reflections on "Intrigue at the Battle Front ” June 24, 2018, SAPC, Denton; I Samuel 17

The title didn't really express what I ended up doing with the sermon.  We had two long Scripture readings as we read the whole David/Goliath story.  Lots of sermon material in those verses!  I wanted to look at parts of the story which are often overlooked, although I had preached last year on the section where Saul tries to dress David up in armor.  If I preached the sermon again, I would probably make either Move 1 or Move 2 its own sermon, instead of tackling both.  Initially, I was going to have three points from the story; it shrank to two; and probably should have been reduced to just one point.

I actually received quite a bit of feedback from people leaving the church, so it struck a chord of some sort.  As I preached the sermon, I was underwhelmed by the sermon!  I did have a conclusion, but it was ad lib, and I don't really remember what I said.  Thus, the conclusion is left blank. 

“Intrigue at the Battle Front ”  June 24, 2018, SAPC, Denton; I Samuel 17

17 Jesse said to his son David, “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 how your brothers fare, 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 David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, took the provisions, and went as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the encampment as the army was going forth to the battle line, shouting the war cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. 22 David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage, ran to the ranks, and went and greeted his brothers. 23 As he talked with them, 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 Israelites, when they saw the man, fled from him and were very much afraid. 25 The Israelites said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. The king will greatly enrich the man who kills him, and will give him his daughter and make his family free in Israel.” 26 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 The people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done for the man who kills him.”

28 His eldest brother Eliab heard him talking to the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David. He said, “Why have you come down? 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 just to see the battle.” 29 David said, “What have I done now? It was only a question.” 30 He turned away from him toward another and spoke in the same way; and the people answered him again as before.

31 When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul; and he sent for him. 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.

50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, striking down the Philistine and killing him; there was no sword in David’s hand. 51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine; he grasped his sword, drew it out of its sheath, and killed him; then he cut off his head with it.

When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. 52 The troops of Israel and Judah rose up with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath[c] and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. 53 The Israelites came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. 54 David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armor in his tent.

55 When Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this young man?” Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.” 56 The king said, “Inquire whose son the stripling is.” 57 On David’s return from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58 Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

 Introduction: Growing up we had a wonderful neighbors - Mr. and Mrs. Brown.  her first name was Joy.   We kids called her Mrs. Brown, but we knew her name was Joy.  In part, because she lived the name.

She was always full of yoy.  If you happened to stop by her house, this white-haired woman greeted you with a  huge smile, a gracious voice, cookies, lots of questions about your life, and she usually played a song or the piano or talked about a Bible story.  She smile and had this voice that oozed graciousness.

Later in life, she lived at Good Samaritan, so my kids and nieces and nephews had the opprotunity to visit her and experience her joyfulness, and sometimes hear her tell Bible stories.  

One of the legendary visits was by my nephew and some other young kids who had gone by to visit people at Good Samaritan.  She, of course, invited them in and did her thing, including telling a Bible story.

The story that day was David and Goliath.  a story the kids knew, of course.  Most kids growing up in church know the story.  a great story.  Good one to tell for excitement and has a pretty good theme for kids.  the little person can overcome even Goliath if you trust in God.

So she told this wonderful story of little David slinging a stone to strike Goliath dead.  The kids knowingly listen and appreciate what David has done. 

But Mrs. Brown does not stop with Goliath’s death.  With a  huge smile on her voice and joy dripping out fo every word, she goes into glorious detail about David pulling out Goliath’s sword; David cutting off Goliath’s head; and David bringing back Goliath’s head to Jerusalem - all with a smile on her face. 

The young kids were terrorized in the moment by the joyful telling of a part of David and Goliath story they had never heard.

We know the story, but let’s look beyond what we normally know.

Move 1:  Before we get to David vs. Goliath, we have David vs. his brothers.

a.  If you remember some of the other brother issues in the Bible, it will be no surprise that David and his brothers have issues.

1.  Not every set of brothers act like Andrew and Peter. 

2.  Remember Cain and Abel; Cain works the fields; Abel raises sheep. Cain gets jealous of Abel and murders him.

2.  Jacob and Esau - Jacob stealing his brother’s birthright.

3. Joseph and his brothers - they sold him into slavery and pretended to have killed him

b. let’s set the stage for David’s interchange with his brothers.

1. This is the third time we meet David - first, when Samuel arrives at the house of Jesse and secretly anoints David;  secondly,  when David plays the lyre for Saul (for those of you paying close attention to the reading of the second Scripture lesson, you might wonder why Saul does not seem to know who David is after David kills Goliath - but that’s another sermon for another day)

2.  Now tittle brother David has arrived at the battle front to bring some food to his brothers.

3.  While David is there, Goliath issues a challenge to the Israelites:   “Today I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man, that we may fight together.” 

4.  11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

5. Well, not quite all of Israel.  David does seem dismayed.  In fact, he asks the question:  who is this Philistine who defies the living God?

6. Saul, David’s brothers, all the Israelites soldiers who hear Goliath’s words know the answer.  This is the giant who is about to destroy Israel.

7.  They are intimidated, already defeated.

4.  They see Goliath and dread what is about to happen.

5.  Saul is unable to deal with the Philistines; Goliath is the symbol of the Philistines; Goliath is sure of himself.  Israel is intimidated.

c. not David - he hears Goliath and is ready to do battle.

1.  His words, his attitude reveal that he is not intimidated.

2. does David inspire his brothers?

3. No, he irritates them.

4. in fact, one brother accuses David of showing up just to watch the battle.

5. maybe it’s a carry-over of some jealousy because David, the little brother was the one anointed to be the next king.

d. David asks, “What have I done?  It’s only a question.”

1. But it’s more than a question.

2. David has challenged their world view.

3.   David’s brothers do not like his refusal to accept the reality they know.

4.  They see Goliath and defeat; David sees Goliath and a chance to win a great victory.

3.  the Israelites look at Goliath and see no the destruction of God’s poeple.  David only sees new possibilities for what God can do.

4. a collision of world views.

e. One of the lessons of David’s story is how hard it is to move beyond what we know will happen, particularly when God is involved. 

1. Saul knows what is next; the Israelites soldiers know what is next; David’s brothers know what is next.  Defeat.  the die has been cast.  

2.  But David challenges their assumptions.

3.  We know why David irritates his brothers because we know what it is like to know what is going to happen; to know who things are going to play out; and then have someone challenge what we know.

4.  Particularly when it comes to what God is going to do.

f.  We live in a  world with all sorts of issues.

1.  it sometimes feels like we can do nothing.  

2. the die is cast.

3. But then as people of faith, like David, we meed to be open to the new possibilities God has for us.

Move 2:  David vs. Goliath, before the slingshot.

a.  Goliath feels confident in his strength, in his ability, in his weapons.

1. Giant.

2. Well- armed.

3. has all the armor and weapons needed to go battle.

4. Presumably, he will be the victor because he has the most power.

b.  Saul shares Goliath’s worldview.

1.  He knows that the one with the most power wins.

2.  Might makes right, as we might say.

3. In fact, Saul Wants David to wear armor.

4. Perhaps somehow David can be more powerful than Goliath.

c. Again, David has a different perspective.

1. A different perspective that grows out of his faith in God, the skills he has, and his history of seeing God at work in his life.

2.  Listen to what David tells Saul:  “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.”

3.  David is willing to step forward and do battle with Goliath because he trusts in God and he trusts in his skills he has honed in the fields keeping sheep.

d. We hear the story of David and Goliath and take away the idea that the little person, the underdog, can defeat the big person.

1.  But underneath lies another story.

2. the story of a person trusting the gifts he has; a person acting out of their history with God who has been faithful time and again.

3.  My question for you his morning is not whether you can win as an underdog.

4. no my questions for you are:  

how are you doing in laying claim to your God-given gifts and developing your skills?

what stories do you cling to that reveal how God has been faithful to you in years past.

And perhaps most importantly - are you willing to step out like David and trust in those skills and the God who is with you.

Amen.

Conclusion: