1 Samuel 17 vs 1-40

1 Samuel Chapter 17 Verses 1 – 7

·    Six cubits and a span is somewhere between 8’5” and 9’2”! Humans this tall are not unheard of in history. In fact, there was a man named Robert Pershing Wadlow who lived in the early 1900s and was 8’11”. If you’ve ever visited a Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum then you’ve probably seen a life-sized model of Mr. Wadlow.

·    What does make Goliath perhaps a bit peculiar is that he is a man of war. Robert Wadlow died at the age of 22. Mr. Wadlow had a condition known as pituitary gigantism or hypertrophy of his pituitary gland, which resulted in an abnormally high level of growth hormone. This condition has many ill effects. His body grew too quickly, too much, his bones were weak and he required leg braces to walk and had virtually no feeling in his legs or feet.

·    Goliath is obviously not like that. Goliath’s armor and weapons together weighed approximately 175 pounds… So, Goliath was not like Mr. Wadlow. Some people find it interesting that it’s possible that Goliath was from the lineage of Anak. We know that Goliath was from Gath and we know from Joshua 11:22 that the sons of Anak, or the Anakim, described as huge, giant men, were from Gaza, Gath and Ashdod.

·    Now, here we go to the Youtube scientists, HA! According to Numbers 13:33, the first report comes back about the promised land and we read, “There we saw the giants (descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

·    So, some postulate that Goliath was himself a descendant of the giants mentioned in Numbers 13 and therefore perhaps Goliath was of the kind of the Nephilim. Ok, if you have no idea what I just said, just stop there…, honestly its not worth the research. Just my opinion. All it leads to is another clue…, never a destination. Why? I truly believe that God would have us focus on the divine man, not the giant man… On we go…

1 Samuel Chapter 17 Verses 8 – 11

·    It’s interesting that Samuel points out here that Saul was dismayed and greatly afraid. Saul was head and shoulders above all of the other men so he would be the obvious match, out of all the men, for this challenge. So, he has good reason to be afraid…

·    This is a very different Saul than what we experienced in Chapter 11 when Saul took on Nahash. There we have this incredibly poised, powerful rushing into battle warrior. Let me show you what has changed… 1 Samuel 11:6:, “Then the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard this news, and his anger was greatly aroused.” 1 Samuel 16:14, “But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul…”

·    There’s the difference. And this is so obvious. Saul’s strength and warrior might was not his to own or to his credit, so when the Lord departed from him, so did his valor. Spirit of the Lord upon him, warrior. Spirit of the Lord departed from him, worrier! A warning to me, to us, to anyone who is used by the Lord. Careful… pride and the exaltation of self could lead you very much to a version of yourself that underneath all of the accolade, you truly know you are… Quite fearful, vulnerable, sheepish… That’s why you enjoy the praise so much…

·    Men and women that are incredibly mighty in heart and in spirit don’t relish in the praise of people because it adds nothing to them. It’s nice to hear and anyone appreciates kindness and a good compliment, but it doesn’t go to their heads, why? It’s not needed… The might and valor is neither established nor maintained in the praise. It exists without any of that… And so, when exaltation comes from your fellow man, nice to hear, but adds and or takes away nothing… God gets the glory, alone! (Works the exact same on the part of criticism!)

·    No mention of Saul or Israel or any other man in that army of God every calling out to God. Ever calling for Samuel. Ever… Saul is completely dependent on himself, why? The Spirit of the Lord had departed. The warrior who was focused on God is lost that focus so what is left is the worrier.

·    This is nutso crazy… Because of his pride and self-deception (truly a lack of humility and willingness to repent) Saul has limited, degraded, downgraded his capabilities and potential… I think that is ridiculously unwise… And the result, all eyes on him and he is paralyzed by his own fear…

·    Creates a vacuum. A need for leadership. Because Saul is no longer leading. Here’s the thing… When there is a threat, it doesn’t matter what has brought it on or what the threat is…, doesn’t matter the outcome…, the leader should step forward to meet it. Doesn’t have to involve the leader directly, it’s just something, something going on, something that has come up, that is threatening the safety of those in your care… Step forward. Take the target off of everyone else and make sure it is squarely on you, if you are the leader.

·    That threat may back down because of the bravery, might and valor you bring…, or that threat might defeat you. The true and good leader doesn’t care what the outcome is, all that is important is that the target is taken off of those in his or her care. Leadership without the Spirit of the Lord is terrifying. With the Spirit of the Lord, it is the seat of personal purpose and calling!

1 Samuel Chapter 17 Verses 12 – 28

·    David’s approaching this issue a bit differently than the rest of them and it’s making a huge difference. They see the problem, how big he is, how aggressive he is and their perception, description is, “Have you seen this man that has come up? Surely, he has come up to defy Israel!” Have you seen this guy and he has come up against us!

·    David’s perspective. “Who is this guy? He is nothing that he should defy the armies of the living God!” Interesting how courage and faith make you see things very differently. Yea, he’s big. But he’s just a man. And, he’s not coming against us! His beef is with the living God!

·    Same for us when we encounter what we encounter in our lives and there’s the Word of God. Says one thing. Almost describes your situation, personally. And yet some simply move out without having the courage or faith to trust God at His Word! It’s so odd to me! What’s even more odd is that I do it too! HA! But a line I love to say and to remind myself, I won’t be the first person in all of creation to prove God a liar! What God has said WILL come to pass!

·    That threat is against you. I get it. It is huge and mean looking and keeps shouting at you! There are talking heads around you, just like David’s older brother that will seek to stumble you (because they don’t have the faith or courage to move forward so you shouldn’t either (in their opinion)), but what has God promised if you trust Him? He will be faithful to His Word!

·    And look, Eliab, he has a well-founded objection. David hasn’t been there. David is talking big. David is setting himself to be different and more than those around him. This type of thing invites contempt. And truly, those who do not deliver, are deserving of contempt. But those that do intend to trust the Lord and do big things…, David earns the respect of his brothers and those around him eventually and he’s just fine with that.

·    The actual courageous and faithful are just fine with a bit of contempt from those that don’t believe them… Because they know they will… Those that get defensive and return contempt for contempt are showing a bit of a crack in their courage/faith foundation…, revealing that they don’t have as much as they are letting on… And so they get defensive… Not David…

·    Zechariah 4:6 says, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts!” And 2 Timothy 1:17 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind!” So put them together. Zechariah says not by power…, 2 Timothy says power, the key is the end of the Zechariah 4:6, the power isn’t power unto itself attributed to me, this earthen vessel. The power is the presence of the Holy Spirit! It’s been said, the person that fears God fears no one or anything else!

1 Samuel Chapter 17 Verses 29 – 37

·    I used to have issues with this bit about lions and bears in the land of Israel until I looked into it. Because today, lions and bears are not native to the region. But thousands of years ago, we have written records of crusaders hunting lions and there is evidence of what we now know as Syrian Brown Bears being in the land. You can still find them in Northern Syria, Northwest Iran and Southern Turkey…

·    Also, we have several biblical accounts that help us out such as the fact that Samson and Benaiah also encountered lions and in 2 Kings, God used lions to execute His judgment on a wicked prophet and He uses a bear to execute some punks calling Elisha baldy! HA!

·    So, David is telling the truth here. It’s impressive that David killed these beasts with his bear hands (pun intended), but what I’d like to point out is where was he when he met these challenge…, or maybe I can say, these training exercises? He was in the fields, with the dirty sheep, disregarded by his father and brothers.

·    Don’t despise the years of seemingly small things. The small things are the big things! Zechariah 4:8-10 says, “Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; His hands shall also finish it! Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. For who has despised the day of small things? For these seven rejoice to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the eyes of the Lord, which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth!””

·    The plumb line of the walls is useless without the foundation! David’s entire character, success, reign and worth were born and built in the fields, not in the castles! Three things, three things must be present for promotion. One, you must be excellent and faithful in what you currently do. Brand is everything! Two, you must have ambition to move forward. And three, there must be opportunity to do so. When those three things align, boom…., movement. Folks all have number two and watch for number three…, wrong focus. Focus on number 1!

1 Samuel Chapter 17 Verses 38 – 39

·    Such an awesome picture! Folks, well meaning and loving folks, will give you all kinds of advice and what worked for them and here take this and hey you better make sure you do it this way…, but when it comes down to it, God will equip and enable you particularly! David took Saul’s encouragement, took his approval, took his hope, took his command, took his friendship, but there were things he couldn’t take because God wanted to do a new thing in David’s experience.

1 Samuel Chapter 17 Verse 40

·    That will never work! I can’t believe that’s your plan! Don’t do that! You can’t do that! These are things you will always hear when God has prepared you particularly. Where’d he get his sling? He brought it. Where’d he get his shepherd’s pouch? He brought it. Who else in the army had those things? No one…

·    So, you’ll hear, no…, you can’t do that. What are you going to do? The called will do it anyway. The courageous and faithful will long for encouragement and long for support and its like dryness in the bones how much they just want to hear someone say or act like they recognize, look at all you’ve done even though there have been so many challenges… In truth, the people that benefit from the courage you have not wavered from, who didn’t encourage or outrageously uplift you along the way, when they step into the reality you’ve secured FOR THEM they think they somehow have built it with you… It’s so odd…

·    Snoop said it best, “Everybody got their cups but they ain’t chipped in!” HA! What David sets forth to do is what he has learned from God. The bear and the lion, he needs his staff…, and he needs his sling… no one else understands that because God has not shown anyone else that… David has to do it alone… or it won’t be done at all… And oh, the encouragement and support and outrageous uplifting that they think they’ve given and blame you for not praising them for, One will give that. Ultimately, the Lord will say one day what He will say to you… AND, in the meantime…, Jonathan.

·    Jonathan won’t know… He wasn’t there, seemingly? (Like where is Jonathan? – Some equate this eschatologically, but it’s a weak equation - As in when God pours out His judgement on the great Goliath, the companion of God, the church, is not there). Jonathan won’t know all of this but he will bond with David and offer him admiration, trust, encouragement…, true friendship. Like a gift from God because friends like this play a role, they’re playing the part of Jesus in your life!!!!! Remember, Jesus, God Himself, marveled at great faith…, and He does at yours as well!