Year 1, Week 30, Day 5 Bible Reading Observations

Year 1, Week 30, Day 5

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of 1 Samuel 17.

Today’s reading records the well-known battle between David and Goliath. 1 Samuel 17 describes the looming threat that the Philistines have mounted against the Israelites. The advantage in battle seemed to favor the Philistines at the moment, for they had a mighty warrior on their side: “And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span…And the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid” (1 Samuel 17:4,10-11). As this taunting was unfolding, David’s father sent him to the battle front to deliver some food for his older brothers who were a part of the military operations. David’s arrival to the front line coincided with Goliath’s routine of coming out to taunt the Israelites. David is surprised that Goliath was allowed to continue his mockery: "And David said to the men who stood by him, “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?” (1 Samuel 17:26). While David’s brothers are irritated by David’s interest in the matter of Goliath, David is undaunted and approaches Saul: “Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:32).

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading is David’s focus upon the LORD as he goes up against Goliath: “Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle; he is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield and he in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me” (Psalm 144:1-2). In addition to his brothers, Saul is not convinced that David is qualified to go up against Goliath in battle. But David clarified his qualifications: “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:37). David’s qualification was his confidence that the LORD would enable him for battle. David’s burden, as he noted previously, was Goliath’s dishonor toward the LORD: “Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God” (1 Samuel 17:36).

Goliath is unimpressed with David, but David clarified to him what he brought to the battle: "Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and 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” (1 Samuel 17:45). David was emphatic about the outcome of the battle: "This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD'S, and he will give you into our hand” (1 Samuel 17:46-47).

With his burden that the LORD was dishonored and his confidence in the LORD’s enablement, David took Goliath down: “And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground” (1 Samuel 17:49). Then David, without a sword, took Goliath’s own sword and completed the task: “Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it” (1 Samuel 17:51a). It was a turning point in the battle between the Philistines and the Israelites: “When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp” (1 Samuel 17:51b-52).

David was concerned with the LORD’s reputation, not his own. Thus, David showed that he genuinely was a man after God’s own heart (see 1 Samuel 13:14). But this episode between David and Goliath also demonstrates a strong theme that was introduced in Hannah’s prayer and that runs throughout the Books of 1 and 2 Samuel: “The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength…The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up. The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor” (1 Samuel 2:4,6-8).  David was pest in the eyes of his brother (1 Samuel 17:28); a little too inexperienced in the eyes of Saul (1 Samuel 17:33); and a runt in the eyes of Goliath (1 Samuel 17:42); but the LORD sees what man cannot see (see 1 Samuel 16:7). And furthermore like Hannah, David’s view of life was shaped, not by his own abilities and interests, but by the abilities that the LORD gives to His people and the interests that the LORD puts before his people. Thus, David was neither fainthearted nor self-oriented

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe