That All The Earth May Know
Preached by Benjamin Vrbicek
July 17, 2016
This morning we are continuing our sermon series through the book of 1 Samuel and today we come to the story that everyone is familiar with: David and Goliath.One person commented to me: “Wow, you must have beaten Jason in an arm wrestling match for that one?” He was joking, of course. But it’s funny for a few reasons. First, as much as I would like a formal record of my beating Jason in an arm wrestling match, I’m not sure I’d win. Second, I often enjoy preaching the more obscure passages. I think that helps encourage us, when they are preached and explained well, that all Scripture is “profitable,” but also because when you preach an obscure passage, it’s often the best sermon anyone has ever heard on the passage—because it’s the only one they’ve ever heard!Not so with 1 Samuel 17. There is nothing obscure about David and Goliath. Even those among us who are only barely familiar with the Bible, know this story.But my question for us as we start would be to ask this: do you really know it? Do you know what the story of David and Goliath is about? For most of us, our cultural understanding of the meaning of David and Goliath has little to do with what the story is about.This morning, I’m going to break from our normal preaching pattern of reading the whole passage and then praying. Instead, I’m going to pray now, and then we’ll read the entire story in seven chunks (offering comments along the way), and then I’ll offer just two very brief points at the end.
Introduction
As I started studying this passage, I began to note all the references to fear and being afraid. There are many of them. And as the week went on, I began reflecting on times that I have been afraid, as well as asking several people about times that they were afraid.For me, several of the times I’ve been afraid involve things flying in the air. For whatever reason, I tend to find things that fly in the air, particularly insects, scary. There was the time last year that I found a hornet’s nest on my porch. Or the time bats were in my house, which was not that scary, but the scream from another persons in my house certainly was.There was the time I was riding in a bike race in a velodrome, which is a banked track for bike racing. And I remember the way my heart sank when the wheel of a bike in front of me, while we were going 30 mph, just missed by front wheel.All of these were just flashes of fear. I won’t tell you the name of the movie, but there was a time when a scary movie really, really messed with me, and sadly, I was in high school! I should have known better—it’s just a movie.Now, getting more serious. Once, a few years ago, I told a story in a sermon about talking to my boss about going part-time while I was in seminary. This was before I was in ministry. I had enrolled in seminary and was praying that my boss would allow me to work for him. I found my boss to be a very intimidating man. But it was more than that. I was terrified that I wasn’t going to be able to provide for my family. What would happen to us? There was this paralyzing fear and anxiety.Or the times when my wife is having a baby, which for her, the delivery is always a C-section. I stand there, holding her hand one side if the curtain while she is hooked up to machines, and there are ten people dressed in scrubs in the room. And every time I think: “If this starts to go wrong, if that little bar graph starts dipping, if that machine starts beeping, I can’t do a thing!” That’s scary. Paralyzing fear.Or this one. When I was a kid, my aunt was murdered. When we traveled for the funeral, I remember lying in bed at my Grandmother’s house and being terrified. I was nine years old.When I talked to others, one person mentioned nearly drowning as a child. Another mentioned, the time his wife found a lump on her breast and the fear of waiting for the results to come back.Fear paralyzes us. But I want to be clear about something: I haven’t listed these things because this passage is about “our Goliath’s” and how we face them. That’s the way this story has been hijacked. I do, however, want us to have a fresh reminder of fear and what it means to be afraid—like really, really afraid; afraid every morning and every evening for 40 days and nights! That’s where they were. Their eyes, and our eyes for that matter, can play tricks on our faith; we can forget God. This passage is a reminder of who the real God is.Let’s turn now to the passage for a reminder of who our God is and how he saves his people though an unlikely but anointed shepherd. If you have a Bible, please follow along with me as I read. Again, we’re in 1 Samuel 17:1-58 (page 306ff). We’ll read this in chunks of about ten verses at a time and then I’ll make a few comments.
1. At the frontlines, vv. 1-11
1 Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. 2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines. 3 And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. 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. 5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. 6 And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 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.
Now, before I read v. 8, let me say this. When my wife and I do pre-marital counseling, during the first session we read together several passages about marriage and divorce. We do this so that couples have a sense of the permanence of what they are getting into. Invariably, I have the guy read part of Genesis 2, and when he comes to the part where Adam sees Eve for the first time, Adam breaks out in to a love song. And as the guy is reading it in the typical monotone voice, I say, “Whoa, whoa, you got to read it like you mean it: “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman” (v. 23).All that to say, I’m not a Shakespearean actor, but I’m going to read this scene and the one later with a little bit of oomph.
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. 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.” 10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
A few things to point out. First, what’s taking place here is called “representative warfare.” This is where one person fights on behalf of everyone they represent. This is a very important point for understanding the gospel implications of this passage. I’ll come back to this at the end. If you’ve the read book or seen the movie “Prince Caspian” in The Chronicles of Narnia series, at the end of the story, Peter, The High King, engages King Miraz in representative warfare: whoever won the fight between them, his army wins the war. Here, Saul, who should have been their representative (“Give us a king who will fight our battles for us”), is just as scared as this troops. And it’s having a cyclical effect, a downward spiral.Second, let’s talk about Goliath for a bit. The author of 1 Samuel spends a good bit of time on his description. Did you hear a repeated word as he is described? If you are holding a Bible, glance at it again. What is repeated? The word “bronze.” It’s used four times, and then “iron” is mentioned once. In this way, a point is being made. Back in chapter 13, near the end of the chapter, we read this:
19 Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears.” (1 Samuel 13:19)
What’s the point? The Israelites, in a sense, have good reason to be afraid: they ain’t got no weapons. And how ya gonna win a war without sword and spear? And not only that, apparently, is Goliath huge (over nine feet tall!) and his weapons are also huge: 125 pounds of a protective coat of mail (ancient version of kevlar plated chest protector) and a super thick spear that has a point on it that weight 15 pounds. Take the biggest WWF wrestler you know and enlarge him by 150%. Now you have Goliath.
2. Now David . . . , vv. 12-18
12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years. 13 The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14 David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. 16 For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.
17 And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers. 18 Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.”
It’s such an abrupt transition, isn’t it? In v. 11, “they were dismayed and greatly afraid.” Then we read, “Now David . . .” And we have this calm introduction.The only thing I want to point out in this section is the duration of the fear. Note the passage says, “For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.”Every day, the first thing you think about and the last thing you think about, is Goliath shouting at the top of his lungs, “Give me a man!” And you realize that when you die on the battlefield, then your family will be killed when subsequently your hometown is plundered. Terrifying. Paralyzing fear.
3. David joins Israel, vv. 19-30
19 Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20 And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry. 21 And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. 22 And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers. 23 As he talked with them, behold, 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.
24 All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid. 25 And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel.” 26 And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” 27 And the people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.”
28 Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.” 29 And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?” 30 And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before.
I chuckle a bit at the generous explanation of what’s going on. Look at v. 19. “Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.” Fighting? I’m not so sure there was much fighting going on. Once, I heard a pastor (J.D. Greer) say about this part that Israel was coming out going, “We got spirit, yes we do, we got spirit how ‘bout you?” And the Philistines shout, “Yeah, we got Goliath!” And then Israel runs in fear.From this—a place of constant weakness—Israel (and you and I) was supposed to learn more about their own dependence and inability. Don’t dispise your weakness. Because from this place of dependence Israel was to draw strength from the God who has armies of angels!Thus far, David hasn’t spoken yet in this book. We take note when he does (see comments by Dale Ralph Davis on this point). When he does speak, he’s confused. He is in disbelief; he’s incredulous at something. It’s important to see this. What is David not able to believe?David’s unbelief is not pointed at God, but rather that no one has taken King Saul up on this sweet deal: the winner gets riches, the king’s daughter, and no taxes for his family! Who won’t take that offer?But for David, unlike for everyone else, the issue is that he is not looking at his own ability or inability—at least primarily. In David’s words, we start to see the central battle take shape: the battle over God’s honor. David asks the rhetorical question: “For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (v. 26). Thus far, the provocation—the insult—has only been understood on a horizontal level. Goliath is “defy[ing] the ranks of Israel” (v. 10).Then comes this shepherd who says, “Don’t you see what’s going on here? This is about Israel, but it’s not primarily about Israel. It’s about Israel’s God and his honor!”Before I read the next section, let me just point out something about the squabble related to David and his brothers, specifically the oldest brother. It’s hard to have your motives misunderstood. Here, the brother says, “You’re so irresponsible; you probably left the sheep by themselves and now you just want to watch the battle!” This of course is not what happened at all. God was at work. And David had to fight off this unbelief before he even gets to Goliath.
4. Saul and David talk, vv. 31-40
31 When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. 32 And David said to Saul, “Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 36 Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”
38 Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, 39 and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.
I don’t want to say too much here or we’ll never finish. I would just point out that the years of relative obscurity for David have not been wasted. God values training and preparation. David certainly was getting this training in the wilderness watching sheep.The other thing to note is that if you’ve ever heard this passage preached before, one way that preachers have gone wrong here is by allegorizing every detail. For example, they point out that David picked up five stones, and then said preacher comes up with clever things that the five stones represent. This is silly. They don’t represent anything. They are five rocks.
5. David and Goliath exchange words, vv. 41-47
41 And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42 And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. 43 And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” 45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a 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. 46 This 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 host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand.”
Here is the heart of the passage. I took the title for my sermon from this section: “That all the earth may know.” Did you see that phrase? It’s an important one. Again, it’s highlighting that something far more significant is taking place here than just a battle between a big guy and an underdog. Two things are at stake: The honor of Yahweh and the preservation of Yahweh’s people. And when Yahweh does vindicate the honor of his name and he does preserve his people, he wants everyone everywhere to know that he is God and there is no other, and he’s the God who loves his people.Well, let’s read the climax of the story.
6. David kills Goliath, vv. 48-54
48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.
50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. 52 And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. 53 And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. 54 And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.
Back to the thing about not having swords. This is highlighted further when David has to finish of Goliath and he has to use the giant’s own sword!Maybe it’s worth making a quick comment on the violence of the passage. I think it’s helpful to go back and think about what David says to Saul. David tells King Saul that he has killed the lion and the bear when they tried to kill helpless sheep.What’s the picture of Goliath? Goliath is like that: a wild animal who intends to kill God’s sheep, one who intends to “feed [the flesh of Israel] to the birds of the air,” which, incidentally, is exactly what a lion might do. That’s what a bear would do. The violence here is a protective one. Even Goliath asks the question, “Am I a dog that you come at me with sticks?” Don’t think cute, pet dog that wants to play fetch and sit on the couch next to you. Think mangy, wild dog (“Kids, get inside the house!) that is more like a wolf—again, the imagery of a wild animal that want’s to kill sheep. The violence is a protective, preserving one of God’s sheep.
7. Meanwhile Saul wants to know, vv. 55-58
55 As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.” 56 And the king said, “Inquire whose son the boy is.” 57 And as soon as David returned from the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58 And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”
Conclusion
Let’s bring this story to a close with just two observations. John Stott, a pastor and author, wrote a book about what is called “The Sermon on the Mount.” This might seem like I’m leaping away from the topic at hand, but trust me. This will be helpful.The Sermon on the Mount refers to chapters 5, 6, and 7 in the gospel of Matthew that record the preaching of Jesus. Stott makes the comment in his book on this sermon that we ought to read the Sermon on the Mount twice. First, we read it “to see our sin and the savior.” Then, we read it again “to see how we ought to live.” Let me say that again. First, we read it “to see our sin and the savior.” Then, we read it again “to see how we ought to live.”Let me illustrate. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks of anger. He says,
21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. (Matthew 5:21-22)
Then, later, Jesus says this about lust:
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
He goes on later to talk about lying (v. 33-37). And then he talks about doing religious acts in such a way to get outward praise (6:1-6). Who here hasn’t looked with lust? Who here hasn’t had anger in his or her hearts? Who here has never lied?You see Stott’s point. We have to read this twice. Once to see our sin and the savior. The Sermon on the Mount is not first some warm, feel-good message. It’s convicting. It shows us that if we are to come to God at all, we need someone who will get us there. We need a savior.Now, let’s come back to David and Goliath. The biggest mistake in misunderstanding this passage is to think that we are David. Everyone in the passage is afraid! The Army rangers, the green berets, the Navy SEALs, the generals: they are all afraid.And our first impulse is to go: huh, I guess in this story I’m probably supposed to be David, the anointed Savior of the people of God? We need to slow down.The first point is to see us not as David, but as those who through the sin of unbelief are paralyzed in fear. And as the Bible says, “the wages of our sin is death” (Romans 6:23). In another place, the Bible speaks of death as being our greatest enemy (1 Cor. 15).You see, when I started the sermon, I mentioned things that make us afraid. Some were silly, others were not. The serious ones revolved around the fear of death. Death is a far larger enemy than Goliath. Every day, every night, it taunts us. We have no way of defeating it on our own.This passage is helping us understand who God is and the way he saves his people. The parallels here to the work of Christ are profound. I won’t show them all, but consider the brother taunting David. Or consider the unlikely way of salvation, from an obscure person who in the eyes of the world is not a champion. Jesus was from the wrong town and had a promiscuous mother (so they said). And consider the parallel of an anointed shepherd. And consider the parallels of representative warfare. The whole gospel framework is built on the fact that we who are sinful need a champion to defeat our enemy and when he does defeat the enemy, the merits of his victory flow to us!The point of this passage is not to see ourselves as David, but those who need a David! And as those who have one by faith in Jesus. We read in Hebrews 2:14-15,
14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
Now that we’ve seen our victorious champion, we can go to Stott’s second reading of the passage: to see how to live. Oh, look at the way the people are emboldened when they know their champion has won. The message of David and Goliath is not that we go around the earth saving it, but rather proclaiming to all the earth that there is a savior whose name is Jesus.[Applications about church attendance? In world that constantly feeds our fears, church is the place we can be reminded that our anointed champion reigns and we don’t have to be fearful anymore.]
