The Battle is the Lord's

1 Samuel 17:38-54

Welcome back to the story of David and Goliath. This is the third message that we have devoted to this chapter – and we won’t even quite finish it today. Why our detailed focus on this one incident? Well, this was truly a defining moment in David’s life: when he steps up to do something that no one else in the whole country was willing to do. He takes the national stage for the first time, and the way he conducts himself sets the tone for the rest of his career as a public figure. Today we will begin to look at some of David’s leadership qualities.

As Carl pointed out last week, David had some qualifications to become a leader, despite his humble beginnings. He had a measure of self-confidence and courage, demonstrated in his defense of his flock against wild animals. This is also where he had honed his fighting ability, especially the use of his sling, which required long dedication and finesse to master. In the way Saul took him on, first as musician and then as armor bearer, one gets the impression that there was something attractive about David’s personality, inspiring respect and confidence.

However, none of these attributes were sufficient for what David needed to do. His most important qualification was his faith: his devotion to God and his dependence on him. He not only steps up to a seemingly impossible task because of his confidence in God, but he also nails down why he is doing it: for the glory of the one and only God. The whole world would know that there is a God in Israel. The fight with Goliath would anoint David in a public sense in parallel with his private anointing by Samuel.

Let’s review what has happened so far in this chapter. The Philistines are attacking Israel in the middle of the country, trying to divide it in two. The two armies are in a standoff, camped on the ridges on either side of the broad, flat valley of Elah. The champion Goliath has been coming out and taunting the Israelites for 40 days, offering to take on anyone they would send, settling the conflict with a fight just between two men. Carl mentioned that this was a way that wars were sometimes decided, to avoid a drawn out loss of life and waste of resources. However, in this case it does not appear that either side was really serious about this approach. We’ll see that when Goliath was defeated the Philistines all turned and fled. They didn’t stick around to see what “becoming subject” to the Israelites would look like. And sure enough, the Israelites chased them and killed as many as they could. There was certainly no negotiated settlement!

But let’s not get ahead of the story. For now the pressure is building. Saul has offered a great reward to anyone willing to take on Goliath, including the hand of his daughter in marriage. Becoming so closely connected to the royal family would give the person great influence and privilege. But promises of wealth and power are not enough. No one is making a move. Everyone runs away each day when Goliath appears. This is indeed a shameful situation, as we noticed last week. Saul appears weak as a leader. All of his men feel like they have lost face. They are torn between fear and shame, and their stress level is undoubtedly rising. So when David arrives with food for his brothers and begins asking questions it’s understandable that Eliab, his oldest brother snaps at him. David wanting to discuss the reward offered may have only heightened the feeling of shame that no one was willing to step up and fight Goliath. David must have caused something of a stir because Saul summons him, presumably to ask what he was doing there. David offers to go fight Goliath himself. Saul is skeptical at first but then he recognizes David’s faith and finally gives him permission to go. So now we come to our passage for today, starting at verse 38 of 1 Samuel 17:

Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 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. 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.—I Samuel 17:38-40

Saul thought that he was helping David by equipping him conventionally. But David knew that he would not be in a conventional battle. He could not fight on Goliath’s terms; he needed to do something radically different – move in nimbly with an element of surprise. But even more so, he recognized that he was in a spiritual battle and not just a physical one. Worldly weapons are useless in spiritual battles. We as believers cannot fight the world on its terms, using its weapons of intimidation and deceit. We take up the sword of the Spirit. David knew that in effect God would be fighting for him.

At the same time, David is very practical. He knows what his sling can do. He knows what kind of stones he needs – the extra heavy kind that Carl described. And he carefully choses five of them. He is not expecting immediate success. He wants to be as prepared as possible. Why did he take his staff? Was he expecting to parry a blow from the giant? I don’t know. He goes out, looking like the shepherd that he is.

Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!”—I Samuel 17:41-44

Goliath is still expecting some kind of conventional fight. He is in effect hiding behind his shield bearer as he approaches David. But he lets his guard down when we sees how unassuming his opponent is. Goliath might have been big and tough, but David is handsome and confident. It says that Goliath looked at him and despised him. He is insulted that the Israelites would field such an unequal rival. He sees David’s simple staff and says, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” The ironic thing is that he was like a dog to the Israelites. Jews have always considered Gentiles unclean. You may recall Jesus’ response to the Canaanite woman who knelt before him, asking him to deliver her daughter suffering because of a demon: “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” Jesus didn’t actually feel that way about her. He was just testing her with a statement that could have come from any ordinary Jew. Fortunately the woman realized that he was different and humbly persisted in her request. Jesus held her up as an example of great faith and healed her daughter immediately.

But Jesus was indeed echoing a common sentiment of his people. Dogs and Gentiles are both unclean. Actually in most of the world today, dogs are still considered unclean, for eating all kinds of disgusting things. So Goliath was viewed about as favorably as a dog, even though he may not have realized it.

He begins to curse David, invoking the names of his gods, not just to try to intimidate David, but because he too realized the spiritual aspect of the confrontation. He will show no mercy. He assumes this will be over quickly.

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. 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. 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.”—I Samuel 17: 45-47

David knows where his strength lies: in the name of the Lord Almighty. That is what gives him confidence in the face of such overwhelming odds. He knew how God had miraculously delivered his people in the past, and he was sure that he could do it again. Goliath had said that he would feed David’s flesh to the birds and wild animals; David says that he will feed them with the carcasses of the whole Philistine army. Most importantly, the whole world would know that there is a God in Israel. Ultimately the deliverance would be for God’s glory, so he would be the one to bring it about. The battle is the Lord’s.

This is an important reminder for us as well, when we feel under attack by Satan or the world. We cannot fight them in our own strength, with whatever we come up with for sword or spear. The battle is the Lord’s, and we can trust in Jesus’ victory on the cross – once and for all.

 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 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.

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.

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.—I Samuel 17:58-51

David does not hesitate. He runs toward Goliath, at the bottom of this broad valley in full view of both armies. He is quick and accurate with the sling, nailing Goliath in a small area of his head that was unprotected by armor. The shield bearer is too surprised to do anything. David must have run right past him to get to Goliath’s sword and finish him off.

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

David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem; he put the Philistine’s weapons in his own tent.—I Samuel 17:51-54

This is such a surprising result that the Philistine soldiers all lose their courage. Almighty God is clearly against them. They turn and begin to flee toward their own territory. The Israelites come alive, relieved and overjoyed, and begin chasing and killing as many Philistines as they can. Archaeologists are quite confident that they have discovered the remains of this town of Shaaraim on the north side of the Elah valley. The name means “two gates,” and there are clearly two gates visible in the ruins. The road from there to Gath and Ekron would have been where the Philistine soldiers were killed. The location of Gath is not known with certainty, but the ruins of Ekron were confirmed by a royal inscription excavated there in 1996 which mentions it by name.

It’s amazing to look at something like this and realize that things are still being dug up that confirm the historicity of the Bible.

David’s willingness to take on Goliath was the start of his stepping up to be a leader. In future weeks we will see many ways in which he grew into his role as ruler of Israel, becoming one of the greatest leaders the world has ever seen. In this story, I see five ways in which he demonstrates the qualities of good leadership. You may be able to find more.

First, he is willing to be the first person to do something. That almost sounds like a truism, doesn’t it? Isn’t that just the definition of leadership, to be out in front, leading the way? Well, it needs to be said because so often we associate leadership with position in some hierarchy. David had no position. He wasn’t even a soldier like his brothers. He had no rank, no way of commanding anyone else. If we talk about world leaders today you may think of presidents and prime ministers – regardless of whether they have much ability to lead or not. What do you think of Trump as a leader? No, let’s not go there!

David was a young man, still at the lowest level of his hierarchical society. He was expected to be in submission to his father, even to his older brothers. But young people can be leaders, too! If you have a conviction about something, be the first person to do something about it. It reminds me of the Apostle Paul writing to his young disciple Timothy:

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.—I Timothy 4:12

What did Paul mean by this? He is telling Timothy that he doesn’t have to feel inferior to anyone else just because he is young. He can still set an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity. In other words, he can be a leader. He doesn’t just have to follow what others are doing, fitting in with the crowd. He can be a young leader like David.

The second aspect of this first point worth noting is that David was willing to do something. Leaders take action. They don’t just talk about doing something. They don’t just tell other people what to do. They show what needs to be done by doing it themselves. That is why Saul was no longer a real leader. He wasn’t willing to step up himself and do something about Goliath. He talked about rewards, but did anyone really believe him? There is way too much talk with most people called leaders in our world today. How many of them are actually walking the talk? That’s what matters. That’s why the Bible says that we will be judged according to what we have done. Not according to what we have talked about. Not according to what we say we believe. According to the things we have done that demonstrate true faith. And those are also the things that will encourage others to follow our lead.

I remember a statement that I heard in a leaders’ conference right here in our church a couple of years ago: Our leadership should attract other people who want to do something for God. And the way that will happen is if we are actually doing something for God ourselves. Did David fight Goliath because he wanted the wealth and power promised by King Saul? No, he was doing it for the name (the reputation, the glory) of Almighty God whom Goliath was insulting. He wanted the whole world to know that there is a God in Israel. And that should be our motivation for stepping up and doing something. We want people to know that there is a God – a God who loves them and wants to save them and give them hope and purpose. There is a God. People will know that because of what we do and the way we do it. Leaders are thereby able to get others to act on what they know, by taking action themselves.

Okay, so David was willing to be the first person to do something. Secondly, he made a plan. He was prepared, and he knew what he was capable of doing. Leaders take action, but they think before they act. They prepare themselves. Here’s some more advice from Paul for Timothy:

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.—I Timothy 2:15

The word here for “do your best” gives the sense of being diligent, applying careful and persistent work or effort. Timothy needed to be well versed in the word of truth in order to teach it to others and to live by it, setting the kind of example that we noted earlier.

How did David prepare himself? We have already noted that he must have spent many hours slinging stones at tree trunks from further and further away to develop accuracy and strength. He had tackled scary things like wild animals and built up his courage. But have you ever thought about where his faith came from? Was it his old father Jesse, teaching him when he was a young lad, telling him the story of God’s faithfulness to his great-grandparents Ruth and Boaz? Maybe it was his mother, not named in the Bible but called Nitzevet in the Talmud. We know that she had a heart for God and was an example to David. In Psalm 86 David wrote:

Turn to me and have mercy on me; show your strength in behalf of your servant; save me, because I serve you just as my mother did.—Psalm 86:16

David’s mother was an example to him of what it meant to serve God. David had faith handed down to him, but even more importantly he had experienced God for himself. He knew it was the Lord who had rescued him from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear. He had taken steps of faith already and seen how God had come through for him. He was confident and prepared.

And what was his plan? He knew that he needed to move fast. He knew what he needed to say to Goliath in the presence of both armies. And he knew exactly where he needed to hit Goliath to take him down and what he would do once Goliath was on the ground. Good leaders know the importance of preparation and planning.

Thirdly, David was willing to stand out and be different. There is always a temptation to take the easy way, to try to blend in with the crowd and not make waves. Let someone else take the lead. But the problem is that if we don’t stand out then others will never know what we really stand for. People notice integrity and authenticity – a willingness to stand up for what we believe regardless of what others are saying. Are we who we say we are? People are very skeptical of others nowadays. The world has become such an uncertain and deceitful place. You’ve probably heard about the epidemic of fake news on the internet. People make up stories and pass them off as news just to get clicks. And now there is new video manipulation capability: desktop software that lets you replace a person’s face in a video with someone else’s – and have them says whatever you like, in their voice. The technology is advanced enough now that the ruse is almost undetectable. What or who can we believe anymore? The world is longing for authenticity even as it slides further and further into spin and lies and relativism.

But true leaders don’t have to manipulate others to get things done. People will want to follow authentic leaders, those who walk the talk. Having integrity will make you stand out from the crowd. Recently on one of our many drives back and forth to Columbia with the Daniel High School math team, the kids in the van were talking about all the friends they know who drink and do drugs. One girl announced that of all the people in our group that she thought Ian would be the least likely to ever do drugs. Has Ian ever said anything about that? I doubt it. But I do know that Ian is a young man of integrity, and other people have noticed that. He knows what he believes and he is not afraid to live his life accordingly, even if he feels like everyone else is going the other direction. So be the kind of leader that others will want to follow.

Number 4 sign of a good leader: David was willing to take a big risk for the benefit of others. He could have ambled off home and probably survived the war. No one would really have noticed probably. But he decided that he was willing to lay down his life for his country, if necessary. Or more importantly, for the glory of God. This is the essence of servant leadership: self-sacrifice, putting others’ needs above our own. Jesus, of course, is our best example of servant leadership. He not only risked death, he did lay down his life for all of us. We need to take up our cross daily to follow Jesus. David was willing to count the cost and entrust himself to God. He was taking a big risk, but he knew that something is not worth living for if it’s not worth dying for. What are you willing to die for?

One last point: David was a good leader because he kept the big picture in mind. Leaders dream big. David didn’t just see a standoff between the Israelites and the Philistines that needed to be settled. He knew that what happened that day would be an opportunity for the whole world to know that there was a God in Israel. Something huge was at stake here. Goliath was fighting for his own glory. David was fighting for the glory of Almighty God. He had the big picture and a big purpose. One of the things I learned in business school was the different between a manager and a leader: A manager does things right, while a leader does the right things. We might be excellent at what we do, but why are we doing it? We need to keep examining our motives to be sure that they are pure. What is our calling and purpose? What is the most important thing that God wants to do in and through us?

There nothing wrong with being a good manager. The world needs more of them. But the world desperately needs good leaders: leaders who are willing to step up and be the first to do something, leaders who are well-prepared and who have thought through what they need to do and how to do it, leaders who are people of integrity, willing to stand out from the crowd and be different, servant leaders who are willing to sacrifice and take risks for the benefit of others, and leaders who know what their divine calling is and who keep coming back to the big picture of what God’s purposes are for them and the people around them. Let’s all be leaders like David.