⁴⁰ Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. ⁴¹ So the Philistine came, and began drawing near to David, and the man who bore the shield went before him. ⁴² And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was only a youth, ruddy and good-looking. ⁴³ So 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 And the Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”

⁴⁵ Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, 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 and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷ Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”

⁴⁸ So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. ⁴⁹ Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. ⁵⁰ So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. ⁵¹ Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it.

And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. ⁵² Now the men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines as far as the entrance of the valley and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell along the road to Shaaraim, even as far as Gath and Ekron. ⁵³ Then the children of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their tents. ⁵⁴ And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.

⁵⁵ When Saul saw David going 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 So the king said, “Inquire whose son this young man is.”

⁵⁷ Then, as David returned from the slaughter 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?”

So David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

18 Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. ² Saul took him that day, and would not let him go home to his father’s house anymore. ³ Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. ⁴ And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt.

1 Samuel 17:4-18:4

Dear God, I think there are a few main points out of this story this morning:

• Goliath’s overconfidence was part of his undoing. Do I ever get overconfident and forget to ask you to lead me? Of course I do. I’m so sorry. I know that all of my good things come from you. I know I am a fool and I need you to lead me.
• David was in the sweet spot of being led by you. A little like back in 1 Samuel 11 when your Spirit fell on Saul when he heard about the Ammonites attacking Jabesh. David was almost not even thinking. He was worshipping you through his actions. It almost seems to have been on instinct.
• Why did you do this and give David the victory? He tells us in verse 47: “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.” That makes me think back to when Jonathan beat the Philistines by an attack on a few men, confusion, and an earthquake.
• Speaking of Jonathan, where was he? He was obviously there (see 1 Samuel 18:1-4). Like Saul, it seems he was not in the sweet spot of our spirit at the moment. Even though he and his father were the only ones with armor and he was the natural choice to be out there, he wasn’t.
• David wins. What happened to the armor bearer? Was he just so stunned that he turned and ran too? Was he afraid of David as well? It’s amazing how we can be beaten psychologically before we even fight. Even in conflicts or challenges in my life, if I don’t “believe” (I’m looking at you, Ted Lasso), I usually won’t even start. That’s what happened to the Israelite army here. That’s what happened to the Philistine army. The only two people who “believed” in this story were David and Goliath, and the difference between those two was that Goliath was egotistical and overconfident while David was full of faith and scrappy.
• The Philistines run and the Israelites chase them.
• David identifies his father to Saul (so he can get the tax exemption?).
• Jonathan and David for their bond. What a remarkable thing for Jonathan to do.
  • Jonathan could have had a shame-filled ego. Instead, he was humbly grateful
  • Jonathan saw a kindred spirit in David, and perhaps he could see in David how much farther he had to go in his own faith. The would be brothers that would sharpen each other.
  • We do NOT go through this life alone.

Father, I guess it’s time for me to put this lesson together now. I have my parts for tomorrow night. Now, I need to assemble them. I like some of the things you’ve revealed to me through this story over the last few days. As I go out now to face my own Goliath in teaching these men about you through this story, help me to lean on you. I’ve had some of these lessons go well, but I don’t want to think for a second it was anything but your Holy Spirit guiding me. Speaking through me. I know my ego gets in the way a lot, and I am sorry for that. Give me the heart of the boy David, and not the man Goliath. I acknowledge you as the author of all of the good gifts and things that come my way. I worship you, my God and my King.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen