“‘Tis He, the mighty Savior comes, the victory now is won,
And lo, the throne of David waits for David’s royal Son.
Shine forth in all Thy glory, Lord, that man at last may see,
That joy, so long estranged from earth, can only flow from
Thee.”
“There were giants in those days,” as scripture itself tells us, and the people of Israel seem to have always had a peculiar terror of them. Their faithless fear of the sons of Anak was one of the reasons they gave before Moses of the impossibility of their overcoming the enemy in Canaan. They said, “We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.... men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak.... and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight” (Num. 13:10-3310Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi. 11Of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi. 12Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli. 13Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael. 14Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi. 15Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. 16These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua. 17And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain: 18And see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many; 19And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds; 20And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes. 21So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath. 22And they ascended by the south, and came unto Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs. 24The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence. 25And they returned from searching of the land after forty days. 26And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. 28Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. 29The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan. 30And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. 31But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. 32And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. 33And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. (Numbers 13:10‑33)).
In all this the people looked only at themselves and at the giants. Jehovah and His almighty power were forgotten. It was the same with Saul and his people at the time of which we are now speaking. The Philistines had invaded Judah, and with them they had a champion whose appearance filled all the host of Israel with terror, for Goliath the giant was indeed of “great stature,” being nearly ten feet high. Had there been any faith in the hearts of the men of Israel they would have known that it mattered nothing to God whether the enemy was of giant strength or childlike weakness—all would be alike powerless before Him, and if He was with them an army of giants would be easily overcome.
Who were these Philistines who were so constantly a source of trouble to the Israelites? Little is actually known of them, though some writers think that they were of Egyptian origin. That they had settled on the coast of Canaan before Israel entered the land is certain, and the name of Palestine, now so generally used for the land of promise, really means the land of the Philistines. Had the twelve tribes been faithful to the word given by the mouth of Moses they would have driven them all out of their territories, but they were unfaithful, and thus the various peoples whom they allowed to remain afterward became their conquerors. It was so with these enemies of Philistia. They were always at hand and claiming possession of the most fertile parts of the country. They had so far become the masters of Israel that in the early days of Saul’s reign they would not allow any smith to live in his dominions, so that there could be no weapons made or even sharpened, for only files were allowed them to sharpen the ox goads and mattocks and gardening tools.
So that when the king whom Israel had chosen first began to gather an army around him, for he had been appointed to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines, not a single sword or spear was there amongst them all excepting with the king himself and Jonathan his son. As the years went on, however, God in His mercy often gave His people the victory over the many different nations who came against them, and of the spoils they gathered armor and arms for themselves, and at last had so far freed the country from the Philistines that they probably had an arsenal where swords and spears were made, so that when David comes before us the army of Saul had greatly increased, and had their needful arms also.
This did not supply them with courage, however, for “their defense was departed from them,” and when once again the powerful foe enters the territory of Judah and their camp is pitched on the mountainous ground south of the valley of Elah, all the army of Saul is utterly dismayed and terror-stricken. The Israelites had their camp on the north, and thus the valley of Elah lay between the two armies. Now the dreaded champion of Gath, clad in his glistening coat of mail, with a helmet and breastplate of the same metal, and greaves of brass upon his legs, daily advances towards the Israelites, and cries aloud to them in taunting fashion to choose a man of them to go down and fight with him.
Day after day did the giant thus present himself, saying, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.” Even the faith and courage of Jonathan failed him now apparently, for though before this he had been the means of a great victory gained over these enemies of Philistia, he is not spoken of now, and seems like the rest to have been too terrified to attempt anything. The three eldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle-field, as volunteers perhaps, but David himself had remained at his usual duties of keeping the sheep, though he had probably heard of the dreaded Goliath of Gath, as all hearts in the army seemed to fail because of him.
As week after week passed on till forty days had gone by since his sons left him, Jesse, their father, at last desired to have tidings of them, and turning to his youngest son as one in whom he could trust, he tells him to take some parched corn and ten loaves of bread to his brethren in the camp, and also a present of ten cheeses for the captain of their company, and find out how his brothers are, and take their pledge.
How little could David have known when he rose up early the next day and started on his journey to the battle-field, that he was leaving behind him forever his shepherd life in the fields of Bethlehem! The time had come when he was to be put in a place where before all Israel his fidelity to Jehovah and his dependence on Him would be tested to the uttermost. The miles that lay between the peaceful home of Jesse and the turmoil and dismay of the camp were passed over as quickly as possible by the young shepherd, still in his shepherd dress, and with his sling as his only weapon. He soon finds himself among the armed soldiers around Saul, or rather amongst those who had charge of the wagons or cars, which were all gathered closely together and formed a defense in the rear of the army.
Here David leaves his father’s presents for his brethren and their captain in the care of the one appointed for such a duty, and goes himself into the ranks where his brothers were, and soon finds them out, and gives them the message from their father. While he is talking to them there is a movement in the forefront of the army, and to his surprise and distress probably, he sees many of the host of Israel fleeing before the enemy. The only undaunted one there, as it would seem, his calm countenance appears to have impressed his frightened countrymen, and they ask him if he has seen this tremendous foe, who so proudly defies the armies of Jehovah. They tell him also of great rewards that are to be given to anyone who shall slay this giant, and in it all he hears no word of turning to the God of Israel, for Jehovah is as much forgotten by them as He was by Goliath when he said, “I defy the armies of Israel.” He left out Israel’s God, but he was to prove that he had made a fatal mistake in so doing.
Calm and fearless in his confidence in the Lord, David sees in the champion only an uncircumcised heathen; he discerns that it is really a question now between the Lord and this daring defier, and he knows there can be only one issue to that. Thus he replies to those who have been speaking to him by saying, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” It was truly a living God whom David knew, and thus he was preserved in a calm rest and confidence that seemed something strange and wonderful to the unbelieving ranks of Saul in their abject dread of the giant.
Even his own brother does not understand him, and he angrily asks him with whom he has left his sheep in the wilderness, and blames him for having come down to see the battle, but, in reality, this younger brother, he soon finds, has come “to fight and win the battle,” and not merely in idle curiosity to look on. Not stopping to waste time in many words, David simply replies: “What have I now done? Is there not a cause? “and again he turns to another of the soldiers and speaks to him in the same trustful, undaunted spirit, seeking to encourage them to look at the foe as he actually was before God.
At last the king himself hears of this strangely brave shepherd lad, whose faith, which ought to have been shared by them all, puts him so much above them. Saul sends for him, and without a boasting word he at once takes the place of his servant, and simply says-referring to Goliath, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” Looking only at his youth and inexperience as a soldier, the king tells him that he is not able to meet such an antagonist as this, and then he hears what had probably never been told before, that when David was keeping his father’s sheep, a lion and a bear had both attempted to carry off a lamb from the flock, but he had pursued the lion, and so smote him that he had saved the lamb who had been seized; and then as the enraged lion attacked the faithful shepherd he had seized the powerful animal and killed him; and thus it was also with the bear, the dreaded Syrian bear, that hunters never venture to encounter alone if they can possibly escape.
Then to show Saul why he had told him this he adds, “this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.... Jehovah that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.”
Syrian bear, or lion, or Philistine giant were all very much the same to David, because he looked not at them but at Jehovah, and he forgot himself. The conflict was the Lord’s, and He it was who would decide the victory, and this strong, simple faith gave the one who had it real supremacy over all there. The king was touched and impressed by the quiet trust in God which he could not help seeing, and with a faint hope perhaps that this young shepherd lad might indeed be able to overcome the champion of the enemy, as he had the wild animals, of the jungles, he permits him to go on what seemed a very desperate venture to the one without faith, and replies to him, “Go, and Jehovah be with thee.”
But if he can do nothing himself in this deadly struggle with the enemy’s power, he will at least have his own armor used to defend the one who can, and so he clothes him with a shining coat of mail and a helmet, and girds a sword upon him. At once the free unfettered strength of the shepherd warrior has fled from him, and armor-clad thus he is hindered and weak. In obedience to the king he had allowed the armor to be put upon him; but in confidence in God he now puts it off, and garbed in his loose, everyday dress, with no other arms than his sling and staff, he goes down to the brook near and chooses five smooth stones out of the water, and with these in the wallet he had slung around him he goes down into the valley of Elah to encounter the giant of Gath. We can imagine how the thought of this day would be woven into his own words, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.”
From the camp of the Philistines on the other side of the deep valley David would be plainly seen, and probably thinking he bore some message, the champion approaches to meet him. Surprised at seeing him alone he looks about to find if some armed soldier is not there also, for he only disdains this youth of fair countenance, who has not even a bow or sword or spear in his hand. His pride aroused at such a mean adversary being sent to fight with such a noted soldier as himself, the haughty Philistine asks, “Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves?” And then he pronounces a wrathful curse upon David, and says, “Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.”
The proud boast was not met in the same vaunting spirit by his young antagonist, but calmly he answers the giant Philistine, who must have looked like a huge brazen statue, with the words, “Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of Jehovah of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.” This was not all, however. David knows that deliverance is at hand, and so he goes on to say, “This day will Jehovah deliver thee into mine hand; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that Jehovah saveth not with the sword and spear: for the battle is Jehovah’s, and He will give you into our hands.”
Now the glittering, armor-clad giant leaves the spot where he had listened to what David had to say to him, and advances to crush the slight stripling form, as he thought, but the young shepherd has proved the value of his trusty sling in more than one hard fought encounter with foes as much to be dreaded as the Philistine; and without a quiver of fear he runs forward, putting a stone into the sling as he does so. Then with arm nerved by confidence in God and with steady unerring aim he sends the stone flying through the air with the force of a pistol shot.
Another moment, and the ponderous figure of Goliath is falling with deafening clang upon the earth he had trodden so proudly just before. The stone sent with such true aim had struck the one vulnerable spot and sunk deep in the giant’s forehead, and he falls never to rise again. Well might David say, « Jehovah is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? Jehovah is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell” (Psa. 27:1, 21<<A Psalm of David.>> The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 2When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. (Psalm 27:1‑2)).
David uses the sword of the giant to cut off his head, and then all the host of Israel—who must have looked on in breathless suspense till that moment—utter one great shout of victory which is echoed back by the hills on every side; and the dismayed and disheartened Philistines, seeing that their mighty champion is slain, flee from their camp in utter rout and confusion. Great was the victory and triumph of that memorable day, for the foes were pursued by the Israelites to the very gates of their cities, and many were slain; and the returning victors had the tents of the deserted camp of the enemy with all that they contained left in their hands as the spoils of victory.
It has seemed strange to some, that in the scripture history we are told that when David went forth to meet Goliath, the king said to Abner, the captain—or commander-in-chief—of the host: “Abner, whose son is this youth?” as though he had never seen David before yet we know that he was for a time in the court of Saul, and soothed the monarch with his skilful playing on the harp. Now he appears as a perfect stranger, and it shows that though Saul had valued the relief gained by his sweet music at the moment, yet he had no real knowledge of the one who was living in dependence on God—no intimacy of fellow-feeling with him-they had nothing in common, and when David left the court he was very soon entirely forgotten by the king, who now commands Abner, “Inquire thou whose son the stripling is.”
Only a few minutes pass, and then David returns out of the valley with the head of the giant in his hand as proof to all of the victory, and Abner takes him to the king, who asks him: “Whose son art thou, thou young man? “—they were strangers! So it is, and must be, to-day. The people of God are unknown by the world if they are true to their calling. It was so with the One of whom David was a type. He who went down into the dark valley—not only of the shadow of death, but death itself—to deliver His people from a worse enemy than Goliath, from Satan himself who had the power of death, but who was utterly vanquished in his own stronghold—even He—the Lord Jesus Christ, was unknown and a Stranger in the world His hands had made. “Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not” (1 John 3:11Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. (1 John 3:1)). If we are walking in faith on God we shall, like the son of Jesse, be strangers to those whom, nevertheless, we seek to serve and to lead into the same path.
When David was taken by Abner to the king he found that Jonathan was there with his father, and the faith that burned in both their hearts—for Jonathan had real trust in God—quickly became a powerful link between the two young men. He listened to all that was said to his father by the conqueror of Goliath, and he saw much in him that won his respect and affection, but the chief bond between them was that of obedience and devotion to God, the God of Israel; and thus we are told, “the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.” This friendship with the son of Saul must have greatly recompensed him for the many trials and sorrows that soon came upon him, for his peaceful home life at Bethlehem was over forever; Saul would not allow him to return there, but attached him to himself as one of his most distinguished captains, and David’s career as a warrior began.