1 Samuel 16:21-17:2921And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armorbearer. 22And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favor in my sight. 23And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him. 1Now 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 Ephes-dammim. 2And 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. 3And 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. 4And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass. 6And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders. 7And 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. 8And 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. 9If 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. 10And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together. 11When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid. 12Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem-judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul. 13And 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. 14And David was the youngest: and the three eldest followed Saul. 15But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. 16And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. 17And 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; 18And carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge. 19Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20And 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, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle. 21For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army. 22And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren. 23And 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. 24And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid. 25And 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. 26And 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? 27And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him. 28And 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. 29And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause? (1 Samuel 16:21‑17:29).
Saul made David his armor-bearer, and whenever the evil spirit troubled him, David played upon the harp, and the evil spirit departed. Music, which is always very appealing to nature, helped Saul on these occasions, but it did not change his heart nor make him right with God. Many are deceived in this way by music, for while it helps them to forget self for the time, only a work of God in the soul can produce any lasting change, and make true melody within. The first man is now entirely set aside, and the true worshipers “worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him.” John 4:2323But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. (John 4:23).
The Philistines then gathered tether against Israel, and set the battle in array. They had a giant as their leader named Goliath, who was about ten feet tall, and he was armed with a heavy coat of armor. He carried a tremendous spear in his hand, and a man bearing a shield went out in front to protect him.
This great champion came out and shouted to the armies of Israel, asking them to send a man to fight against him. If the man whom they sent was able to kill him, then, said he, the Philistines would become the servants of Israel; but if he overcame their man, Israel would become the servants of the Philistines. The Israelites, said he, were the servants of Saul, while they were Philistines and proud of it. Goliath the giant continued this defiance of Israel for forty days, but neither Saul nor any in his army were ready to go out and fight against him. Instead, we read that “they were dismayed and greatly afraid.”
Now David is brought before us at this point. He was not in the army of Saul at this time and did not hear the challenge of Goliath. Nor was he in Saul’s court. He was caring for his father’s sheep in the wilderness, but his father sent him into the army of Israel with a message and a present for his brethren. When David came into the host the men of Israel were shoung for the battle, and he ran and saluted his brethren. While he was talking to them, Goliath the giant came forward and defied the armies of Israel as he had done before, and the Israelites fled from him. When David enquired why this should be, he was told of all the honors that the king would bestow upon the man who killed the giant.
Now David was not afraid of any man who dared to defy the armies of the living God. Goliath might call the Israelites the servants of Saul, but David was a servant of the living God, and he was not afraid of the giant. He looked upon the people of Israel as God’s people.
This courage on David’s part aroused the jealousy of his oldest brother Eliab. This is the one, we remember, whose appearance was so appealing to Samuel, but how weak he appears here, and opposed too to the one whom God was about to use against the Philistines. He accused David of pride and naughtiness of heart for coming into the army at all, but David in the beautiful spirit of grace simply asked, “What have I now done? Is there not a cause?” His father had sent him to inquire as to his brethren’s welfare; now, however, he was ready to deliver Israel from the Philistines. There was no further use trying to explain this to Eliab, jealous as he was of his younger brother, so he simply addressed to him these two brief questions. It should have aroused Eliab’s conscience.
ML 09/26/1954