Finding Suitable Armor: David Versus Goliath
1 Samuel 17:32–39 NKJV
Then David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”
And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.”
But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.” Moreover David said, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”
And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”
So Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.” So David took them off.
This week’s lectionary text from the Old Testament is the story of David versus Goliath, which has been a favorite for Vacation Bible Schools everywhere. It is packed with action and drama which captures the interest of children. From this, the children learn about the triumph of underdogs. Everyone roots for the underdog to succeed unless one is Goliath, of course. There is also the theme of the triumph of good over evil. In a spiritual sense, they learn that God helps the underdog. All well and good, but there is more to the story. what is the deeper lesson taught by this passage.
The text begins in verse 32 of chapter 17 in 1 Samuel. We read just the beginning part of the long narrative, verses 32-39. What had just happened in the previous verses is that we are told that Israel was at war with the Philistines. As war was costly in human lives, the two sides would agree to send one representative to fight a representative from the other side in hand-to-hand combat, The winner’s side took all. But lives were spared. Of course, each side would want to be represented by the very best champion they had. This challenge to have Israel’s champion fight the Philistine champion.
The Philistines indeed had an incredibly powerful champion to offer, Goliath of Gath, who belonged to a race of giants. It is hard to tell just how large Goliath was because we don’t know the length of a Hebrew cubit at the time. But it was safe to say he was well over 7 feet tall with a very muscular build. He was so big that he had an armor-bearer bear his shield before him. The Philistines had every reason to believe that Goliath would slay anyone that Israel could put up against him. So they taunted Israel constantly. The result was that Israel was terrified.
Who would serve as champion in this struggle? We only need turn to King Saul, a man who had shown himself to be valiant in battle. The Bible says that he was a tall man who stood head and shoulders over his fellow Israelites. I would estimate that he would then have been around six-and-a-half feet tall. He also had a suit of armor, one of the very few Israelites that did as the Philistines exerted control over iron and the means of sharpening instruments. But Saul was no Goliath.
There were several able warriors among the sons of Jesse, David’s brothers. Samuel was much impressed with them, although God was not. They would not accept the challenge to take on Goliath either. David did not go to war with his seven brothers. He was young and considered too insignificant to go to war. And someone had to stay behind to take care of Jesse’s sheep.
But the opportunity came one day when David was asked to take food that had been fixed for his brothers to the front. It was at this time that he heard the taunts of Goliath. He also had heard that the man who killed Goliath would be given the king’s daughter in marriage and have great riches. So he enquired and found it to be so. When David’s older brother heard it, he strongly rebuked what he saw as the ambitiousness of his youngest brother. He may have been trying to protect him. Basically, he told David to go back and keep the sheep.
It is at this point that we must remember that David had already been anointed king over Israel. David knew this, of course, although it would not be right away. God had already chosen his champion as Saul had been rejected. David may have been ambitious but not without a cause. He also showed that he could keep his ambition, whatever it was, under check as he showed that he could patiently wait until the LORD removed Saul. If God had anointed him to be king, surely this would happen. So David could be bold when he came to Saul to offer to be Israel’s champion. The people who heard David made it known to the king who summoned him. David told Saul not to be afraid. He would go and fight the Philistine. when Saul saw David, he saw a very young man whose appearance did not inspire confidence. After all, the outcome of the war and Saul’s kingdom would depend upon David killing Goliath. If David were killed, Israel would suffer defeat. Saul told David that Goliath had been a warrior from his youth and that David was still a youth. Surely, he would not be able to defeat Goliath.
It is at this time that David gives Saul his resume. He was a shepherd (note the word “was.”) It was his job to protect the flock from wild animals like lions and bears. If he could slay a lion and a bear, surely he could dispatch an uncircumcised Philistine. This would seem to be a very haughty statement until we read that it wasn’t in his own strength that he overcame the paws of the lion and the bear. It was the LORD who had delivered him. This same LORD who had anointed him to be king would also rescue him from Goliath and the godless horde of the Philistines.
Saul was somewhat impressed with the lad and bid him go and prayed that the LORD would be with him. But to make sure, he told David to put on his own armor. One can only look humorously as David tried to put on armor which was far too large for him, seeing that Saul was a very tall man and David wasn’t. Ill-fitting armor would be much more a hindrance than a help. David would have to go out against the heavily armed and armored Philistine without any armor. David instead resorted to the weapon he used to protect his flock, his sling. He put five stones into his bag and his sling. We can think of the many long days which David might have practiced his technique. He would only have one shot at hitting Goliath in an unprotected part of his armor with the stone. If he missed, David’s death would seem certain.
When Goliath saw Israel’s champion, he was insulted. Could not at least a real man challenge him? We read in 1 Samuel 17:44:
1 Samuel 17:44 NKJV
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!”
David’s response is classic in 1 Samuel 17:45-47
1 Samuel 17:45–47 NKJV
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. 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. 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.”
David’s armor was the LORD. The LORD did use David’s ability with a sling, but David’s hope was no more in his ability to use that weapon no more than his hands had been in the killing of the bear and the lion. We see in this passage that the battle was not just a carnal battle between to earthly enemies. there is a spiritual component to it as well. David was armed spiritually by the LORD. The LORD had anointed him king and champion of the people. David could not die on this field because of the promise of the LORD. And if he did die, the LORD would have to raise David up again because the LORD’s promise cannot be broken,
We know the story. David triumphs over Goliath and the Philistines. And after many toils and snares, he came onto the kingdom which the LORD promised him. We see many exploits, but there was a massive chink in his spiritual armor. We read of the stories of David and Bathsheba, the rebellions in his own family, and the numbering of the people to war. these were as spiritually deadly as the stone which struck Goliath. In that way, David lost his head. The LORD did forgive David, but he had fallen short in being the LORD’s spiritual champion.
The LORD did make a promise to David that one of His descendants would be the true champion who would bring lasting peace to Israel. We then see that this was not fulfilled in Solomon or any of the kings of Israel. But God is true to His promise. No mere man could be that champion. God needs no surrogates. He would fight the battle against Satan Himself. The chosen champion was God, the Son, who became flesh in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Like David, he was just a very ordinary man as far as the flesh is concerned. He was no giant of a man like Goliath. Isaiah 53 says that his appearance did not inspire and confidence. He was such an ordinary looking Jew that the Sanhedrin felt it necessary to pay Judas to betray and identify Him. Yet it would be through Jesus of Nazareth that the greatest deliverance of Israel was made. No, Jesus did not conquer Rome in a military sense. Rome would be conquered in a totally different way by the disciples of Jesus and their followers in a spiritual way. Not only this, but the LORD’s champion died in the most humiliating way on a cross, having been rejected by His own people. But death could not annul God’s promise. Our champion was raised on the third day and is not seated at the right hand of the majesty on high. The deliverance we really needed was not achieved by human combat.
David would reign over earthly Israel for many years. But David’s days came to an end. But the Lord Jesus shall reign eternally. When He returns, we shall be changed. We will not need to worry about the sin that David fell into. David was the greatest of Israel’s earthly kings, but He does not even compare to the greatness of Jesus who is appointed King over all creation.
We live in a world full of Goliath’s who taint us every day to come out and meet their champion in earthly and mortal combat. We might take assessment of our earthly means to take on Satan. But we should remember these words from Martin Luther in the hymn “A Mighty Fortress is our God:”
Did we in our own strength confide,
Our striving would be losing.
Were not the right man on our side,
The man of God’s own choosing.
Dost ask who that might be?
Christ Jesus, it is He.
Lord Sabaoth His name,
From age to age the same.
And He must win the battle.
We are reminded by Paul in 2 Corinthians that the weapons are not carnal. The battle is a spiritual one, so earthly armor will just not fit. we must put on as Paul also admonishes in Ephesians 6 that we put on the entire armor of God. This is the suitable armor for the fight. We also remember that the battle is the LORD’s. Jesus is our champion. when he returns with His saints at the battle of Armageddon, we will just be spectators. Jesus will utter one single word “finished.” Satan did indeed bruise the heel of our champion. He thought he had won in single combat. But Jesus rose from the dead. As a result, Satan has received a mortal would to his head. He has not yet died. He rages like a wounded bear. But his end is certain. This should give us confidence and hope in this present evil age.
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