1 Samuel 17:1-58
17:1-3 | A deep ravine between two giant cliffs in Israel’s Valley of Elah is purported to be the very site where this battle took place. The gap between the cliffs is about 100 yards wide – the distance of a football field. The army of the Philistines would have gathered on one side, and the army of Israel on the other, to witness the battle between David and Goliath.
Note: In the ancient world, wars were sometimes decided in a head-to-head battle between two champions. People believed that the gods determined the matter through those two warriors. Throughout this account, David’s youth and Goliath’s experience are emphasized. By earthly accounts, only one of them was a man of war.
17:4-7 | Notice that Goliath was fully armed, in spite of his massive size. He even had a shield-bearer who went before him. David would leave the armaments behind and face his foe with only five stones, a sling, and the shield of faith.
17:15 | David was not needed at the palace while Saul was at battle, so he returned to tend his father’s sheep. His anointing from Samuel and his time in Saul’s court did not change his willingness to serve where he was needed. Christians should be willing to serve with humility no matter their position or success.
17:26 | David, in his own flesh, was as powerless before Goliath as any person feels in their own overwhelming situation. But he grasped the truth of the situation: the Philistines had defied God, and God will not allow such defiance to go unpunished.
17:32-37 | Judging by appearances only, David was no champion. But he would rely on the Champion of Israel to deliver him from the enemy.
17:34-37 | Before he gained public prominence as Israel’s champion and king, David learned humility and confidence in the Lord while out in the fields tending sheep, with no one but God watching. Only faithfulness in the small things prepares God’s servants for greater service in His kingdom (Luke 16:10).
17:43 | When Goliath cursed David, he cursed God Himself (Gen. 12:3). God was bound by His covenant to curse Goliath in return.
17:44 | This was David’s moment of truth. He had just infuriated a giant of a man, and if God was not who He claimed to be, David was as good as dead. The plan of redemption for the whole world was at stake, because the Savior was to come through David’s descendants.
17:46-47 | David underscored before the battle that the victory would display God’s power – the battle is the Lord’s (Ps. 44:6).
17:51 | It was customary to cut off a vanquished foe’s head as a sign of decisive victory.
17:55 | The surprising question may indicate that Saul’s distressing spirit (16:14-15) affected his mental capacities. Or perhaps he was curious about David’s lineage.