himself to Saul, Saul says, you're an experience. You don't have 
the ability. You don't have the armament. 
When he faces Goliath on the battlefield, what does Goliath 
say? You're inexperienced. You don't have the armament. 
You're just a kid, you're right. Probably Robert Alter in his 
book, The Art of Biblical Narrative, suggests that what Goliath says 
speaks something to David being effeminate even. Now this isn't 
that David was effeminate. I guess for a nine foot nine 
inch guy, any younger, anybody else probably looks effeminate. 
But Goliath despises and disdains David in the same manner that 
Saul already did. Goliath taunts and speaks to 
David in the same manner that Goliath already did. David says 
all that before he faces the carcass of Goliath himself. Now 
notice, this is our last part. The meeting, or the appearance 
before Saul in verses 31 to 39. Notice the meeting with Saul, 
verse 31. Now when the words which David 
spoke were heard, they reported them to Saul, and he sent for 
him. And David said to Saul, let no man's heart fail because 
of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine. 
Isn't that beautiful? Just a matter of fact. That's 
faith. Let no one's heart fail. I'm just going to go take care 
of business. I'm going to deal with it. Just you relax, Saul, 
right? Think about what Saul is seeing 
here, his harpist, the sweet psalmist of Israel. When he's 
not playing his harp, he's tending the sheep in his father's field 
in Bethlehem. David has not presented himself 
as this mighty and able warrior. Notice the objection from Saul. Verse 33, you are not able to 
go against this Philistine, to fight with him. For you are a 
youth, and he a man of war from his youth. You're inexperienced. 
You're ineffective. You don't have the wherewithal 
to do this. Almost as if he wants to pat 
him on his nice little head and say, well that's a nice thought, 
but now run home and get your harp and play for me. Now notice 
David's response in verses 34 to 37. This is crucial stuff. David said to Saul, your servant 
used to keep his father's sheep. And when a lion or a bear came 
and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck 
it and delivered the lamb from its mouth. And when it arose 
against me, I caught it by its beard, or it might be throat, 
and struck and killed it. Now there are several interesting 
things. in this particular description. 
First, David realizes that the God who proved faithful in the 
past will indeed prove faithful in the present. What God has 
done in the past, I can walk in faith, trusting He will do 
again. There's a good principle there 
for all of us. What God has delivered us in 
the past ought to help us with the present and with the future. 
Notice secondly, your servant used to keep his father's sheep, 
and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, 
I went out after it and struck it. Now, does anyone else but 
me think this is absolutely amazing? Goliath may be big, but he's 
slow. When they actually engage, you 
get the idea that this lumbering, 126 pounds of armor bearing guy 
is doing this thing. David chases lions and bears 
and catches them. David ain't to be messed with. 
David has tried and proven his God. And David's faith in that 
God, in his pursuit of lions and bears, makes him realize 
that this big fool isn't anything. I can deal with this. God giving 
me grace. God giving me deliverance. Now 
certainly, there's that Samson reminisce here. Samson was able 
to destroy a bear. So when you have men like Samson 
and David on your side, you ought to have a little bit more boldness 
and a little bit more zeal to battle enemies. And something 
intriguing about verse 35, this is just kind of gee whiz info. 
I went out after it and struck it and delivered the lamb from 
its mouth. Have you ever tried to take food 
out of a dog's mouth? Do they just say, go ahead? No, they fight all the more. 
You want to see the ferocity of an animal trying to take food 
out of its mouth. Or a human. I'm not really keen 
on people trying to pull food out of my mouth either. That's 
not a pleasant experience. Not that I can think of a time 
when anyone did that. But, think about it. David says, 
I ran, I chased them. If my lamb was in its mouth, 
I would grab them by the throat, and I would pull that animal 
out of its mouth. In the height of the ferocity 
of the animal, my God delivered me. And certainly my God will 
deliver me against this other animal. Davis says, don't say 
I've no experience of war. Striking down enemies is part 
of my job. It's just that they are ferocious 
mammals rather than arrogant giants. David has been proven, 
David does have the experience, David will go on to the field 
of battle. But note the source of his strength. Your servant, verse 36, has killed 
both lion and bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine will 
be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the 
living God. Now notice, Moreover, David said, 
the Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from 
the paw of the bear, he will deliver me from the hand of this 
Philistine. David does not trust in his ability. David does not trust in the fact 
that he's got the power to destroy lions and bears. Not that there's 
anything wrong with having had the experience. Certainly God 
can bless that, to be sure, things that we're good at. God oftentimes 
blesses and uses for His glory and His honor. But the source 
of David's strength is not David's strength. The source of David's 
strength is the God of Israel, the one whom this giant is mocking 
and taunting and reproaching. Davis again, and I'll end here, 
because I think that this is something we ought to take and 
consider. Davis says there is the interpretation 
of David's experience. He, or the Lord, who delivered 
me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, he 
will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. There is 
the interpretation of David's experience. He does not ascribe 
his escapes to luck or skill or audacity. Yahweh delivered 
me. Looking back in faith enables 
him to look forward in faith. He will deliver me from the hand 
of this Philistine. What Yahweh has done in the wilderness 
of Judah, he will do in the valley of Elah. This is instructive 
for the people of God. Faith is sustained in the present 
and for the present as it remembers Yahweh's provision in the past. You see, this is one of the other 
reasons you should read your Bible if you struggle, because 
it may not be your experience wherein you see God's faithfulness 
in a particular activity, but it's in the people of God's experience. Not all of us are gonna face 
a giant, but if we ever have to, it's nice to reflect upon 
the fact that God delivered David when he faced a giant. You see, 
you need to fill your minds and you need to fill your hearts 
and your consciences with the truth of God's dealings with 
his people and in your own life and in your own experience. Faith is sustained in the present 
and for the present as it remembers Yahweh's provision in the past. 
He says the rich history of God's past goodnesses nurtures faith 
in its current dilemma. Now, I know I'm speaking to people 
who struggle, as all of us do. I don't know what's going on. 
This is a difficulty. This is a struggle. This is a 
hardship. You need to trust in the God who has delivered you 
from every other struggle and every other hardship and every 
other difficulty, that He's not going to abandon you in this 
one. You need to look back at what God has done for current 
strength to stand in the present to face the battles that you're 
going through. Then he ends this by saying, you must keep verse 
37. He will deliver me before you. 
If you don't, you will misconstrue verses 34 to 36. David will be 
delivered, not because he has true grit, but because he knows 
the true God. That's the point of chapter 17. 
Circumstances may vary, but Yahweh is the same whether among the 
sheep or in front of the Philistines. So we'll end there and God willing 
take up next week when Goliath loses his head.