On the Same Page: David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17:1-54)

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The story of David’s life is big: long and complicated. He lived a full life into his 70s, had a complicated family, and made good choices and bad choices. His encounter with Goliath is arguably his greatest single success; he brought down an entire army with a single stone. 

 So where is God in this story? In the background.  

There's nothing in this story that suggests a miracle, or that can't be explained in human terms. David’s sling was legitimately a lethal weapon, capable of killing. It did what it was designed to do.  

When the Magi came to visit Jesus, God intervened. He spoke directly to individuals in dreams.  

When Noah’s family faced the flood, God intervened. He engaged in an act of re-creation. He commanded Noah's response. He brought the animals to safety. 

When Abraham and Isaac made their sacrifice, God intervened. He commanded the act, then provided the substitution.  

But in the story of David and Goliath we don't hear directly from Him. He's there, He's been working. He’s been preparing David, who has grown up fighting lions, fighting bears, learning to be a shepherd. He’s had David anointed by the prophet Samuel, and He’s filled David with His Spirit. But in this event, God Himself does not speak, or as far as we can see, act.  

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There are three primary actors in this story, each of whom responds differently to God in the background: David defaults to Yahweh, Goliath defies Yahweh, and Saul desires Yahweh. 

1. David defaults to Yahweh. David has had a lifetime’s preparation for this moment.  He is ready. He didn't know when he got up this morning that he was ready, but he is.

Samuel took the horn of special oil and anointed David in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward (1 Samuel 16:13)

From that moment, David protected his sheep filled with the Holy Spirit, wrote his songs filled with the Holy Spirit, killed lions and bears filled with the Holy Spirit. The day he met Goliath, David was still a teenager. He was just beginning his life and career but he is the first person in this event to speak the name of God. 

There has been mention of Philistia, Israel, and Saul. Of the rewards for success and the consequences of failure. Of bravado, and of fear... then David arrives and speaks God's name.  

The first time David speaks God's name it is to the soldiers on the front lines. They shrug it off, dismissing it as big talk from somebody who can't really fight.  

The second time, David speaks God’s name to King Saul, who remembers that name. He recognizes the truth of it.  

The third time, David speaks the name of God to the enemy. David holds out the name of Yahweh as his credentials and his battle cry. 

All throughout, no matter who he's facing, David’s default is Yahweh God. He sees Yahweh God in the world. He responds to what the Spirit in him is saying. David defaults to Yahweh, pointing at God until someone pays attention.  

2. Goliath denies Yahweh. A little bit of back story: 1 Samuel 5:1-6:15 describes an episode in which the Philistines have defeated the Israelites in battle. They've stolen the Ark of God, a box that is the symbol of God's most immediate presence.

After the Philistines had captured the Ark of God they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then they carried the Ark into Dagon's (the primary Philistine God’s) temple, and they set the Ark beside Dagon. And when the people of Ashdod arose early the next day and went to the temple, there was Dagon fallen on his face on the ground before the Ark. So they took Dagon and they put him back in his place. But the following morning, when they got up, there was Dagon fallen on his face on the ground before the Ark of the Lord. His head and his hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold, and only his body remained [in the temple] (1Samuel 5:1-4) 

And the town of Ashdod is like, “OK, we don't know what this thing is, but it's gone. We don't want it. We've had enough. We're sending it somewhere else.” So Ashdod send the Ark to the town of Gath, Goliath's hometown. And stuff happens in Gath because the Ark is there. The people of Gath say, “We don't want this thing.” They send it to Ekron. And stuff happens in Ekron because of the presence of the Ark of God. Until everybody has enough of this thing and they decide, “It's got to go back where it came from.” So they put it on a cart pulled by two cows and just send it away, figuring that if Yahweh God wants it back, the cows will find their way to the right place. And that is exactly what happened. The cows went back to the people of Israel, and the Philistines are shot of the Ark.

Goliath must have known this hometown story. But instead of respecting the power and the consequences of displeasing Yahweh, he just says, “I'm a Philistine and you serve Saul.” Not, “You serve Yahweh. I serve Dagon.” Goliath comes to this battle, pretending that Dagon hadn't ended up face down on the ground before the symbol of the presence of God. Just as he himself would end up face down on the ground before the one person among the thousands in that valley who was filled with the Spirit of God. Goliath denied Yahweh. And it didn't work. 

3. Saul desired Yahweh. It's heartbreaking that when David informs Saul, “I will fight in the name of God,” Saul's response to David is, “Go and may the Lord be with you” (1 Sam 17:37). 

We often use that phrase casually, but I don't think Saul did. This wasn’t “go team” rhetoric, or “good luck.” Saul knew what it meant to say, “May God be with you,” because God had been with Saul, and He wasn't anymore. When Samuel anointed Saul king over Israel, as later with David, he poured oil on Saul’s head, prayed over him and “the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon [Saul]” (1 Samuel 10:10). But Saul, in that position of leadership and example-setting before the nation of Israel, did things that he was commanded not to do. He experienced a principle taught in the Old and New Testaments: that those in leadership are held to a higher standard of accountability.  Moses, after 40 years of leading God's people through the wilderness, got to the border of the promised land and was not permitted to cross the river because he had, in the sight of Israel, defied God. He did not set the example of honouring God's holiness and authority. In the New Testament book of James the same principle is at work: “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly” (James 3:1).

For Saul, the consequence was God’s removal of His Spirit (1 Sam 16:14). Saul was left trying to lead Israel on his own, in his own strength, in his own power. That absence of God's Spirit impacted Saul’s ability to lead. It impacted his mental health, his family, and his nation. I think, that day when David walked into Saul’s tent, Saul could see the Spirit in David. He recognized the Spirit of God, and he cried, “May Yahweh go with you.” Saul desired Yahweh

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So where is God in your story? When God doesn’t intervene, how do you respond? Do you, like David, hold to the truth that God keeps His promises? That He has promised to be with us until the end of the age? Do you remind youself, “He's with me in this and He will meet me on the other side.” Do you just keep pointing to God until people pay attention? Or do you deny Yahweh? Saying, “I will handle this. I'm not weak enough that I have to depend on an imaginary friend.” Do you deny the testimony of the people we meet in the Bible? Do you deny that the amazing things he's done in the past even happened, and the testimony of other people like you? Or do you desire God? Do you find yourself sometimes in situations that are overwhelming, asking yourself, “Why am I not feeling God’s presence? Has He left me? Or have I wandered away?” Do you desire God? 

 

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