No other episode in the life of
David gets the attention of his battle with Goliath. A little background might
make the story a bit clearer for those of us living three thousand years later.
Geography
It helps to know who lives where:
As you can see, the Philistines
live in the plains by the Mediterranean Sea. The Israelites live in the
hills. That has important consequences.
- The Philistines therefore
control the trade by sea - which is quite important in that tin, a vital
ingredient in bronze, is a trade good.
- Evidently it also assisted the
Philistines with their technology - for they know how to work iron, and
the Israelites do not.
The site of the battle is
interesting too - it's one of those long valleys leading up into the hills.
The Israelites are on one side, the Philistines the other. So let's read the
story; it's a familiar one.
(1 Sam 17 NIV) Now the Philistines gathered their forces
for war and assembled at Socoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim,
between Socoh and Azekah. {2} Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in
the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. {3}
The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley
between them. {4} A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the
Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall. {5} He had a bronze helmet on his
head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels ;
{6} on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his
back. {7} His spear shaft was like a weaver's rod, and its iron point weighed
six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him. {8} Goliath stood and
shouted to the ranks of Israel, "Why do you come out and line up for
battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a
man and have him come down to me. {9} If he is able to fight and kill me, we
will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become
our subjects and serve us." {10} Then the Philistine said, "This day
I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other."
{11} On hearing the Philistine's words, Saul and all the Israelites were
dismayed and terrified. {12} Now David was the son of an Ephrathite named
Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul's
time he was old and well advanced in years. {13} Jesse's three oldest sons had
followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab; the second, Abinadab; and
the third, Shammah. {14} David was the youngest. The three oldest followed
Saul, {15} but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father's sheep
at Bethlehem. {16} For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and
evening and took his stand. {17} Now Jesse said to his son David, "Take
this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and
hurry to their camp. {18} Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of
their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance from them.
{19} They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah,
fighting against the Philistines." {20} Early in the morning David left
the flock with a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He
reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting
the war cry. {21} Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing
each other. {22} David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the
battle lines and greeted his brothers. {23} As he was talking with them,
Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and
shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. {24} When the Israelites saw
the man, they all ran from him in great fear. {25} Now the Israelites had been
saying, "Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy
Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also
give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his father's family from
taxes in Israel." {26} David asked the men standing near him, "What
will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace
from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the
armies of the living God?" {27} They repeated to him what they had been
saying and told him, "This is what will be done for the man who kills
him." {28} When Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard him speaking with the
men, he burned with anger at him and asked, "Why have you come down here?
And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited
you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the
battle." {29} "Now what have I done?" said David. "Can't I
even speak?" {30} He then turned away to someone else and brought up the
same matter, and the men answered him as before. {31} What David said was
overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him. {32} David said to Saul,
"Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go
and fight him." {33} Saul replied, "You are not able to go out
against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a
fighting man from his youth." {34} But David said to Saul, "Your
servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and
carried off a sheep from the flock, {35} I went after it, struck it and rescued
the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck
it and killed it. {36} Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this
uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the
armies of the living God. {37} The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the
lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this
Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."
{38} Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him
and a bronze helmet on his head. {39} David fastened on his sword over the
tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. "I cannot
go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them."
So he took them off. {40} Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth
stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with
his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. {41} Meanwhile, the
Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to
David. {42} He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and
handsome, and he despised him. {43} He said to David, "Am I a dog, that
you come at me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
{44} "Come here," he said, "and I'll give your flesh to the
birds of the air and the beasts of the field!" {45} David said to the
Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I
come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of
Israel, whom you have defied. {46} This day the LORD will hand you over to me,
and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses
of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and
the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. {47} All those
gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves;
for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give all of you into our hands."
{48} As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the
battle line to meet him. {49} Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he
slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his
forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. {50} So David triumphed over the
Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down
the Philistine and killed him. {51} David ran and stood over him. He took hold
of the Philistine's sword and drew it from the scabbard. After he killed him,
he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero
was dead, they turned and ran. {52} Then the men of Israel and Judah surged
forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath and to
the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and
Ekron. {53} When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they
plundered their camp. {54} David took the Philistine's head and brought it to
Jerusalem, and he put the Philistine's weapons in his own tent. {55} As Saul
watched David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, commander of
the army, "Abner, whose son is that young man?" Abner replied,
"As surely as you live, O king, I don't know." {56} The king said,
"Find out whose son this young man is." {57} As soon as David
returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul,
with David still holding the Philistine's head. {58} "Whose son are you,
young man?" Saul asked him. David said, "I am the son of your servant
Jesse of Bethlehem."
You know what the problem is with
this passage? There are just too many good ideas in here. I've selected one:
this is a model for spiritual warfare. Let's take a look at our own spiritual
struggles using this story as a model.
Trouble, Trouble
Whenever you talk about spiritual
warfare, it brings up visions to some of chanting, anointing things with holy
oil and such. That's not what we're going to be studying here. We are
interested in the principles behind the warfare.
The size of our problems
One thing is certain. Our
problems always look BIG to us. Certainly Goliath did so to the Israelites.
But what else should we expect from warfare with Satan?
- We should expect it on a daily
basis - Satan is certainly persistent. And it will go on as long as we
will let it.
- Taunting. This is one of
Satan's chief tactics - telling us each day how weak we are, that we dare
not face him.
- Demoralization - the feeling
that no matter what we do, it just won't be good enough. This is a
struggle of the will.
The enemy is prepared
Goliath was a warrior from his
youth. We should expect our enemy Satan to be prepared, and we should be
also. But note his preparations:
- He is prepared with the weapons
of this world. Goliath has the best the technology of the day can
provide. He was expecting to meet the same weapons in combat. David
defeated him by using God's weapons. We should do likewise.
- Goliath has help. He has a
"shield bearer" - a guy to carry the heavy stuff out onto the
battlefield. So often we see that Satan's forces are numerous and we look
to be alone. That's usually the time we need to ask God to open our eyes so
that we can see. Remember Elisha?
Our fears
We will certainly have no lack of
fears - or sources to obtain them.
- Our friends and family will be
sure to tell us how weak we truly are. David's brothers here are sure
he's just come down to watch. Do our friends and families magnify our
fears? Should we listen?
- The enemy too will add to those
fears - usually by telling us just how insignificant we are.
- But consider God's paradox: he
chooses the weak of this world so that the world might see his strength.
When friends, family and enemies tell you that "You can't,"
remind them all that "God can."
Settling for a tie
Most of us react to such
situations by hoping that nothing gets worse. Indeed, it is interesting that both
armies stand still for forty days. No doubt the Philistines were confident of
their technology - but, after all, why not let Goliath do it? The Israelites
may have felt comfortable holding high ground - but not advancing into the
plain below.
We're like that at times.
Spiritual warfare is for experts, we say. What do I know about it anyway? And
besides, I think I'm in such a tight corner that even Satan can't dig me out.
Perhaps he can't; perhaps that's where he wants you. Bottled up and
ineffective, he can ignore you.
David's Preparation
It's interesting to see how David
has prepared - and been prepared - for this moment. It is his moment of
opening fame, the stepping stone to rule. We have already commented upon his
choice of weapons. How else did he prepare?
Submission and obedience
Despite having been anointed by
Samuel as king, there is no trace of arrogance to the man. In fact,
- He is obedient to his father,
taking food to his brothers. It is in the course of this obedience that
his opportunity comes - and this is no accident. Victory in Christ comes
to those who are obedient.
- He is even obedient to Saul -
despite knowing that God has chosen him to succeed Saul. That submission,
as we will see later, is based upon the fact that Saul is the Lord's
anointed. David does not presume upon God.
Faith
It sounds almost trite to state
the obvious: faith is essential to spiritual warfare. But faith here is held
up by two other things:
- David's experience - his past
victories over the bear and lion - are recalled. Likewise, we can recall
that we too have been victorious. Most of us learn from our mistakes. In
spiritual warfare, you must also learn from your successes.
- There is also the power of the
Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, the Spirit came upon whom he pleased.
Now, all Christians have the Spirit - and we forget sometimes that greater
is He who is in me than he who is in the world.
Principles of Preparation
David shows us here some
principles of preparation in spiritual warfare:
- Don’t presume upon God. You
must do your part as well. David came with five stones; God granted
victory with the first. Had David come with one, he would have been
trying to put God in a corner. I suspect he would have missed.
"Excuse me, Mr. Goliath, I'll be right back?" Let God know that
you're ready to do whatever he commands you to do.
- Remember that the courage of
one person can inspire many. Most people are hanging back looking at
Goliath and wondering when David will show up. Courage is required.
Resist the devil; he will flee.
- The battle is the Lord's. he
grants victory. Just make sure it's his battle you're fighting.
Spiritual warfare results in failure when you're in it for your own greed.
Our Spiritual Warfare
Why?
Most of us, when we hear the
phrase "spiritual warfare," think this is something that someone else
does. So why should I do it?
- Zeal. As you grow in Christ,
there will come a time when his name becomes so important to you that you
must engage in combat. If you don't care that much about God, what kind
of warrior would you make? Beware of being lukewarm.
- Reward. God promises reward -
just as Saul promised great reward for anyone who would stand up to
Goliath.
- Obedience. Sometimes God puts
you in a situation in which there is no other choice but to conduct
spiritual warfare, or disobey his commands. Remember that David was
obedient - and was rewarded for it.
- Calling. For a select few,
spiritual warfare is a calling. Sometimes these are those who are
physically infirm; sometimes it's just the call of God. But however he
arranges it, do not reject his call.
Five Smooth Stones
In searching through Nave's
Topical Bible under the heading of Spiritual Warfare, I found these five
references in the Psalms of David. I call these the "five smooth
stones" of spiritual warfare. From the heart of the poet who was a man
after God's own heart, we have these:
- Seek his face. So often when
confronted with spiritual warfare we remember our sins and try to hide
from God. We retreat into the mountains to defend ourselves, instead of
going boldly. First go to God in prayer, laying your combat before him,
confessing your sins.
- Wait for the Lord. Often, in our
impatience, we do not allow the Lord the time to say, "Stand still,
and know that I am God." Pray fervently, pray consistently - and
wait.
- When afraid, trust in God. What do we
usually do? We count our own strength - and watch it diminish in fear.
Remember that God has chosen the weak things of this world to show his
strength. We are those weak things. When the warfare is overwhelming,
abandon trust in yourself. Trust only in Him.
- Call God to your aid. How often we
forget this! We will pour out our troubles to God and end the prayer
with, "I don't know how I'm going to handle this." We tell him
our problems but don't ask for his help! Confess your weakness, and call
on God to help you.
- Praise Him in victory. How soon after
the victory do we forget to whom it was due. When you triumph in
spiritual warfare, do not fail to praise the God who has given you the
victory. After all, you might need to ask him for help again someday.
New Testament thoughts
I cannot forbear to add one
thought on spiritual warfare from the New Testament. It is Paul's thorn in the
flesh.
Often God will give you some disability to keep you humble before Him - so that
his power may be shown in your weakness. Remember His grace is sufficient for
you, too.
Remember too the words of Christ
in Revelation: to him who overcomes, I will give - the right to eat from the
tree of life, not to be harmed by the second death, hidden manna, the white
stone with a new name on it, authority over the nations, acknowledgement before
the Father, the right to be a pillar in the Temple of God and to sit on his
throne with Him.
There's a war going on out
there. The victory is sure. Don't hang back in the hills, but pick up a few
stones - and follow Him.