31 David and Goliath – Part 3

After having obeyed his father, and brought food to his brothers on the frontline, David had his firsthand experience with Goliath. But not only did he see and hear Goliath, he saw the fear displayed by his fellow Israelites, as they were terrified of the Philistine giant.

David was incensed that Goliath, an “uncircumcised Philistine” who dare defy “the armies of the living God”.

And even though he was but just a youth, he knew the Lord was with him, and therefore was able to eventually convince king Saul that he could defeat the terrifying giant.

1 Saul Attempts to Prepare David

1 Samuel 17:38-39

Because Saul continued to fall further and further away from the Lord, he was used to resorting to his flesh. Therefore, here we see him attempting to clothe the smaller David in his own armor.

But it shows how, at this stage, all Saul did, was to rely upon his flesh and own resources. For him, the armor provided him with safety.

But this not only provides the account of Saul’s actions, but it shows how many will attempt to clothe themselves in religion, using it to provide what in effect, only turns out to be a false sense of security.

In the text, we see that David was unable to maneuver in the ill-fitting armor, which itself presents a spiritual picture. Because David had developed a personal relationship with the Lord, he did not feel comfortable with religious exercises.

Rather than trusting in armor or anything like it, David’s trust was in the Lord alone, which we see, in what he wrote years later, when the Lord delivered him from the hand of the same Saul:

Psalm 18:30

When David took off Saul’s armor, it pictured him refusing to trust in anything other than the Lord alone.

2 David Prepares for Battle

1 Samuel 17:40

Rather than armor or even a word, David armed himself with those things with which he was most comfortable. First, he took up his shepherd’s staff. That was unusual, for someone about to go into battle, but because shepherd’s were considered as low-class on those days, anything associated with a shepherd would have been a curious choice.

Next, he chose five smooth stones from the brook which was separating the Israelite and Philistine forces.

Many have conjectured as to why he choice five stones.

• Some bible scholars suggested that Goliath had brothers, and David wanted to be prepared to defeat them as well. In the books of 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles, Goliath is described as having brothers and sons (all large men, like he was).
• Another theory, is that because the number five is often associated with God’s grace, therefore David was showing his awareness that the victory would come only by God’s grace.

We then see the irony, that while to-date, all Israel retreated from Goliath, David was drawing near.

3 David Defeats Goliath

1 Samuel 17:41-49

Goliath disdained David, since to him, he was only a youth, and not someone who had the right to challenge him.

Goliath was so upset, that he questioned whether he was viewed as a “dog” by sending a mere teenager out to fight him.

However, an interesting Hebrew word <kaleb> was used for dog. This word was also often used when speaking about male homosexual prostitutes, so it seems that Saul felt his manhood was being challenged by sending David to be his opponent.

The giant then cursed and challenged David to come out against him, and he swore he would give David’s lifeless corpse to the vultures and scavengers to feed on.

Once again, this points to how Goliath was a “type” of Satan, in showing how the devil constantly hurls accusations against believers.

David however, showed even greater confidence (in the Lord) as declared he wasn’t armed with sword or spear, but was coming in the name of the Lord:

1 Samuel 17:45

David understood that he was representing the Lord, who would deliver Goliath into his hands.

Goliath was naturally enraged, and as he came forward, David hurled one of the stones, and struck Goliath with such force, that it embedded in the giant’s forehead, causing him to fall over onto his face.

4 Completing the Task

Killing Goliath was only part of the task however:

1 Samuel 17:50-58

Previously, David had said that he would cutoff the giant’s head. However, he didn’t have a sword. In great irony, he used Goliath’s own massive sword to sever the Philistine’s head.

Once the Philistines saw that their Champion had been defeated, they began to flee, some as far as Ekron, while others were slain as they fled along the road toward Gath.

In verse 54, it’s mentioned that David brought Goliath’s head to Jerusalem. However, that would have taken place many years later, since at this point in history, Jerusalem was not under Israelite control. As a matter of fact, when David would actually become king (many years after this incident) he made Hebron his first capital.

In addition to the head, David also kept Goliath’s armor in his tent. Therefore, he kept several trophies from his battle with Goliath.

As the chapter concludes, we see that Saul didn’t seem to know who David was, or where he had come from.

He didn’t remember that this was the same individual who played upon the harp to sooth him whenever he was tormented by evil spirits. Saul asked his general Abner about the identity also, but Abner was also unaware.

It wasn’t until Abner brought David before the king, and Saul inquired of David as to his identity and background, when David answered that he was the son of Jess from Bethlehem.