Being Comfortable in Your Skin—Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 5B (1 Samuel 17)

1 Samuel 17:32-49 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

³² David said to Saul, “Let no one’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” ³³ Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” ³⁴ But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father, and whenever a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, ³⁵ I went after it and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its mouth, and if it turned against me, I would catch it by the jaw, strike it down, and kill it. ³⁶ Your servant has killed both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.” ³⁷ David said, “The Lord, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine.” So Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you!”

³⁸ Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a bronze helmet on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail. ³⁹ David strapped Saul’s sword over the armor, and he tried in vain to walk, for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these, for I am not used to them.” So David removed them. ⁴⁰ Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the wadi and put them in his shepherd’s bag, in the pouch; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.

⁴¹ The Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. ⁴² When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was only a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. ⁴³ The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴ The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the field.” ⁴⁵ But David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword and spear and 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. ⁴⁶ This very 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 Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel ⁴⁷ and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not save by sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.”

⁴⁸ When the Philistine drew nearer to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. ⁴⁹ David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead; the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.

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Once upon a time in ancient Israel, when Saul sat on the throne of Israel, the people of Israel faced one of their most persistent enemies—the Philistines. The Philistines, who lived in city-states along the coast of what is now the area around the Gaza Strip, were led by a giant of a man named Goliath. That’s a name most of us know, even if we don’t know much about the Bible. Goliath was such a giant of a man that no one in Israel dared face him. That is, until David the shepherd boy and son of Jesse showed up and offered to face the enemy. It’s one of those biblical stories that has taken on a life of its own, with the message being—"the bigger they are, the harder they fall.”  David’s engagement with Goliath serves as a metaphor that gives hope to those who face great odds.

This reading from 1 Samuel follows David’s anointing by Samuel as Saul’s successor. The spirit that marked Saul’s own anointing had left him, only to be replaced by an evil spirit. When David approaches Saul and volunteers to face the Philistine champion, it’s not the first time he has encountered the king. He had already joined the king’s service, playing the lyre to calm Saul’s fits. According to the account in 1 Samuel 16, one of the king’s aids suggested David, who was known to be “skillful in playing the lyre, a man of valor, a warrior, prudent in speech, and a good presence, and the Lord is with him” (1 Kings 16:18). What this aide didn’t tell the king was that Samuel had anointed him to be the next king. In any case, David answered the call, went into the service of the king, and even became Saul’s armor bearer.

Now that we’ve moved into chapter 17 of 1 Samuel, we find Saul and his army on the battlefield facing the Philistines. It doesn’t appear that David is with the army, though his brothers are serving with Saul. It is here that Goliath is introduced. He is described as being six cubits and a span tall. That would make him about ten feet tall. If that tall he would be a giant, and that’s the way he’s often portrayed in Sunday School pictures. In fact, he appears even bigger than that. Interestingly, the Septuagint, the Greek translation, puts him at four cubits and a span. That would be a very believable six-foot, six-inch height, which at the time still would be rather massive, Today, however, Goliath might be a small forward or shooting guard at that height. Nevertheless, he was big enough to put fear in the hearts of the Israelites, especially after he challenged the Israelites to send out a champion to face him (1 Sam 17:1-11).

Our reading picks up the story at verse 32. In the prior verses, Jesse sent David, who had been shuttling back and forth between Saul’s camp and his father’s sheep, with food for his brothers who were at the front. When David gets to Saul’s camp, he hears about the challenges facing Saul’s army. David begins to ask questions about how this challenge from Goliath will be answered, which causes his elder brother Eliab (the one Samuel passed over to anoint David) to get rather angry with David. Nevertheless, Saul heard about David’s interest in the challenge and summoned him (1 Sam. 17:24-31).

It's here that our reading begins. The narrator tells us that David is standing before the king. With the brashness of youth, David tells Saul that if no one else dares to face this scourge on the people of Israel he will go out and face him. He tells the king: “Let no one’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine” (vs. 32). Now, by this time, according to the story in 1 Samuel, the king has a certain fondness for this kid who calmed his spirit with his lyre. But facing Goliath was another matter: “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth” (vs. 33). But Saul’s response didn’t deter him. With that brashness I mentioned, David pushed back. He told the king that back home, while tending sheep he had faced his share of dangers. So, when a lion or a bear came to snatch one of the sheep from the flock, he would go after the predator, kill it, and rescue the lamb.  “Your servant has killed both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God” (vs. 36). If Yahweh had saved him from the lions and bears, surely God would save him from this Philistine. It might sound arrogant, but David was comfortable in his skin, and so Saul gave his permission to represent his army before the Philistine champion. David might be small in comparison, but he had courage and confidence in God’s presence.   

             The author of this story makes a critical point here. While David volunteers to face Goliath, he won’t fight the Philistine on Goliath’s terms. Goliath will come armed with a sword and lance, while David will go out armed only with a sling and five stones. This might not seem like a fair match, but according to the story, God has a way of evening the odds. As for David’s confidence, it comes from God. God had been with him before when he faced lions and bears; God would be with him when he faced the Philistine. So, according to the narrator, in preparation for this encounter, Saul decided to equip the champion for the battle. He put his armor on the boy, including his bronze helmet and Saul’s chain mail. He also gave his sword to David to use. David strapped the sword on, and then weighed down with armor and sword he tried to walk. Remember that Saul was a tall and powerful man, which meant his armor and sword would have matched his size. David quickly realized that the armor and sword didn’t fit him. So, David removed the armor and gave everything back to the king. He then picked up the famous five smooth stones from the wadi (riverbed), put them in his bag, and went out to face the Philistine champion armed only with his sling and stones.  

                You can imagine how Goliath of Gath, the giant champion of the Philistines felt when he saw this boy come out to face him. He probably was insulted, so he began to taunt him, telling David he would feed him to the birds and wild animals. As for David, he responded with a confession of faith in Yahweh. He told Goliath:

You come to me with sword and spear and 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. ⁴⁶ This very 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 Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel ⁴⁷ and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not save by sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand. (1 Sam. 17:45-48).

The Philistine champion has size on his side, but David has Yahweh. So, as they prepare to engage in battle, David places a stone in the sling and sends it toward Goliath.  David’s aim is true, hitting the Philistine between the eyes, and Goliath falls dead. Yes, the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

We the reader know something that Saul and Goliath don’t know. It’s a bit like watching a TV series where the hero appears to be in danger, but we know that if the series is to continue, the hero must live. So it is with David, who unbeknownst to Saul, has been anointed the future king. Surely God won’t let the heir to the throne, the one whom God had directed Samuel to anoint, fall prey to the murderous designs of Goliath.  

It's a well-known story, which gets trotted out whenever a small university (Appalachian State) beats the big school (the University of Michigan). It can also be used to illustrate the idea that just because something is big, that doesn’t mean it is impossible to deal with. It can be used in secular contexts as an example of what happens when we put our mind into something, even something rather daunting. All you need is the right attitude (confidence) and the right tools (tools appropriate to you), and you can tackle any problem that comes your way. Of course, David’s confidence, his brashness, isn’t rooted in himself. It’s rooted in his faith in God, who has been there by his side before. Of course, this presents its own set of problems because we can be presumptuous as to whether God will come through for us. I know, it happened to me!  

There is another issue with this reading, and that is the violence present in the story. The story is illustrative of ancient Israel’s history, since it was, for the most part, the smaller nation facing great odds. The Philistines weren’t the only people who plagued them. They always lived on the edge of extinction at the hands of their larger neighbors. So, they often had to fight back as best they could. According to the stories in 1 and 2 Samuel, David was a great warrior. Thus, quite often in Scripture Yahweh is portrayed as a warrior. Is this the portrayal we wish to embrace, even if we enjoy telling stories like this one about David and Goliath? On the other hand, there is always the danger of contrasting the God of the Old Testament with the God of Jesus, falling into the trap of Marcionism.    

I grew up with this story, along with the stories of Samson and Gideon, and others, and I didn’t think much about the violence. I might have imbibed the idea that size isn’t the determining factor in life. What I probably missed was that David’s victory didn’t have much to do with his physical abilities or even his skill with the sling. It all comes down to God being on his side in that moment. So maybe Alphonetta Wines is right when she writes that “The world loves the David and Goliath story and any victory when the longshot wins. What an awesome reminder that with God, we can be victorious, even in the most difficult situations” [The Working Preacher, June 18, 2018]. Perhaps she is correct. We love the story because it offers encouragement to us when we face challenges that seem overwhelming. As for David, he had already experienced that presence as a shepherd, facing down lions and bears. Goliath might be bigger and better armed, but the situation isn’t all that different. 

Image Attribution: Swanson, John August. David and Goliath, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56540 [retrieved June 13, 2024]. Original source: Estate of John August Swanson, https://www.johnaugustswanson.com/.