When David was probably a teenager, the army of Israel and the army of the Philistines (old enemies!) were again confronting each other. In the book of Judges and the early part of the book of 1 Samuel, Israel spent more time as a conquered, subjugated people than as a free people. The early chapters of 1 Samuel tell how the Philistines took a position of dominance over the people of Israel and kept it for a long time.
Israel finally defeated one of their archenemies, the Ammonites (1 Samuel 11:11). After that victory, Saul was finally accepted by the people as Israel's first king (1 Samuel 11:14,15). This was the beginning of the renewal of the kingdom of Israel. The Israelites, because of their wickedness, had been a devastated, subjugated people for years.
In the incident under consideration today, Saul and Israel's standing army was in a confrontational situation with the Philistine army. Israel was beginning to reemerge as a kingdom, but the Philistines were unwilling to abandon their domination of Israel. This battle will not end Israel's difficulties with the Philistines, but it is a critical battle.
The Philistine army has a champion named Goliath. For that time, he was a huge warrior. While we, because of diet and nutrition, have become accustomed to huge people existing, a person the size of Goliath was rare in their exposure. Not only was he huge by their standards, but he was impressively fitted with armor and weapons.
Rarely were there battles fought at night then. The rules of war were quite different. Daily Goliath would come out on the battle field of the valley of Elah and challenge the army of Israel with a proposal. Paraphrased, he said, "There is no need for a lot of people to die! I will represent the Philistines. Your choose a warrior to represent Israel. The two of us will fight until one of us is the victor. Then the people of the looser will serve the people of the winner." Goliath taunted the army of Israel with this challenge for forty days! The challenge went unaccepted because everyone in Israel's army was terrified of Goliath.
David's three older brothers were serving in Israel's army. Jesse, his father, was concerned about his older sons. He sent David with some food for his sons and for the officer over them and to bring him news from his sons (Jesse was an old man).
David left his family's flock under a keeper's oversight, and he took the gifts to the valley of Elah. He arrived as both armies prepared for battle, and he heard Goliath's challenge. David was amazed that Goliath could taunt Israel's army, the army of the living God, and no Israelite accept Goliath's challenge.
He heard the Israelite soldiers discuss what King Saul would give the warrior who fought Goliath and won, and confirmed what he heard. When David's oldest brother, Eliab, heard David's inquiry, he was angry at David. "Why are you here? Why are you not with the sheep in the wilderness? You are here for all the wrong reasons! You just want to see the battle!" Eliab's accusatory questions confused David.
David's inquiry led to information being given to King Saul, to an interview with King Saul, to King Saul proposing David use his armor, to David rejecting the use of the king's armor. David declared the same God who protected him when he defended his sheep would protect him against the Philistine. The end result: a young shepherd with the simple tools of a shepherd faced a trained, hardened, huge warrior. He did not merely face Goliath--he ran toward him to engage him! This man may have made the army of Israel tremble, but not the young David.
The Philistine was insulted that Israel sent him a boy to do "a man's work." He cursed David by Goliath's gods and promised to feed David's flesh to the vultures and the wild beasts. David's reply in 1 Samuel l7:45 is insightful:
"You come to me with a sword, a spear, and 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 taunted."
David's courage and motive did not arise from some arrogant assessment of his personal ability. Both came from his commitment to God. Goliath had not insulted Israel; he had insulted God. David said it would be the dead bodies of Philistine warriors that would feed the vultures and wild beasts.
One well placed stone knocked Goliath out. David used Goliath's own sword to complete the death of the unconscious man by decapitating him. When it became visibly obvious that their champion was dead, a terrified Philistine army fled. A now bold Israelite army pursued the fleeing Philistine army back to one of their fortified cities inflicting heavy casualties. The Israelite warriors returned to plunder the Philistine camp.
The young man's feat amazed King Saul. Evidently, David took Goliath's head as a trophy. Instead of arrogantly declaring his personal greatness, David declared allegiance to Saul. Though David was responsible for a great victory, he clearly understood that Saul was king.
For Thought and Discussion:
Link to Teacher's Guide
Lesson 2