In this long chapter there are but two principal characters, Goliath, the Philistine giant; and David, the future king of Israel,—the one a type of Satan; the other of Christ. The Holy Spirit delights to tell about Jesus, and so the Bible abounds in accounts of men who, in one way or another were marked by events in their lives, or by behavior that, however faintly it might be, yet resembled the Son of God when He was pleased to come to this world as a man, to die for sinners on the cross. We saw in Joseph (Gen. 37 to 50) one principal type of the Lord; and in David we shall find another, the Holy Spirit presenting in the record of both their lives that which was in some degree like Him Who in word and deed was above and beyond all men, and with this in view, the failures and sins of Joseph and David are given but little space in God's Word.
The Philistines had suffered severely in the fourteenth chapter, but were bold again, and reappeared with one at their head who terrified the people of Israel. Goliath was at the least about 8 feet, 4 inches in height, and he was so clothed with brass that he must have been a most dangerous antagonist to one armed with the weapons employed in warfare in his day. Boldly he shouted to the Israelite soldiers his cutting words of defiance, and Saul and all Israel felt their helplessness and were greatly afraid. They might well be, for they had no one able to meet Goliath.
Jonathan was not equal to this occasion as he had been in earlier times.
David must have remained only a very short while with Saul (close of 16th chapter). He had gone back home before this time, to feed his father's sheep, but his three eldest brothers were in the army, and the father, Jesse, gave David an errand to carry food to them and to their captain, and find out how the young men were. Arriving there just before the giant came out, David heard his words, and he seems to have been the only one not frightened. "Who is this ...... that he should defy the armies of the living God?" showed where David's confidence lay.
The haughty spirit of his oldest brother, who knew nothing of what was the secret of David's strength, now came out (verse 28). So Joseph had endured, scorned by his brethren, but the pattern is seen in its perfection in Jesus, Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again. What was it that marked David that he was bold where others were terrified? Faith in God. It was the living God that was in question (verses 26, 36), and that was enough for the man of faith. The giant had no power against Him. David might indeed as a man be judged to be "not able" to meet the veteran soldier, but he knew the One Who had delivered him, and given him victory over the lion and the bear (verses 34-37). Saul knew' nothing of this faith; his was the strength of nature and powerless before the devil.
Saul's fighting clothes and sword therefore are rejected in favor of the simplest weapons.
David took his staff and chose five smooth stones (one stone would have been sufficient, but we see perfection only in Jesus) out of the brook, which he put in a shepherd's bag; then with his sling in his hand, he went out to meet Goliath. The giant treated David with contempt, and cursed him by his gods; he thought he could make short work of him. David, on his part answered:
"Thou comest to me with a sword and with a spear, and with a shield, but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom thou hast defied. The battle is the Lord's, and He will give you into our hands." Bold words, but the speaker was moved by faith and counted upon God's power; he had nothing to say about himself, we notice. David ran to meet Goliath; he put a stone from his bag in his sling, and with it struck the giant 'Philistine with such force that the stone sunk into his forehead, and he fell upon his face to the ground. Then as the Philistines fled, David ran and stood on the fallen Goliath, drew his sword, and slew him, cutting off his head.
It was easy now for the men of Israel and Judah to chase the Philistines, who ran for their lives. They were followed to the gates of their city of Ekron, but the victory was all David's. The chapter closes with David bringing the giant's head to Jerusalem, and with Saul asking about David, having evidently forgotten his being the harp player in his house for a short time.