God’s Great Salvation
1 Samuel 17:1-58
Turn in your Bibles to 1 Samuel 17. Last Sunday morning we went through the story of David and Goliath, and I chose to stick with mostly the events of the story as we had the children up with us. But this morning, I wish to go through and have us consider some of the deeper thoughts regarding this fascinating story. We discussed the events last Sunday, so I will not go through the details, as I trust we are now quite familiar with this already famous Old Testament story. And as we consider the events, I thought of the fact that many of us fall on one side of the fence or the other. In other words, if we had a giant such as Goliath screaming out to us and we really had little we can do about it, it tends to bring out our personalities of whether we are pessimistic or optimistic. Of course, in this story there were likely those who would be very pessimistic, who might lament, what are we going to do? And then the optimist who might be thinking, well, this must be the Lord’s will for us or maybe the giant won’t be around tomorrow. In other words, let’s look on the bright side! And then of course, the realist who sees the problem and tries to find a way to resolve it.
I like what John Woodhouse wrote, and I agreed with him when he said that when you are an eternal optimist, which I am, you tend to find the pessimist a little trying. And as I was reading that and saying to myself “amen, those bad pessimists.” But then he said in the very next sentence that optimists need to know that the pessimists find you frustratingly unrealistic! And then at that point, I completely disagreed with him and closed his book. And what I think we come to realize in this chapter of David and Goliath is much bigger than our human reactions, whether we are a pessimist or an optimist, is the truth that God is sovereign and will fulfill His purpose in these events.
So, before we begin this morning, let’s pray that we might see God’s work here as He will rescue His people. Lord, we come before You this morning, desiring to learn again from Your Word. Help us to see the hand of God in all these stories, that ultimately all things work together for good for those who love You. And Lord, as we study Your Word, may the conviction and the challenges we see before us spiritually are not just outward changes because we want to do better, but that we are inwardly changed because we know and understand You and Your character better. “Speak, O Lord, as we come to You, To receive the food of Your holy Word, Take Your truth, plant it deep in us.” And we ask this in the name of Your Son, amen. I wish to look at five areas in the consideration of this story this morning: The Enemies of God; The Work of God; The Salvation of God; The Strength of God; and The Presence of God.
- The Enemies of God
We see this firsthand in Goliath. I mean there are many enemies of God who might display themselves discreetly or fight against God from behind the scenes. In fact, many movements against God start out rather quietly, until they are given approval by the culture and then they are sort of out there in full force. Sometimes there will be opposition to God in music or poetry or in movies, and the writers are careful not to present opposition in full force, for it would be too stark and offensive at first. But we know that as sin moves further and further, opposition to God ends up being more overt and openly expressed. I trust that we as Christians have the spiritual sense to see these dangers. And that opposition to God is realized and avoided in our lives.
Now a subtle opposition to God in our story is not the issue, as we see Goliath openly opposing God in both attitude and speech. But we also need to understand that before Goliath came upon the scene, God had called Saul for a purpose as king in which he desperately fails. Notice what God’s Word said in 1Samuel 9 when Saul was first to be anointed as king.
“Now a day before Saul’s coming, Yahweh had revealed this in Samuel’s hearing, saying, ‘About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be ruler over My people Israel; and he will save My people from the hand of the Philistines.’”
1 Sam 9:15-16a (LSB)
This was the task that the Lord had given to Saul. In fact, when Saul was first anointed there was some excitement that he would fulfill this role. And he did for a time, until sin grabbed a hold of his life. And from the time of those early victories … to the present where a Philistine giant now basically paralyses Saul so that he is unable to do what God had called him to do. And this can be true of us, for we have been given responsibility by God such as leading our families, being a light for Christ, equipping others in ministry. All the things that God has called us to do, yet we can allow sin to paralyse us. See, the only reason that the Philistines were still a thorn in the side of Israel, is because Saul had failed in completely defeating them. And sometimes the only reason that we may fail to do all the Lord has called us to do is because we allow sin, or indifference, or lack of spiritual passion to steal from us what has already been given to us by God to accomplish.
I had mentioned that the name “Goliath” is only stated twice in the whole chapter, as most often Goliath is referred to as the Philistine. It is interesting that the name “Goliath” means “the man of the between,” as some have suggested that Goliath represents all those things in life that might stand between us and God. And look at his stature and armour.
“Then a champion came out from the camps of the Philistines named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. And he had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was clothed with scale-armor, and the weight of that scale-armor was five thousand shekels of bronze. He also had bronze greaves on his legs and a bronze javelin slung between his shoulders. And the shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and the head of his spear weighed six hundred shekels of iron; his shield-carrier also walked before him.”
1 Sam 17:4-7 (LSB)
We need to be aware of the power of those who oppose God, that they cannot be “toyed with.” And it would be one thing for Goliath to come out and terrify us, but it is another thing that he also speaks.
“And he stood and called out to the battle lines of Israel and said to them, ‘Why do you come out to arrange yourselves for battle? Am I not the Philistine and you slaves of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and strike me down, then we will become your slaves; but if I prevail against him and strike him down, then you shall become our slaves and serve us.’ Again the Philistine said, ‘I openly reproach the battle lines of Israel this day; give me a man that we may fight together.’”
1 Sam 17:8-10 (LSB)
There is a sense that one of the reasons we do not do what the Lord has called us to do is because of fear. And likely the biggest reason that Israel was so afraid was because their king, Saul, would not fight. This is such a convicting story as we realize here the great impact we have on our children, that not always, but often their commitment to ministry, their stiving for Christ, their passion for the glory of God, is often influenced by what they see in us. And we want to be careful here that we do not only try to outwardly influence our children, by teaching them outward actions that may be good for us, but we also need to teach them depth and heart. Some of the greatest lessons I learned from my Dad was to see his emotion for Christ, especially when I was an adult. And to see him when I was a child, when I used to get up in the night to go to the bathroom, to see my Dad kneeling and praying on the living room couch.
It is interesting that when Saul was chosen, the Bible said that he was taller than any of the people. In other words, Saul was the closest thing that Israel had to compare with Goliath, and yet we find absolutely no desire in Saul to fight. And I am always careful not to stress what is beyond the text, but there may be some significance that Saul was the choice of the people and not the choice of God. Teaching us that human giftedness without God is no match for God’s enemies. And though we do not have a Goliath standing in our parking lot this morning, we need to understand that the enemies of God are also massive today. And they are every bit as real as Goliath was. And whether you are a pessimist or a optimist, God’s enemies are our enemies, the enemies of God.
- The Work of God
What would God do here? As Goliath defies Him openly and does so twice a day. Yet, we know from chapter 16 that David is in the ranks here, isn’t he? And so, what is important here is that there is no “way of escape” for Israel. There is nothing that they simply must try to do, nothing left for them. In other words, it might be like some of the issues in your life which just cannot be changed. As our greatest strength or our best try is represented by “Saul,” and we have nothing more in the toolbox that we can do. Now Saul does mention a reward for the one who will kill Goliath, and David hears about this reward, and he starts asking around.
“Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, saying, ‘What will be done for the man who strikes down this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should reproach the battle lines of the living God?’”
1 Sam 17:26 (LSB)
And what is important to David was not only that Goliath would be taken out, but that this reproach would be taken from Israel, or this “disgrace” be taken from Israel. And what David had within him was the Spirit of God, which gave him a concern for the name of God and the people of God. Woodhouse wrote:
“David saw, as apparently no one else saw, that the Philistine—this uncircumcised Philistine, this pagan worshipper of dead gods—was mocking not only Israel but Israel’s God, who alone was ‘the living God’”
John Woodhouse, Looking for a Leader 321
In other words, he could not quietly see God disgraced in the eyes of his enemy. No, he saw that it was his place to defend God, as he cared about the honour of God. We said last week that the Lord chose to use an unlikely candidate like David, who was not respected by even by his father, nor Saul, nor of course Goliath. And we could conclude from this that, yes, God was working, even though none of these people realized it. But this is especially apparent in the response of his older brother Eliab. If I was Eliab and I saw my younger brother hanging around asking questions, I would likely give him the benefit of the doubt, my optimism! And just tell my little brother David to go home. But Eliab, not only has no idea what God is doing, but he is also completely wrong about everything.
“Then Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger burned against David, and he said, ‘Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I myself know your arrogance and the wickedness of your heart, for you have come down in order to see the battle.’”
1 Sam 17:28 (LSB)
These words of Eliab not only show a hostility towards David, but they are especially harsh when we remember that Eliab is one of the few who knows about David’s anointing. Remember he was there when Samuel anointed David as the next king of Israel. And the words of Eliab are really as one who is basically taking the side of Goliath. In other words, Goliath was defying the God of gods and stood against David, and now Eliab also stands against David. And his judgment of David that there was evil in David’s heart was so wrong, as we could say that David had been chosen by the work of God, chosen as the one who was after God’s own heart, God’s sovereign election.
Remember that 1 Samuel 16:7 said that “for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart.” And we could say that Eliab saw all this, but he only saw as man sees. There is little doubt that David is acting upon Spirit of God within him here. But a good reminder that even those who are close to us may not see the work of God, and their lack of confidence in God may cause them to be opposed to the work that God is doing and maybe be against the Spirit within our midst. The enemies of God and the work of God.
- The Salvation of God
I believe that when we consider this story, we must understand the main focus of God’s work, and that is salvation, as God is saving His people. Good to keep our eyes on the main focus of Christianity, that it is on the salvation of people.
“Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, saying, ‘What will be done for the man who strikes down this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should reproach the battle lines of the living God?’”
1 Sam 17:26 (LSB)
There are some key words in David’s statement. One, the God of Israel is called “the living God” who must be reckoned with. We also see in this statement that these armies are the armies of the living God, in other words, they belonged to God. And the Philistine’s words are spoken, true, against Israel, but they also are spoken in defilement of the living God. So, we have this Philistine who opposes God and threatens the salvation of God’s people. And we have already said that Saul has no resolution to this. But then David will preach a message of salvation to Saul. It’s almost like Saul is sitting at a Together for the Gospel event and in walks David, the main speaker.
“And David said to Saul, ‘Let no man’s heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.’ Then Saul said to David, ‘You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth.’ But David said to Saul, ‘Your servant was shepherding his father’s sheep. And a lion and a bear would come and take a lamb from the flock, and I would go out after it and strike it and rescue the lamb from its mouth. Then it rose up against me, and I would seize it by its beard and strike it down and put it to death. Your servant has struck down both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has reproached the battle lines of the living God.’ And David said, ‘Yahweh, who delivered me from the hand of the lion and from the hand of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.’”
1 Sam 17:32-37a (LSB)
There is much of the gospel in this statement by David, as David tells Saul the bad news like we might say to someone, you are a sinner and are an enemy of God. But as David said (vs 32), let no man’s heart fail, in other words, do not be afraid. Well, why David, why should we not be afraid? How does David respond? Well, I will go and fight this Philistine. Reminds us of Paul’s words, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God and the wages of sin is death.” So why Lord should we not be afraid? Because the gift of God is eternal life through my Son Jesus Christ, He will fight for you. As David being filled with the Spirit of God was able to say, do not be afraid, for I will fight him. Listen to the salvation message by Moses as he stood between the Red Sea and the Egyptian army.
“Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of Yahweh which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. Yahweh will fight for you, and you will keep silent.”
Exod 14:13-14 (LSB)
Here Moses brings the same message to the people. Do not fear and know that Yahweh, whom you cannot even see, will fight for you. Think of the message of the angel to the shepherds that Christ was to be born.
“Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people. For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
Luke 2:10-11 (LSB)
But Saul did not believe in the message of this salvation, for he said to David, you will not be able to defeat the giant. As some will not accept the simple gospel message of salvation. That salvation simply means that God will deliver His people from the enemy. That He delivers us from our enemy, our sin nature and death. And to miss this as the focal point of the story, would be like reading the Bible and missing the gospel, that our deliverance from sin and death comes only by faith in trusting in Christ to deliver us. Woodhouse said that the gospel of Jesus Christ is God’s eternal solution to our eternal need. The salvation of God.
- The Strength of God
So, we come to the confrontation of this salvation battle. The living God versus His opposition, where the Lord will achieve His complete victory. Unfortunately, in our current Christianity sometimes the term, “the victorious Christian life” has lost some of its truthfulness. Not because it has lost its power, but because the focus is wrong. Most often when we hear the term, “the victorious Christian life,” our thoughts go to things such as success or even health and wealth. And if not to these, it goes to such things as spiritual accomplishments, maybe education or great ministries or big congregations. But the Apostle Paul in all his blessings as a believer, never seemed to take his eye off of the true meaning of the victorious Christian life.
“‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!”
1 Cor 15:55-57 (LSB)
For here is the real victory for us, that we have gained victory over sin and death through Christ. And the picture here in our story is that of a massive giant, standing before a wiry shepherd-boy. Verse 41, the Philistine drew near to David, and verse 48, David ran quickly to meet the Philistine. I was thinking it is sort of like a boxing match. In the blue corner we have weighing in at 415 lbs Goliath, the reigning champion, the giant, from Gath, and everyone erupts. And in the red corner we have weighing in at 143 lbs David, the challenger, the shepherd-boy, and there may be a few woo-woos. And Goliath yells out, “Am I a dog that you come to me with sticks?” Pretty hard not to fear this angry Goliath, and rarely do we hear such arrogance that comes from the mouth of Goliath that day.
Yet certain defeat of Israel was not about to happen this day. Why? Because Goliath was not as strong as he thought. No. Because Israel had the resources to resist him. No. Because Israel did not deserve this defeat at the hands of the Philistine. No. They actually did deserve it. But here is the reason it did not happen on that day on the battlefield: because the Lord had chosen a king for Himself; because the Lord had placed in His king His Spirit; and because He, God Himself, was going to fight the Philistine. And on one side of this battle, you had a sword and a spear and a javelin, while on the other side (vs 45) you had five stones plus, “Yahweh of hosts, the God of the battle lines of Israel.” And then you have David filled with the Spirit of God giving his announcement of what would happen.
“This day Yahweh will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you.”
1 Sam 17:46a (LSB)
And why did this happen? So, that a big guy could be killed, no, there are a lot of big guys already dead. But David will actually state why all this will happen.
“And I will give the dead bodies of the camp of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that Yahweh does not save by sword or by spear; for the battle is Yahweh’s, and He will give you into our hands.”
1 Sam 17:46b-47 (LSB)
See, what Goliath did not know, and what no one watching knew, that in reality in the blue corner, weighing in at 415 lbs, Goliath, the would-be champion, the enemy of God, dust. But in the red corner, weighing in with the weigh of eternal glory, was the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the forever champion. The strength of God in our salvation, as we see (vs 50) that David had no sword nor any armour, for God wanted us to know that this was done by His might. Imagine if we were not there and we heard later that this young David had killed Goliath. We likely would have thought that David must have been this clever fighter, that he was agile and skillful, some kind of Kungfu fighter as fast as lightning. Yet when we understand the battle, we realize that the only explanation for the victory was the might of an Unseen Massive Power who enabled David victory, the all-powerful, faithful, living God of Israel.
- The Presence of God
Notice how David describes his coming upon the giant (vs 45), “I come to you in the name of Yahweh of hosts.” In other words, he came with the presence of the Lord. The Apostle Paul wrote, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, also heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.” We, as believers in Jesus Christ have the same Spirit in us that David had within him. Not to slay a giant like Goliath, but the Bible teaches that the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses. The Spirit teaches us, guides us, convicts us, gives us the ability to serve. And we do not become super giants. No, we are shepherd-boys. slaves of Christ, who must rely fully on His strength to save. And we do not come with human weapons or armour, but we come in the name of the Lord and with the power of His Word. As God desires to use the weak things of the world to overcome the strong. Paul wrote:
“For consider your calling, brothers, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may abolish the things that are, so that no flesh may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
1 Cor 1:26-31 (LSB)
The victory is God’s, and it is a victory that brought to us our salvation. “Thank You Lord for saving my soul, Thank You Lord, for making me whole, Thank You Lord for giving to me, Thy great salvation so rich and free.” And all God’s people said, amen.