Who's The Giant? - 1 Samuel 17:1-30
Prayer:
Lord as we get to know David better help use to learn from his example, help us learn to align our hearts more with yours, help us learn to trust in you, help us to increasingly get our focus off of ourselves & on to you.
Last week we saw how God set up a divine appointment between David & Saul, placing David in Saul's throne-room. David was called by Saul to the throne to soothe him when he was tormented by an evil spirit; however, David was called by God to the throne in order to begin training him to be the next king. In any case David went to the throne room, and acted as a musician for King Saul. Now we continue David's story, but first...
Quickly Form Groups and answer these Questions:
1. Discuss the differences between Healthy Fear & Unhealthy Fear. How do they impact us?
2. When facing a fearful situation what actions can you take & what attitudes can you adapt that will help you face your fears in a productive manner?
Example scenario: you're in line at the bank & someone comes in waving a gun.
<have groups share answers... some thoughts:> I sometimes get "stuck" in fear.
Unhealthy Fears - insecurities, things out-of-balance, forgetting that God is in control.
Healthy Fears - God given impulses that protect you from harm, fear of God.
Impact - build or undermine courage.
Actions - PRAY!!! Think & if possible speak the truth. Get your focus off yourself & on
to what God is trying to do in the situation.
1 Samuel 17 v1-3: The forces have been gathered, the battle lines drawn. The Philistines on one side, Israel on the other. The army's are located on opposite sides of a large valley. The Valley of Elah was more like a vast canyon than what we might think of as a valley. This valley had a stream bed running through the bottom (where David later picks up his stones), with slopes on each side. The slopes of this valley are said to be about 1/2 mile wide on each side, with the valley as a whole being about a mile wide, from the terminology we can assume the camps of these two armies were on the valley edges, making them approximately a mile apart. So getting from one camp to the other would take a little time by foot, and the distance would provide a buffer of security.
v4-7: Here comes the Philistine's champion, estimated to be 9'9" tall, gigantic by today's standards but even more so during David's time when archeological evidence shows that the average adult was about 5' tall. There are some sources that claim that the height given was incorrect, caused by a copying error in the ancient texts, but when we read about the weight of his armor I think we won't have so much trouble with the record of his height. Its possible that Goliath was a post-flood Nephilim, but I'm not going to side track us on that subject again, I just want to mention that it is a possibility. His coat of scale armor weighed Five Thousand Shekels (2 sources: 125 pounds, 175-200 pounds), in addition he wore bronze leg coverings, a bronze helmet, carried a bronze javelin on his back, and had a spear with a shaft like a weaver's rod with a tip weighing Six Hundred Shekels (2 sources: 15 pounds, 20-25 pounds). We also know, from later verses, that he was also carrying a sword. It would take quite a bit of strength just to walk close to a mile in all that armor, but to be able to engage in hand-to-hand combat with all that on would have been a great feat of strength. We also learn from these verses that he was protected by a shield carried in front of him by his shield carrier, a shield from that era would have been a large man-sized shield.
v8-9: What Goliath was proposing was representative battle, a tactic commonly used in that part of the world in his day. Instead of risking injury & death to many each side would pick a champion to fight on their behalf, each representing the strength of their army.
v10-11: Goliath was defying Israel, and in doing so defying God... how does the Israelite army respond? With fear, they were dismayed, they were terrified... they were experiencing Unhealthy Fear - a fear that was destructive rather than productive.
v12-15: Jesse's 3 oldest sons were with Saul, facing the Philistines. David was going back and forth to tend to Saul when needed (supposedly at Saul's home & not on the battlefield), and then would return to tend to the sheep. At this point he's at home with Dad (Jesse) & his beloved sheep.
v16: Goliath had been going to taunt the Israelites every morning & every evening for Forty Days!! The Israelite army was paralyzed by their fear of this Giant.
v17-19: Meanwhile back at the ranch, Jesse is getting concerned for his sons that are at war & decides to send David to check on them & bring them & their commander some provisions. Back in verse 12 it told us Jesse was well advanced in years, thus his need to send young David. Where are David's other 4 brothers? We don't know, but its possible that they are married off & have their own families & flocks to tend to - where as David is not married at this time & is still under his father's roof. Jesse is concerned about his three oldest sons, and takes practical steps to deal with his concerns - taking practical action instead of being stuck in his fears. I think its interesting that Jesse has to tell David where to find the war, apparently David wasn't interested in making a name for himself as a warrior; otherwise, he'd have probably been trying to keep up with all the town news of the war with the Philistines (my opinion).
v20-22: David says goodbye to his sheep, leaving them in the care of another shepherd, and heads out to take provisions to his brothers. Just as David arrives the army is going out with a war cry, getting in position, with both the Israelites & Philistines drawing up their lines facing each other. He arrived just as things were getting interesting that day, and as his brothers were heading out to battle. So he drops his things with the supply clerk & hurries out to catch his brothers before the battle starts - after all, he's going with a purpose as directed by Jesse.
v23-24: Just as he's talking to his brothers, Goliath comes out & shouts out his defiance, and David hears him. How do the Israelites respond? The same way they have for the last 40 days, they run away.
v25-26: How does David respond to Goliath's shouts of defiance? He is livid!! He can't believe that nobody is taking up Saul's offer!! And David, the one too young to be in the battle, is the only one that sees the truth in their situation... that a pagan is defying the armies of the living God... that this pagan, in behaving this way, is defying God. Saul & all his warriors saw only the physical war, where David saw the spiritual war. David wasn't looking at the situation with the eyes of man, he was looking at the situation through the eyes of God. I think its interesting that Saul has created an incentive plan, to try to entice someone (anyone other than him) to take on this giant... interesting when we remember that he's the biggest guy in Israel, and Israel's leader to boot, apparently he didn't understand the concept of leading by example, and clearly he's showing his own cowardice.
v27-28: As David is making inquiries we see Eliab's true colors come out, he does all in his power to put down & discourage David: told David he didn't belong, made fun of David's trade (shepherd's were outcasts within the society), and accused him of being conceited & wicked. Amazing how cruel our siblings can be, and Eliab was a cruel older brother. Eliab isn't just being cruel he's lying... and in doing so he's serving the father of lies.
v29-30: David doesn't seem to be too concerned with Eliab, "Now what have I done?" implies that Eliab had a habit of picking on David this way, so David simply turns away to talk to someone else. David didn't let his brother's behavior impact his view of the situation, he wasn't distracted, he remained focused on the circumstances of greatest importance - that there was a Giant defying the Living God.
Quickly Form Groups Again, and answer the following questions:
3. What fearful (troubling, fretful) situation are you facing that you need to see through the eyes of God? What positive steps can you take?
4. Think about the person in your life whose criticism causes you the most pain. How do you deal with their criticism? What can you learn from David's example about how to deal with criticism?
5. What things most distract you when you're trying to focus on God? What practical steps can you take to keep from being distracted? (Help each other with ideas.)
Closing Prayer: Teach us Lord to focus on your limitlessness rather than our limitations, on your strength rather than our weakness, help us to see the truth in the midst of the lies the enemy surrounds us with -- to see through your eyes. Amen!
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