Themes Of Redemption

David & Goliath

1 Samuel 17:2-11

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. 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. 

And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 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. And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 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. 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. 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.” 

And the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

vs.16

For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.

vs.24

All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid.

vs.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?

vs.38-39

Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them.

vs.41-47

And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” 

Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give you into our hand.”

vs.50

So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David.

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When we read the story of David & Goliath, who do we most want to associate ourselves with?

Maybe this is another example of our American perspective, but we often want to associate ourselves with the underdog of the story.

Evidence of that can be seen in….  Every sports movie, ever.
The Underdogs
Rudy
The Replacements
Invincible
Remember The Titans
The Bad News Bears
A League Of Their Own
Moneyball
The Rookie
Miracle
The Mighty Ducks
Cool Runnings
Million Dollar Baby
Rocky 1-5 and Rocky Balboa
Cinderella Man
Real Steal

Psychologists have studied this phenomenon and it is a fact that people are more interested in stories about underdogs.  

A 2007 study found that when a group of people were presented with two imaginary Olympic swimmers, EVERY SINGLE PERSON believed that the underdog would win.  For NO REASON!!!

And David was, on the surface (and in the eyes of the Israelites) an underdog.  And since David is an underdog who wins, we want to associate ourselves with him.  

The internet is full of blogs and articles and Youtube is full of sermons associating ourselves with David in his fight against Goliath.
-Defeating the giants in your life
-Facing the giants in your life
-3 steps to defeating the giants in your life
-How to slay your giants

***Not all of those sermons and articles will associate us with David, but it is a common theme***

And I’m not saying that we can’t learn anything from David in his fight with Goliath.  There is a lot from this story, both physically spiritually, that we can learn.

>>>Side note—David was allowed to fight the lion and bear.<<<

But there’s another look at the story of David and Goliath that we should consider.  And this other perspective allows us to see the theme of God’s Plan Of Redemption.

The Israelites were a people who were trying to follow God.  They weren’t always very good at it and we are often pretty hard on them for it.  But they’re not necessarily any better or worse than us today in many way.  

They were a broken and sinful people.

There was an overwhelming enemy.  An enemy that couldn’t be conquered.  An enemy that no amount of strategy or cunning or strength could defeat.  

The Israelites were powerless before this enemy.

And there was David.  David was a man after God’s own heart.  David was chosen by God to lead His people and to save them from an enemy they couldn’t fight on their own.

In the story of David and Goliath we have the broken and sinful people, the overwhelming enemy, and the man after God’s own heart.

Of those, which one most closely represents us?

In the story of David and Goliath we can learn a lot about how to live our lives from the example of David.

But in the story……. WE’RE NOT DAVID.

We’re the Israelites.  Sinful, scared, and facing an enemy that we can never defeat.

Sin has brought wrath on us that we can’t appease (propitiation), a debt that we can’t pay (redemption), broken a relationship that we can’t heal (reconciliation), and incurred a guilty sentence that we can’t avoid (justification).

THOSE things are the Goliaths in the story.

Really, deep down inside, as much as you want to be David…..Who do you most resemble?

When Satan marches out every day in front of you and dares you to resist him, do you?

Do you stand up to temptation and sling rocks at it?  Every time?

When Satan comes down off his side of the valley and he looks like sexual temptation, do you always sling rocks at him?

When he looks like jealousy of your peers who are prettier, or stronger, or richer, or smarter…..do you always resist the temptation to covet what they have?

When Satan looks like frustration and anger and ugliness toward your brothers or sisters and parents, do you always suppress that or do you give in to it?

And Christ is David.  The unexpected hero.  David conquered Goliath alone, while his brothers and the other Israelites mocked him.  Christ conquered death without our help, while we were still in rebellion against him.  

Romans 5:6-11
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.