This morning we’re going to be in 1 Samuel 17. The Lord has really been ministering to me about some things in 1 Samuel 12, 16 and 17. 1 Samuel 17 is the story of David and Goliath. But it’s really a story about how the enemy of the soul attacks the Body of Christ. We’re going to look at that record this morning and it has 58 verses. We’re going to read 50 of them.
[I am not going to include the 50 verses in this message; only those that I comment on.]
When we get to 1 Samuel 17, two things have already happened.
Number 1: King Saul has disobeyed himself out of a kingdom. And notice the words that I used. God didn’t take the kingdom away from Saul. He threw his kingdom away by how he responded to God’s will for his life and for the kingdom. You can read about it in chapter 15.
The second thing that has happened: David has been anointed king over Israel. Even though he has been anointed king, it will be another 10 or 12 years before he sits on the throne.
Now I want you to think about something. Saul knows that because of the decisions he has made, because of his blatant disobedience, none of his son will ever sit on the throne. Let that sink in ladies and gentlemen. If you think the decisions that you make only affect you – think again.
First Samuel 17 is a heart-breaking chapter. We’re going to see a group of men – soldiers – who are fearful. We’re going to see a group of men who have forgotten their covenant relationship with God. And in that covenant, God has promised to be with them in every battle.
Now I’m going to be upfront with you. As we read these verses, I am going to mispronounce some words. (Laughter)
Read verses 1 and 2 and focused on verse 3.
(3) And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, and there was a valley between them.
The valley is the place where the fighting takes place. It is the lowest point between the two mountains. Think about where your battles occur, typically when you’re at your lowest point emotionally. A soldier fighting in the valley knew he may never leave it.
The enemy of the soul wants to get you in a valley, ladies and gentlemen. And he wants to keep you there to the point you that you give up. He wants you there because then you are no longer fighting for the God that you serve.
No Israelite wanted to get into the valley. Goliath was already in the valley. You can see that by their reactions to Goliath’s taunting.
Read verses 4-7.
It says Goliath was six cubits and a span tall. A cubit is about 15 inches and a span is about 9 inches. That would put him somewhere between 9 feet 9 inches tall and 11 feet 3 inches tall. And he was a warrior that weighed a solid 450 to 600 pounds. He was enormous. He was intimidating.
The coat of mail was like a metal shirt and it weighed 5000 shekels of brass or about 157 pounds. Can you imagine a person walking around with that kind of weight on his body? That was probably more than the weight of some of the soldiers in both camps.
The target, in verse 6, is a javelin and the greaves of brass covered Goliath’s thighs and legs down to the heel of his feet. And verse 7 says the head of his spear weighed 600 shekels, or 19 pounds.
Now why did I go into this type of detail? The enemy wants you to focus on what you see. The enemy of the soul wants us, the Body of Christ, to get so focused on what we see that we forget about WHO WE ARE. And that’s always going to be the battle.
In verses 5 through 7, in the natural, when Israel heard and saw Goliath they thought he was unbeatable because they knew he had prepared himself in the natural to do battle his whole life. Now listen to me, ladies and gentlemen, Goliath was oblivious to the spiritual nature of this battle.
The battles that we face as Christians, so many of us are oblivious to its underlying spiritual source. David knew this was a spiritual battle. We need to understand this too!
Let’s read verse 8. “And he (Goliath) stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? Am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? Choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.”
It was a common practice for an army to have one person, their most fierce warrior, to fight instead of the whole army. And this is what Goliath is talking about. “The Philistines have chosen me to represent them. Who are you going to choose to represent you?”
Notice that Goliath says “the servants to Saul.” Israel was supposed to be the servants to God. They became servants to Saul back in 1 Samuel 8 when they said they wanted a king to rule them like the other nations.
I want you to hear what the Lord said to me about this. “Israel wanted to be led by sight and not by faith.” Instead of taking God at His word and believing His prophets, the children of Israel wanted a king – a man to rule over them.
Now I want you to hear this: when Israel told Samuel – told Go – in 1 Samuel 8 and 12, that they wanted a king just like all the other nations, they were saying “We want a king that does not know God.”
Read verses 9 through 11.
(11) When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.
What we see, ladies and gentlemen, is an army following a king who no longer follows God and, in their minds, who is already defeated. Why? In 1 Samuel 15, God stripped Saul of his anointing and blessings. If you were a soldier and you saw your king eaten up with fear, how would you react? Would you feel as though you had already lost the battle? That is exactly how they felt.
Ladies and gentlemen, fear cannot be forced upon a person. Let that sink in. Fear is something that we have to take. It’s an internal response to a threat. It’s a self preservation mechanism. The person with a sin nature has no defense against fear that rises up from within. But the sons and daughters of God do.
Philippians 4 6 tells us “Be careful, or anxious, for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made know unto God.”
And Proverbs 16:3 says “Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.”
Read verses 12 through 18.
When Jesse told David to take the cheeses to his brothers, he also told him to bring back a pledge – to bring back something of theirs that would let him know that they were okay.
Read verses 19 through 23.
As David is walking toward the army of Israel, Goliath is repeating what he had said in verse 9. Now listen to the last four words of verse 23: “and David heard them.”
When I read that, I thought about Numbers 12. Let’s read verses 1 and 2 – “And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman. And they said, Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Hath he not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it.”
You know what happened after the Lord heard it. It was not a pretty sight. Miriam got leprosy and Aaron was so afraid of getting it that he pleaded with Moses to plead with God to forgive them.
My point: when God in 1 Samuel 13:14 said that He sought a man after His heart, you’re looking at it right here. What made God angry made David angry. Can the same be said about us? Sin angers God. Does it anger us?
Read verses 24 through 26.
David said someone needed to face Goliath and take away the reproach from Israel. Someone needed to take away the humiliation, the embarrassment of cowering down, the embarrassment of not behaving like a soldier in God’s army, the embarrassment of not acting like they belonged to God.
David also asked “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, who is this person that does not have a covenant with the Lord, with the God that we serve?” And then he adds, “Who is this person who is so arrogant that he believes he can defy, that he can spit in the face, of the armies of the living God?”
Remember back in verse 8 when Goliath challenged the armies of Israel who were the servants to Saul? David says who is this uncircumcised Philistine who dares to challenge the armies of the living God? Did David not understand the spiritual nature of this battle? Yes he did.
Each one of us can stand in the face of adversity, in the face of everything this world will throw at us, and in the face of everything the enemy of the soul will throw at us and say “Who can defy the sons and daughters of the living God?” Romans 8 says no one! We are more than conquerors!
Read verses 27 through 31.
(32) And David said to Saul [The shepherd, who has come out of the field, and who is there because his father wanted to make sure his brothers were okay, is talking to the king of Israel.], Let no man’s heart fail (including yours) because of him: thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.
(33) And Saul said to David, Thou art not able … [I can see David looking at Saul and saying “What? Didn’t I just tell you not to fear and that I was going to defeat him? And you’re going to tell me I am not able?]
Whenever you take a stand for the Lord, there will be people in the Body of Christ who are not going to agree with you. They are going to tell you that you’re wrong.
King Saul is speaking unbelief to David based on what he sees before him – Goliath, a 9 foot 9 inch, 450 pound warrior with armor weighing 157 pounds and a spear with a head weighing 19 pounds and then little ole David. Saul truly believes David will be slaughtered.
Davids response in verses 34 and 35 flowed from a place of knowing that God was his covenant partner. It flowed from a place of knowing that he would not face Goliath alone. It flowed from a place of knowing, with absolute certainty, that Goliath would be defeated.
Read verses 34 through 36.
Notice how many times David called Goliath “an uncircumcised Philistine.” David was angry. He was visibly angry. He raised his voice. He was physically animated. “I don’t care what you believe O king, but this uncircumcised Philistine is going to fall just like the lion and the bear.”
Now look at verse 37. “David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me (Notice this is past tense. David is saying “Just like in the past…” He remembered that His God is a deliverer. He was not concerned about his future experiences with God.) out of the jaw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, (because I’m afraid to) and the Lord be with thee (even though I don’t believe He will).”
Read verses 38 through 44.
(45) Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
The sad thing about the Body of Christ today is that we have joined the enemy of the soul in defying the name of the Lord. We are siding with abortion. We are siding with same sex unions. We are siding with marijuana. We are siding with gambling casinos. The list, I’m sad to say, is endless.
When we read this, we see David talking to Goliath. But do you realize that he is also talking to King Saul and the armies of Israel? The king and the armies had also defied God because they didn’t believe He was their covenant partner. They didn’t believe He would be there to fight with them and for them. So, David was also pointing a finger at them.
We live in such a culture today that if we begin pointing fingers at people who should know better, we will get criticized, marginalized and ostracized. When you look in scripture, rebellion to God was always called to someone’s attention.
(46) This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand (Who is going to do the delivering? The LORD.); and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee (Now listen to what David is saying, “The Lord is going to deliver you into my hands, but I am the one who is going to kill you and cut off your head.”); and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
How are they going to know that there is a God in Israel? David, a shepherd, is going to kill Goliath, a 9 foot 9 inch tall man weighing 450 pounds who has been trained from his youth to be a soldier, and cut off his head.
Ladies and gentlemen, before you can say there is a God in America, you first have to know and believe that God is in you. David knew this by covenant. We should know this by sonship.
Remember in John, Jesus said he was in the Father and the Father was in him and that’s why he could do the works that he did. The same is true for us. The Father is in us too!
Three more verses. The last part of verse 46 again: “that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.”
(47) And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear (In other words, the Lord does not save by the things in the natural. Remember, David was the only one who knew that this was a “spiritual battle.”): for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hands.
(48) And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
The word “hasted” means “to be liquid or flow easily.” What flows easily in our lives when our hearts beat with our Father’s heart? The anointing. So many of us, when we’re faced with a difficult situation, we hesitate, we take a step back, we do an evaluation of how we’re going to deal with the situation. David said, to heck with that. “The Lord has already delivered you into my hands.”
When was the last time you ran toward your problem? And how do you run towards problems?
The first thing you do is get into the scriptures and find verses that will help you. Then you confess those verses over and over and over.
The second thing you do is pray in the spirit.
The third thing you do is worship and praise the Lord all the while thanking Him for the deliverance.
And finally, add some fasting to your life. These four things should be constants in your life whether or not you are facing a trying situation.
That’s how we run toward our problems. And I can see Goliath looking at David as he’s running toward him. “This kid must be crazy. He’s actually running to me. Oh, this is going to be easier than I could ever imagine.”
(49) And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead (Can you see how God is delivering Goliath into David’s hands? Didn’t we read that Goliath had a helmet of brass covering his head? And yet, the stone found its mark.), that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon is face to the earth.
(50) So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.
(51) Therefore David ran and stood upon the Philistine and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.
When David removed Goliath’s head from his shoulders, that was an act of humiliation. It was an act of complete and total annihilation of the enemy and the army of the Philistines saw it.
Every battle we have with the enemy of the soul should end with his humiliation. Every. Single. Battle. We should be victorious in every single battle.
So, what have we’ve seen in this record?
(1) In the natural, your battles are always going to be larger than you. But you have to remember from what place you fight your battles.
(2) You will have to decide whose servant you are. Israel decided to be Saul’s servants when they said they wanted a king, a man of flesh and blood, to rule over them and not God Almighty.
(3) In every battle there will be an opportunity for you to fear but the Bible says in 1 John 4:18 that there is no fear in love. So, the more that you trust God, the more your love for Him will increase and the more your opportunities for fear decrease.
(4) Don’t speak unbelief – words without life and deliverance – in your battles. How many of us have prolonged our battles because of what we were speaking and what we were thinking?
(5) When the battle starts, you run toward it. Declare that when you’re done, the word is going to spread that there is a God where you live.
I like looking at records like this in the Old Testament. I read them and enjoy them and there are certain things you pick up just by reading. But then the Lord can also show you how what you’re reading is being seen in the Body of Christ. It’s very sobering. But it also shows me how much He loves us and how He doesn’t want us repeating such things.
