Everyone has heard of this fight. It was a battle between a no-hoper and a champion. It is a battle that David could not win – or so it seemed.

1 – The challenge to Israel from Goliath (1 Samuel 17:1-11)

It was a terrifying challenge.

• Winner takes all! (vs4) The other nations did use champions to settle issues in single combat – winner takes all. Goliath “threw down the gauntlet” There is no history of Israel using this procedure but it was still a humiliating moment for Israel.
• The terror of Goliath. (vs4-10) Goliath struck TERROR into the hearts of Israel. And no wonder! He was a MAN MOUNTAIN!

1. Over 9 feet tall – perhaps as much as 10 feet!
2. His armour alone weighed 125 pounds (57 kilos).
3. Spear like a weaver’s rod with a bronze point weighing 15 pounds (7 kilos).
4. He was a walking fortress. A deadly killing machine.
5. Every day he came forward to mouth his threats and shout abuse.

• Saul was a big man (“A head taller than anyone else”) and was not willing. Jonathon who had heroically attacked and defeated a Philistine outpost was not willing. Everyone from the king down to the lowest soldier was AFRAID. In the days of the Exodus, there were giants living in the Promised Land (Numbers 13:28, 32-33). The Anakites were enormous people, some seven to nine feet tall. Goliath was probably a descendant of this race. See Genesis 4.

2 – David accepts the challenge (1 Samuel 17:12-40)

This seemed like foolish bravery to David’s companions but David knew that God was on his side and that he couldn’t lose.

• Fear brings stalemate (vs3 & 16 & 21). For 40 days there has been stalemate. Israel was in fear and faithfulness. Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness of Sinai because they refused to enter Sinai because of the “giants” in the land.
• David the theologian (vs26) – Goliath was a theological problem. David realised that as the people of God of the covenant, Israel had no right to cower before the enemies of the Lord. Israel’s problem was faith – or rather the lack of it. Goliath was the symptom rather than the disease itself. Goliath and the Philistines were defying God when they defied Israel. Many of the big questions in our lives are essentially theological and require sound theological truth if we are to answer them successfully. This is faith at work!
• David’s eyes of faith (vs24 & 26) – When the Israelites saw Goliath they all ran from him in great fear. When the children of Israel saw Goliath, they said he was too big to defeat. When David saw Goliath, he said he was too big to miss!
• David’s simple practical faith (vs. 38-40) – David refused Saul’s cumbersome armour and chose the weapon he knew best how to use – his trusty sling. Long hours of practice during his boyhood meant that David was deadly accurate when it came to putting a stone where he wanted it to go. He prayed to God, ventured in complete confidence and won the victory. The simplest approach of faith toward any problem is far better than the most sophisticated reasoning. Our faith stands in the power of God, NOT in men’s wisdom.
• David overcomes discouragement (28-29 & 33) – Discouragement can often dampen the flames of faith. David’s own eldest brother rebukes and ridicules him. It is difficult when your own family or even those of the family of God cause you to feel discouraged. With a soft answer David turned away his brother’s wrath. David was prepared – filled with the Spirit and armed with faith and prayer – he was a spiritual warrior.
• The “boy” David (vs33). This story is one of the best known and loved of all literature. It has, needless to say, been “romanticised” to such an extent that much has been lost. The “boy” David was in fact a strapping young man probably in his late teens or early twenties. But far more significant is the fact that he was endowed with the Spirit of God.
• The shepherd looks after his sheep (vs. 34-37) When David went out to fight Goliath, he went out as the shepherd whom the Lord had delivered from the lion and the bear. He took with him his staff, his sling and five smooth stones from the stream. (vs38,39) Israel was God’s flock and David had been anointed to be king. Goliath was no more than a predator and David stepped forward as the shepherd who would protect his sheep. Like David the shepherd, Jesus the Good Shepherd came forward ready to give His life for the sheep. See Isaiah 52:6, 12.
• David’s sling (40, 49-50) David used a small sling to level the giant Goliath. This shows how God uses weak things to confound the mighty. See also 1 Corinthians 1:27. A sling was not some toy but a dangerous weapon in the hands of one skilled in its use. In Joshua 20 we read of 700 left-handed men in Israel’s army who were deadly accurate with a sling.

3 – David’s victory over Goliath (1 Samuel 17:41-51)

It was upset that stunned everyone. But God was bigger than Goliath!

• Other “gods” cannot stand before our God (vs43-51). Goliath had gone the way of his god, Dagon, when he fell before the Ark of the Covenant – even to the loss of his head! (1 Samuel 5:4). The Philistine champion was as dead as their so-called god! And they knew there was a God in Israel!
• Beating the giants (vs51). When was the last time you faced a seemingly impossible situation? You don’t have the courage to face up to the challenge. There is a “giant” problem standing in the way. The solution is spiritual not human. Like David, pray and trust in the Lord God who can do ALL things.
• Completing God’s task – When David’s first blow downed the giant, he did not stop to “shout” his victory, or he might have lost it. While the giant was knocked out, David made sure of victory by using the giant’s own sword to cut off his head. He did not intend to score a “half victory”. God wants us to complete the task and not “crow” about it.

4 – The triumph of Israel (1 Samuel 17:52-58)

The victory of David was for God’s people Israel. It showed God is bigger than an army so they should trust in Him.

• It was God’s victory – One smooth stone in the hand of a shepherd put all the conventional might of Saul’s army in its proper perspective. “No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength” Psalm 33:16. Israel was kept waiting 40 days for its deliverance. Like the 40 years she was kept waiting in the wilderness. Israel needed to be persuaded afresh that there was still a God in Israel!
• The turning point – From now on Saul would decrease and David would increase. Here is Saul, the present king and there is David, the future king. In David’s hand (the head of Goliath) was the gory proof that he was, indeed, the Lord’s anointed.

Categories: 1 Samuel