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The story of David and Goliath is probably one of the most familiar stories in the Bible. People who think Philistine refers to a brand of cream cheese know that Goliath was a giant warrior, frightening and cruel. People who don't know an Israelite from a Pepsi Lite know that David was the shepherd boy, honorable and courageous, who slew Goliath. Whenever one who is young, small, and without apparent resources goes up against one who is established, larger-than-life, and well-bankrolled, somebody is going to make comparisons to the David and Goliath story. There's something in the idea of goodness and courage triumphing over size and power that captures the imagination.
The account of David and Goliath is wonderful and powerful as a stand-alone story. But it isn't a stand-alone story. It's part of the biblical narrative. It is our privilege, as people of the Word, to step into scripture and look around and notice that this story is God's story and it is our story.
Chapter 15 tells of the second rejection of Saul. Chapter 16 tells of the anointing of David by Samuel.
When we get to chapter 17, some time has elapsed, but not much. Saul is still king. David is still taking care of his father's sheep, though by now, David is also working part-time in Saul's court as a musician.
At this point, we know Saul has failed to be the king that God wants to work through to shape his people. We don't know that much about David yet-just that God chose him because God looks at the heart. In chapter 17, we begin to see what God saw in David's heart.
It's a vision thing. How people act is shaped by how people see. How people see is shaped by what's in their heart.
As you listen to the account of David and Goliath this morning, listen especially for the words that describe what different people saw. Listen for what the Israelite troops saw when they looked at Goliath. Listen to what David's brothers saw when they looked at David. Listen to what Saul saw when he looked David. Listen to what to Goliath saw when he looked at David. Listen to what David saw when he looked at Goliath. Listen to what David saw when he looked at himself.
The account of David and Goliath is a detailed narrative filling all of chapter 17. It is a well-crafted narrative, and all of the pieces contribute to the whole, so Kathy and I are going to read just about the whole chapter.
1 Samuel 17:1-50
The battle lines are drawn-Philistines on one hill, Israelites on another, facing each other across a valley. Each side knows that when the battle is joined in the valley there will be carnage, so for a while they stand their ground. This is the time for psychological warfare. This is the time for propaganda. This is the time trash talk. (For those of you who are not familiar with playground basketball or Little League baseball-trash talk is the verbal banter designed to demoralize your opponents and fire up your teammates.)
The Philistines are a lot better at trash talking than the Israelites. And Goliath is their chief trash talker.
Every day, morning and night, for forty days, Goliath steps out from crowd and lets the Israelites get a good look at him. He is over nine feet tall. (That's tall now. Think about how tall it was in the Iron Age!) His armor glints in the sun. Goliath's armor alone weighs almost as much as the average Israelite soldier. He struts back and forth, showing off the latest in iron weaponry. The iron tip of his spear is plenty large enough to catch the attention of the Israelites watching from the opposite hilltop.
Every day, morning and night, for forty days, Goliath displays his contempt for the Israelite army. Every day, morning and night, for forty days, Goliath shouts out, "This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other."
Every day, morning and night, for forty days, Goliath's trash talk hits its mark. On the first day of this, Saul and the Israelites are dismayed and terrified. On the second day of this, Saul and the Israelites are dismayed and terrified and embarrassed at their own dismay and terror. On the third day, the Israelites are dismayed and terrified and ashamed. If the preliminary battle is about psychological warfare, the Israelites are losing, and losing big-time.
By the fortieth day, when Goliath steps out from the battle line in his shining armor, carrying his remarkable spear, the Israelites aren't just trembling, they are running for cover like rabbits who have caught the scent of fox.
What do the Israelite soldiers see?
They see an army, superior in numbers and in arms. They see an opposing champion bigger, stronger, and better-equipped than anybody on their side. They see him as symbolic of the whole situation. They see that everything the Philistines have going for them is more powerful than anything the Israelites have going for them. Can it be a surprise that the Israelite soldiers are a bit nervous? Is it any surprise that, faced daily with this vision of their opponents' utter superiority, the Israelite soldiers grow more and more afraid?
This is the situation when David shows up.
David has been sent by his father to bring provisions to his three oldest brothers and to check on their welfare. Upon arriving at the camp, David is so excited that he leaves the provisions with the quartermaster and rushes to the front. He's there, greeting his brothers, when Goliath steps out for the daily ritual. David's brothers and all the Israelite soldiers are facing this sight for the fortieth day. David is seeing Goliath for the first time.
Goliath barely starts his speech, and the Israelite soldiers begin to scatter. David sees this too. And David hears the trash talk: "This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other."
David sees all the same things that all the Israelite soldiers see. And yet, David sees something different.
The Israelite troops look at Goliath and see bronze and iron and size and strength. The Israelite troops look at Goliath and see someone they can not even imagine defeating.
David looks at Goliath and sees things a little differently.
Because David sees differently, he imagines differently.
Because David imagines differently, he reacts differently.
David begins to ask some questions. "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? After all…who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?" David is beginning to imagine an answer to Goliath's challenge.
The narrative takes a little turn and talks about David's brothers, who respond in anger. "Why have you come here? Why aren't you taking care of the sheep like you are supposed to be doing? You're just here to watch the battle. Your ego is getting out of hand, little brother. You should leave matters like this to the grown-ups!"
What do David's brothers see?
They see a boy who is younger than them, smaller than them, less important than them. They see the runt of the family whose skills are for caring for sheep, not for the battles of men. They see a brash upstart who appears to have way too high an opinion of himself. Can it be a surprise that David's brothers react in anger? Is it any surprise, that faced with their little brother's boldness, their own fear erupts in trash talk of their own?
When Jesse brought forth his sons for Samuel's perusal, nobody expected David to be the one whom God chose. He wasn't even there for the selection process. They had to send for him later…after none of the older brothers were chosen…and retrieve him from the fields. Jesse didn't see anything special in his youngest son. Samuel didn't see anything special in the youngest son. Only God looked upon his heart and saw something.
Here at the battle front, the oldest sons of Jesse still see nothing special in their little brother. Whatever it is that is special about David, it is still apparent only to God.
All this commotion comes to Saul's attention, and he calls for David to be brought to him.
Saul-grown man, experienced leader and king, battle-hardened warrior. David-shepherd boy. By all rights, Saul should speak first. But, no, David speaks. David, the shepherd boy, speaks words of encouragement and direction to Saul, the war-weary king. "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him."
Saul is doubtful: "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."
Saul sees the same thing in David that David's brothers saw.
And Saul sees the same thing in Goliath that the Israelite troops saw.
It would be madness to send this boy out against this giant.
David looks at himself and sees things a little differently.
Because he sees differently, he imagines differently.
Because David imagines differently, he reacts differently.
David offers to take on Goliath. He tells Saul about his experiences as a shepherd-how he has defeated 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. 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 agrees to let David go, but he still sees with the same eyes. He offers David his own armor. David tries it on, but it doesn't fit and it is way too heavy. David refuses the armor.
Saul sees armor and weapons, strength and power. He seeks to equip David according to those categories.
David sees things a little differently.
Because he sees differently, he imagines differently.
Because David imagines differently, he reacts differently.
David took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, and put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag. With his sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.
Once again, the narrator details for us two ways of seeing.
Goliath looks David over and sees that he is only a boy, and he despises him. Goliath, the champion trash-talker, talks trash. He compares David to a stick thrown to a dog, and he curses David by his Philistine gods. "Come here," he said, "and I'll give your flesh to the birds of the air and beasts of the field!"
Goliath sees the same thing Saul sees, the same thing David's brothers see, the same thing David's father sees. Can it be a surprise that Goliath reacts with contempt? Is it any surprise that Goliath expects no more from David than any other man?
David sees things a little differently.
Because he sees differently, he imagines differently.
Because David imagines differently, he reacts differently.
David responds with a little trash talk of his own. "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. 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. 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."
With his sling and a stone, David knocks Goliath out. With Goliath's own sword, David kills him.
What did David see?
Listen to how David described what he saw:
When David first sees Goliath come out and shout his defiance and his challenge, and when David sees the soldiers of Israel David scatter and run for cover, David responds with a question: "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?"
Later, when David is talking to Saul, David says, "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. 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."
Then, when David is exchanging trash talk with Goliath, David says, "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. This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 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. He will give all of you into our hands."
What does David see?
David sees according to what is in his heart.
In David's heart, is a living, breathing, real, day-to-day, practical faith in God. In his heart is a living, breathing, real, day-to-day, practical relationship with God.
David sees things a little differently.
When David looks at Goliath, he is not impressed by the bronze and the iron and the stature and the trash talk. David sees a man and an army standing in defiance-not just of his buddies-but of God. David sees that they are subject to the power of God. That is why David is not impressed by Goliath's bronze and iron and stature and trash talk.
Even when he looks at himself, David sees differently. He's not unimpressed by the fact that he is a shepherd boy, young and unskilled in the ways of war. He sees himself as one who has walked with the living God and has seen this God in action before. When he looks at himself he doesn't need to be unimpressed, because he is not concerned with his own resources, he is concerned with the power of God.
David sees according to what is in his heart.
In David's heart, is a living, breathing, real, day-to-day, practical faith in God. In his heart is a living, breathing, real, day-to-day, practical relationship with God.
David sees things a little differently.
Because he sees differently, he imagines differently.
Because David imagines differently, he reacts differently.
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