← Back to sermon library

You can turn in your Bibles back 
to 1 Samuel 17. We read from verse 1 to verse 
52 to verse 51 this morning. We're going to pick up reading 
at verse 33 tonight and read to the end of the chapter. So 
this is 1 Samuel 17 beginning at verse 33. And Saul said to 
David, 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. But 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 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.' Then 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. 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. 
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. Then 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 and to 
the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines 
fell along the road to Shaarim, 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. Let us 
pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you 
for, again, this portion of Holy Scripture that speaks much to 
a victory that was rendered unto your glory and unto a witness 
to all the earth and to the congregation of Israel. We pray that we would 
gain much from it this evening. We pray for your spirit to work 
by your word, by this your word, in instructing us, encouraging 
us, impressing upon us the gravity and the severity of the reputation 
and glory of your name. And we pray, Lord God, that by 
that same spirit and word, we'd be able to go out into this lower 
world to live with a wholesome zeal unto your glory. We pray 
in Christ's name. Amen. Well, we looked this morning 
at the previous verses that we didn't read this evening, verses 
1 to 32. We hopefully, in a semi-effective 
way, set forth the battle scene, what was going on here at this, 
in this portion of geography, we noted that the Philistines 
were gathered from Azica over to Saco, and that the armies 
of Israel were gathered just above the Valley of Ela, with 
the valley in between the two armies. And we noted that this 
wasn't just a couple thousand people gathered in each army, 
a few thousand warriors on either side, but rather more like 200,000 
to 300,000 soldiers gathered for battle on within the ranks 
of either army. We had the introduction to the 
giant decked out in the human splendor of so much armor and 
weaponry. We had the introduction to the 
giant slayer, an unassuming youth who was the son of a shepherd 
and a shepherd himself. And we noted also the prelude 
to the battle. We noted the fear of the Israelites, 
the Goliath's continuing threats. David's zeal and his composure 
in responding to Eliab, his oldest brother. And we also noted David's 
faith and his faith as he spoke there at the end of verse 32, 
let no man's heart fail because of him, your servant will go 
and fight with this Philistine. So with all that hopefully in 
the back of our minds or in the fore of our minds, we'll continue 
now as we move into the battle, the account of the battle. And 
first off, we'll notice, Saul's complete lack of confidence in 
David. Saul's complete lack of confidence 
in David. Notice right at verse 33. And 
Saul said to David, 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. Saul had a complete lack of confidence 
in David. And again, with that human wisdom, 
he's looking upon this scene. This giant from Gath is marching 
out from from the mass of the Philistine army into the valley 
of Ella to shout at the Israeli at the Israelite army and and 
continually morning and evening blaspheming the Lord God and 
challenging them to single combat duel and he sees this massive 
figure Saul was big remember head and shoulders above the 
rest of Israel, but Goliath was much bigger Not only that, but 
he's decked out in 272 pounds of armor and weaponry. And he 
sees David, this one who has come forth saying that he will 
fight this Philistine. He's looking at Goliath, considering 
him, and he's looking at David and considering this youth. And 
he says, for you are a youth and he a man of war from his 
youth. You are not able to go out and 
fight against this mass of a giant from Gath. And I think that is, 
I think there's two levels there. That is the first one, the obvious 
reading of the text. And I think we can, faithfully, 
with the context and everything going on in 1 Samuel 17, possibly 
suppose something else going on as well. And that is the jealousy 
of King Saul. You see, King Saul did not want 
this David to earn and gain the favor of Israel and God's covenant 
people. And we know this because he does 
fight the Philistine, he is victorious, and Saul becomes jealous. Notice 
just for a moment, if you just go to verse three of, or excuse 
me, verse seven of 1 Samuel 18. 1 Samuel 18, verse seven. So the women sang as they danced 
and said, Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands. You see, Saul, perhaps because 
he knew that the favor that the spirit of the Lord had been removed 
from him, a spirit, a troubling spirit of the Lord has been sent 
upon him. He's been rejected as the king. 
David has been anointed as the future king. And so Saul, Saul, 
post Davidic victory, post slaying of Goliath, post righteous slaughtering 
of all of these Philistines. Here's this song sung by the 
women. Saul has slain his thousands. That's good. That's an impressive 
military conquest. But David has his, David, his 
ten thousands. Notice what it says in verse 
eight. Then Saul was very angry and the saying displeased him. 
And he said, they have ascribed to David ten thousands. And to 
me, they have ascribed only thousands. Now, what more can he have but 
the kingdom? So Saul eyed David from that 
day forward. So you see, Saul sees David, 
the one who has and is resting in God's monarchical favor, coming 
and saying that he will go out to fight this Philistine. And 
yes, he observes the fact that Goliath is a warrior from his 
youth and David just a youth. And humanly speaking, he's noting 
that he cannot go up against this Philistine. But we would 
probably be amiss not to surmise that in the background is Saul's 
jealousy over David. So Saul's complete lack of confidence 
in David. Secondly, David's complete confidence 
in the Lord. So we have, conversely, Saul's 
complete lack of confidence in David, but we have David's complete 
confidence in the Lord. Notice how David responds in 
verse 34. 1st Samuel 17 but 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 and 
struck and killed it We'll stop there just for a moment to note 
David engages in if we can if you'll bear with me for a moment 
autobiographical historical retrospect in order to argue his readiness 
for battle. In other words, what he does 
is he recalls for Saul his former engagement with foes, in this 
case lions and bears, in order to argue for his readiness to 
battle this Philistine from Gath. He argues based upon his history, 
and remember this is something that the Israelites did throughout 
their old covenant time. And this is what Christians do 
in the New Covenant, or it's what we ought to do. The Psalms 
are full of historical retrospect. Remember that phrase because 
it's very important for our religious lives. The people of God look 
back upon the grace and the mercy and the eternal loving kindness 
of their great God and find great confidence, great courage and 
great fuel for faith. And this is what David does before 
Saul, who is his objector. So David engages in autobiographical 
historical retrospect to argue his readiness for battle. Secondly, 
under David's complete confidence in the Lord, he gives reason 
for the necessity of the slaying of the giant, of the slaying 
of Goliath. Notice it continues at verse 
36. Your servant has killed both 
lion and bear, so he continues this retrospect And this uncircumcised 
Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the 
armies of the living God. So David gives the reason for 
the necessity of the slaying of Goliath. It is because he 
has defied the armies of the living God. So he wants to assure 
Saul that just like just Just like the fact of my slaying of 
the lion and my slaying of the bear, so will be the forthcoming 
fact of my slaying of this blasphemous giant of the Philistines. As well, he recognizes that it 
is the Lord who provides deliverance. It is the Lord who provides deliverance. 
You see, Saul's error, among other things, is that he is resting 
his confidence upon the implements of human warfare. He's resting 
his confidence and his faith, if you will, his hope in the 
strength of either himself or perhaps another of the Israelite 
camp who will likewise, like Goliath, be decked out in a bronze 
helmet, be decked out in mail, be decked out with a sword, be 
decked out with a shield and will go and conquer this giant 
with like implements of human warfare. That is one of Saul's 
errors. But David here recognizes that 
it is the Lord who provides deliverance. Notice what he goes on to say 
after he speaks concerning the slaying of Goliath. He says in 
verse 37, 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 the Philistine. You see, if for some 
reason there was to be any confusion that prior to that statement, 
David was boasting in his own strength in conquering the lion 
and his own strength in conquering the bear. It is corrected now 
if there was any confusion by David declaring that it was the 
Lord who provided deliverance. David is not being a Nebuchadnezzar 
here, saying, look at my might and the splendor of my power. He's saying, look to the Lord, 
the Lord, verse 37, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and 
from the paw of the bear, he will deliver me from the hand 
of the Philistine." You see, this is a picture of Christian 
faith. As we go about our daily lives, 
we know historically what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. We know that perfect, irrevocable 
work of salvation that avails for us time immemorial. We know 
what God has blessed us with providentially, at least we should 
look back upon our lives. And if we can't find a list of 
anything, we can find the fact that right now we enjoy the breathing 
in of air that he provides in his loving condescension. We 
enjoy food. We enjoy the provision of water 
and food. We enjoy the liberty of gathering 
together here as Christ's church and singing the praises of Almighty 
God. We have salvation, historical 
providence. We know what God has done for 
us, and belief then always looks to the future and has complete 
confidence in what God will do for us. And so that's what David 
is engaging in here. You see, very often people, just 
a little aside, people will add to faith an element beyond belief, 
which is trust. In other words, faith is not 
just believing, but it's also trusting. And that is nonsense. Believing trusting are synonymous 
trust if we can add a spin of definition to it is simply believing 
in The future tense it is belief It is resting upon the propositions 
of Holy Scripture resting upon the truths of Holy Scripture 
in the future sense Trusting is believing David believed and 
therefore trusted David trusted Therefore, he was believing. 
So David, trusted in the Lord, had full and complete confidence 
in the Lord as he was set to engage in battle with Goliath 
from Gath. Thirdly, so we have Saul's complete 
lack of confidence in David, David's complete confidence in 
the Lord. Thirdly, the giant's threat. 
the giant's threat. Notice here as the narrative 
continues at the end of verse 37. 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. If we can pause to make any comment 
on this, we don't need to dive into anything symbolic or anything 
allegorical or anything like that. But simply to say this, 
if we're to read anything from this beyond the obvious, it's 
that this is more of a divine proof that God does not save 
by sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord's and he will give 
you into our hands. It is to punctuate a David, a 
giant slayer without armor, was to punctuate the fact that it 
is God who saves, it is not the implements of human warfare. 
But going on, the giant's threat, verse 40. 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. 
Now here comes the Philistine's threat. 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." First off, we need to note here, in 
ignorance, or sorry, first off, we need to notice with regards 
to the giant's threat, he was insulted by David. That's what's 
going on here. When he disdains David, when 
we read the text, he disdained him, For he was only a youth, 
ruddy and good-looking." What's probably going on in the mind 
of Goliath is that, do you not see who is standing before you, 
David and the army of Israel? Do you not see who is standing 
before you, breathing these threats? I'm 10 feet tall. I'm wearing 
272 pounds of armor. I am battle-tested from my youth. 
And you're sending forward a man whose skin isn't weathered by 
the heat of the sun? You're sending a man who is not 
battle-tested? You're sending a man who is, 
you know, quite a bit shorter than me, who probably weighs 
one-fourth of what I weigh, not decked out in any armor at all? 
That's why Goliath here is insulted. He disdains David because he 
was only a youth, ruddy and good-looking. This isn't a warrior. I want 
you to send your best against me and you send this one. We 
notice also in Goliath's ignorance, he calls upon Merman to curse 
David. Notice what the text says. 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. He invokes with great ignorance 
and with great pagan stupidity, the power of Merman to save him 
from this David and to curse David. And when I say Merman, 
I mean a male mermaid. Remember the god Dagon, their 
primary deity. Goliath would be calling upon, 
bringing imprecation from Merman down upon David. Madness and 
folly and stupidity. This David would correct him 
later and say it is he only that comes in the name of the living 
and true God. the one and only God. But David is insulted, sorry, 
Goliath is insulted by David. Goliath is in ignorance, calling 
upon a false deity to curse David. And he issues an arrogant threat. 
He issues an arrogant threat. Notice that verse 44, 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. Some commentators 
note that it could be that Goliath is kind of lazy here. He says, 
come to me and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air 
and the beasts of the field. In other words, yeah, I might 
be pretty tall and I might be pretty strong, but I've got 272 
pounds of armor on. You come to me and I'll just 
take you down with a couple of beatings and with a sword. I 
don't want to exert any more energy, you word. So come to 
me. And I will give your flesh to 
the birds of the air and the beasts of the field. But it is 
an arrogant threat. And as we continue to David's 
response, you might say, well, some of the language in David's 
response is similar, but we'll touch upon that as we now move 
there. But again, Goliath, he's insulted 
by David. He is in ignorance calling upon 
false deities to curse David. and he issues an arrogant threat. Come to me and I will give your 
flesh. But notice David's response, the giant slayer's answer to 
the giant's threatenings. Verse 45. First off, we notice 
he shows the folly of human wisdom and confidence. David, the giant 
slayer, shows the folly of human wisdom and confidence. Notice 
what he says. Then 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." You see, this 
is something of an answer to the insult. Something of an answer 
to both the insult and the invoking of Merman. This is an answer 
to the Philistines saying, you come to me with sticks? What 
do you think, I'm a dog? David would probably say, yeah, 
I do think you're a dog. In fact, you're worse than a 
dog. That's probably how we'd answer to this uncircumcised 
Philistine. But David is answering the insult, 
the supposed insult, to the giant of Philistia, and he's answering 
to this calling upon false deities, saying, you come to me with a 
sword and with a spear and with a javelin. You see, he's turning 
human wisdom back upon itself to show its folly and its stupidity. 
Because human wisdom says, swords, spears, and javelins good, a 
little youth with no armor with a sling and some smooth stones, 
not so good in battle. Human wisdom sees this battle 
scene going down, and human wisdom slaps down the dollar bills to 
put their bets upon Goliath. I'm not advocating gambling, 
I'm just using imagery. You see, human wisdom sees this 
and says yes to the giant, no to the giant slayer, to David. But David turns the argument 
back on himself as if to say, as if to return this disdaining 
back upon Goliath and saying, you come to me with sword and 
spear and with javelin? That's nothing. That's what he 
says. Why? Because he follows it up. 
I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of 
the armies of Israel, whom you have defied." You see, we read 
Psalm 29 at the outset of worship, penned by this giant slayer. And what does it say at the end 
of that psalm? It says, the Lord will give strength 
to his people, the Lord will bless his people with peace. 
You see, David knew on this day the strength. that comes from 
on high, and he knew that it was that that avails in battle, 
not sword and spear and javelin, but the strength that a guiding 
Jehovah affords to his humble servants. So David shows the 
folly of human wisdom and confidence, and he declares where true victory 
comes from, that is there in the clear statement, and in the 
greater of the two things presented, I come to you in the name of 
the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel. He answers, 
secondly, he answers the arrogant threat of the giant with a humble 
and sober promise. I'll read that one more time. 
He answers the arrogant threat of the giant with a humble and 
sober promise. Remember the threat of Goliath. 
Come to me and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air 
and the beasts of the field. This is how David answers that 
particular threat. Verse 46, 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. You see, if Goliath thought that 
he was clever and that he was striking fear into David, and 
by virtue of being in Earshot, the armies of Israel, he was 
wrong, because David won up some here. Now, just very briefly, 
it's interesting to note, if you do any research on single 
combat in antiquity, what's going on between David and Goliath 
had gone on before and would go on again. this ethic or this 
idea or this whatever you want to call it of someone coming 
out from one army to challenge another champion from another 
army to engage in battle and perhaps save lives and bring 
the opposing army into servitude. This is something that has taken 
place in antiquity and one of the things that the champions 
would do from opposing armies is that they would engage in 
trash talk. We do that in sports today. The human nature is such 
that in conquests of a physical nature, there's always trash 
talking. You know, a point guard talking 
to another point guard as he's dribbling up to him and, you 
know, either mocking him physically with faces or verbally assaulting 
him. There's a documentary done on a basketball 
player by the name of Reggie Miller. Perhaps anybody older 
than 38 might remember Reggie Miller, an NBA player. But every 
opposing player that they interviewed for this documentary said he 
was the king of trash talk. And you see, what he would try 
to do is he'd try to get into the head of the opposing player. 
If the opposing point guard or if the opposing shooting guard 
traveled or dribbled the ball off his foot or if he stole the 
ball from them, he'd let them know every time he came back 
up the court. You see, but it is, the point of it is, is that 
people engaged in contestation, in battle or in any sort of contest, 
will employ this, those head games that they exercise towards 
another combatant. And that's what's going on here. 
You see, the giant from Gath is trying to get into the head 
of David, trying to strike fear into him, saying, I'm going to 
give your flesh today to the birds of the air and the beasts 
of the field. You see, David, remember, has complete confidence 
in the Lord. He doesn't take anything. Goliath doesn't get into the 
head of David at all. His trash talking doesn't work. 
David responds. David shoots back. And you see, 
there is no arrogance in David, but rather a humble and a sober 
promise because he brings the God of heaven and earth into 
this and says, this day, the Lord will deliver you. into my 
hand." He's not saying, I will. Now he uses I will, but he prefaces 
it by saying, it is the Lord who is bringing this deliverance. 
It is the Lord who is using me as a providential tool for his 
glory. And so again, this day I will 
deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your 
head from you. He interprets his coming victory. So David shows the folly of human 
wisdom and declares where true victory comes from. He answers 
the arrogant threat of the giant with a humble and sober promise. 
And actually, just before we move on to interpreting the victory, 
David adds, he engages in a little one-upmanship and adds to the 
threat. Remember, Goliath just threw 
out the birds of the air and the beast of the field and only 
said that Goliath would give David's flesh. to the birds of 
the air and the beasts of the field. But David says, 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. So you see, David 
said, it's not enough that I take only your single blasphemous 
and arrogant and God-hating head, but we will conquer the entirety 
of the Philistine army. We will give the carcasses of 
the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the 
wild beasts of the earth. And he interprets his coming 
victory. He interprets his coming victory. 
Notice that all the earth may know. that there is a God in 
Israel, 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. So you see, first off, 
universally, what is to take place by David's victory, by 
David severing the head of this giant, and by the Israelite army 
conquering the camp of the Philistines, what is to be declared universally 
is that there is a God in Israel. We sang at the end of Psalm 58, 
there is a living God who judges in the earth. That is what the 
victory of David was to declare and to set forth. It wasn't these 
smaller things of human psychology and overcoming people who steal 
your lunch money and consumers going up against, you know, some 
large corporation or oil firm for contaminating the dirt. It 
is so that all might know, so that all the earth would know 
that there is a God in Israel. And secondly, verse 47, it is 
for the congregation of Israel to find faith and confidence 
in the right thing and in the right place. Then all this assembly 
shall know, that is the God's covenant people, the congregation 
of Israel, that the Lord does not say with sword and spear, 
For the battle is the Lord's, and He will give you into our 
hands." Remember what's going on on the part of the armies 
of Israel. They are, verse 11, dismayed 
and greatly afraid. They are, verse 24, and all fled 
from Him and were dreadfully afraid. Why is this? Well, part of it is because their 
confidence and their faith is in the implements of war and 
the military proficiency, hopefully, of someone of their camp to counter 
this giant Philistine of Gath. And so David wants to arouse 
them and to stir them up to proper faith and to proper confidence 
in Yahweh of hosts, in the covenant Lord, in the only living and 
true God. So we have there, he interprets 
his coming victory and says that it is unto the glory of God and 
unto a return to proper faith and confidence among the congregation 
of Israel. Now, fifthly, we notice, so we 
had Saul's complete lack of confidence, David's complete confidence in 
the Lord, the giant's threat, the giant slayer's answer, and 
now the quick duel. The quick duel. Notice, David 
is not tentative. David is not tentative. Verse 
48, 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. We should see in that, again, 
great, great faith and confidence. Who of us, humanly speaking, 
would run with great vigor and great enthusiasm towards a 10-foot 
tall giant? decked out in 272 pounds of armor. You know, it would take me a 
little while to build. You know, in that time, the god 
of David could be the god of Cam Porter. The god of David 
could be the god of Daniel Slootweg. And though he's a little bit 
bigger than me, he'd probably have a little more courage to 
run at the giant. But you see, humanly speaking, 
it is against wisdom for David to run up against Goliath. But you see, theologically speaking, 
it was perfectly in tune with what everything David has said, 
perfectly in tune with what everything David has done, to not just wait 
there and swing, but to run with great confidence at this giant 
from Gath. So David is not tentative. He 
has faith and confidence in his Lord. He said, and he promised 
to Saul, actually said, He says, and he promises before, your 
servant will go and fight with this Philistine. And he promised 
in his response to Saul that just like the lion and the bear, 
this uncircumcised Philistine will die by my hand. And he runs 
with great courage towards that end. So David is not tentative, 
but he is quick and precise. And notice that he is thorough. He's thorough. What does that 
mean? Well, notice as it continues 
here, then 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. Well, now maybe just before we 
get to he's thorough, that is what I just skipped past, he's 
quick and precise. You see, David takes just one 
of the five stones from his bag. loads up his sling, whirls it 
with precision, and lands it directly into Goliath's forehead. We need to see there great, great 
precision. And as David would no doubt say, 
that wasn't my precision. It was the Lord God who delivers, 
the Lord God who guides, the Lord God who grants such precision 
unto the end of glory of the divine name. But he is quick 
and he is precise. Now some say here, or some see 
here, when we read the stone sank into his forehead, some 
will say, well, that can't be possible. Something must have 
had, he's wearing a bronze helmet that usually only had, it had 
a space to breathe, a mouth and nasal hole somewhere to breathe, 
and eyes to see through. But other than that, the head 
was protected fully. So something must have happened, 
either Goliath took the bronze helmet off to talk to David, 
to disdain him and to threaten him. Perhaps the heat of the 
day caused him to at least gain some measure of liberty from 
the heat and taking off his helmet. Perhaps what it was is that he 
tilted his head back and David found the sweet spot right between 
the brow of the helmet where he could land it onto you know, 
into David's or into Goliath's skull. But I believe Gil is right 
in saying that all is possible with a divine hand that guides 
military victory. You see, there is nothing to 
assume anything other than that God, by David, whipped that smooth 
stone into the head, the forehead of Goliath, to send him down 
and to bring him to death so that all the earth may know that 
there is a God in Israel. Goliath had the bronze helmet 
on. David whipped the stone into 
his forehead and knocked him over. Now note, now that he is 
thorough, verse 47, or excuse me, verse 50. 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. You see, 
it wasn't enough. And this isn't some sort of bloodthirsty 
overkill on the part of David. He's somehow incensed and he's 
somehow aroused by an unwholesome anger. And not only is he going 
to whip this guy down to the ground, but he's also going to 
take the sword and cut off his head. Not at all. You see, he 
wanted unto the end, of the earth, knowing that there is a God in 
Israel unto the end of all the assembly of Israel, knowing 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. Unto that end, David 
knocks him down with the stone and severs his head. It was to 
show to the Philistines that this deed has been done. You 
see, the very next verse after we read this is what? And when 
the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. 
You see, falling to the ground, while a very big conquest on 
the part of David, wasn't necessarily enough to send the message to 
the Philistines that their champion was dead. And so David, in divine 
thoroughness, takes not only his own sword, not his own sword 
because he didn't have one, but he takes his opponent's sword, 
this giant sword that weighed a lot, And he took it and he 
cut off the head of this giant so he could declare to the Philistines 
that their champion was dead and that God was victorious. 
And it was also back to the assembly of Israel to show that the Philistine 
champion was dead and that God is victorious. You see how that 
plays in. It's not just the stone as great 
as that was, but it is the killing by the sword unsheathed from 
Goliath. and used to decapitate the giant. So we have the quick duel. David 
is not tentative. He is quick and precise, and 
he is thorough. And notice, sixthly and lastly, 
the post-dual effects. Thirdly and lastly, the post-dual 
effects. What do we see that happens after 
the head of Goliath is cut off and the champion of the Philistines 
is defeated? Well, first off, as we just read, 
we have this, and when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, 
they fled. You see, that is what happens 
when we put our faith and our confidence in the folly of human 
wisdom and human strength, isn't it? There might be a season where 
we have victory, There might be a season, as there were throughout 
biblical history, there might be a season where the Philistines 
had victory over Israel. But ultimately and finally, the 
battle is the Lord's. And if you put your confidence and you put 
your faith and you put your hope in the implements of human warfare 
and in human wisdom, you will always be brought to this point. 
where you witness the glory of God and you flee. Lest our glorious 
and amazing God condescends by amazing grace, conquers your 
heart and puts your faith and your confidence and your courage 
where it ought to lie. That is with the Lord God of 
heaven and earth. So we see the enemies of Israel, 
the enemies of God, ultimately fleeing. But we see great confidence 
and conquest in God's people. You see, that's the converse. 
For those who put their faith and their confidence in men and 
in human wisdom and in human philosophy, they will be the 
fearful fleers. But those who put their confidence 
and their faith and their hope in Yahweh, in the triune God, 
they will find confidence and conquest. Notice how the text 
reads. Now the men of Israel and Judah 
arose and shouted and pursued the Philistines as far as the 
entrance of the valley and to the gates of Ekron, and the wounded 
of the Philistines fell along the road to Sharim, even as far 
as Gath and Ekron. I think commentators note that 
that's about 24 kilometers. So you see, they didn't have 
confidence a number of minutes ago to walk 200 meters out into 
a valley to go after one giant of a man. But now, seeing a demonstration 
of the glory of God through a man of unassuming means and appearances, 
they now have the faith, they now have the confidence to chase 
an entire army away. I think we need to see here, 
if we just back up for a moment, but on this idea of great confidence 
and conquest for God's people, we need to see this idea here. You see, the Philistines were 
still an army, If we can round up or just round to a whole number 
an army of 300,000 soldiers Minus one that minus one shouldn't 
affect them if we think humanly about wisdom and military might 
they still have mighty men of valor 300,000 that have defeated 
the Israelites in history But you see they saw a demonstration 
as well of the glory and the majesty of God rendered through 
this servant of unassuming means and appearances. And so they 
flee, but God's people have that confidence and engage in the 
conquest. And as we read on here, we notice 
something as well. Verse 53, 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. I just want to read on to bring 
out two things before we shortly close here. 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. Many 
people, and I deliberately went back to read Gil after this morning 
because someone asked a question, and it's a very legitimate question 
with regards to this text. You see, in 1 Samuel 16, we read 
of Saul loving David very much. We read of Saul, of David being 
anointed as future king and being brought into the court of Saul 
to serve as his harpist and as his armor bearer and as a servant, 
generally speaking. But we come to 1 Samuel 17, And 
we see Saul inquiring, whose son is this young man? And asking 
Abner, whose son is this youth? And so people have rightly said, 
not just this morning, but throughout history, well, what's going on 
here? This is what Gil says. You see, some will say then, 
well, 1 Samuel 17 has to sort of be pulled from the preceding 
and following context and just be found somewhere in redemptive 
history along the Davidic timeline. This is what Gil says, just so 
we understand, and this is important for a couple of reasons. Well, 
just to generally know what's going on, the order of things, 
but also since we noted Eliab's jealousy and Saul's jealousy 
and the motive of the Philistines all based upon the anointing 
of David as the future king and the rejection of Saul as the 
monarch. It is thought strange by many 
that Saul should not know who he was, who David was. when he 
had often been at his court, and served him as a musician, 
and had been very useful to him, and he loved him, and made him 
his armor-bearer, and even had just now conversed with him about 
encountering with the Philistine, and had clothed him with his 
own armor. To get rid of the former part of the objection, 
some have supposed that this event happened before David was 
his musician and armor-bearer, and it is by anticipation spoken 
of in 1 Samuel 16.14. But that the connection with 
this and the following chapter will not admit of. I'm sorry, 
I didn't emphasize the that. But that the connection with 
this and the following chapter will not admit of. And besides, 
before this event, David is said to return home from Saul. for 
Samuel 17, 15, so that it is certain he had been at Saul's 
court and in his presence before. But to remove this seeming difficulty, 
it may be observed that Saul, having labored under a disorder 
of body and mind, remember the troubling spirit sent by God 
upon him, might easily forget David and his serving him in 
the above capacity, and to which the multiplicity of business 
and persons in a court might greatly contribute. What's going 
on at the end here, John Gill recognizes, and others 
recognize, as Saul being affected by that troubling spirit of the 
Lord. He goes on to add a second proof of this, though, after all, it is not 
about his person that he inquires, but whose son he was, what was 
his father's name, and from what family he sprung. For though 
Saul was made acquainted with this in the time of his disorder, 
and therefore sent to his father Jesse for him, and afterwards 
desired leave for his countenance. Yet this might slip out of his 
memory in a course of time, he having no personal knowledge 
of Jesse, nor any correspondence with him. But just at that time, 
and it behooved him to know the pedigree of David, since it was, 
since, or if he was victorious, he was not only to be enriched 
by him, but to have his daughter for wife and his family ennobled. 
Which brings us to our last point. David brings the head of the 
giant into Jerusalem. And maybe you're thinking to 
yourselves, well, why would he do such a thing? Is this now 
an evidence of his bloodthirstiness and some sort of sick fascination 
with his conquest of defeating the giant? Or see what's going 
on here. First off, David brings the head 
of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem. But secondly, 
as Abner brings David before Saul, Abner took him, David, 
and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in 
his hand. So he's carrying this severed head of the giant with 
him into Jerusalem and into the court of Saul. What's going on 
here first is a continuing declaration of the victory of the Lord God 
Almighty. It's a continuing declaration 
to the congregation of Israel that the Lord is victorious. 
that you will know that the Lord does not save with sword and 
spear, but the battle is the Lord's, but also to make good 
for his father and for his family on the promise of King Saul, 
that he will be given a wife and that his family, as Gil notes 
here, would be enriched and ennobled. See, he's doing something for 
his dad here. He's doing something for his name and for his reputation 
and for his father's family. His father advanced in years, 
unable to go into battle, unable to even tend to his own sheep. 
David gives him an end of life, if you will, gift of having his 
family enriched and his family ennobled by bringing to the king 
the proof and the manifest evidence of victory and to impress upon 
the king that he should fulfill the promise. He closes this section 
by saying, So David answered, I am the son of your servant, 
Jesse, the Bethlehemite. Wonderful passage of Holy Scripture, 
brethren. And if you take anything from 
it, lots of very interesting details, lots of things to arouse 
our interest as we read through with regards to geography, armor, 
archaeology, history, all of these things of battle. Very 
interesting things going on. But what we need to take from 
this is simply the stuff of verses 46 and 47, that the Lord God 
will vindicate his name in all the earth, that the Lord God 
is zealous for his reputation and his honor, and that sword 
and spear and javelin are nothing in his sight when a giant is 
set before a small, unassuming figure of a man. Human wisdom 
says yes to the giant, but the Lord God says yes to my man, 
yes to my hero, yes to the one who is sent to vindicate my name. 
And it's a very interesting study that we can't do tonight, but 
just the Christology, as I noted this morning, that this points 
us forward to. If I had more time, we would 
go into that. But very briefly, you need to 
see that here. The victory, I think what we 
can see here is, if you'll bear with me for only a minute and 
12 seconds, is we see a template, if you will, of Christian history. That may not be Samuel's intent, 
that may not be God's intent by divine revelation, but bear 
with me for a second. We noted this morning that David 
is a type of Christ. That is one prior to Christ that 
serves to point forward to Christ the anti-type, the one that the 
type points to. David is a type of Christ, a 
man of unassuming beginnings. Christ in his incarnation was 
a man of unassuming beginnings. In fact, though David was king, 
we had that before, though David was king, he is a humble servant 
in his father's property. Just like David, Christ is such 
a man of unassuming appearances, such that Isaiah, in Isaiah 53, 
there's no reason that we should be that we should be awed by 
him. If I can paraphrase, we have David as the only one in 
Israel that can go forth to conquer for God's people. Christ in time 
and history, the only one sent by his father, David sent by 
his father, Jesse, Jesus sent by God, the father into time 
and history to do what only he could do. He conquers a mighty 
opponent, sin, death and hell. And by virtue of that conquest, 
his people are empowered and are wholesomely aroused unto 
conquering in this lower world. That's what we see in Christianity, 
isn't this Davidic victory? We have conquest by Jesus and 
by virtue of that conquest by his people. And we ought to have 
then great confidence, just like the nation, the congregation 
of Israel had great confidence After David had slain the giant, 
we should have great confidence after Jesus Christ has, by his 
death, put to death sin and death in hell on our behalf. A wonderful 
message that we have in and of itself for the glory of God, 
but also as the Bible does everywhere, page after page, chapter after 
chapter, it points us to that one, the Lord Jesus Christ, who 
shed his blood for men. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, 
we thank you for this portion of Holy Scripture. Lord God, 
we bless your name for what it discloses concerning victory 
for your honor, for your reputation, and for your glory. We pray that 
we would glory in this text, that we would see it not as a 
human conquest or an interesting military skirmish, but Lord God, 
that we would see it as an event in time and in history where 
you did most certainly vindicate your name and impress upon the 
entirety of the earth that there is a God in Israel. and that 
you spoke to your people by it, showing them that the battle 
is the Lord's, that it is not man's battle, but that it is 
ultimately the Lord God who rules over the kings and the armies 
and the nations of men to bring about His glory. We pray that 
you'd help us daily to know this, to know this, to glory in this 
truth, and to seek daily to live in light of this truth. We pray 
that you would go with us now, help us to rejoice in our Savior 
throughout this week. We pray for any tonight who don't 
know the Savior, that they would know the holiness of God, that 
they would know, by your grace, their sinfulness, and that they 
would know, by your grace, the only Savior for sin, the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and that they would, again, by your victorious grace, 
believe in Him unto the saving of their souls. We pray now that 
you would go with us. In the name of the Savior, the 
Lord Jesus, amen.