1 Samuel 17:1-58
1 Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim.a
2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines.
3 And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.
4 And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
5 And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armedb with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.
6 And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a targetc of brass between his shoulders.
7 And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.
8 And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.
9 If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us.
10 And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.
11 When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.
12 Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehemjudah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul.
13 And the three eldest sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next unto him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.
14 And David was the youngest: and the three eldest followed Saul.
15 But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem.
16 And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.
17 And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren;
18 And carry these ten cheesesd unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge.
19 Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.
20 And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the trench,e as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle.
21 For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army.
22 And David left his carriagef in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren.
23 And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them.
24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid.
25 And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel.
26 And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?
27 And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him.
28 And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle.
29 And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?
30 And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner:g and the people answered him again after the former manner.
31 And when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul: and he senth for him.
32 And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.
33 And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.
34 And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lambi out of the flock:
35 And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.
36 Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
37 David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.
38 And Saul armed Davidj with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail.
39 And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.
40 And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook,k and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.
41 And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him.
42 And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.
43 And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
44 And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.
45 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
46 This day will the LORD deliverl thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
47 And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD'S, and he will give you into our hands.
48 And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
49 And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.
50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.
51 Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.
52 And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron.
53 And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents.
54 And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent.
55 And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell.
56 And the king said, Enquire thou whose son the stripling is.
57 And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.
58 And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.
Shall we turn in our Bibles to the seventeenth chapter of first Samuel? In the seventeenth chapter of first Samuel, we read where,
The Philistines had gathered their armies together [against the children of Israel, Of course] king Saul had gathered his armies together, [They were setting their battle lines. They were digging their foxholes and setting up their battle array on either side of the Elah Valley] (1 Samuel 17:1-2).
Now the Elah Valley is an area that is south and west of Jerusalem, maybe fifteen miles. A beautiful little valley but of course anything can be made ugly by war.
And so on the mountain on the one side was the camp of the Philistines, on the mountain on the other side was the camp of Israel (1 Samuel 17:3):
In those days they would take their time in getting started into a real battle. They'd come and they'd yell and they'd have their shouts, and they'd try to psyche each other out. The children of Israel had been pretty well psyched out by this fellow Goliath, who came out every day for forty days.
The champion from the Philistines, he was from the city of Gath, he was nine feet six inches tall. He had a brass helmet, a brass coat of mail; that weighed [five hundred or] five thousand shekels. [Was it?] And he had these plates of brass on his legs, he had a brass chest protector. His spear was like a weaver's beam; [Huge spear and man, he'd come out there and stand and he was an awesome sight in the eyes of the children of Israel.] (1 Samuel 17:3-7).
And daily he would challenge them. He would say, "Look facing off here in battle. We can settle it easily. Send out a man to fight me, for I'm a Philistine, you're the Israelites, and if you've got a man in your army that's able to fight me, if he can defeat me, we'll be your servants. If I can beat him, then you'll be our servants." He was daily challenging them for forty days.
Meanwhile back in Bethlehem Jesse called his young son David in and said, [David, I want you to go out to the battlefield and check with your brothers and see how things are going.] Take these loaves of bread for them and this bushel of parched corn, and take these cheeses for their captains, and just find out how things are going, [and bring us news again of the condition of your brothers. And so David headed off on a chariot towards the battlefield in Elah Valley from Bethlehem, about twenty miles distance. And as he came near and he could see the camp of the Israelites, and the Philistines,] he got off the chariot, and ran to meet his brothers. [And of course he started sharing with them the parent's concern, How's everything going, and are you warm enough at night, is everything okay? As he was talking to them, this fellow Goliath came out and made his daily challenge.] So the fellows when they saw this man, they fled from him, and they were very afraid. And the men of Israel said to David, Have you seen this fellow that comes out every day? to defy Israel: the king said if any man can kill him, the king will make him very rich, he'll allow his family to become tax free in Israel, and he'll give his daughter for a wife. [And David said, The king will do what? They said, "Well, he's gonna give the guy a lot of riches, and his daughter to wife, and his family will be tax free."] (1 Samuel 17:17-25).
And so David's brother Eliab saw David's interest in this thing, and he said to David, "Who's watching over your sheep back there in the wilderness kid? You better get on home in a hurry. I know your heart, you're just-dad probably didn't send you down here. You're just down to see what a war looks like and you go home in a hurry." His big brother is trying to sort of protect him.
And David said, Hey wait a minute what have I done? There's a cause here? (1 Samuel 17:29)
This fellow is defying the armies of the living God, and if none of you fellows want to go out and fight him, I'll go out and fight him. So a fellow ran and told Saul the fact that they had a volunteer who had volunteered to go out and fight: David. And so they brought David in to fight Goliath. They brought David in unto Saul and Saul said, "Oh, you can't fight him son. That man is a man of war."
you're just a youth and he's been a man of war from his youth (1 Samuel 17:33).
You can't go out and fight him.
David said, [Wait a minute, don't reject me so fast. He said,] One day when I was watching my father's sheep, a lion and a bear came out and grabbed a sheep and began to drag them off. And I grabbed the sheep out of the lion's mouth: so he turned on me, and I took him by the beard, and I killed him. And I also killed the bear: and the God who delivered the lion and the bear into my hands will deliver also this uncircumcised Philistine. So Saul said, Well give you a try. Here take this helmet and this armour plate, [and so forth] and so they put this armour on David and the helmet, [And he's probably just a little kid and the helmet probably came down over his ears, and you know the armour plate's so heavy] He said, If you don't mind, I haven't tested this stuff. I don't think I better use this. I'll just go out as I am. And so David headed toward the giant (1 Samuel 17:34-40).
Now one interesting thing about the Elah Valley, there is a dry streambed in the bottom. Of course it's got water in it when it rained, but it's one of those typical Southern California type of rivers that only gets water when it rains.
But interestingly enough when God created the earth, I have in my office actually, some-and I should've brought some out tonight, but when God created the earth, knowing what was going to transpire in this particular valley, when God made this valley and this particular little stream bed, God just placed thousands of smooth round stones in this particular streambed. I've never seen any streambed with so many smooth, round stones. Beautiful stones for a sling. I've got a bunch of them in my office. I like to pick them up out of that stream, maybe because they're so perfect for a sling.
So David stopped by and he picked up five smooth round stones, [And there's just bundles of smooth round stones in this stream bed.] and he headed up the hill towards the giant. Put them in his little shepherd's sack, and headed up the hill. But when Goliath saw David coming he was outraged. He said, Am I a dog that you'd send a child out to fight me? And he began to curse David by his gods. He said, [All right kid you're asking for it,] I'll chop you up and feed you to the birds. And David said to the Giant, You come against me with a sword, and a spear, and a shield: but I come against you in the name of Jehovah of hosts, the God that you have defied. And he's gonna deliver you into my hand; and I'm gonna chop up your whole army and feed it to the birds. [David was assured victory not only over the giant, but over the whole host of the Philistines.] And so David took one of the stones out of his little pouch, put it in his sling, and let it fly towards the giant, and he sunk the stone right into the forehead of the giant; and the giant fell down. And David went running up, [because he didn't even have a sword. All he had was a sling, he didn't even have a sword.] He pulled the sword out of the sheath of the giant, his own sword, and David used it and hacked off his head. [Then he grabbed it by the hair and held it up. Probably began to swing it around yelling.] And all the Philistines when they saw this, [their champion destroyed by a child, panic gripped them and] they began to flee (1 Samuel 17:41-51).
And of course the men of Israel, when they saw this, their hearts were encouraged, and they all came out of their tents and began charging after the Philistines. And there was a great slaughter of the Philistines that day. So the Lord delivered the Philistine there in the hands of David.
Now when Saul saw David go out against this fellow, he said to his captain Abner, Who is this young fellow? [Who is his dad?] And Abner said, [I don't know,] as thy soul live I can't tell you. And so the king says, Inquire and find out whose son he is. And so as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine still in his hand (1 Samuel 17:55-57).
It was a trophy that David had, and he wasn't gonna let the thing go. He was gonna carry it around for a few days. Must have been a big head too, you know, the guy's nine foot, six inches tall.
And he said, Whose son are you David? and David said, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Bethlehemite (1 Samuel 17:58). "