The contrasts between Saul and David are obvious. Saul measures everything by a carnal understanding of externals. David measures things by faith.

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Melina Doris Robinson
6 years ago
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1 Introduction In our last study we talked about facing the giants. This study we speak of slaying the giants. I gave you an assignment. I asked you to name your giant. Was your giant fear? Was your giant loneliness? Perhaps you chose discouragement; or worry, or guilt, or temptation, or anger or resentment, or doubt, or procrastination. Maybe you chose failure--or jealousy. David s giant was over nine feet tall. When he walked he always left a dent in the pavement. The Challenge Met (vv.31-37) 1 Samuel 17:31 (NKJV) Now when the words which David spoke were heard, they reported them to Saul; and he sent for him. Saul is troubled by his doubts, his fears, his insecurities. The contrasts between Saul and David are obvious. Saul measures everything by a carnal understanding of externals. David measures things by faith. David s success is linked to David s faith--but we are not talking about faith in faith; rather David s unshakable confidence in the faithfulness of the Lord. It is God who is faithful. 1 Samuel 17:32 (NKJV) Then David said to Saul, Let no man s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine. Are you still afraid? David --the boy--says-- Let no man s heart fail because of him (the giant); your servant will go and fight with this Philistine! There are two kinds of battles; those you can and should fight yourself; and those who God has assigned a champion! 1 Samuel 17:33 (NKJV) 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 uses two excuses to dissuade the young shepherd; youth and inexperience. 1

2 1 Samuel 17:34 (NKJV) 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, 1 Samuel 17:35 (NKJV) 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. 1 Samuel 17:36 (NKJV) 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. 1 Samuel 17:37 (NKJV) 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! David s faith is not presumptuous faith. David appeals to how God delivered him in the past; and gives assurances in the present crisis. David s faith is a principled faith. David evaluates Goliath s challenge in light of God s word. David determines that Goliath is guilty of blasphemy (17:45). The Lord used David and saved David in the past under extreme circumstances. God saved David from both a lion and a bear. David had experienced the protective care of God. David knew that he could trust the Lord in every area--and every circumstance. Saul --did not learn that lesson. God had intervened in Saul s life. The Lord had given Saul victory (see 1 Sam.11:6-11); but instead of trusting the Lord--Saul acted with presumption (1 Sam. 13:5-10); and relied on himself and his own resources. Saul collapsed from the external pressures because he did not have the internal faith and trust and connection with the true and the living God; those inner principles, instructions, promises of God to guide him. Listen carefully--saul was never truly convinced of God s involvement, God s commitment, in his own life for any significant length of time. David faced external threats with a deep and abiding sense of God s presence, and God s promises and God s power. David was keenly aware that God had worked in the past, and God was now working in the present circumstances. Some people live in the delusion that luck and ability determine a person s fate. 2

3 But for the Christian we trust the Lord--by faith. Clearly David has a secret weapon; one he carries in his shepherd s heart. David is the true shepherd of Israel. The man who risked his life to rescue a lamb; the man who will fight for the defenseless sheep; the man who will meet the lion and the bear can meet Goliath and he shall be as one of them (v.36). Saul s statement Go, and the Lord be with you carries a twinge of sadness. The assurance of God s help in his own life is now only a distant memory. The Combatants (vv.38-47) 1 Samuel 17:38 (NKJV) 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. 1 Samuel 17:39 (NKJV) 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. Saul s armor is a sorry substitute for the armor of faith. The armor of the flesh does not suit the man of faith; they are unproven; but the Lord has been proved. We can trust God. 1 Samuel 17:40 (NKJV) 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 Combat requires the right equipment. Goliath had his armor. Saul has his armor. David had his equipment. Goliath has the power of Satan. Saul the power of the flesh. But David s power lies in David s faith. The equipment of Saul would have looked very much like the equipment of Goliath. For David his equipment is the equipment of a shepherd. David has his staff; his shepherd s bag and a sling. Clearly the equipment of a shepherd seems like no match for the armor of a warrior. 3

4 In the Bible a shepherd s staff was the tool he uses to guide the flock. A shepherd s staff becomes the symbol of the shepherd s authority; in this case divine authority. The smooth stones are a type and a picture of the those things that seem weak, seem small, that seem insignificant, the foolish things that God uses to confound the wise. The shepherds bag is that thing which contains sufficient faith found in the Lord. And the sling is the instrument of trust, of dependence upon the Lord; our faith is in the Lord. Paul reminds us how the Christian is outfitted for battle; we have the Sword of the Spirit; which is the word of God; we have the helmet of salvation; and the shield of faith. Above all we have God Himself; who makes two promises before sending us to face the giants; His presence and His power. Do you know what that means? You will never walk alone; and you will never walk in weakness. The Lord God has the ability to give you strength and bring victory against every oppressor; just ask Joshua, or Moses, or Abraham or Daniel, or Isaiah or David, or any of the apostles. They killed giants. And in the process became giants of faith. Perhaps that will happen to you. Where are you in the battle--in the land of the giants? 1 Samuel 17:41 (NKJV) So the Philistine came, and began drawing near to David, and the man who bore the shield went before him. 1 Samuel 17:42 (NKJV) And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was only a youth, ruddy and good-looking. 1 Samuel 17:43 (NKJV) 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. Goliath understood the weapons of war. The giant had no idea what to make of that sling nor will he understand the stone until it finds itself embedded in his skull. 1 Samuel 17:44 (NKJV) 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! The shepherd boy is disdained (v.42); cursed (v.43) defied (v.44). 4

5 1 Samuel 17:45 (NKJV) 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. David will meet the giant; the strong man in his armor. Goliath comes at David with sword, spear and javelin. Goliath seems to possess everything necessary--at least in terms of war. Goliath s weapons are carnal; David s are spiritual. Goliath s weapons are calculated to kill at long distance; and also to kill in close quarters. David reminds the giant of his blasphemy. David will trust in God s claims and trust in God s power. 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 Samuel 17:47 (NKJV) 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. David is not interested in honors or riches or fame. David does not agree to the duel because of power or prestige. David is interested in God s honor alone. Goliath had insulted the true and the living God. David accepts the challenge because David longs to vindicate the Lord he loves and trusts. The Conquest (vv.48-53) 1 Samuel 17:48 (NKJV) 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. 5

6 1 Samuel 17:49 (NKJV) 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. David s stone lands on the one place the giant has left unprotected. 1 Samuel 17:50 (NKJV) 50So 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. 1 Samuel 17:51 (NKJV) 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. The Lord allows David to place the giant s sword in his own hand and uses it to cut the giant s head off! Goliath s own sword in the hand of the shepherd becomes the undoing of the Giant. Death s sword is placed in the Shepherd s hand for the purpose of death s destruction. 1 Samuel 17:52 (NKJV) 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 Shaaraim, even as far as Gath and Ekron. The whole nation of Israel benefits from David s victory. Look again at the passage. The men of Israel are chasing a defeated foe! The whole nation of born again believers benefit from Christ s victory. The victory of Jesus is our victory. Our champion is Christ. The Conqueror s Return (v.54) 1 Samuel 17:54 (NKJV) And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent. 6

7 Colossians 2:15 (NKJV) Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. David took the head of the Goliath to Jerusalem for everyone to see. David has journeyed from the slopes and fields of Bethlehem to the Valley of Elah to Jerusalem the city of peace; the place where the foundations of peace with God are laid. This is the City of the Great King. 1 Samuel 17:55 (NKJV) 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. Conclusion What happens as a result of this conflict? The challenge of the giant, the challenge of the enemy is met. The living God vindicates His honor (v.36). All the earth knows that there is a true and living God in Israel (v.46). All the assembly are to know that their Savior is God (v.47). The way must be made--the road to Jerusalem must be paved for the new King; where the fruit of the King s victory will be seen by the whole world. The cross of Jesus on Calvary s hill; the battle against death; won by Christ through His death is seen in Christ s glorious resurrection. The gospel of Jesus and the power of God frees the saints from the power of evil and establishes Jesus as the King of Peace who reigns forever. Facing giants is an intimidating experience. Doing Battle is a lonely experience. Trusting God is a stabilizing experience. Winning victories is a memorable experience. We need to know our enemy. We need to know our armor. What is your giant? Do you have a plan to bring about his defeat? 7

1 Samuel 17:32 (NKJV) Then David said to Saul, Let no man s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.

1 Samuel 17:32 (NKJV) Then David said to Saul, Let no man s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine. Introduction In our last study we talked about facing the giants. This study we speak of slaying the giants. I gave you an assignment. I asked you to name your giant. Was your giant fear? Was your giant