Reflections on 1 Samuel 17

1 Samuel 17 (Contemporary English Version)

1. The Philistines got ready for war and brought their troops together to attack the town of Socoh in Judah. They set up camp at Ephes-Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah.
   
2. King Saul and the Israelite army set up camp on a hill overlooking Elah Valley, and they got ready to fight the Philistine army that was on a hill on the other side of the valley.
   
3. (SEE 17:2)
   
4. The Philistine army had a hero named Goliath who was from the town of Gath and was over nine feet tall.
   
5. He wore a bronze helmet and had bronze armor to protect his chest and legs. The chest armor alone weighed about one hundred twenty-five pounds. He carried a bronze sword strapped on his back,
   
6. (SEE 17:5)
   
7. and his spear was so big that the iron spearhead alone weighed more than fifteen pounds. A soldier always walked in front of Goliath to carry his shield.
   
8. Goliath went out and shouted to the army of Israel: Why are you lining up for battle? I'm the best soldier in our army, and all of you are in Saul's army. Choose your best soldier to come out and fight me!
   
9. If he can kill me, our people will be your slaves. But if I kill him, your people will be our slaves.
   
10. Here and now I challenge Israel's whole army! Choose someone to fight me!
    
11. Saul and his men heard what Goliath said, but they were so frightened of Goliath that they couldn't do a thing.
    
12. David's father Jesse was an old man, who belonged to the Ephrath clan and lived in Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons:
    
13. the oldest was Eliab, the next was Abinadab, and Shammah was the third. The three of them had gone off to fight in Saul's army. David was Jesse's youngest son.
    
14. (SEE 17:13)
    
15. He took care of his father's sheep, and he went back and forth between Bethlehem and Saul's camp.
    
16. Goliath came out and gave his challenge every morning and every evening for forty days.
    
17. One day, Jesse told David, "Hurry and take this sack of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread to your brothers at the army camp.
    
18. And here are ten large chunks of cheese to take to their commanding officer. Find out how your brothers are doing and bring back something that shows that they're all right.
    
19. They're with Saul's army, fighting the Philistines in Elah Valley."
    
20. David obeyed his father. He got up early the next morning and left someone else in charge of the sheep; then he loaded the supplies and started off. He reached the army camp just as the soldiers were taking their places and shouting the battle cry.
    
21. The army of Israel and the Philistine army stood there facing each other.
    
22. David left his things with the man in charge of supplies and ran up to the battle line to ask his brothers if they were well.
    
23. While David was talking with them, Goliath came out from the line of Philistines and started boasting as usual. David heard him.
    
24. When the Israelite soldiers saw Goliath, they were scared and ran off.
    
25. They said to each other, "Look how he keeps coming out to insult us. The king is offering a big reward to the man who kills Goliath. That man will even get to marry the king's daughter, and no one in his family will ever have to pay taxes again."
    
26. David asked some soldiers standing nearby, "What will a man get for killing this Philistine and stopping him from insulting our people? Who does that worthless Philistine think he is? He's making fun of the army of the living God!"
    
27. The soldiers told David what the king would give the man who killed Goliath.
    
28. David's oldest brother Eliab heard him talking with the soldiers. Eliab was angry at him and said, "What are you doing here, anyway? Who's taking care of that little flock of sheep out in the desert? You spoiled brat! You came here just to watch the fighting, didn't you?"
    
29. "Now what have I done?" David answered. "Can't I even ask a question?"
    
30. Then he turned and asked another soldier the same thing he had asked the others, and he got the same answer.
    
31. Some soldiers overheard David talking, so they told Saul what David had said. Saul sent for David, and David came.
    
32. "Your Majesty," he said, "this Philistine shouldn't turn us into cowards. I'll go out and fight him myself!"
    
33. "You don't have a chance against him," Saul replied. "You're only a boy, and he's been a soldier all his life."
    
34. But David told him: Your Majesty, I take care of my father's sheep. And when one of them is dragged off by a lion or a bear,
    
35. I go after it and beat the wild animal until it lets the sheep go. If the wild animal turns and attacks me, I grab it by the throat and kill it.
    
36. Sir, I have killed lions and bears that way, and I can kill this worthless Philistine. He shouldn't have made fun of the army of the living God!
    
37. The LORD has rescued me from the claws of lions and bears, and he will keep me safe from the hands of this Philistine. "All right," Saul answered, "go ahead and fight him. And I hope the LORD will help you."
    
38. Saul had his own military clothes and armor put on David, and he gave David a bronze helmet to wear.
    
39. David strapped on a sword and tried to walk around, but he was not used to wearing those things. "I can't move with all this stuff on," David said. "I'm just not used to it." David took off the armor
    
40. and picked up his shepherd's stick. He went out to a stream and picked up five smooth rocks and put them in his leather bag. Then with his sling in his hand, he went straight toward Goliath.
    
41. Goliath came toward David, walking behind the soldier who was carrying his shield.
    
42. When Goliath saw that David was just a healthy, good-looking boy, he made fun of him.
    
43. "Do you think I'm a dog?" Goliath asked. "Is that why you've come after me with a stick?" He cursed David in the name of the Philistine gods
    
44. and shouted, "Come on! When I'm finished with you, I'll feed you to the birds and wild animals!"
    
45. David answered: You've come out to fight me with a sword and a spear and a dagger. But I've come out to fight you in the name of the LORD All-Powerful. He is the God of Israel's army, and you have insulted him too!
    
46. Today the LORD will help me defeat you. I'll knock you down and cut off your head, and I'll feed the bodies of the other Philistine soldiers to the birds and wild animals. Then the whole world will know that Israel has a real God.
    
47. Everybody here will see that the LORD doesn't need swords or spears to save his people. The LORD always wins his battles, and he will help us defeat you.
    
48. When Goliath started forward, David ran toward him.
    
49. He put a rock in his sling and swung the sling around by its straps. When he let go of one strap, the rock flew out and hit Goliath on the forehead. It cracked his skull, and he fell facedown on the ground.
    
50. David defeated Goliath with a sling and a rock. He killed him without even using a sword.
    
51. David ran over and pulled out Goliath's sword. Then he used it to cut off Goliath's head. When the Philistines saw what had happened to their hero, they started running away.
    
52. But the soldiers of Israel and Judah let out a battle cry and went after them as far as Gath and Ekron. The bodies of the Philistines were scattered all along the road from Shaaraim to Gath and Ekron.
    
53. When the Israelite army returned from chasing the Philistines, they took what they wanted from the enemy camp.
    
54. David took Goliath's head to Jerusalem, but he kept Goliath's weapons in his own tent.
    
55. After King Saul had watched David go out to fight Goliath, Saul turned to the commander of his army and said, "Abner, who is that young man?" "Your Majesty," Abner answered, "I swear by your life that I don't know."
    
56. "Then find out!" Saul told him.
    
57. When David came back from fighting Goliath, he was still carrying Goliath's head. Abner took David to Saul,
    
58. and Saul asked, "Who are you?" "I am David the son of Jesse, a loyal Israelite from Bethlehem."
    

    ---

    This account in chapter 17 of David and Goliath is a favorite with many and known to many who are not otherwise familiar with the Bible. In it, we get our first glimpse of this one God sent Samuel to anoint as the next king. The one of whom it was spoken in 1 Samuel 13:14: "The LORD has found a man loyal to Him." From this glimpse we quickly understand why God would find David loyal to Him, for David considered this whole affair with Goliath an affront to the Lord and himself an humble servant of the Lord. When he spoke of the feats he had accomplished in killing lions and bears, it wasn't he who had done it, but the Lord "who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear." He also anticipated that the Lord would rescue him "from the hand of this Philistine." (17:37)
    
    David's encounter with Goliath was not the only amazing feature of this account. We should also include God's orchestration of events to move David toward the role for which God had appointed him - that of king over Israel. This was no happenstance encounter. It was no accident that David showed up on the scene when he did or responded in the way he did. And he responded with confidence, displaying no doubt that he could kill this giant. But we see no display of pride or bravado. His confidence was in the Lord, not in his own abilities. This is a characteristic of David we see throughout most of his life. No wonder God considered him a man who was loyal to him.
    
    The impression is given from the account that Saul did not know who David was even though David had served as his court musician for a period of time. This impression is given first in that no greeting was given by Saul in recognition of David when he was brought to Saul. The impression is given further when Saul asked of Abner, the commander of his army, "Whose son is this youth, Abner?" Though it is not too surprising he would not know who David's father was, he did not name David but refered to him as "this youth." One of the more plausible explanations for this is that David was likely around age 12 when he played the harp for Saul and was at this time around 17 or 18 with a period of a few years in between. With the lapse of time, David having changed considerably with age, and two very different settings, it is not unreasonable that Saul would not recognize David. We should also add that David did not speak with familiarity to Saul either. The whole matter of familiarity between the two may simply have been an omission by the writer.
    
    It is inspiring to see the results of one who is wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord, acting courageously out of faith that God will respond faithfully.