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Transcript 274C
The Gospel in David Versus Goliath [I Sam 17]
HC: Good evening. Welcome to Open Forum.
CALLER: I have one question. In I Samuel 17:38-40, I'd like to know, in these verses is there a message for the Christians today?
HC: The question is raised concerning I Samuel 17:38-40, whether there is a message in this concerning the Christians today. Well, I haven't really looked at these very carefully, but let's look at them a moment and see if we can quickly discover anything.
It's at a time that Israel is being assaulted by the Philistines. Saul is king, and the Israelites are really in terror before the Philistines. And now there is this Goliath, who is threatening to destroy Israel, and no one dares go out and fight Goliath.
We read in verse 16 of I Samuel 17: "For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening." In other words, this forty is referring to the question of Israel being tested. Are they going to trust in God, or are they going to stand in fear because they don't have trust in God?
And now David comes forth, and he is just a youth. He has no armor, and he's brought before Saul, and he's ready to fight this Philistine. And then we read there that David said to Saul, in verse 34: "Your servant used to keep sheep for his father, and when there came a lion or a bear and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and smote him and killed him. Your servant has killed both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.
"And David said, The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion, from the paw of the bear, will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go. And the Lord be with you. Then Saul clothed David with his armor [this is verse 38]. He put on a helmet of bronze on his head, and clothed him with a coat of mail. And David girded his sword over his armor, and he tried in vain to go, for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, I cannot go with these, for I am not used to them. And David put them off. Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in his shepherd's bag [or wallet]. His sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine."
I believe there is a beautiful lesson here for us. You see, David is assaulting the kingdom of Satan, and he is doing it in the power of the Lord. The number five in the Bible really is the number of grace. It is the number of redemption. I don't have time now to give illustrations of where this number is used in this way, but it is the number of redemption. And here David of course is a figure of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He takes his staff in his hand. Now his staff, of course, is reminiscent of "The Lord is my Shepherd." He cares for us with His rod and His staff. It is a staff that is a figure of the rod of God's wrath, as He pours out His wrath on the unsaved. He will break the enemies as a potter would break the vessels.
And the armor that is spoken of here would be a figure of anything that would be of earthly might. This is Saul's way of doing it, "You've got to be clothed with my armor and with my sword." And that is not the way we go out to fight the battles of the Lord. This isn't the way Christ took on Satan and endured the wrath of God for our sins. It was not in the power of this creation. It was not in the power of men, or what men could provide. It was in the power of God.
And so David went forth without any armor, just armed with his sling and his five smooth stones, and his staff. And of course he accomplished fantastic victory.