David and Goliath
1 Samuel 17 New Living Translation (NLT)
Goliath Challenges The Israelites
17 The Philistines now mustered their army for battle and camped between Socoh in Judah and Azekah at Ephes-dammim. 2 Saul countered by gathering his Israelite troops near the valley of Elah. 3 So the Philistines and Israelites faced each other on opposite hills, with the valley between them. 4 Then Goliath, a Philistine champion from Gath, came out of the Philistine ranks to face the forces of Israel. He was over nine feet[a] tall! 5 He wore a bronze helmet, and his bronze coat of mail weighed 125 pounds.[b] 6 He also wore bronze leg armor, and he carried a bronze javelin on his shoulder. 7 The shaft of his spear was as heavy and thick as a weaver’s beam, tipped with an iron spearhead that weighed 15 pounds.[c] His armor bearer walked ahead of him carrying a shield.
8 Goliath stood and shouted a taunt across to the Israelites. “Why are you all coming out to fight?” he called. “I am the Philistine champion, but you are only the servants of Saul. Choose one man to come down here and fight me! 9 If he kills me, then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves! 10 I defy the armies of Israel today! Send me a man who will fight me!” 11 When Saul and the Israelites heard this, they were terrified and deeply shaken.
Jesse Sends David to Saul’s Camp
12 Now David was the son of a man named Jesse, an Ephrathite from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. Jesse was an old man at that time, and he had eight sons. 13 Jesse’s three oldest sons—Eliab, Abinadab, and Shimea[d]—had already joined Saul’s army to fight the Philistines. 14 David was the youngest son. David’s three oldest brothers stayed with Saul’s army, 15 but David went back and forth so he could help his father with the sheep in Bethlehem.
16 For forty days, every morning and evening, the Philistine champion strutted in front of the Israelite army.
17 One day Jesse said to David, “Take this basket[e] of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread, and carry them quickly to your brothers. 18 And give these ten cuts of cheese to their captain. See how your brothers are getting along, and bring back a report on how they are doing.[f]” 19 David’s brothers were with Saul and the Israelite army at the valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.
20 So David left the sheep with another shepherd and set out early the next morning with the gifts, as Jesse had directed him. He arrived at the camp just as the Israelite army was leaving for the battlefield with shouts and battle cries. 21 Soon the Israelite and Philistine forces stood facing each other, army against army. 22 David left his things with the keeper of supplies and hurried out to the ranks to greet his brothers. 23 As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, came out from the Philistine ranks. Then David heard him shout his usual taunt to the army of Israel.
24 As soon as the Israelite army saw him, they began to run away in fright. 25 “Have you seen the giant?” the men asked. “He comes out each day to defy Israel. The king has offered a huge reward to anyone who kills him. He will give that man one of his daughters for a wife, and the man’s entire family will be exempted from paying taxes!”
26 David asked the soldiers standing nearby, “What will a man get for killing this Philistine and ending his defiance of Israel? Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?”
27 And these men gave David the same reply. They said, “Yes, that is the reward for killing him.”
28 But when David’s oldest brother, Eliab, heard David talking to the men, he was angry. “What are you doing around here anyway?” he demanded. “What about those few sheep you’re supposed to be taking care of? I know about your pride and deceit. You just want to see the battle!”
29 “What have I done now?” David replied. “I was only asking a question!” 30 He walked over to some others and asked them the same thing and received the same answer. 31 Then David’s question was reported to King Saul, and the king sent for him.
David Kills Goliath
32 “Don’t worry about this Philistine,” David told Saul. “I’ll go fight him!”
33 “Don’t be ridiculous!” Saul replied. “There’s no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win! You’re only a boy, and he’s been a man of war since his youth.”
34 But David persisted. “I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and goats,” he said. “When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, 35 I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. 36 I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! 37 The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!”
Saul finally consented. “All right, go ahead,” he said. “And may the Lord be with you!”
38 Then Saul gave David his own armor—a bronze helmet and a coat of mail. 39 David put it on, strapped the sword over it, and took a step or two to see what it was like, for he had never worn such things before.
“I can’t go in these,” he protested to Saul. “I’m not used to them.” So David took them off again. 40 He picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them into his shepherd’s bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd’s staff and sling, he started across the valley to fight the Philistine.
41 Goliath walked out toward David with his shield bearer ahead of him, 42 sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy. 43 “Am I a dog,” he roared at David, “that you come at me with a stick?” And he cursed David by the names of his gods. 44 “Come over here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals!” Goliath yelled.
45 David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! 47 And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!”
48 As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him. 49 Reaching into his shepherd’s bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it with his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in, and Goliath stumbled and fell face down on the ground.
50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with only a sling and a stone, for he had no sword. 51 Then David ran over and pulled Goliath’s sword from its sheath. David used it to kill him and cut off his head.
Israel Routs the Philistines
When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they turned and ran. 52 Then the men of Israel and Judah gave a great shout of triumph and rushed after the Philistines, chasing them as far as Gath[g] and the gates of Ekron. The bodies of the dead and wounded Philistines were strewn all along the road from Shaaraim, as far as Gath and Ekron. 53 Then the Israelite army returned and plundered the deserted Philistine camp. 54 (David took the Philistine’s head to Jerusalem, but he stored the man’s armor in his own tent.)
55 As Saul watched David go out to fight the Philistine, he asked Abner, the commander of his army, “Abner, whose son is this young man?”
“I really don’t know,” Abner declared.
56 “Well, find out who he is!” the king told him.
57 As soon as David returned from killing Goliath, Abner brought him to Saul with the Philistine’s head still in his hand. 58 “Tell me about your father, young man,” Saul said.
And David replied, “His name is Jesse, and we live in Bethlehem.”
Goliath’s Intimidation
Goliath’s appearance was so intimidating that even the leaders of the army were afraid. He marched out in front of the Israelite army daily.
This is what the enemy does to us. He knows how to get to us and uses that to his advantage. Goliath knew he was big, strong, and able to kill any of those men in the physical sense. He tapped into that and left the men paralyzed in fear.
These men were not old and frail; they were in the Israelite army. So in the physical, they were capable to fight. Furthermore, they had God on their side! Yes, God. The creator of the universe and the UNDEFEATED one was on their side.
Why then were they so intimidated?
They failed to see things through God’s perspective. Plain and simple. I’m taken back to Zechariah 4:6 - “Not by power, not by might, but by my spirit says the Lord.” God was able to knock down their enemy at the drop of a hat (or stone!) but they were so frozen in fear they could see possibility of victory.
It’s these instances in the Bible where I’m encouraged. That might sound strange, but it’s true. It’s encouraging to read and imagine such a scenario because these were REAL people with real fear. Just like you and me. The crazy and amazing thing is that God was the same then as He is today. He is faithful and true. So while it’s encouraging to hear that I’m not the only one who has seen the faithfulness of God yet still let’s fear paralyze me at times, I need to LEARN from this scripture and not sit in it.
David’s Approach
You’d think that out of all of those men, one had to be truly in tune with God as he saw Goliath strutting back and forth. Yet, not one of them spoke out. Not one tapped into God’s perspective. That is until David came onto the scene…
David not only asked the right questions but he persisted. He KNEW who God was, how he had been faithful in the past, and he didn’t stop there. He let God take control, knowing that on his own he could not have killed those lions and bears and that he wouldn't be able to defeat Goliath. David had GOD’S perspective. He didn’t let the intimidation turn to paralyzing fear. David paired his remembrance of what God had already done with certain expectation that He’d do it again - and victory was the result.
Our Application
Don't let intimidation turn to paralyzing fear. Whether intimidation comes from a prognosis, lack of provision, unanswered promise from God, don’t let it turn into paralyzing fear.
Remember what God has done and resolve in your spirit that you believe He will come through for you and do it again. It may not be in your time. Well actually it most likely won’t be in your time, but it WILL be done. Why? Because if you are a child of God (you’ve surrendered your life to Him), all of His promises are Yes and Amen - that means He has and will continue to bring them to pass.
Go forward in confident expectation. Just like David. David didn’t sit on his faith. He took it and fought with it. Daily as a shepherd and also when he knew it was time to step up/out into something more. David saw that out of an ARMY not one was approaching the situation with Godly perspective. So he, a young boy compared to the rest, stepped out confidently. He didn’t let intimidation get to him and he even went against what the leaders would have normally permitted. And it worked because David was completely aligned with the Lord.
Stay connected. Or get connected. Surrender your life to God. Make time for Him. It’s that simple. In the car, at work, while you’re making dinner - but I challenge you to also have true, sit down, set apart, time for God too. We don’t arrange plans with a friend to get gas, grocery shop, and do laundry, so why do we limit our God time to accompany those chores?
As we sit with Him, we get to know Him more. It’s in those quiet times, yes quiet, that He speaks to us. I challenge you to write down what He is pressing on your heart. Those words, stories, ideas, and prayers - write them down and let the Holy Spirit show you what to do next. He will bring them to pass as you step out in faithful expectation just like David did.
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