David – Striving For God’s Glory | 1 Samuel 17

INTRODUCTION

We all strive for many things in life. A student strives to do well in the exam, an employee strives to achieve success, and a father strives to bring up his children. We are constantly making an effort to grow and we strive for it. Today we are going to learn from a King who strived for God’s glory.

The Bible is replete with military metaphors where we are called to strive as a soldier. In Paul’s letters, we have “fight the good fight of faith,” we have “weapons of warfare,” and “put on the armor of God.” In the OT, we have, “The Lord and his mighty armies,” and “The Lord fighting for his people.” Then in our hymns, we sing: ‘The Battle Belongs to the Lord,’ ‘Mighty to Save,’ and ‘Onward Christian Soldiers.” Banners, victories, foes, battles, armies etc.’

What are we fighting for? What are we striving for? How are we supposed to engage in that marshal activity?

We have been looking at 1 Samuel and we saw 3 of its main characters:

• Hannah
• Samuel
• Saul

HF: Today, we are going to see how David strived for God’s glory.

BACKGROUND

• 1 Samuel 9: Saul is appointed the king of Israel.
• 1 Samuel 15: The Lord rejects Saul as king because he disobeyed the Lord in the battle against the Amalekites. Samuel said that the Lord has someone who is better than Saul to replace him.
• 1 Samuel 16: David appears on the scene and Samuel anoints David as the King. The Spirit of the Lord comes upon David at that point. An evil spirit comes upon Saul and is in fact tormenting Saul.
• One of Saul’s servants has an idea that it will be better if there is a musician around, someone who can play music and calm down Saul when the evil spirit tormented him. Another servant recommended David as a fine musician and he is also a warrior. We discover in chapter 17, that David goes back and forth between his father’s home and Saul’s court.

In 1 Samuel 17, David is in his father’s home. The Philistines gathers their forces. Another battle is brewing.

1 Samuel 17:1-3

¹Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Sokoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Sokoh and Azekah. ²Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah (25 km down of Bethelehem) and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. ³The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them.

A Philistine warrior emerges. We know him as Goliath. In fact, 1 Samuel 17 is the most well-known narrative in the Bible. There is a Philistine champion named Goliath. He is described in detail because he is a very formidable opponent.

1 Samuel 17:4

A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span.

 How high is 6 cubits and a span?

• 1 cubit is equal to a forearm. A cubit is approximately 18 inches.
• A span is the distance between the thumb and the little finger, about 9 inches.
• So we have 6 x18 inches and 9 inches which translates into 9 feet 9 inches.

An ancient Greek translation of the old testament has 4 cubits and a span which still makes the guy 6 feet 9 inches. Either way Goliath was a big, big guy. He was a hulk.

Then we have a description of his weaponry. He really loaded down from top to bottom:

1 Samuel 17: 5-7

⁵He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor (breast plate) of bronze weighing five thousand shekels;⁶on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back.⁷His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him.

 Look at how the text lingers in detail over the giant’s impressive wardrobe and armaments: Helmet, armour, greaves, javelin, spear and even a shield, probably covering the whole body and a shield carried by another going in front of him.

We discover that he wants to do single combat, rather than the armies engaging in a battle. Goliath wants to make it a single combat issue. So, Israel has to send a warrior and they both have to fight it out in the battle ring. The Israelites are somewhat intimated. Who do we have to match up this Philistine champion?

Goliath is huge, sword wielding warrior. In an age without gunpowder, he could threaten Israel. He was invincible, impenetrable, impossible to touch. There was no defeating this guy.

1. Philistine and Power.

1 Samuel 17:10-11

¹⁰Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.”¹¹On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

 Who wouldn’t be? Not only was this Philistine’s challenge frightening, but his outward appearance with his towering stature and his high-tech equipment was a horrifying sight. Not to mention a well-trained and organized army backing up the giant. Israel was dismayed and greatly afraid.

Then the scene shifts. Right after the description of this Philistine invincible, impenetrable, impossible to defeat and the statement that the Israelites are running scared, dismayed and greatly afraid; we have the description of a new character in the story. His name is David.

1 Samuel 17:12

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.

We have a formal introduction of David. David is already introduced in Chapter 16,. This is a formal introduction now. Until now, Saul and Samuel were the primary characters in the book. This is a signal that that is going to change.

1 Samuel 17:13-15

¹³Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab; the second, Abinadab, and the third, Shammah. ¹⁴David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul, ¹⁵but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.

David’s job was to ferry food to his brothers who were fighting in the battlefield and also to tend to his daddy’s sheep. So this is just a messenger boy, a Swiggy delivery person, food carrier, a sheep guardian. He is a mamma’s baby. This is no strong guy. Anyway, Jesse dispatches his youngest to the battlefront with food for his brothers who were soldiers.

1 Samuel 17:23-24

²³As he (David) was talking with them (his brothers), Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it.²⁴Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.

2. The Army and Their Alarm.

Again we are told about Israel’s fear (greatly afraid).

1 Samuel 17:25

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.”

Saul has already made a pretty good deal for whoever is willing to step up and defeat Goliath. He is going to get wealth. He is going to get to marry into the royal family, also his family will become tax exempt in Israel.

They are terrified of the potential disaster staring them in the face. They are thinking about danger to their lives and everything falls apart, but the problem was they got it wrong. This was not really about the army or Israel. So what was it all about? Let’s find out.

1 Samuel 17:26

²⁶David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? (There is a little self-interest here.) Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

This is the first time David talks in the Bible. The silence is broken, David speaks, and what does he say? Two things:

• First he talks in self-interest about what gain he can get.
• Second, David brings a whole new world view into the picture.

Until this verse, God is not mentioned in the story at all. The first time David speaks is the first time God appears. God is injected into the situation of hopelessness.

Goliath has been defying the armies of Israel. David takes it to a theological level. “Goliath is not just defying Israel. When he defy Israel, he is defying our God, the living God. The God who is alive and active.”

David asks, “Does not believing in a living God make a difference in all of this?” He center’s this event, this catastrophe around God, not around the army or Israel. God is at the center. This is not about military or national honour. This is about God.

1 Samuel 17:10

Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.”

Goliath thinks he is going to defy the armies of Israel.

Look at what the men of Israel think:

1 Samuel 17:25

Now the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel.”

The men of Israel think he is coming to defy the nation of Israel.

But what does David think, verse 26:

1 Samuel 17:26

Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?

David thinks differently. David thinks Goliath is defying the armies of the living God.

Perspective: Goliath is not just defying the armies of Israel as he thinks or the nation of Israel as the men of Israel think, but he is defying the armies of the living God, Yahweh.

Everyone else merely thinks in two dimensions. They are only concerned about themselves, and the nation. David thinks in three dimensions, he adds God into the picture and the picture changes. This is about God being defied. This is about situations where God’s name is at stake, where God’s reputation is on the line.

APPLICATION

• Where is God’s name at stake your life?
• Where is God’s reputation dented in your family?
• Where is God’s name defied in our generation?

• Maybe it is at work when your honesty as a Christian is question, when your integrity as a child of God is stomped upon.
• Maybe it is in ministry where your character is impuned and when attacks come unannounced.
• Maybe it is in school or college where you are made fun of for your stance on morality.
• Maybe it is in the situation today which is hostile for the gospel, hostility against the gospel is almost palpable in many nations around the world.
• Maybe it is at home where satanic addiction and sinful behaviour threaten and afflict loved ones.
• Maybe it is your life where you are struggling with addictions, a bad relationship and a secret sin.

Situations where God’s name, God’s reputation, and God’s glory are maligned and disparaged. But you know when you think about God’s glory, this means every situation big or small, every facet of our lives, every aspect of our days, everything affects God’s glory.

• What is not important for God’s glory in life?
• What does not affect God’s glory?
• What in our lives can be removed from the realm of the sacred?
• Everything impacts God’s glory, everything.

So we must be concerned about God’s glory in everything in our lives, and the driving concern of this chapter is the honour of God’s name, God’s reputation, God’s glory and here is the man, David driven by a passion for the honour of God, overtaken by the glory of God.

ILLUSTRATION

A group of pastors were discussing the possibility of having the famous speaker D L Moody serve as an evangelist at a citywide evangelistic campaign in the last century. One young minister in this committee was reluctant to have Moody speak. “Why Moody?” he asked. “Does he have a monopoly (possession or control) on the Holy Spirit?” There was a hushed silence. No one dared speak about Mr. Moody like that. Everyone was taken aback. Finally, an older pastor spoke up and said “Son, no, Moody does not have a monopoly on the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit has a monopoly on Moody.”

If God’s name has to be glorified, the Holy Spirit needs to have a monopoly on you.

• Does God have a monopoly on you?
• Has God gripped your heart and captivated your passion so much so that in everything in life big or small, important or seemingly inconsequential, we look out for his name, his reputation, his glory?

In everything fight for God’s glory. God’s glory should be our first thought and our last word.

There is David fighting for God’s glory, willing to risk ridicule, willing to risk life, willing to risk everything to fight for God’s glory.

Note: The other thing here is that Goliath is named only twice in this entire chapter. The rest of the time he is just the Philistine. Twenty six times the word Philistine echoes in this chapter, and in 1 Samuel 17:26, David adds another hit calling him an uncircumcised Philistine, a man who is outside the covenant of God. He is making a distinction here.

In Israel’s eye the Philistine was undefeatable. In David’s eye the Philistine is only uncircumcised.

In any case, the fact is that a living God gives one a whole different view of things. Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? That is Theocentric thinking. Passionate about the glory of God, fighting for God’s glory. But not everyone agrees with David.

1 Samuel 17:28

²⁸When 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.”

Who do you think you are you young man? You have no resources, no muscles. You are just a zero. You are conceited. Go take care of your little lambs. Get out of the battle field where real men like me belong. David was ridiculed by his own family.

Someone over hears David asking about this uncircumcised Philistine and that he should dare to defy the armies of the living God, and takes the message back to Saul who summons the young lad to him.

1 Samuel 17: 32-33

³²David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”³³Saul 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.”

You fight with the giant? What are you going to fight with?

1 Samuel 17:42

He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him.

Saul said, “You are a small boy; (which is to say pink cheeked and fair complected). You have no experience, no resume, no references, no training. You are just a dumb kid.”

There are virtually three Goliaths that David is fighting in this chapter.

• First, There is of course Mr. Philistine himself, all armoured in bronze, the 9 foot hulk. Goliath later tells David, “You are puny. You have no stature.”
• Goliath number 2 is David’s big brother who rages at David and tells the little boy to get lost. You are just a servant boy, a little shepherd boy, a nobody, you have no resources.
• There is Goliath number 3, , his royal highness, King Saul who disdains David as an unqualified kid. Saul says to David, “You are dumb, you know nothing, you have no experience.”

That describes us most of the time, isn’t it? No stature, no resources, no experience. We may face many Goliaths at a time. But David’s faith was not in stature, resources, or experience. He was not going to fight for God’s glory with the flashy resume, a fancy degree, and a eloquent tongue in the pulpit. Rather v37:

1 Samuel 17:37

^“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.”

He was going to fight for God’s glory with God on his side. So, Saul reluctantly agrees to let David have a go at Goliath.

1 Samuel 17: 38

Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head.

Watch this carefully now, the similarities here with what Saul gave David and with Goliath’s own armaments.

The statements are virtually identical. Saul here is trying to match armour with armour, weapon with weapon. Goliath has all his stuff and the only way we can defeat him is by being equally armed. The only way we stand a chance is to fight fire with fire, bronze with bronze. We need stature and resources and experience, muscle and might, guts and grit, degrees and power point and reputations and stature and resources and guns and swords and uniform. That folks is the ideology of power. The reliance of weapons, the reliance on force, the obsession with might.

The world is full of conflict. You have Russia with Ukraine, Israel versus Palestine, you have one tribe Vs other.

The obsession with stature, experience, resources. Reliance on resumes and portfolios and achievements. This is ideology of power.

But we forget one thing just as the Israelites and Saul did. We forget whose battle this is. Remember this is about God’s name, God’s reputation, God’s glory. We are striving for God’s glory. When you are about God’s name, God’s reputation and God’s glory you do not need resources to fight with. So David rejects Saul’s stuff.

1 Samuel 17:39

“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off.

No more weapons, power, and force. None of those things to fight for God’s glory; instead verse 40.

1 Samuel 17:40

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.

Inexperienced David has stick, stones, bag, pouch, sling. What a contrast?

Why did David take 5 stones? He is making sure he has got enough ammunition. He is trusting the Lord but at the same time he is doing what we should all do. We trust the Lord but we also do what we feel we should do and act in a wise manner.

1 Samuel 17:43

He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

To David the guy who has killed lions and bears, Goliath calls himself a dog. Then, David draws his real weapon.

But David has one more weapon.

1 Samuel 17:45

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.

Remember earlier we looked at all these defiance.

• Goliath thought he was defying the armies of Israel.
• The Israelites thought he was defying not just the armies but the nation of Israel.
• David then realised that Goliath was not defying armies or nations, but he was actually defying the armies of God.
• Now, David comes to yet another conclusion. Goliath you are not defying the armies of Israel or the nation of Israel or even the armies of God. You are defying God himself, and that God is my weapon and he it is who will fight for me.

So you have a lad and his Lord.

3. A Lad And His Lord.

1 Samuel 17:46

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. 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.”

There is David fighting for God’s glory remembering that God fights for him.

We know the rest of the story. David uses his sling and kills Goliath.

God does not need helmets, armour, greaves, javelin, or spear. He needs a person who is monopolised by God glory, who fights for God’s glory in every facet of life: In home, in school, in the office, in ministry, in everything.

In case you are wondering how on earth God expects you and me to fight for his glory when we are stature less, resource less, powerless, poor and weak as we are, this story tells us that God does not need the one with the most resources, rather God needs the person who relies on him and on him alone.

Strive for God’s glory remembering God fights for you. Paradoxical but true. Strive for God’s glory remembering God fights for you. That is why even you and I can fight for God’s glory. That is why God expects you and me to fight for his glory because he in turn fights for us. Strive for God’s glory remembering God fights for you.

Transition: The glory of God is the manifest beauty of his holiness and greatness of God’s manifold perfections. Today, God is manifesting his Glory to the whole earth:

Seraphim were saying to one another:

Isaiah 6:3

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; The whole earth is full of his glory.”

Psalm 19:1

The heavens declare the glory of God.

 Jesus Prayed That He Might Glorify The Father

John 17:1

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.

We can see the glory of God everywhere in this world. We receive God’s glory by receiving Jesus.

2 Corinthians 4:4

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 

How Can One Glorify God?

1. We glorify God by our faith. Receive Jesus.

2. We glorify God by our worship.

1 Corinthians 10:31

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

3. We glorify God in all we do.

1 Peter 4:10-11

¹⁰Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. ¹¹If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

4. We Glorify God by finishing our work given by God.

John 17:4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.

CONCLUSION

I want you to get up every day thinking in your mind these four words “I WILL STRIVE FOR GOD’S GLORY AND MY GOD FIGHTS FOR ME.”

Every morning even as you are lying in bed and if you can say it out loud, let the demons hear and quake. “Because God fights for me, I am in turn going to fight for God’s glory in everything in life today.” Fight for God’s glory, remembering that God fights for you.

Let’s participate in Soli Deo Gloria – Glory to God alone. This came in the 16^th and 17^th century from the Protestant Reformation  in Europe, which means that everything is done for God’s glory.

LIFE APPLICATION POINTS

• Faith In The Lord’s Power To Save Can Be A Catalyst For Victory. David’s faith ignites a victory. Saul and Israelites are not responding by the kind of faith David has. They are focusing on the outward appearances. They are buying into Goliath’s lie.
• Outward Appearances Can Obscure Reality. Never Discount the Small Things or Weak things.
• We Have To Walk By Faith, Not By Sight. If you walk by sight, it can stifle faith and produce paralyzing fear.
• Your Skill Is Best Used When You Walk In Faith. When David goes out in faith and confidence in the Lord, the Lord allows him to execute the skill that he already had. I am sure David was an accomplished slinger. It come in handy as a shepherd. He did not choke under pressure like an athlete. The Lord enabled David to exercise his gifts in an effective way.
• Fight For God’s Glory Remembering God Fights For You.