It is perhaps the most well-known Old Testament story, referenced even in the secular world when an out-numbered or far out-matched individual or group faces their opponent and surprisingly takes the win. You probably already know the story to which I refer: the story of David and Goliath. We sang about the story as children, perhaps to the detriment of those standing near us. (Anyone else remembering slinging their arms in a circle while singing “and round and round and round and round and round and round and round”?). In studying 1 Samuel this summer, I recently approached this well-known story in chapter 17, and the things I saw and read have been ruminating in my mind ever since. Many of these insights were pointed out in a commentary/ devotional entitled I Samuel for You by Tim Chester that I am reading alongside of my own personal study, as well as a talk I listened to by Courtney Doctor on this passage. I hope these truths encourage and embolden you today as they did me.
We know the story well: Israel’s enemy, the Philistines, stand on a hill on one side of the valley of Elah and the Israelites on a hill on the other side. They are lined up to battle, but the Philistines have chosen a representative of sorts, Goliath of Gath. Israel must now choose their own representative to face Goliath. The battle between these two representatives determines who wins. There is no one on the Israelite side willing or brave enough to face Goliath, not even Saul, the king whom the Israelites had so desperately wanted.
The author of I Samuel takes time to describe Goliath’s armor. One of the details given is that Goliath “was clothed in scale-armor;” or more literally, “was clothed in a breastplate of scales.” Does this remind us of another being clothed in scales? In reading these words, are we meant to think back to Genesis 3 which describes the serpent whose head the offspring of the woman would crush?
Back to the story: We know that David, full of indignation for how Goliath speaks of God’s people and full of faith in God’s ability to help him, steps up himself and slays Goliath, first by using his slingshot to cast a lethal blow to Goliath’s forehead and then by using Goliath’s own sword to cut off his head. The application point of this tale has often been to be like David: to have faith in God and to slay our giants. Yet this falls far short. For, sisters, in this story we are not David. No, Jesus is the true and better David.
Remember that David was the representative of the Israelites. If he won, the Israelites won. As a matter of fact, after David slays Goliath, we see that the Philistines, recognizing their defeat, run away while the Israelites, reveling in their victory, chase the Philistines. This story does not point to us as David; it points to Jesus. Jesus is our representative; He faced the snake. And though the snake bruised His heel (at the cross), Jesus ultimately used Satan’s own weapon (death) against him by rising again from the dead. Just as David disarmed Goliath by taking his sword, so Jesus has disarmed Satan (Col. 2:15). All we did was watch from the sidelines while Jesus did the conquering on our behalf. No, we are not David in the story; we are the Israelites who needed a David to do what we could not do.
But, sisters in Christ, just like the Israelites understood after David’s triumph that the victory was now theirs, so the victory is now ours. Our Representative won the battle, and now we too can participate in the “chasing out” of the sin in our lives, from a place of victory. We are not helpless and on our own to fight the battles in our minds and actions. The battle has been won; we now keep our eyes fixed on the One who won the battle on our behalf and rely on Him as we seek to live that truth out. And we call others to the winning side. Chester writes, “Look at the battlefield. The time has come to surge forward with a shout and plunder the camp of Satan. He has been cast down and bound. It is time to surge down the hillside and proclaim victory, to call those who belong to Satan to freedom in Christ through the gospel. ‘The battle is the Lord’s.’ The victory is Christ’s; and through him, it is ours.”
Praise the Lord.
--Amy O'Rear
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