Ep. 85 - David & Goliath (Part 2)

Last we left our story, the Israelites were in trouble. The Philistines had invaded yet again. And this time, they were using Champion Warfare. And out of the Philistine camp strode their champion – Goliath. This giant stood almost 10 feet tall, wore 125 pounds of armour, and was armed to the teeth. This guy was a monster, and he shouted at the Israelite camp challenging anyone to a 1-on-1 fight. And saying that if Goliath won, the Israelites would be the Philistines’ servants. If the Israelite won, the Philistines would be Israelites’ servants. But of course, no Israelite was brave enough to fight Goliath. Not King Saul, the tallest man in Israel…not even brave Jonathan. And for 40 days this went on. Every morning and evening Goliath came out and challenged the Israelites. And each day the Israelite camp was silent. The Israelites were afraid. The Israelites had forgotten to trust that God was more powerful than even the largest of giants. And as the days went on, the Israelites got more and more discouraged. What was going to happen? Would someone eventually muster the courage to fight Goliath? Or would the Israelites give up and let the Philistines rule over them once more? Well, let’s find out.

So, as it turns out, when King Saul had gathered his army to fight the Philistines, three of David’s brothers had joined too – Eliab, Abinadab, and Shammah. These were David’s oldest brothers…in that order. And something to keep in mind here…when the Israelites would put together these large armies, they were supposed to be short lived – the army would gather, quickly fight the invaders, and then quickly breakup and go home. Most of the people in these large armies weren’t professional soldiers, but just regular people with families, homes, and farms to take care of. But this time, things were taking a lot longer than expected. Each army was camped on a mountain, with neither willing to attack the other up hill. It was kind of like a stalemate. 40 days had gone by…a month and a half…with no fighting – just Goliath coming out and shouting at them twice a day. And the Israelite army was probably starting to run out of food and supplies. And with so much time going by, and no news of a battle, David’s father - Jesse - started to get worried about his 3 sons. What was going on? What was taking so long? Did his sons have enough food? And so, when Jesse just couldn’t take it any longer, he called David from the field, and said to him, “Take now for your brothers an ephah of this dried grain and these ten loaves, and run to your brothers at the camp. And carry these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and see how your brothers fare, and bring back news of them.” (1 Sam. 17:17-18) And so early the next morning, after making sure someone was looking after his sheep, David obediently got the food together and headed off to the Israelite camp.

When David arrived at the camp, the two armies were doing their daily thing…lining up for battle…each on their own mountain…pretending like they were going to fight that day. Seeing this, David quickly dropped off his father’s food with the “supply keeper” and ran to find his brothers. When David found them, they started talking together…with David no doubt trying to get some news and to figure out why there hadn’t been any battle yet. But David didn’t have to wait for his brothers to explain…because as they were talking, out came Goliath from the enemy camp. Thump, thump, thump…the towering giant strode towards the Israelites. This was by far the biggest man that David had ever seen. As you kidzos already know, Goliath had massive armour on and was obviously super strong. The ground even seemed to shake a little as he took each step. And while David was no doubt shocked to see such a huge man, what Goliath did next shocked him even more. Because Goliath began shouting his usual thing…ya know…”I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.”…and all that. And David couldn’t believe that Goliath was saying all this. Didn’t Goliath know who he was talking to? Didn’t Goliath know what Israel was? Didn’t Goliath know that the armies of Israel fought for the one true God…the God that had defeated the Philistines many times over by now? David was just beside himself that this Philistine, no matter how big he might have been, was saying all this. But when David looked around at his fellow Israelites, all he saw was fear. And the Bible says that, “all the men of Israel, when they saw the man (that is…Goliath), fled from him and were dreadfully afraid.” (17:24)

So, to help his fellow Israelites find a little courage, David started talking to the soldiers around him, saying, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (17:26) David didn’t seem to care how big or strong Goliath was. All that mattered was that Goliath was challenging God’s people. God was much bigger and much stronger than any giant. And besides, wouldn’t King Saul give some kind of reward to the man that defeated Goliath? It seemed like a no-brainer to David. And indeed, the men around David answered him, and said, “It shall be that the man who kills him (that is…Goliath) the king will enrich with great riches, will give him his daughter, and give his father’s house exemption from taxes in Israel.” (17:25) So yah…there was a huge reward for the man that killed Goliath…even including marrying the king’s own daughter and becoming part of the royal family. And David didn’t understand why no one was taking Saul up on his offer. Why was absolutely no one willing to challenge this Philistine? So, David kept on talking to more and more Israelites…hoping that someone would stop being afraid and get up the courage to fight. And as David went from man-to-man…company-to-company having the same conversation over and over again, to David’s great frustration, he realized that there was not a single man in the whole Israelite army that was willing to fight the Philistine giant.

Well David was causing enough of a stir in the army that eventually King Saul heard about it. And so, probably wanting to know more about whoever was saying all these brave things, Saul called for David. And when David appeared before Saul, to Saul’s surprise, the brave person who’d been challenging his army to fight Goliath turned out to be David – the young kid who played the harp for him every once in a while. But if Saul was surprised by what David had been saying to the army, he would be even more surprised by what David would to him. And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” (17:32) By the time that Saul had called David, David had realized that no one in Israelite army was going to fight Goliath. And that if anyone was going to do it, it would have to be him.

But of course, King Saul thought this was absolutely crazy, and he 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.” (17:33) Saul was looking at it the way that everyone else was looking at it. Goliath was huge, David was small. Goliath was a warrior, David was a harp-playing shepherd boy. How could David possibly win? But David would not be discouraged. And David said to King 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.” (17:34-36) As far as David was concerned, this Philistine was no different than any lion or bear that David had fought as a shepherd many times before. Were they bigger than him? Sure. But all that mattered was whether God was with him or not. If God was with him, the enemy would be defeated…no matter how big he was. And Saul…couldn’t really argue with that. Yah…David was right…God is indeed bigger than Goliath. Yah…if God had somehow protected this kid when he fought lions and bears…well…it only make sense that God could protect him against Goliath too. And even though it still seemed like an absolutely crazy idea to Saul, he turned and said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!” (17:37)

But to make it look just a bit less crazy, Saul decided the least he could do was let David wear the king’s armour. The king after all had the best armour and weapons of the whole Israelite army. And so, Saul outfitted David with his bronze helmet, his coat of mail, and even his sword. But after David had put everything on, and after he’d walked around with all the clanky armour on…David quickly realized that this wasn’t going to work. Don’t forget, King Saul was the tallest man in all of Israel, and David was just a kid…the armour was way too big for him. But not only that, David just wasn’t used to it. David was just a shepherd. When David had fought the lion and the bear, he hadn’t fought them with a coat of armour or with a sword. So, David took it all off, and went back to what he knew…to the plain clothing and the simple weapons of a shepherd – a rod and a sling. (Which BTW kidzos, if you haven’t seen one of these old slings, they are just a long string or rope with small patch of cloth in the middle that held the stone. You’d take a stone, but it in the small patch of cloth, grab both ends of the string in your hand, whirl it around as fast as you could, and then let one of the ends of the string go…hurling the stone at a target.) And after stopping by the nearest brook and picking up five smooth stones, with both armies watching, the boy David left the Israelite camp and walked towards the giant Goliath to answer his challenge.

Over on the Philistine side, Goliath had just finished shouting his usual challenge at the Israelites. It had been at least the eightieth time that he had tried to get someone to fight him…and he was probably getting ready to call it a day. When off in the distance Goliath noticed a figure coming out of the Israelite ranks and…heading towards the middle ground between the two armies. Could it be? Could there finally be a challenger? Well, it looked like it. And so, Goliath and his shield bearer left the Philistine ranks to meet him. And as the two champions got closer and closer to each other, Goliath probably began to wonder to himself who the Israelite challenger could possibly be. Was it one of their generals? Was it the renowned prince Jonathan? Maybe the famous King Saul? But as the distant figure got closer and closer and finally came into view, Goliath realized that this challenger was none of those. It was just some…young kid. He didn’t even have any armour or weapons…just a rod and a sling. And once Goliath realized that the Israelites had send a young shepherd boy to fight him, he got angry. As the Bible says it, “When the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was only a youth, ruddy and good-looking.” (17:42) And Goliath said to David with his booming voice, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?… Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!” (17:43-44)

Now even though this must have been a super scary for David, with everything in his body telling him to run for his life, David would not turn back. Instead, David bravely said to Goliath, “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.” (17:45-47) When Goliath heard that, he’d had enough insolence from this little shepherd boy. And he began running towards David, intending to make a quick end of him. Thump thump thump…the huge giant barrelled across the valley. On seeing Goliath begin his charge, without missing a beat, David also began running towards Goliath. The two were charging at each other as fast as they could go.

And before Goliath could throw his giant spear, throw his giant javelin, or even draw his giant sword, David reached into his little bag of stones, and put one of them into his little sling. Around and around David whirled his sling as he continued running towards the Philistine. And just when the lumbering giant got into range, David took aim at Goliath’s head…and let the stone fly. The stone streaked through the air, and, probably to David’s surprise, the stone landed exactly where David had aimed it…Goliath’s forehead…right in the tiny part of his forehead above Goliath’s eyes that wasn’t covered by his helmet. And either because the two had been running at each other, or because of some miracle, the stone didn’t just hit Goliath in the forehead…but it hit Goliath so hard that the stone sunk right into his forehead. Immediately the giant stopped running, wavered, and fell to the ground…flat on his face…knocked out. To everyone’s amazement, little David with his little sling had defeated the giant Goliath.

With Goliath knocked out on the ground, David didn’t hesitate for a second to follow through on what he’d told Goliath he was going to do. And he ran over to the downed giant, drew Goliath’s huge sword out of its sheath, raised the heavy thing up in the air, and to everyone’s shock…cut off Goliath’s head. Of course, the Philistine army had been watching all this, and they couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Yet again, one brave Israelite had done the impossible. Last time it had been Jonathan defeating an entire garrison. This time it was the young boy David defeating the giant Goliath. Was there anything that the Israelites’ God couldn’t do when just one of the Israelites was trusting Him? Yet again, terror went through the entire Philistine camp, and the whole army began to run. Of course, the Israelites had been watching too. And while terror was going through the Philistine camp, a surge of confidence went through the Israelite camp. God was with them. Nothing could stop them…not even a giant. A huge shout went through the Israelite camp, and as one, the whole Israelite army charged towards the fleeing Philistines. The Bible says that the Israelite army, “pursued the Philistines as far as the entrance of the valley and to the gates to Enron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell along the road to Shaariam, even as far as Gath and Ekron.” (17:52) The Philistines were chased all the way back to the heart of their territory – Ekron and Gath. And while the Philistines were by no means completely defeated, and while the Philistines would continue to attack Israel for many years to come, it was indeed a major victory for God’s people. It was a victory that no one saw coming. A victory that only happened because of the bravery and faith of a young boy from a small town in the middle of nowhere.