#427 Brought Down

Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Sokoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Sokoh and Azekah. 2 Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. 3 The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them.

4 A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span.[a] 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels[b]; 6 on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. 7 His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels.[c] His shield bearer went ahead of him.

8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” 10 Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” 11 On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul’s time he was very old. 13 Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab; the second, Abinadab; and the third, Shammah. 14 David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.

16 For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.

17 Now Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah[d] of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. 18 Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance[e] from them. 19 They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.”

20 Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other. 22 David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were. 23 As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. 24 Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.

25 Now the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his family from taxes in Israel.”

26 David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

27 They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.”

28 When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.”

29 “Now what have I done?” said David. “Can’t I even speak?” 30 He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before. 31 What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him.

32 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”

33 Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”

34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”

38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.

“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. 43 He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!”

45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.

50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

51 David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword.

When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. 52 Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath[f] and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron. 53 When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp.

54 David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem; he put the Philistine’s weapons in his own tent.

55 As Saul watched David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is that young man?”

Abner replied, “As surely as you live, Your Majesty, I don’t know.”

56 The king said, “Find out whose son this young man is.”

57 As soon as David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with David still holding the Philistine’s head.

58 “Whose son are you, young man?” Saul asked him.

David said, “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem.” 1 Samuel 17 NIV

Well, he's taller than Saul, but if Saul were ever concerned for God's honor then this would be a present to him, but now after one chased a thousand, here a whole nation cowers before the taunting's of  one man. We laugh now at the words of the giant that all the hopes of a nation, every egg will be placed into the basket and strength of one man. Those that would suggest such a thing will never keep it; they have licked their passed wounds, the interference from Saul after Jonathan's charge left them wounded but not utterly destroyed. You chased away the robbers, but then left the door open and went to bed. Israel respects stature, outward strength, but the confidence of Israel is himself in dread of the giant. Have God's people put all their hopes on one man as well? Would little Samuel cower from the Philistine? No, but he is not here called, and the one whom God has chosen will receive this as an honor. I dare you, come down and face me, he cries. You don't hear that even now? Lord, open our ears, let us be but partakers, servants to your honor, the glory of the truth. 

 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit[a] of truth and the spirit of falsehood. 1 John 4: 1-6

We have seen that a multitude of voices can be wrong, that God can use but one man, and that God needs no man. David has returned to his father's business while his brothers are preparing for war. He is about an errand at his father's request and to the benefit of his brothers. He ask, who is this uncircumcised man that comes against the armies of God? David is stirring these men to courage, turn to the God of your fathers, where is your faith? If not that, then what would be done for the man that comes to such an honorable cause? The king has promised his daughter, a good portion and that his family will be free of taxes. There would be no more demand of the kingdom on the household of the man who takes Israel's enemy. I guess they keep looking at Goliath, and then to their own king who does not seem nearly so tall as he once was, as he trembles at the roar of the Philistine. The longer they let this go on the more the giant exalts himself, but Saul has long ago lost his chance at such a beautiful clash. The spirit of God has gone from him, and he is left with his own worldly eyes, respect of position, size, stature. His men are looking to a corpse for instruction and they are unstirred themselves, that this man defies the living God. David is rebuked by his brother for speaking, and his brother continues to tear him down so that others will not listen. I know your heart, you little hypocrite. You came down here to gawk at the spectacle, to take away my thunder. Jealousy is a precious thing, so precious that it would sacrifice a whole kingdom to it's ego. Be encouraged, it is usually the men of your own house, your family, your supposed friends who will accuse you, and remind you of your past, especially when your present is making them uncomfortable. Your the little brother, the black sheep, the shepherd boy, small, as Paul prepared Timothy for the onslaught of those in his Father's house, the local church to where he was called,  he said, "let no man despise your youth." He knew they would attack him, make it personal, but stick to that which you were called, the Word of God, His anointing. David doesn't fight with him but continues to talk to other soldiers until he is finally brought before the king. He was not a mere talker, he was drawn, now he has the kings ear and is respectfully looking for his command. He wants this fight, but Saul points out that he is young and not as prepared. David does not argue to a better understanding of battle and weaponry than he knows. He knows that God has been with him as a shepherd, against the lion and the bear. He has rescued sheep before and it would be nothing for God to help him do it again. This is an argument from faith which is far from blind, it is born out into the world, practiced upon predators that would make most men faint for fear. It is known in the words of God, recounted from the judges past, of Samson and the lion, now David with the lion, the bear, Goliath. Saul tries to dress David in his own clothes, but this does not fit his frame, they are not the weapons of his warfare. God has made him a shepherd with a sling and he is not ashamed of this, for whatever occupation we have, it is to God's glory that the faithful work. There are often men of so much more integrity who empty the trash can of the CEO, yet the CEO is bankrupt of honesty, lacking integrity, and unaware of the man before him. This man cannot do so much for me he thinks, the ruler thinking he does so much for the man who works for him, but what if he is the carpenter's son, what if he has been born again? Who is then richer and can help the spiritually bankrupt more? Who will know the Word's of life? Aren't you from Nazareth? What do you know of kings and battles, old seasoned warriors, bloodshed? What was it Eric Little said, paraphrasing maybe here, forgive me, "God also made me fast, and when I run I can feel His pleasure." David can't go as Saul, and Saul should not try to put his signature upon him or live vicariously through him. David has been his minister of music to him but it has not been enough for Saul to know who he is. God has taken the young man from his sheep to the courts of the king and now to the front of the battle. What will big brother think now? Goliath talked a lot of smack, as so many who promote themselves will do, he pointed out to David what he already knew, he cursed David by his made up gods, really, a boy! Just like the Philistines invited Jonathan, so Goliath bids David, come here boy, let me feed you to the birds. David is not here for his own glory though, he comes in the name of the Lord Almighty, and that the whole world will know, there is a God in Israel. He buries a stone in Goliath's forehead and then cuts his head off with the giants own sword. Now standing before the king, with the head that spewed the words that made Saul cringe, Saul will remember who David is, the young lion from Judah, son of Jesse of Bethlehem. 

 By the humility and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am “timid” when face to face with you, but “bold” toward you when away! 2 I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. 3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6 And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.

7 You are judging by appearances.[a] If anyone is confident that they belong to Christ, they should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as they do. 8 So even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it. 9 I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters. 10 For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.” 11 Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present.

12 We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. 13 We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the sphere of service God himself has assigned to us, a sphere that also includes you. 14 We are not going too far in our boasting, as would be the case if we had not come to you, for we did get as far as you with the gospel of Christ. 15 Neither do we go beyond our limits by boasting of work done by others. Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our sphere of activity among you will greatly expand, 16 so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. For we do not want to boast about work already done in someone else’s territory. 17 But, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”[b] 18 For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

2 Corinthians 10: 1-18