I Samuel 17:31-40
Some time ago, a fictitious manual for Peace Corp
volunteers headed for South America contained the
following advice on “What to Do If Attacked by an
Anaconda”:
#1, If you’re attacked by an anaconda, do not run;
the snake is faster than you are.
#2, Lie flat on the ground.
#3, Put your arms tight at your sides and your legs
tight against one another.
#4, The snake will begin to climb over your body.
#5, Do not panic.
#6, The snake will begin to swallow you from the
feet end.
#7, Step six will take a long time.
#8, After a while, slowly and with as little
movement as possible, reach down, take your
knife, and very gently slide it into the snake’s
mouth. Then suddenly sever the snake’s head.
#9, Be sure your knife is sharp. And
#10, Be sure you have your knife.
Today we are going to continue our study of David’s
encounter with Goliath in 1 Samuel 17.
When we left off last week, David was at the
battleground checking in on his three older brothers,
when he heard Goliath defaming Israel.
The focus of last week was on God’s providence in
David’s life. Even the seemingly meaningless tasks
sometimes get us exactly where God wants us. This week
we are going to see David preparing for his fight with the
Giant Goliath.
Let’s ask God to speak to us and help us hear His word
this morning with freshness and willingness to obey.
I Samuel 17:31-37
Verse 31 tells us that Saul was informed of David’s words
so he wanted to talk to him personally.
This is referring to verse 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?’”
We can see that David’s response is drastically different
than the other soldiers. Look back at verse 24, “All the
men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from
him and were much afraid.”
This is what happened when they saw Goliath. Every time
he came out to challenge them, morning and evening,
they ran away and were filled with fear.
Not David.
David’s Outrage
David is not afraid, he is offended and outraged.
He can’t believe that this uncircumcised Philistine is
talking about God’s army this way. Even more, he can’t
understand why no one will go fight him. It’s really Saul’s
responsibility as king to go fight for his people, but he
isn’t going.
His older brother could fight, but he is more worried
about his younger brother being there.
David is ready to defend his God.
This righteous indignation of David got Saul’s attention.
So he requests David to come to him.
As soon as David arrives to meet Saul, David takes
charge of the conversation. In fact, he starts off with an
imperative, to the current king.
David’s Encouragement and Humility
He tells Saul, Let no man’s heart fail.
What he means is we have nothing to fear.
Don’t they have every reason to fear?
Goliath is over 9 feet tall, covered in armor and weapons,
and has his own shield bearer. He’s quite the threat.
Then David explains the reason they don’t need to fear.
David is going to fight the giant for them.
We already know how his older brother feels about him
even being at the battle site, but David is following God’s
plan. He is going to fight this giant.
Three times in verses 34-36 David refers to himself as
Saul’s servant. This humility is what God is looking for in
a leader. Saul didn’t have it, but David certainly does.
Saul didn’t immediately get on board with David’s idea to
go and fight Goliath.
Saul’s Doubt
Saul objected on the grounds that David was still a
youth. He wasn’t even 20 years old, which was the
minimum age to fight in the war.
He reminded David that he isn’t qualified to fight and that
the enemy has been fighting since he was a youth. This
was not a good match up. It would be like putting a
lightweight fighter against a heavyweight fighter. Saul
didn’t like the odds.
David reminds Saul of his history in the fields as a
shepherd.
David’s History
David explains to Saul that he has already killed both a
lion and bear while he was a shepherd. It is part of his
job to protect the sheep. Not many people can say they
killed a lion and a bear with their bare hands. David
understood that the Lord had protected him out in
the field against the wild animals. Notice how he
gives credit to the Lord for delivering him from the paw
of the lion and the paw of the bear.
He knows that the Lord will work in the same way to
deliver him from the hand of this uncircumcised
Philistine.
If the Lord calls us to fight, he will protect us in the fight.
We simply have to be obedient to what He calls us to do.
David says he is going to strike down this Philistine like
he struck down the lion and bear. And he believes the
Philistine deserves it. He has blasphemed the Lord and
the punishment for that is stoning.
Leviticus 24:16 “Whoever blasphemes the name of
the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the
congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the
native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.”
Goliath defied the armies of the living God. He has
blasphemed the name of God. He must die.
Saul has heard all he needs to hear. He surely isn’t
planning on going up against this giant and if David
wants to go against him, he tells him, “go, and the Lord
be with you!”
I Samuel 17:38-40
Saul Gives David his Armor
Saul puts his armor on David.
He gives him his helmet, his coat of mail and his sword.
But none of them fit and David can barely walk, let alone
fight.
This was interesting that Saul was giving David his kingly
gear.
It’s a foreshadowing of David becoming the king.
In a short time, David will be running the entire nation.
But for now, David is fighting Saul’s opponent. He’s going
to do what Saul wasn’t willing to do.
Trust and obey the Lord.
David’s Wisdom and Faith
David refuses Saul’s gear, he uses the reason that he has
not tested them. It makes sense. It’s not a great idea to
use things for the first time right before an important
event.
Ask any runner if they get new shoes before a big race
and wear them the first time for the race.
That never happens. You have to try them out. See how
they perform. Test them under different circumstances,
see how they respond.
David shows wisdom and faith as he puts off the armor
and grabs his staff and five smooth stones from the
brook. He also takes his sling as he heads towards the
giant.
Remember David is a shepherd. He knows how to use his
staff. He has used it many times to protect the flock.
His sling has also come in handy many times to deter
wild animals from coming near.
It is thought that the stones David grabbed were about
the size of a tennis ball or baseball. Not like the rocks we
used to skip on the lake.
We may wonder at the wisdom of taking rocks to a sword
fight, but remember David was deadly accurate with this
sling. He wouldn’t need to get too close to the giant to
take him out. Goliath would have the advantage in a
close fight, but David is able to keep his distance with the
sling.
Plus, he’s trusting that God is going to deliver him from
the giant just like he did from the enemies in the field.
APPLICATION
There are many things that make us upset in the world.
The application of this Scripture is to
Allow God to Show you what to Fight for and how
to fight
Some battles are not ours to fight. Only the ones God
calls us to fight.
We need to defend the name of Christ.
We need to protect the gospel and not compromise it.
Not only do we need to let God help us choose our
battles, we need Him to show us how to fight.
Remember how God told Gideon to get rid of all but 300
of his soldiers and they took out a much larger army.
Also, God had the Israelites march around the city of
Jericho and follow His instructions exactly and the walls
fell down.
Even when it doesn’t make sense, God is always there to
show us how and when to fight.
He has also given us spiritual weapons to fight the
spiritual battles. We must make sure to put on our
spiritual armor every day.