Why did the chicken cross the road? [To get to the other side] What's black and white and red all over? [a newspaper] Why didn't you think those jokes were funny? Nobody laughed. Why wasn't it funny? Because they're the oldest and most well-known jokes in the book, aren't they?

Well, preaching about David & Goliath is like trying to tell the joke about why did the chicken cross the road and make it sound funny! Everybody knows the story, and everybody thinks they know what it's about and what it teaches us. It's about slaying Giants right? Most sermons on this story end with an application that goes something like this… "we all face giants in our lives. Have you been intimidated by a giant in your life lately - an illness, a particular sin, a worry, a fear? Like David you can slay that giant. All you need is faith!"

Now there is some truth in that application. Yeah sure, David's battle with Goliath IS a great example of faith in action. But this story points us to something far greater, something far bigger. It tells us a lot about God's character and purposes, and his plan of salvation. It has far more to do with God's faithfulness than our faith, and it is so much more than just a story with a nice moral example for us to follow. So, don't treat this passage like an old joke that you think you know the punchline to. Work hard, think hard, and together let's see what we find in it.

Let me update the plot so far, and give you some idea of the situation God's people faced. Then I want to do some character sketches. I want us to consider each of the characters in this story, from brave Goliath to cowardly Saul. And then I want to ask how we fit into the picture.

First, the setting of this story. It occurs in the time of Israel's first king, Saul. We're talking around three thousand years ago. I'll tell you more about Saul later. Let me paint the bigger picture for you first though.

[overhead of OT timeline]

God chose one man, Abraham, way back in Genesis chapter twelve. And he promised that man that his offspring would become a great people and that he would give them their own land to live in. That was in about 1800 to 2000 BC. Four hundred years later, God took Abraham's descendants, his people Israel, and led them out of slavery in Egypt under Moses. A couple of weeks ago we looked at the Golden Calf incident, which belongs to that period, when Israel wandered in the desert. Then we looked at an incident that happened when they finally entered the Promised Land under Joshua. What was that? Yes, when the walls of Jericho fell - and we saw the faith of Joshua and the Israelites and also of Rahab the harlot. Joshua and the army of Israel took the land of Canaan, the Promised Land, and began to settle in it. And last week Stephen took us through another story that has been made into a movie - Samson and Delilah. That story took place in the time before Israel had a king. They were ruled by people called Judges, like Samson.

The last Judge of Israel was the prophet Samuel. And Samuel appointed Israel's first king, king Saul. That's the Saul in our story tonight. Saul became king in about 1050 BC, and he reigned for forty years.

Now do you remember who Samson fought against? Yes it was the Philistines. Who were the Philistines? Well, like Israel, they weren't the original inhabitants of the land. Israel came into Canaan from the East, that is, from the landward side. The Philistines invaded the coast of Canaan - they were a seafaring people and originally came from the island of Caphtor, which we now call Crete. So the Canaanites got annihilated from both directions. But eventually of course, the Israelites and Philistines met up in the middle and started fighting each other. And the Philistines were a pain in the neck to Israel for several hundred years. During the time of the judges, and all the way through king Saul's reign, the Philistines were the worst and most successful of Israel's enemies. But it need not have been like that, if Israel and King Saul had been more faithful to God, like we find David being here.

Well, the scene is this. It is in the valley of Elah, which is in Judah, that is, part of Israel, but right on the edge of Israel's border with the Philistines. I have some pictures here on the overhead of the valley of Elah, which is today called the Wadi es-Sant. The overheads aren't that great, but you can clearly see that the valley has a stream running down the centre of it. It's an arid area, and the stream is often dry. This is the stream where David picked up the rocks for his sling. Now the ravine that the stream is in is quite deep and wide in some places - about six metres wide and six to nine metres deep. So you can see why the two armies were in a stalemate, can't you? The Philistines were on side, and the Israelites on the other. The Philistines didn't like fighting in hilly places very much, they liked the plains, where their chariots could get up speed. The Israelites, who didn't have many chariots and who had inferior weapons, preferred to fight a guerilla war up in the hills, ambushing their enemies in small sorties, like the one that Jonathan makes back in chapter 14. But neither of them was very keen to be the first army to attack at this place. Because whoever attacked first would have to go down the ravine, and then climb up the other side while their opponents threw spears, arrows, rocks, and anything else they could lay their hands on down at them. So what did they do? They lined up on either side of this deep creek and called each other names! For forty days.

Enter Goliath.

Verse 4 - 'A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp.' And in verse 8 we read, '8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, ‘‘Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us." 10 Then the Philistine said, ‘‘This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other." '

Now the first thing to note about Goliath was that this guy had attitude!

He wasn't afraid of anyone! He was a champion, verse four tells us. The word means literally, a man in between, that is, a man who fights between the two armies, in front of his own frontline. Goliath was a brave man, his country's equivalent of a sergeant in the U.S. marines - you know how the marines brag about being the first to hit the beach? That's the kind of guy Goliath was.

Now the second thing to note about Goliath was that he was BIG. Verse four says he was over nine feet tall. About 3.2 metres. See that basketball hoop? Goliath could slam dunk a ball into it with his feet flat on the ground, no problems!

And he was scary.

Look at verses 5 to 7:

5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels [that's about 57 kilograms - probably as much as David weighed without armour!]; 6 on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. 7 His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, [that means it was as thick as your arm!] and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels [about 7 kilos]. His shield bearer went ahead of him.

If you were making a movie about this, who would you choose for Goliath? It would have to be big Arnie wouldn't it? This guy is like Arnie in Terminator! He's lethal.

Now Goliath was a huge man from a huge clan. Goliath, although he was the Philistine's champion, was not from a Philistine family. His race were called the Anakites.

Goliath's ancestors, the Anakites and the Rephaites, were people of great height and strength. Sometimes they had other physical mutations, such as six fingers and toes. They were seen as heroes, almost superhuman. Goliath's ancestry is interesting, because The bible tells us that the Anakites were Canaanites, and Joshua and the people of Israel killed them or drove them from the land. But some of them fled to the Philistines and lived there. So Goliath is doubly an enemy of the Lord and the Lord's people. His ancestors should have been wiped out by Israel, and they would have been if Israel had been more obedient to the Lord. So this is why Goliath has such a great hatred for Israel and king Saul - because they are the invaders of his ancestors' land. He hates Israel, and he hates their God, who has judged his people and destroyed them because of their sin. And so he defies both Israel and the Lord. He is a proud, arrogant, cursing man. In verse 43 we read how he cursed David by his gods when David approached him to fight him.

For forty days, Goliath came out and issued his challenge. What was the response of Saul and Israel to this defiance against the Lord and his army? Verse 11 - ' On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified….' And in verse 24, 'when the Israelites saw the man, they all ran from him in great fear.'

Goliath and his shield bearer were very brave men - verse 24 says he stepped out from his lines to shout his usual defiance. Now that should actually be translated he went UP from his lines - that is, what he was doing was actually going down into the creekbed and UP the other side to the Israelite front line, and they were all so scared of him they didn't even dare to throw rocks at him as he climbed up to them, they just ran.

They shouldn't have been dismayed though, because God told them not to be, and they shouldn't have run, because Israel in the past had defeated such giants, Goliath's ancestors, when they took the Promised Land.

Furthermore, although Goliath is a cursing man, yet he is also an accursed man.

God said to Israel's ancestor Abraham, when he chose him and promised him the land, "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (Gen 12:1-3)

…whoever curses you I will curse. God promised them that, but they did not believe it. They allowed Goliath to curse Israel and God for forty days running. But David knew God's promise. That's why he says in verse 26, "what will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?"

Well, let me introduce you to the next character - Eliab.

Verse 28. When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, ‘‘Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle."

Eliab accuses David of being irresponsible and ghoulish. David was at home looking after the sheep, and his father, who was quite old, asked him to go and find out how his brothers were doing in the war, and take them some food. David left the sheep in someone else's care, but Eliab either doesn't know this or deliberately ignores it, because he accuses David of being there for his own reasons and of neglecting his duty. He tries to belittle David - notice how he makes a point of saying 'those FEW sheep' as if to make out that David has a menial and easy job of looking after just a small number of animals and he can't even manage that - instead he runs off to watch the excitement of the battle. Eliab's words are well placed here, because they highlight the fact that to everyone there that day, David is just an insignificant shepherd boy - the youngest in his family. Saul's words add to this idea, where he says to David in verse 33, "you cannot go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy…"

Several things explain Eliab's attitude. The first is that Eliab is David's eldest brother. Brothers always talk this way to each other! You can almost hear the whine in David's reply in verse 29, "Now what have I done?… can't I even speak?" This obviously wasn't the first time these two had got on each others' nerves I think.

But there's more to it than that. Eliab is an angry man - why? Because he is a jealous man, and because he knows he's a coward.

Back in chapter 16, God told the prophet Samuel to go and anoint one of the sons of Jesse as the new king, because he had rejected Saul as king. Even though Saul was still king, his days were numbered.

Eliab, Jesse's eldest son, together with all his brothers, was passed over by Samuel in favour of the youngest brother, David. Even Samuel thought it was a strange choice, but God told him that God looks at the heart, not at the outward appearance. So Eliab is jealous.

But there's another reason. What was David saying when Eliab caught him talking to the men? Basically he was asking "why hasn't anyone taken up this Philistine's challenge?" He can’t believe that no one has done it, especially since the King has promised great wealth, his daughter's hand in marriage, and freedom from taxes for the father of whoever kills Goliath. Whether he meant to or not, David's questions implied cowardice on the part of the army of Israel, including his brothers. And that got up Eliab's nose. Who are you, a mere shepherd boy who's never been near a battle, to come telling us soldiers that we're too cowardly to fight Goliath? It's okay for you, looking on from the sheep pen! That's what Eliab seems to be saying.

Well, that's Eliab, jealous, acting like a typical big brother, putting David down, and together with the rest of Israel, a cowardly man, with insufficient faith in the promises of God to take up Goliath's challenge.

Now we come to Saul.

Who's afraid of a three meter man?! We are, said the Israelites. I am, said Saul, though not in so many words. But by offering rewards to the one who would do it, Saul is implicitly saying, "hey, this one's not for me!"

Chapter nine verse two of 1 Samuel tells us that when Saul was chosen as king, he was "an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites - a head taller than any of the others." Saul was a head taller than anyone in Israel. He was the Lord's Messiah, the Saviour King of Israel. Therefore who was the logical one to take up Goliath's challenge? It was Saul.

But Saul was a defeated man. A has been. A spiritual failure. A sad case. It wasn't always like that. When Samuel anointed him king, he started out well. He even defeated the Philistines in battle. But he never finished what he set out to do, and he often took things into his own hands, thinking that he knew better than the Lord. In the end his disobedience cost him the kingship. When we meet him here, the prophet Samuel had told him God had rejected him.

[The following 3 paragraphs are quoted from Robert L. Deffinbaugh (teacher and elder at Community Bible Chapel in Richardson, Texas ]

We are inclined to look at the contest between David and Goliath as something unique, something very unusual. It is not. God gave specific instructions about such confrontations:

1 "When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you. 2 "Now it shall come about that when you are approaching the battle, the priest shall come near and speak to the people. 3 "And he shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, you are approaching the battle against your enemies today. Do not be fainthearted. Do not be afraid, or panic, or tremble before them, 4 for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you’" (Deuteronomy 20:1-4).

Only a few verses later, God instructs the Israelites to identify anyone who is fainthearted so that he will not undermine the faith and confidence of his brethren (verse 8). The situation Saul and Israel face with the Philistines is not unusual. The problem is Saul’s fear and his lack of faith, which becomes contagious.

Is it not interesting that when Saul leads, his troops flee (see 1 Samuel 13:5-7)? Saul’s soldiers are frightened because Saul is terrified (17:11, 24). David, a lowly shepherd boy who is too young to be a soldier in Saul’s army, comes along and because of his faith and courage, inspires others to trust in God to work through him to kill Goliath and give Israel the victory. Notice the long list of heroes among Israel’s soldiers in 2 Samuel 23, after David becomes Israel’s king. There are many mighty men of valor under David’s leadership, to a great degree due to the faith and courage David personally demonstrates."

21 "’See, the LORD your God has placed the land before you; go up, take possession, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. Do not fear or be dismayed’" (Deuteronomy 1:21, NASB).

7 "The LORD will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they shall come out against you one way and shall flee before you seven ways" (Deuteronomy 28:7, NASB).

Who's afraid of a three meter man?! "Not I!" said David.

David - a mere youth. The youngest in his family. A shepherd boy. Untrained in warfare.

David was a 'man after God's own heart.'

David had one thing that the trained soldiers of Israel did not have - an unshakeable and almost naïve faith in the promises of God.

David's faith rested on the promises of God, and the training and skills God had given him in his ordinary vocation as a shepherd.

Knew he had been anointed as Saul's successor, therefore, since he was not yet king, God must be going to preserve him in this battle so he could become king.

He is our great champion, against the real enemy who defies the Lord and his armies, namely Satan. David is ultimately not just a moral example, but a Type, a picture, a shadow of the true Messiah who was to come.

Quote from Robert L. Deffinbaugh:

"When we come to David, we come to God’s chosen king. This is the one whose seed will be the promised Messiah, whose kingdom will have no end. And so David often provides us with a foreshadowing of Christ. Our text is no exception. David is a prototype of Christ, as Goliath is a prototype of Satan. Satan has the whole world trembling in fear of him and of death (see Hebrews 2:14-15). We, like the Israelites of old, are powerless to defeat him. What we cannot do for ourselves, Christ has done for us, just as David fought Goliath for Saul and the Israelites. Satan has a death grip on lost sinners. There is nothing we can do to save ourselves. Jesus came and took on Satan one-on-one, and He won the victory. David did it by killing Saul. Jesus did it by being crucified on the cross of Calvary. But after He died to pay the penalty for our sins, He rose from the grave, triumphant over Satan, sin, and death. It was winner take all, and Jesus won by dying and by rising from the dead. All who acknowledge their sin, and who forsake trusting in themselves by placing their trust in Jesus Christ, have the forgiveness of sins and the assurance of living eternally in His kingdom. Thank God for our Champion, the Lord Jesus Christ."

We see David as a picture of Christ because:

1. He wrought victory as a humble servant. (Phil. 2:8)

2. He did it alone. (Isa. 63:3)

3. He did it with one mighty blow. (Heb. 10:11-13

4. He did it with the strength of his own hand. (Eph.4:8)

5. He did it as a representative and substitute for all his people. (John 10:11)

[7/2/95 Marvin Stalnaker - pastor of Franklin Sovereign Grace Church Franklin, TN]

Our society applauds the person with attitude - the person like Goliath who is self-reliant, supremely self-confident, strong, and with a total get outa my face outlook on life. But in God's kingdom those qualities lead to only one destination - death. God is not impressed by what impresses your friends, classmates, workmates, or anyone who judges things from an earthly persepective. That is the way of Satan. The Evil One teaches people to put yourself first, to boast in your strength and ability, and to despise the people of God as weak and foolish. But the Evil One, like Goliath, is a defeated foe. He cannot harm you, because our Champion, Jesus, stands at the front lines and dispatches him with a single blow at the Cross.

Our society calls us to follow the way of Goliath, which is the way of Satan - pride, defiance, in your face mate, I'm looking out for number one. But our Champion calls us to follow his way. The way of meekness and faith and love and dependence on God's Promises. Remember some of the things Jesus said. "Come to me all of you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Goliath was a violent giant. But Jesus is our gentle giant.

Goliath would have said, "if someone even tries to hit you on the cheek, knock both cheeks from his shoulders. What did Jesus say? "If anyone strikes you on one cheek, offer him the other as well." And, "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

Which giant are you going to follow? The one whose place is in the burning pit? Or the one who sits at God's right hand and will judge the whole world? Are you on the Lord's side?

Outline of this sermon, with some notes - 1Sam17OL.html