1 Samuel 17
February 15, 2017
1 Samuel 17
1 Samuel 17
Shawn Bumpers / General
1 Samuel 17 / David; Saul (king); Goliath; Goliath defies the Israelites; David and Goliath
David defeats Goliath
Introduction:
So, picking it up where we left off 2 weeks ago
The story of David and Goliath is familiar and carries with it many practical lessons for the Christian life.
All of us face giants of one kind or another, but we may overcome them through the power of God.
Deuteronomy 20:1 NKJV
“When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.
Philippians 4:6–7 NKJV
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
1 John 2:1 NKJV
My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
1 John 4:4 NKJV
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
1 Corinthians 15:57 NKJV
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
These are some really great promises and really good reminders that God is very very good toward us.
But the narrative of David and Goliath is not about how we should be brave like David or how we must face our giants.
“…we may not isolate this narrative from the flow of redemptive history and hold David up to the congregation as a hero whose courage we should imitate in fighting our individual Goliaths. Instead, we should endeavor to discover the meaning of this narrative in the context of the whole of redemptive history.”
The narrative of David and Goliath is about much more than Israel’s story, and David, God’s anointed king, delivering Israel and securing her safety in the Promised Land.
David is a picture of Christ.
In Luke 24, after His resurrection Jesus appeared to some disciples who were leaving Jerusalem for a village called Emmaus.
Luke 24:27 NKJV
And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
If Jesus did mention 1 Samuel 17 on the road to Emmaus, it is safe to assume that He would have honored the intent and context of the passage.
Revelation 11:15 NKJV
Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”
You have the Anointed One of God who receives the Spirit, goes out into the wilderness where an enemy is presenting himself before the people of God, 40 days and 40 nights.
He crushes the enemy’s head.
In the Gospels, Jesus is baptized and receives the Holy Spirit.
Out in the wilderness, the serpent is presenting himself 40 days and 40 nights.
Revelation 12:11 NKJV
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
We overcome our enemy through the blood of the Lamb.
So, in regards to a more sound approach to this text, first and foremost, you and I are not David.
We are the Israelites who are cowering in fear in the corner because we can’t face the giant on our own.
But then what happens after that?
David slings the rock that crushed the enemy’s head.
You can face your enemies and you can have the courage to face your enemies.
But you only do that once you recognize we don’t fight for victory in the Christian life we fight FROM victory.
So, it’s a picture of sanctification, but a sanctification that is based in what Jesus has done in saving us.
1 Samuel 17:46–47 NKJV
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.”
God communicates in this chapter to us and to Israel that His sovereignty is stronger than the greatest human warrior or army, and that He will exercise that sovereignty to protect His people and remain faithful to His covenant promises.
2 weeks ago in chapter 16, we saw how the prophet Samuel had anointed David as king over Israel.
Only, this was a prophecy … something that would happen in the future … not something that would immediately be fulfilled.
Music helped … and some of the kings servants suggested David as a musician to play before the king.
V1-3
Socoh was a town in Judah, in the Valley of Elah, about 8 miles from Gath and about 12 miles from Bethlehem.
The green, rolling hills surrounding the Valley of Elah still stand today, and witnessed one of the most remarkable battles in all the Bible.
Shocho belongs to Judah … and so the Philistines were inside Israelite territory.
V4-11
Day by day the two armies gathered on opposite slopes toward one another, only to witness Israel’s humiliation by the champion of the Philistines.
But Goliath’s challenge wasn’t only against Israel.
Goliath (Goh-lee-AHT) means “Exposer.”
His name reflects the giant’s appetite to expose Israel’s weakness and his intention to remove them from the land.
Goliath was from Gath, and Joshua 11:22 says that a people known as the Anakim were still there in Joshua’s day.
That was some 400 years before this, but it shows how there may have continued to be men of unusually large size coming from the city of Gath.
The Hebrew word champion comes from a complex Hebrew word ish-benayim, meaning “The man between the two.”
Speaking of cowering … there is a Hebrew tradition that says Goliath called Saul out by name.
And there were probably many in the Israelite army who wondered why the great man, Saul didn’t go out as Israel’s champion.
1 Samuel 9:2 NKJV
And he had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul. There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.
V12-15
This is information we already know.
We knew from the previous chapter that David’s father was Jesse and that David had 8 brothers.
It is interesting that David’s 3 oldest brothers were in the Israelite army.
It may be that we have a hint here in these names of the actions that Saul should have taken.
God is Father – Saul should have been obedient to the LORD.
God is Generous – Saul should have asked the LORD for help.
Shammah or Hear – Reminds us of that section of scripture called The Shammah:
Deuteronomy 6:4–5 NKJV
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
Saul should have listened to God and loved and honored Him.
v16-27
This taunting of the Israelites by Goliath went on for 40 days and nights.
Forty days (or forty years) is used in the Scriptures rather consistently as a period of judgment and or testing.
• It rained for forty days in the time of Noah.
• Israel was in the wilderness forty years.
• Jesus fasted and was tempted of the devil for forty days before He began His public ministry.
And David arrived on the 40th day of the taunting.
David was immediately interested in Goliath’s challenge.
The rest of the army was cowering.
David cared about the things God cares about.
V28-47
Why is it that David’s words angered his brother?
But David stuck to his guns in the matter.
But Saul wasn’t much help to David either, offering David a swift, “You are not able.”
Saul sounded like the ten unbelieving spies who saw giants in the promised land and decided that it was impossible for Israel to take the land.
David had learned dependence on the LORD, but Saul knew nothing about God’s power of deliverance.
David was already wearing the armor of God, but Saul did not understand that and suggested David wear the kingly armor.
David did not face Goliath unprotected.
Notice how throughout this entire episode, David gives glory to the Lord.
The practical lesson here is that God gives victory in response to our faith.
Satan has his giants, but God also has His.
David came to the battle in the name of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 1:27–28 NKJV
But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,
There is a lot of unbelief going on in this chapter … Saul, David’s brothers, the Israelite army … of course Goliath, who cursed God.
V48-58
Enraged at David’s boldness, Goliath drew near to quickly kill David.
He knew that the battle belonged to the LORD.
1 Samuel 17:46 NKJV
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.
1 John 5:4 NKJV
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
There are great reminders and instructions for us here and we don’t want to disregard those things.
2 Timothy 3:16–17 NKJV
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Luke 11:14–23 NKJV
And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled.
But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”
Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven. But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils. He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
Colossians 2:15 NKJV
Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
John 16:33 NKJV
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
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