David and Goliath

Answers Bible Curriculum Year 2, Quarter 2, Lesson 1

In this lesson, David Capoccia contrasts the faithful and courageous response of David with the fearful and distrustful response of the Israelite army when facing Goliath’s brazen challenge. David Capoccia shows from the Scriptures that God promised to grant the Israelites victory by His own strength and not the strength found in numbers, human valor, or weaponry. The biblical David models confidence in God’s promises and zeal for God’s glory, challenging Christians today to flee from sinful self-reliance and place their confidence in God’s enduring faithfulness.

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you’re what we’re looking at this quarter a little syllabus finishing up or we’re starting with David we’re going to continue to talk about his life move into the Psalms and talk about David’s son Solomon the splitting of the kingdom by the end of this corridor will start looking at some of the prophets and the latter stages of Israel’s kingdom Jonah Elijah and Elisha so because we’re going to be hitting up Solomon and the Psalms even some of the Proverbs and less than eight it’s appropriate this lesson is entitled wisdom from God we have a new memory verse we finished up with First Samuel 16 7 and now we have second Samuel 722 that’s for the first half of this quarter this is part of where David is reacting to God’s covenant with David where God says I’m going to establish your throne forever David and response says this along with some other things to God the second Samuel 722 therefore you were great o Lord God for there is none like You nor is there any God besides you according to all that we’ve heard with our ears that’s our memory verse we’re going to be using the workbook again in today’s lesson so if you can picked up the new workbook for this quote i believe eric has them in the back so please go grab one before we get started today if you use the workbook I sometimes replicate what’s in the workbook what’s the with what’s on the slides but you’ll find it more advantageous to use workbook I think before we look at today’s material I do want to make one more set of comments on something we reviewed last time we talked a little bit about evidence and how does prophecy interact with evidence because i stressed you and this course has stressed you that we are to rely on the Word of God we’re not to try and come at people with these clever arguments based on philosophy or logic or science or even archaeology to try and prove the Bible or prove the existence of God we are simply to share the scriptures and attack false presuppositions anti-biblical presuppositions when they appear but what about evidence in the Bible what about prophecy what kind of reviewed that topic thought through that topic a little bit more and I should I I need to admit that it is true that in the Bible especially in the Old Testament God’s people God’s faithful they use non scriptural evidence to testify about god and his commission messengers not only in prophecy and fulfilled prophecy but also in miracles and also the testimonies of various people for example God tells Moses that after God sends the plagues on Egypt Egypt will know that I am it says when they see this happen when they see these judgment on them they’ll have evidence to believe that I am God Elijah tells Israel on Mount Carmel why are you wavering between two opinions serve the true God whoever is the true God whether it’s Yahweh or bail is going to answer from heaven with fire and consume a sacrifice when you see that evidence you’ll know which God is God and God vindicates Elijah’s claim and the prophets of bail are killed or going to another part of the Old Testament when you look at the prophecies given in Isaiah about judgment and restoration on Israel and its neighbors God tells Israel that when these things come to pass you will know that I am so the Bible itself and the people in the Bible use evidence to testify of God used evidence outside the Bible but in using the totality of Scripture how do we integrate that use of evidence into our perspective well I think we need to keep in mind these following truths first it is true as even the Bible itself says these evidences outside the scripture prophecy miracles the testimonies of those who have interacted with God and Christ along with the evidence of creation the law and the sense of eternity that’s placed in man’s heart the testimonies of believers in the Bible and since the Bible you and I these things are true testimonies of God and they leave man without an excuse for not believing in God God has made himself clearly visible he’s given tons of evidence of his existence and of his authority and the authority of His Word there is much evidence outside the Bible that confirms the existence of God and it leaves me without an excuse however this evidence by itself is not effective because of sin sin makes all this evidence ineffective and converting a person by itself it’s ineffective the abundant evidence leaves man culpable he’s accountable yet man refuses to recognize this evidence as the conclusive evidence as it is and he suppresses the truth in unrighteousness and we see this even in the Bible you see fantastic miracles how could you not believe in God how could you not obey God in spite of these miracles in spite of the evidence but they find a way to the Pharisees are a great example right Lazarus is raised from the dead and instead of being like wow I really should reconsider what I believe they say gotta kill Lazarus gotta kill Jesus and the same thing happened in the Old Testament the evidence proves God in a sense it leaves man not an excuse and yet it’s not effective by itself because of sin because of the hardness and man’s heart what is effective well it’s what we stressed God chose to use his special revelation that is his word as a means of transforming and converting a person the scriptures are what is effective in in changing the heart the Scriptures function as not only the oh I want to say it this way the scriptures not only point out the evidence that is available all around the scripture says out have you considered creation have you noticed what’s in your heart have you listened to the testimonies of believers but it also gives you the perfect interpretation of that evidence that’s why we can say this scripture is self validating it not only gives the it points to the evidence but it gives the perfect interpretation of that evidence and that’s why we don’t need to go and simply proclaim the evidence we proclaim the word the word will do the job it will point out both the evidence in the right pretation were not commanded to come to people with clever arguments but with the Word of God with the gospel it’s a foolish approach according to worldly wisdom but it’s a wise approach according to God and it’s what God has chosen to work powerfully in the hearts of men finally when any part of scripture or its evidence is supposedly contradicted by something in the world the scripture is not actually contradicted Scripture is the ultimate authority if any part of what supports the scripture or any part of what the scripture says is contradicted there’s always an explanation may God be found true in every man a liar says Romans 34 there’s always an explanation that will vindicate the Bible and usually that explanation involves correcting invalid presuppositions invalid assumptions and we’ve seen that throughout the course right I say oh noes could never happen because archaeologists found this this this it’s like well have you considered that maybe archaeologists are not using the correct timeline and that’s why they can’t fit the evidence into what the Bible actually says but the Bible is the ultimate authority it’s what we’re called to declare to people not clever arguments or even masses of outside evidence questions about this or other truths we reviewed last week okay well today we’re looking at David and Goliath one of the most famous accounts of the Bible you may know this piece of history well but there’s always a danger for popular sections of the scripture to be misremembered misunderstood and misapplied under school this point grab those workbooks and turn the page 11 you don’t want to use the workbook you can look up here but you can actually write down answers if you use the workbook a number of questions starting on page 11 little activity I want you to take about two minutes now I want you to answer these ten questions the test how well you really know the account of David and Goliath don’t use your Bible don’t use those sitting next to you don’t use the internet see if you can answer these question who killed Goliath who was leading the Israelite army how old was David during the battle widened David wear any armor what weapon did David take into battle what weapon was used to kill Goliath what was ghal ice challenge to the Israelites who is the hero of this section of Scripture what is the most important message of this passage of Scripture and what other details can you recall about this account so take two minutes now to answer these questions look up when you’re finished take about another minute see if you can answer these questions okay so hopefully you wrote down something or at least mentally went through what the answer must be these questions but now let’s actually do our own study let’s actually take a look at the text the text and see whether what we’ve heard of what we’ve seen depicted what we’ve always thought about this accounts is actually true today’s class we’re going to examine the three different sections of 1st Samuel 17 look at the situation saw an Israel encounter in the beginning well then talk about David’s arrival and preparation for battle and then we’ll actually examine that battle the showdown between David and Goliath let’s pray father we thank you for your great word we thank you that you are God and that indeed as the scripture declares there is no one like you according to all that we’ve heard thank you for revealing yourself to us reveal yourself to us now through the word and change us God sanctifies us in Jesus name Amen open your Bibles to First Samuel 17 we’re looking at the whole chapter today remember that the last time we were actually moving through the Old Testament books when your first time you’ll 16 there David is anointed by Samuel with the holy oil as the next king the Spirit of God comes upon David and empowers him for special kingly service and at the same time the Spirit of God departs from Saul and an evil spirit of tormenting spirit comes to him from God instead what was the only way that Saul could find relief from this anguish he needed a skillful musician who could soothe his mind with his playing and someone had heard of david knew about David David was a skillful musician on the harp and David did indeed grant relief to Saul so that was on last chapter saw made David an armor bearer as well let’s now look at verse 1 of chapter 17 and we’re going to read the first 16 verses as we look at Israel’s situation start along with me in verse 1 now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle and they were gathered at so call which belongs to Judah and they camp between sokka and azekah and fs de même song the men of visual were gathering and camped in the valley of elah and drew up in battle array to encounter the Philistines the Philistines stood on the mountain on one side while Israel stood on the mountain on the other side with the valley between them then a champion came out from the armies of the Philistines named Goliath from Gath whose height was six cubits in a span he had a bronze helmet on his hand head and he was clothed with scale armor which weighed five thousand shekels of bronze he also had bronze Greaves on his legs and a bronze javelin slung between his shoulders the shaft of his spear was like a Weaver’s beam and the head of his spear weights six hundred shekels of iron his shield carrier also walked before him he stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel and said to them why do you come out to draw up in battle array am I not the Philistine and you 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 become your servants but if i prevail against him and kill him then you shall become our servants and serve us again the Philistine said I defy the ranks of visual this day give me a man that we may fight together when Saul and all issue heard these words at the Philistine they were dismayed and greatly afraid David was the son of the epithet of Bethlehem in Judah whose name is Jesse and he had eight sons and jesse was old in the days of Saul advanced in years among men the three older sons of Jesse had gone after Saul to the battle and the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Ely AB the first born in the second to him a been a DAB and the third shama David was the youngest now the three oldest followed Saul but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s flock at Bethlehem the Philistine came forward morning and evening for 40 days and took his stand alright stop there and will now use our inductive study method we want to execute the text that the meaning come out of the text and we start with observations Israel’s enemy here is the Philistines the two sides draw up in battle array on opposite sides of the valley of elah we can see a little depiction of that on the map here felicity is five cities main five cities were there on the west towards the coast cities of Judah and Israel more on the east and you can see the valley of elah kind of right there in the center between azekah and sokka both armies are in good defensive positions they’re both on two sides of a valley neither actually engage one another instead they just have some taunting for the battle takes place a man named Goliath comes forth on the side of Philistia and speaks now what are some things that or you have a question wrong this uhhh that line in the middle it is kind of both I don’t know if it’s an actual river but many of the the valleys in this part of the world at different times the year they are rivers or Brooks but then they dry up so what are called wah dees so it may have not actually had any water at this time but it was a valley the valley of elah so we goliath comes forth what are some things the text tells us about a life he was a tall man we’re told that he is 6 cubits and a span how big is a qubit again 18 inches though there were longer and shorter versions how many feet is six cubits it’s nine feet because 6 times 18 is 108 inches 12 inches per foot that’s nine feet now it also says he was a span what’s a span well span is a length between the tips of one’s thumb and pinky when the hand is stretched out so here it’s about half a cubit 9 inches so that makes Goliath Goliath just a little less than 10 feet 9 foot 9 inches a very large man and all and on all this height was packed a lot of weight he was a very strong man it was an imposing figure extremely large warrior most we know about Goliath he’s called a champion of the Philistine so he was a noted warrior the word champion literally means one between two so one who could stand between two armies and stand out as a champion or even fight duels what else right we hear a little bit about his armor he’s wearing a bronze helmet he has bronze Greaves that is shin armor to protect the lower legs and he also has a coat of mail or code of scales which is said to be six thousand shekels I’m sorry five thousand shekels using some weight conversion there that’s 125 pounds just the main section of his armor the coat of scales for perspective the average US soldier reportedly carries about 60 pounds of gear into battle though an extended patrol might carry as much as 120 pounds of gear this includes the weapon itself body armor ammunition and some other supplies but goliaths armor piece alone his main armor piece alone is 125 pounds that doesn’t count his weapons or his other armor this is a big man who can carry a lot of weight in himself he’s heavily armored what else Roy exactly he is confident proud defiant he issues a challenge to face any man of Israel and mortal kombat claiming that the result of the duel will determine the fate of the two peoples says I defy Israel he’s extremely confident himself also hear about his weapons right he’s not only heavily armored but he is heavily armed is a bronze javelin between his shoulders javelin were weapons used in both ancient times and in the Classical period of Greece and Rome they were precisely weighted Spears that are meant to be thrown the idea was to impale enemy soldiers with javelins or at least disrupt enemy infantry formations or have the javelin slam into a shield stick to it so that shield can no longer be used properly was a way to disrupt the enemy he has his javelin he also has a spear with a shaft that’s like a Weaver’s beam Weaver’s beam apparently though there were different sizes probably means that this spear had a diameter of two to two-and-a-half inches and probably about eight feet long add the iron head which would add the iron spear head would have made this beer about 9 to 10 feet long so this is a big man who has a weapon that can go pretty long way from himself hard to be even get close to Goliath to strike a blow this for your head itself was six hundred shekels or about 15 pounds this man can carry a lot of weapons even has a shield carrier who can give Goliath a large shield or some other equipment when necessary not mention here but we learned later he also has a sword probably a large sword so Goliath presents an extremely imposing obstacle he is a great warrior a champion very difficult to overcome how long does gly present his challenge to Israel forty days a long time what is Israel’s reaction it says they were dismayed and greatly afraid that’s almost two ways of saying the same thing why that wide double description emphasis right when the Bible repeats things that have the same meaning or very similar meaning it’s for emphasis the rider wants us to understand Israel is traumatized by the appearance of Goliath he really strikes fear into them and no one goes out to find him what about Saul let’s not mention here but if Saul is not going out and if the people are afraid it likely means it solves afraid to people often look to their leaders for how they ought to react Saul’s after all one of the tallest men in Israel he would be Israel’s champion but he doesn’t go out to fight and the effect on the followers is evident they are discouraged they’re afraid where you can say Danny yeah exactly yeah Goliath he knows about Saul um he calls Israel servants of Saul but Saul doesn’t go out to fight Saul is leading all of Israel in fear but what to have got are there something else okay but what God said to Israel in his law regarding battle and fear it’s exactly why he says when you go to battle don’t be afraid because I will fight for you Deuteronomy 20 is actually a section of the Bible or the law that gives laws on warfare and it says this at the very beginning versus 14 Deuteronomy 20 when do you go out to battle against your enemies and sea horses and chariots and people more numerous than you do not be afraid of them for the Lord your God who brought you up from the land of Egypt is with you when you’re approaching the battle the priest shall come near and speak to the people he shall say to them hear o Israel you are approaching the battle against your enemies today do not be faint-hearted do not be afraid or panic or tremble before them for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to save you battle was a place a little bit unlike I guess what we experience today but battle was a place for Israel and its King to exercise faith it was a great Avenue or great opportunity to exercise faith but they’re clearly not doing so what about David why isn’t David with Saul’s army he’s gone back to do Shepherds work says he’s going back and forth but it seems like he’s away from Saul score for an extended period of time to care for the flock in Bethlehem we’re told it also directly here that his father is old and his brothers his older brothers have gone into the army so someone has to take care of or to at least do part of the work back at home and that task Falls to David we can briefly ask one interpretive question before we move on why doesn’t Israel have faith in God God promised to fight for now I don’t they have faith say that again that’s right they rejected God when I asked Saul to be a king and there was a mode of thinking evident in that decision that is still dominating their thinking and even saw was thinking and what is that mode of thinking Danny exactly they are so committed to what they see that they cannot believe the promises of God and I’m like yeah you know ganas any fight for us but look at Goliath or in other instances look at those chariots look at how many men they have we just can’t overcome them from a human perspective Goliath does look like someone you could not overcome and one on one may be a mob of people could take him down but not one-on-one they don’t believe the promises of God because they’re still looking at external appearances they won’t walk by faith they walk by sight but God Souter ranges for David to arrive to the battle let’s now look at David’s arrival and his preparation for battle in next section of this chapter verses 17 to 14 follow along with me then Jesse said to David his son take now for your brothers and Aoife of this roasted grain and these ten loaves and run to the camp to your brother’s bring also these 10 cuts of cheese to the commander of their thousand and look into the welfare of your brothers and bring back news of them for Saul and nay and all the men to visual are in the valley of elah fighting with the Philistines so David arose early in the morning and left the flock with a keeper and took the supplies and when as Jesse had commanded him and it came to the circle of the camp while the army was going out in battle array shouting the war-cry israel in the Philistines drew up in battle array army against army then David left his baggage in the care of the baggage keeper and ran to the battle line and entered in order to greet his brothers as he was talking with them behold the champion the Philistine from Gath named Goliath was coming up from the army of the Philistines and he spoke these same words and David heard them when all the many visual saw the man they fled from him and were greatly afraid men Jill said have you seen this man who was coming up surely he is coming up to defy Israel and it will be that the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father’s house free in Israel and David’s books and men who were standing by him saying what will be done from the man who kills this Philistine and takes away their approach from Israel for who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should taunt the armies of the Living God the people answered him in a chord with this word saying thus it will be done for the man who kills him now ely ab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men and ely eps anger burned against David and he said why have you come down and with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness I know your insolence and the wickedness of your heart you have come down in order to see the battle but David said what have I done now is it not just a question then he turned away from him to another and said the same thing and the people answered the same thing as before when the words which David spoke were heard they told them to Saul and he sent for him David said to Saul let no man’s heart fail on account of him your servant will go and fight with this Philistine and Saul said to David you are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him for you are but a youth well he has been a warrior from his youth but David said to Saul your servant was tending his father’s sheep when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock I want that I went out after him and attacked him and rescued it from his mouth and when he rose up against me I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him you’re serving has killed both a lion and the bear and this uncircumcised Philistine be like one of them since he has taunted the armies of the Living God and 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 Saul said to David go and may the Lord be with you then Saul clothed David with his garments and put a bronze helmet on his head and he clothed him with armor David girded his sword over his armor and tried to walk for he had not tested them so David said to Saul I cannot go with these for I have not tested them and David took them off he took his stick in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook and put them in the Shepherd’s bag which he had even in his pouch and his sling was in his hand and he approached the Philistine okay big section here can’t observe everything let’s see if we can observe the main things why is David sent to the battlefield Danielle well first jesse has a mission for David eventually yeah why he why he goes out to fight saw he’s the only one who actually asked our fight Goliath he’s going 11 actually asked salt that’s true but why is David I sent to the valley of elah in the first place Eric exactly this may remind us of another young brother who did something similar Joseph right these young brothers they get the task of checking on their older brothers for apparently yeah Jesse sends David to take food to his brothers also something that their commander and find out how the brothers are doing what is David sure to do before he leaves yeah make sure someone is taking care of the sheep don’t just leave them derelict David’s faithful in that way after David arrives he leaves his supplies with a baggage keeper he greets his brothers and then he witnesses Goliath defiant challenge once again given to fearful Israel David here is that Saul has promised some rewards than the man who kills Goliath what rewards that’s right great riches whatever that means and the hand of the Kings own daughter and then also the that man’s family will become free in Israel that’s the idea that they’ll be free from tax and from public service so a number of benefits if you kill Goliath at this David expresses some surprise and he asked for confirmation why according to David is it so surprising that this situation should be as it is yeah yeah yeah you’re right Jay he feels like the Philistines are the ones that ought to be scared and certainly this Goliath no matter his stature is a man of no account I mean listen to David he says who is this uncircumcised Philistine they’d be like oh he’s the champion of you know it’s a champion in their armies he’s a nobody to me he’s just an uncircumcised Philistine and after all he’s taunted the armies of living god is he think he’s going to get away with that who was this person David surprised that Israel would be so afraid and that no one has acted and that Saul would even offer have to offer such a great reward how does Ely AB David’s oldest brother address David yeah there’s some sarcasm there there’s some judgment he accuses David of wrongdoing and says his anger burned against David he hears David make this statement about Goliath of being at just an uncircumcised Philistine whose taunt to the living god and ye liev reacts with judgment anger he accuses David being derelict in his duties as a shepherd oh you just came down he left those sheep in the wilderness you can even find somebody for them you just came down to simply watch the battle what a punk you are David word reaches all that David is asking about the reward for finding Goliath and expressing confidence and Goliath feet this all sends for David how does all react when David offers to fight Goliath well first at first he doesn’t tell him to go he actually says you can’t go why not yeah you may be willing but you don’t have the battle experience this guy is a champion he’s fought many battles your green and inexperienced but he is a veteran he’s a champion you can’t face Goliath David in response offers some credentials to saw what credentials he says I’ve actually I’ve got battle experience he says I killed a lion and a bear while protecting the sheep and I even face them in close combat I took them by the beard by their very firm but whom does David credit for these victories God he says God is the one who delivered me from the paw of the bear in the lion and he will do the same thing against this uncircumcised Philistine David even call him by his name Goliath what I find interesting just this uncircumcised Philistine Saul agrees to let David fight and he offers armor and his garments for David to wear now remember Saul is taller than most Israelites and David was not impressive in stature when Samuel first observed and anointed him so how can saw offer David Saul’s armor or armor in general how can he do that we have to infer something here if Saul is able to offer David armor then what do we know about David yeah he’s not that small he’s not that short and he’s not that young otherwise all is completely naive now it’s an interesting man nasb doesn’t say that this is his armor that is Saul’s arm it just says armor armor that he has so it may not be solved personal armor it’s just armor but David chooses not to use the armor and why not he’s not used to it it’s not that the armor doesn’t fit or that it weighs too much he’s just not used to it he says I have not tested this armor I’m not used to fighting with armor on I think I’ll just stick with how I know how to fight at least for this battle yeah well we’re going to ask that question just in a different way in just a second but he apparently is not that short if Saul can offer him some armor but he certainly was not impressive in stature whenever Samuel first observed David where you can say Richard hmm yeah right i I’m I’d still be scared if I was trying to take down a line whether you’re a rifle some some paces away but in you know hand-to-hand combat with a lion whether I the weapon in my hand or not that’s going to be quite another challenge the david is david has done that and that has made him or that’s part of his confidence that’s not the sole basis of his confidence but that experience has confirmed the Lord’s promise to deliver those who trust in him but David chooses not to use Saul’s armor he’s not used to that army hasn’t tested it yet by the way what you notice David does not mention to salt at all during this discussion he was talking about it with everyone else but when it comes to Saul that’s right it doesn’t talk about the reward at all I didn’t say oh by the way it’s all I heard this thing nope I mentioned the reward in contrast to Goliath what does David take into battle takes a stick is Shepherd stick it takes five smooth stones placed in a shepherd’s pouch and it takes a sling what is the sling well sling is another ancient weapon found in use even in Greek and Roman times also called a shepherd sling this the sling is essentially a twisted cord with a pouch in the mid a slinger would necessarily blunt projectile like a stone or sling bullet made of clay or lead in that pouch you then swing the cord in the circle and release one end of the cord at just the right moment to fling a projectile toward his target there were a couple different methods of release most commonly the sling would rotate the sling at his side in a vertical circle and a quick over hand rotation enabled the slinger to make a long and accurate shot so that he would just rotate it let go as his hand came up towards the top and the stone would go flying you could also do it the opposite way he could do an underhanded swing this was less accurate but it allowed for increased distance and that was useful whenever a group of slingers were all trying to just rain down stones on an enemy didn’t really matter about your precise accuracy as long as you got it in the general area all these stones would come down and hit the enemy and so you use the underhand throw it’s also possible to use a horizontal rotation above the head but this was less advantageous because the slightest miss timing would cause you to completely miss the target if you were rotating the sling on your side and you miss timed it well your height or distance might be off but if you were to try and do it above your head your direction might be off even if it’s at the correct height or distance a good slinger needed only one rotation to send the stone flying toward his target though a slinger might use one or two slow rotations first to settle the bullet in its pouch slings rivaled even and even surpassed ancient bows in strike distance and experience lingers could be highly accurate judges 2016 describes a group of 700 left-handed men from Gibeah who could sling a stone at a hair that is a hair follicle and not miss that’s pretty good some armies in ancient in classical times featured groups of dedicated slingers while other armies equipped most or all their soldiers with slings which they would use that distance and then put aside for other weapons to close in to close her to use in close combat this is David’s weapon sling one of David’s weapons alright so let’s pause now and interpret once again a couple questions why is Ely up so quick to accuse David of evil he is angry at him but why every boy mmhmm yeah I think you point out two possible reasons we can’t say for sure but we can certainly infer some reasons why you lea does not like David why he resents David one is it could just be the older brother thing older brother younger brothers often come into conflict older brother feels like he has to lord it over his younger brother passed judgment on his younger brother pic on his younger brother we might be seeing some of that here but as you said Roy he also has another reason to resent David because David was anointed in the midst of his brothers he received a special anointing from Samuel maybe the family didn’t quite know the significance of that but David was chosen as the next king and not Ely ab the older and kingly looking brother he might be resenting that why else are we going to say something Jenny yeah probably somewhat yeah maybe they felt like this was not David’s place older brothers go into the battle David you’re supposed to be with a sheep what are you doing here in fact some commentators have suspected that maybe Ely I’ve thought that this would be his chance to shine you know David he got the anointing he even got to go to Saul’s court I didn’t get that but now i’m part of Saul’s army now i’m going to prove myself now i’m going to gain some honor ah now look David here again David is always getting in the way we’re going to say bomb yeah yeah I think that’s another aspect here to write your I think it’s wise for us to think about Cain and Abel Cain hated able ultimately because people was righteous and he was doing what was right and David here he expresses a righteous intention he says you guys are afraid of this Philistine he’s a nobody he’s taunted the armies of the Living God we can take him down and helium he resents this how dare you speak so courageously because you have is one of those fearful Israelites he’s not jumping out to fight Goliath but David’s ready to go this makes helium feel bad and so he attacks David number of reasons Ely I might resent David he reacts to David with anger business also kind of sad David is doing what’s right he expressed his righteous confidence in God and he’s immediately opposed and torn down by his fellow Israelite even his own brother Matthew Henry the great Puritan commentator helpfully observes that this is something that’s actually normal for the Christian life right it’s something we should expect we’re not simply going to be opposed by people who hate God or who out who are outside the church but sometimes opposition hurt and persecution will come from the very people who ought to support and encourage us for my own family members even from people in the church but it doesn’t make it so that we can’t stand Paul says when he was in a second imprisonment even though no one stood with me the Lord stood with me and he will deliver me out of the hand of every evil attack how old is David here a for sure but he’s probably he’s a young man he’s not a boy song could not have offered armor to a mere boy david puts on this armor and it seems to fit fine but he declines it simply because he’s not used to it an armor is made for men not boys moreover in the previous chapter for samuel 16 do you remember the description given of david by one of Saul’s courtiers david is described as a mighty man of valor as a warrior and as a handsome man despite beloved song lyrics to the contrary david is no boy he’s a young man strong courageous experience in fighting though not seasoned in battle he can go out there and fight he’s no mere boy so we’ve seen the situation that Israel finds itself in we’ve seen David’s encountering this his reaction to the situation and his preparation for battle now let’s see the battle itself and its aftermath look now at the final verses of this chapter starting in verse 40 he that’s David took his stick oh I guess we read that one already verse 41 then the Philistine came on and approached David with the shield bearer in front of him when the Philistine looked and saw David he disdained him he was but a youth and ruddy with a handsome appearance the Philistines said to David am i a dog that you come to me with sticks the Philistine cursed David by his gods the Philistine also said to David come to me and I will give you our flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field then David said to the Philistine you come to me with a sword a spear and 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 taunted this day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands and I will strike you down and remove your head from you and I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands and it happened when the Philistine rose and came and drew near to meet David that David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine and David put his hand into his bag and took from in a stone and slung it instructed Philistine on his forehead and the stone sank into his forehead so that he fell on his face to the ground thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone and he struck the Philistine and killed him but there was no sword in David’s Han then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it when the Philistines thought that their champion was dead they fled the men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted and pursued the Philistines as far as the valley and to the gates of Ekron and the slain Philistines lay along the way to shall reign even to Gath a necron the sons of visual returned from chasing the Philistines and plundered their camps then David took the Philistines head and brought it to Jerusalem but he put his weapons in his tent now when Saul saw David going out against the Philistine he said to Abner in the commander of the army Abner whose son is this young man and Abner said by your life Oh King I do not know the King said you inquire whose son the youth is so when David returned from killing the Philistine Abner took him and brought him before saw with the Philistines head in his hand it’s all said to him whose son are you young man and David answered I am the son of your servant Jesse a bethelite ok one more second for us to observe how does goliath respond to David’s coming forward See’s David how’s he react he disdains David he mocks David he curses David by the gods of Philistia how does David respond to glass mocking and threats yeah he essentially did David speaks a word of prophecy hee hee let’s go ice know what Goliath has really done so gly if you haven’t taunted me you haven’t taunted Israel you’ve taunted the God of Israel you’ve taunted Yahweh himself I come in the name of the God you have taunted and this God will cause me to kill you and will cause us to kill your people the Philistines what does David say he wants everyone to know yeah he says I want everyone to know there’s a God in Israel what else that’s right the Lord does not deliver by sword or spear he doesn’t need those things God’s deliverance is not dependent on the might or the the lethality of a weapon and I also want the Israel to know I want all people to know that the battle is the Lord’s he’s the one who provides victory how does David killed Goliath it’s a little ambiguous actually it says that he struck him with a sling and he fell and then after that he says thus David overcame Goliath the sling and a stone and struck him so that he died but then the very next verse says that he took the sword of Goliath and chopped off his head and Goliath died so was it the sword it was it the sling it’s actually it’s a little hard to tell it could be that that that phrase in verse 50 is a summary he essentially killed Goliath with the sling but the stone really just incapacitated and injured Goliath and he really was put to death with the sword or maybe he did die with the sling and the sword was just part of killing Goliath not ultimately that important but there is some ambiguity there one way or the other he kills Goliath how do the two armies respond to Goliath fall that’s right they flee course late i’m not going to honor the agreement that the whole idea that one battle one duel is going to cause one side to serve the other and it was not really going to happen they flee they see that far champions dead there’s no way we can overcome the enemy they flee as you’ll pursues as you’ll strikes Felicity the Philistines down for a long distance and then they return and plunder the Philistine camp what question this all asked at the end of this section whose son is this asked Abner to find out David returns from the battle when David returns in the battle he tell Saul who he is I’m the son of Jesse the best love my all right two more questions two more interpretive questions as we look at this last section why does all ask about David’s identity I mean doesn’t salt already know who David is it’s a tricky question what are some possible explanations hey Danielle right it might be this all simply doesn’t know David that well he does know David enough to love him to appreciate him to even make him an armor bearer but maybe he didn’t get to know David that well he said oh you’re from Jesse okay all right best me I’m okay that’s not interesting but he just like didn’t pay attention to it so now he wants to find out more about who David is yeah Richard right yeah this might just be kind of a formal thing after all not only has David accomplished a great victory he’s an important person militarily but according to solve promise he’s also going to be part of the royal family now it’s important to know where he comes from because he’s now going to marry Saul’s daughter so maybe this is like a formal alright let’s make sure we know his heritage let’s go through that process that could be the reason here it could be also that Saul forgot about David he did serve at the court but we don’t know how much time went by Between David going home and serving as a shepherd and coming back to the battle maybe Saul had forgotten about David maybe David had changed in the meantime he grew up a little bit more and he and he didn’t recognize David or maybe he’s just astonished at David he says I know the harp player who came in and helped me at the court but who is this great warrior could this really be the same person the humble Shepherd who played the harp in my court he has a double check it could also be that the chronology of chapter 16 and 17 overlap in such a way that both are happening at the same time that saw not gotten to know David that well until after this battle and until David spent more time at court and he’s still finding out who David is one of these reasons or maybe multiple these reasons will explain the apparent need to find out about David again one other question why is David so confident that he will win ultimately yeah it’s going to come down to faith we’ll talk more about that but God never specifically David would win now God did promise he has promised all Israel that if they follow him he would grant them astounding victories but that is generally true not absolutely true because the Bible records instances where this principle was not followed righteous rulers suffered defeat evil rulers accomplished great victories righteous men are slain in battle Thank in booze ayah while evil men survive and conquer it’s not that God was unfaithful but that he was working out mysterious purposes in these other instances Sokka David really be confident we might say well david has the promise of future kingship you know he’s going to be king he obviously can’t die before then so he can go out with courage well that may be true but just as Jesus could not put the Lord to the test by throwing himself off the temple so David could not presume on the Lord’s protection and act recklessly we could also say well David was specially empowered by god’s spirit the Spirit of the Lord was upon David he has a special connection with God well that’s true too but the Spirit does not override decisions of faith it’s not like David was going to be righteous no matter what we saw that Saul had God’s Spirit of empowerment and yet he chose not to believe in God and he was a coward he didn’t go out to fight it may be actually that David didn’t know for sure that he would win he expected he would but he was ready for that not to happen he had a heart after God’s he believed that it was God’s will to God to honor his own name and provide victory but ultimately he was ready for God to do whatever God had decided it makes sense Goliath is blaspheming God David trust in God David’s aware of God’s promises to provide victory for those who trust in him generally and so he’s he believes that that’s what’s really going to happen here this is similar to later on in the Old Testament you have those three friends of Daniel I forget that Hebrew names but Shadrach Meshach and Abednego they encounter Nebuchadnezzar who threatens to throw them into the furnace and they express an odd confidence they say to Nebuchadnezzar our God is able to deliver us from the furnace and we believe he will do so but even if not know for certain we’re not going to bow down to your idol they believe God will do something even though they’re not absolutely sure God will do that they have good reason to expect that they know what kind of God God is but they’re going to bagon regardless this is also like Paul and book of Philippians remember in that book Paul’s in his first imprisonment he says I’m ready to die for Christ’s sake I know it’s going to be great if I do I’ll be with Christ but I think it’s more necessary for me to stick around and minister to you and to the other churches therefore I believe I’m not going to die I’m actually soon going to be released I’m going to come visit you did you know that for certain Paul maybe not he was ready for God to do something different but he expected that God would do a certain thing so I think maybe the same thing is happening here for David David expects that God will do a thing he will provide deliverance that makes sense with the situation of what God’s promises and what God has don’t already done in David’s life but even if that’s not the case David is going to be strong and courageous he’s going to obey the Lord and go out in faith and that is what he does ultimately whatever reason for his great confidence it came down to David’s faith he believed that didn’t matter whether David was an experienced fighter or not what kind of weapons he had or not God would our God is able to provide victory God is able to deliver through weak and foolish means of course that’s a theme throughout the scriptures right that’s just the gospel and that’s a what Hebrews 11 also says David acted in faith in gate in great contrast to the ever walk by sight Saul God’s next anointed king walked by faith I knew from the scriptures and his own experience confirming the scriptures the god is able to work powerfully through this seemingly weak and foolish God is not delivered by the sword and spear but by the power of his word on behalf of those who trust in him this is the lesson that David wanted to teach all who were witnesses or all who heard about the battle and it’s lesson the first the writer First Samuel one to teach to his audience and miss the lesson that we were to learn as well we can trust in the Lord his arm is not too short to delivery he often uses a weak and foolish means basically out of time for today let me just mention some questions of application and if you have other questions or comments you can come see me afterwards these come from the workbook there on page 13 questions for us to consider what do we learn from David about placing our faith in God and what way have you seen the importance of looking carefully at the biblical text as we studied this passage today maybe you remember certain things about this account that actually weren’t true or maybe you couldn’t remember which of this a kick which of the characters in the account do you most identify with if your believer hopefully increasingly you identify with David but if you’re identified with Saul or with Ellie AB or with the trembling Israelites it’s time to repent it’s time to change your thinking based on the truth of God’s Word and then what is the difference between looking at this passage the way we have done today and using David as an example of a brave person we can try to emulate might be an odd question but this is not simply an underdog story it’s not oh you know just wow what power there is and the underdog he was so brave wow what a great guy this isn’t about David this is about God this is about the power of God he’s the one who has the power to deliver the power to provide and not just for David not just for warriors but for each of us each of us who trust in him that’s it let’s close in prayer father we thank you for this great word a familiar story but one that’s so important for us load your arm is not too short there’s no situation or temptation that we look at and say oh there’s just no way god no way you can deliver no way you can provide I have to go outside your word I can’t obey you here because there’s just no way I’ll make it now you show through David and through so many others God you were able to provide you don’t deliver by the sword and spear but by the power of your word what helped us to trust that thank you for that but let us glory in that and cause us to glory in that more as we hear more about your word today and as we fellowship and Jesus name Amen