1 Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. 2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines. 3 And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. 4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. 6 And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And his shield-bearer went before him. 8 He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” 10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years. 13 The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14 David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. 16 For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.
17 And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers. 18 Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.”
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 early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry. 21 And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. 22 And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers. 23 As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him.
24 All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid. 25 And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father’s house free in Israel.” 26 And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes 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 in the same way, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.”
28 Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.” 29 And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?” 30 And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before.
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
Sometime after David entered the king’s service, Israel was again facing the Philistines. Each army was camped on either side of the Valley of Elah. Out of the Philistine camp came a fighting champion named Goliath of Gath. He was a giant at 9 feet, 9 inches tall. He wore a helmet and scale armour weighing about 57kg. He had a spear with an iron tip weighing almost 7kg. His shield-bearer went out in front of him providing protection. Goliath shouted out a challenge to Israel. He would face one man from Israel in a battle to the death and the victor would represent the whole army. The nation of the losing man would be servants to the nation of the victor. Saul and the whole of Israel were terrified at the words of Goliath. Goliath came out every morning and evening and presented his challenge for forty days.
While we have already been briefly introduced to David’s family, this story goes into a bit more detail. Jessie was old and had eight sons of which David was the youngest. The three oldest sons had joined Saul in battle. It may be that the three oldest were the only ones old enough to be conscripted into the army (Num 1:3) or each family was required to send no more than three sons for military service in which case the eldest would have made the most sense for the task. David moved between Saul’s service and tending his father’s sheep. Jesse sent David to the front line with provisions for them and their commander and to bring back word of their wellbeing.
David rose early and left his father’s sheep with a keeper. This is a small detail but shows David was a good shepherd, a metaphor of a good leader (John 10:1-21). He arrived as the two armies were drawing their battle lines. David left the provisions with the supply officer and then went to the front lines to check on his brothers. While greeting his brothers, Goliath came out with his challenge as before. All the soldiers were afraid and began to talk about the reward Saul had offered to anyone who could face and defeat Goliath. The victor would be given wealth, Saul’s daughter in marriage, and his family would be freed from taxation. David was incensed at this uncircumcised man who dared to defy the armies of the living God. He saw Goliath’s insults as not only against Israel but against God Himself. David had missed the talk of the reward and asked those around him what would be done for the man who killed Goliath.
Eliab, David’s eldest brother heard David speaking to the men around him and became angry with him. He accused David of abandoning the sheep to come and watch others die in battle. David responded along the lines of, “How have I offended you? I was asking about an important matter.” Perhaps this segment was included to show that God was right by not anointing Eliab as king. Eliab showed that his heart was not right and he wasn’t able to make proper judgments about others.
The stage is set in arguably the most famous Bible story. We see a giant defying God’s army. We see an army standing in opposition but terrified. We see a young shepherd recognising the absurdity of God’s army quaking at a threat against it. And we see intentions misunderstood. You know the outcome of this story but where would you be in this story? Are you terrified at some insurmountable challenge? Or do you believe the truth that if God is for us, who can be against us (Rom 8:31-39)?
Major Stories of the Bible Reading Plan
The Parable of the Vineyard Owner: Mark 11-12