17:1a Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle; they
were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between
Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim.
17:4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion
named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
17:5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a
coat of mail; the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of
bronze.
17:6 He had greaves of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze
slung between his shoulders.
17:7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his
spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and his
shield-bearer went before him.
17:8 He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, "Why have you come
out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not
servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down
to me.
17:9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be
your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you
shall be our servants and serve us."
17:10 And the Philistine said, "Today I defy the ranks of Israel!
Give me a man, that we may fight together."
17:11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine,
they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
17:19 Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the
valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.
17:20 David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper,
took the provisions, and went as Jesse had commanded him. He came to
the encampment as the army was going forth to the battle line,
shouting the war cry.
17:21 Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against
army.
17:22 David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage,
ran to the ranks, and went and greeted his brothers.
17:23 As he talked with them, the champion, the Philistine of Gath,
Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and
spoke the same words as before. And David heard him.
17:32 David said to Saul, "Let no one's heart fail because of him;
your servant will go and fight with this Philistine."
17:33 Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this
Philistine to fight with him; for you are just a boy, and he has
been a warrior from his youth."
17:34 But David said to Saul, "Your servant used to keep sheep for
his father; and whenever a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb from
the flock,
17:35 I went after it and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its
mouth; and if it turned against me, I would catch it by the jaw,
strike it down, and kill it.
17:36 Your servant has killed both lions and bears; and this
uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has
defied the armies of the living God."
17:37 David said, "The LORD, who saved me from the paw of the lion
and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this
Philistine." So Saul said to David, "Go, and may the LORD be with
you!"
17:38 Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a bronze helmet on
his head and clothed him with a coat of mail.
17:39 David strapped Saul's sword over the armor, and he tried in
vain to walk, for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul,
"I cannot walk with these; for I am not used to them." So David
removed them.
17:40 Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth
stones from the wadi, and put them in his shepherd's bag, in the
pouch; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the
Philistine.
17:41 The Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his
shield-bearer in front of him.
17:42 When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him,
for he was only a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance.
17:43 The Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me
with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
17:44 The Philistine said to David, "Come to me, and I will give
your flesh to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the
field."
17:45 But David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with sword
and spear and 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.
17:46 This very day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I
will strike you down and cut off your head; and I will give the dead
bodies of the Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air
and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know
that there is a God in Israel,
17:47 and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not
save by sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord's and he will
give you into our hand."
17:48 When the Philistine drew nearer to meet David, David ran
quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.
17:49 David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and
struck the Philistine on his forehead; the stone sank into his
forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.
Some things we learn: 1: no one shall defy the armies of the living
God (by armies I do not mean the armies of nations, but the whole
people of God in war with the forces of darkness. 2. Each of us have
to be who we are. Saul's armor did not fit David.(What is that example
of the man who said--God would not day to him, why were you not like
Moses, but instead God would say why were you not the best Marcus??
you can be? 3. What we have in our hand may be a simple thing, just a
few rocks, or a few beans, or a few dollars, but when it is used by
God, it does wondrous things. IL pastor
Several musings about this lection:
1. I think it is interesting that the lection leaves out verse 26
where we get a glimpse of the fact that David's motivation may not be
as pristine as we might imagine. (In that verse, David asks the WIIFM
question) Possibly important, because even when our motivations aren't
completely right, God can still use us as well.
2. We always hear about David being a young boy when this incident
took place, but if you examine the book of Samuel carefully, it is
clear that he was at least 18 years old at the time -- the same age as
many of the young men whom we have sent off to war. HMMMM!!
3. People usually want to interpret verse 38 as meaning that Saul
tried to dress David in Saul's armor, but the Hebrew isn't clear on
that. Thus we come to the interpretation that David chose not to wear
them because they didn't fit. From this, we can contrast Saul's desire
to rely on physical armor with David's reliance upon the armor of God.
Yet another interpretation is possible. It is quite possible that the
armor belonged to David, and that Saul humbled himself to literally
dress him in it (since David was unused to wearing it, it would make
sense that he should have the help of an "expert.") David decides not
to wear it simply because he is not used to moving around with it on.
Again, an interesting twist.
Oh well, just musing.
In this passage, the description of the soldier Goliath vividly
depicts the superiority of Philistine military might. In contrast,
David is armed with the name of the Lord.
Today people have to have explanations for everything! David had God
and the faith! But, even now Scientist are trying to explain Goliath.
Via History Channel...Goliath would have been in RIPLEY's BELIEVE IT
OR NOT today... Like the "giants" there and in Guiness book of world
records. Did Goliath have a Pituitary Gland defect? And weakened
immunity like the "giants" in those books. The Scientist explain for
David to hit Goliath in the head and die is possible because of the
defect...LOL We in our world, in our flesh, have to explain miracles,
explain God...
We Can't accept by Faith, that a small framed teenage boy could stand
up with God on his stand and beat a Giant?
Are we saying that like that Southern Gospel tune, opposite of, that
we can ask too much of God, there has to be a rational explanation...
Well, I say no, ask GOD we can't ask too much!!!
Pastor Mary in OHIO
I used this passage last week. (We Baptists can do that) I have posted
the children's sermon "A Sack of Groceries" on this site. I think it
was better than the main message for parents. David obeyed his father
willingly and without excuses when he was ask to carry groceries for
his brothers. The parents loved that admonition I am sure. But it
occurs to me that too many see the call to go down to fight the giant
as the great act of obedience of David. He would not have had the
opportunity to do the "great" thing if he had not been willing to do
the "small" thing. AS a former campus minister, I met students who
seemed to be able to hear God's call to serve on a mission team to
Africa, but who seldom answered the call to good grades in school.
jrbnrnc
A few thoughts:
David, the shepherd, has had plenty of time alone in the fields with
nothing to do but talk to God, play the harp and sharpen his skills
with a sling shot. He has had enough time with God to know God quite
well.
While the soldiers have their eyes on the problem (you have to be
practical, it doesn't make sense to take on a guy twice your size in
hand to hand combat), David has his eyes fixed on God who will win the
battle. God doesn't use conventional weapons but uses the "least" to
defeat those who think they're the greatest.
Goliath was a blow-hard and a coward. Even after he sees David without
armor or conventional weapons, he advances with his shield and shield-beared
in front of him.
David places his trust in God who overcomes.
(Thanks for your good thoughts. They have helped me.) melodious
Dear Friends,
I am usually a gospel preacher, but not this week. I love this story
and I think it has much to say to our churches.
The Philistines had the techno advantage. It was Iron Age against
stone and bronze. Goliath embodied the thech. David embodied the
faith. We can use tech too, but we need to remember Paul's words about
this war being in the spirit realm.
And there are still giants out there. My churches are facing the fact
that we have lost much of the generation of baby boomers and most all
the busters and Xers. Frankly, we do not know how to reach them. It is
a giant problem.
Also, faith is met with resistance. We expect it from the Goliath's of
the world. But David's own countrymen and family are much of the
problem. Thankfully, David doesn't listen to them. Church leaders must
be thick skinned! If we listen to naysayers (We can't do that) we will
end up with the rest of the ranks cowering in fear.
Goliath and his army were having sadistic fun. They had the tech and
the numbers to wipe. But they decided to camp out and taunt the
Israelites for a few days. The world is taunting us. It is hurling
insults at us. And all for sadistic fun.
I would not advocate going out and cutting people's heads off. But it
would be nice if we would at least throw some faith and grace at them!
Mike in NC
The David and Goliath story has a wondrously contemporary application
which our national leaders might consider: Sometimes faith and
obedience are more pertinent and powerful than "shock and awe"
---NJ Moving Van
A handful of thoughts stand out to me, along the lines of those from
"IL pastor" (for all the 3-point preachers out there!). (1) don't sell
yourself short (description of David) (2) be who you are (ill-fitting
armor) (3) give God the glory (David's speech to Goliath)
In connection with those thoughts, it seems the Church is more
"David-like" all the time: the world does not look to us as much for
answers and it seems our power is useless to effect the direction
things are going; we are willing to try out new-fangled approaches so
we don't seem old-fashioned, out-dated; sometimes we seem more worried
about the Church's survival than God's victory. I think that will
preach!
I like very much the angle given by "jnbnrnc" about David being in
position by being obedient. The servant becomes the hero. By being in
mission David encounters his destiny. There is a real sense of being
guided by God here. And also a sense of just doing what needs to be
done, whether it is mundane or extreme--in God's power, for God's
purpose.
TK in OK
I, too, liked the point that jrbnrnc made about small things (I also
liked what melodious pointed out about Goliath's cowardice; I'd never
noted that before!). I think you can include, under the heading small
things, that one little stone that David brought down Goliath, who had
all that "modern weapons technology," with. I think this text can give
heart to small churches or any other congregation that believes it has
no power to face down the world's opposition. When we focus on God and
God's ever-present help, we can overcome the world, even when our
personal resources seem small and inadequate. Ken in WV
Jay in TN has a delightful sermon posted on the DSPer's archived
sermons told from the perspective of King Saul. An interesting
perspective indeed! BB in IL
The giant in the Israelite's and Saul's life was Goliath. But he
wasn't a giant in David's life! Yes, Goliath was big, but David didn't
let him overwhelm him as others did.
I plan to connect this to the reading from Mark and talk about the
"giants" in our lives which we allow to overwhelm us and draw in our
connection to God closing with the Affirmation from Romans in the UM
Hymnal which affirms that nothing, not even giants, can separate us
from God.
Mark in WI
I am still in process - but I think I am going to talk about 5 smooth
stone that we can carry around that remind us of God's promise They
each say something about God: God plans - in the midst of events we
may not understand God prepares - prepared David as a shepherd for
this task God protects - Not the techno protection of the world - but
the trusting dependence on God God provides - referencing the stones -
God prevails - over all the Goliaths A 5 point sermon - for the 5
stones!
Everybody's suggestions have really helped this week RevMarg
Hey.... has anybody noticed the possible tie-in of the boy David and
his 5 little stones, and the loves and fishes story with the boy who
offers his 5 little loaves of bread? Both offerings were given in the
face of overwhelming odds. Rev. Pam in Eugene
I am looking at attitude, positive and negative. The hebrews looking
at Goliath saying He is so big, we could not possibly kill him. David
looking at Goliath say He is so big, how could I miss. Declining
churches have neg attitude, growing churches have positive attitudes.
Both groups face similiar barriers to growth. Terry in Neb.
For those preaching on this passage, I found this poem by Emily
Dickenson which serves as a nice call to confession:
I took my power in my hand And went against the world; T'Was not so
much as David had But I was twice as bold.
I aimed my pebble, but myself Was all the one that fell. Was it
Goliath was too large, Or only I too small?
history repeats itself...today goliath was captured from the camp
which is 6 cubits and a span deep
