The brazenly-bold Goliath approached the youth David with his shield-bearer advancing before him. ( v41 ) ‘The Philistine scorned when, looking about, he saw David, a youth, ruddy and good-looking.’  ‘Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?  The rod of God’s authority is no switch.  Goliath appealed to his powerless,  heathen gods, compared with the living God, ‘as he cursed David.  The blessing of the Lord,  resting on David as a child of the King, was effective over the curses of the enemy.  David had the spiritual shield of faith to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

The Philistine made an empty boast, inviting David to ‘ Come to me and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.’ (v44) Remember this empty threat when we conclude the story. This shabby invitation contrasted with our Lord Jesus’, Who said, ‘Come unto ME all you who are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.’

David replied to the giant, ‘ You come to me with a sword and a spear, and with a 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.’ (v45)  Wesley’s hymns tell the fragrance of His Name.

All hail the power of Jesus’ Name. Jesus the Name high over all.
Join all the glorious names of wisdom, love and power.
How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds in a believer’s ear,
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, and drives away his fears.

David the shepherd boy knew the hidden power in Him of whom he wrote, ‘The Lord is My Shepherd, I shall not want. Do you know the Name of the Lord as a strong tower, to which the righteous runs – and is safe. Flee to the Refuge of His Name.

David confidently predicted that ‘This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head. And this day I will give the carcases of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the earth that all the earth may know that there is a GOD in Israel. ‘Amazing, bold prophecy from a young man, chosen of the Lord to be King of Israel, the nation that had run from the taunts of this giant.  He saw that the nations of the world must know the Lord is the true God.

David had a word for the nation of Israel, ‘That all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.’ ( v47)  Zechariah wrote years later the same truth, ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, says the Lord.’ ( 4:6)  Of course, we think of natural resources, when the Lord gives spiritual and  eternal means to do His work.

The arrogant enemy approached David, doubtless, his eyes bulging in unbelief that this slim athlete should fearlessly contest a heavy weight of his dimensions.  David was no sluggard, for ‘He hastened and ran towards the army to meet the Philistine. The people of Israel must have frozen in amazement with the unequal contest.  I hope they prayed for David, and that God’s glory would shine through.  It surely did.

From my childhood, when my grandmother first told me this exciting story, unto today, I marvel ‘that David put his hand in his bag, and selected a stone, and he slung it, and struck the Philistine into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth.’ I believe it too. In every hospital Casualty department, students are trained to examine just behind the forehead to see whether the cranium is fractured, eliminating possible damage to the middle meningeal artery.  If cracked, cerebral bleeding may follow.

When this conceited fellow lifted his head to guffaw at this youthful David, his bronze helmet would have slipped back, exposing this vital part of his skull.  I wonder if the crack was heard across the battle field, like the rifle shot of a snapped tendon Achilles.

 ‘David struck the Philistine and killed him’. The Scripture added the startling fact

’that there was no sword in the hand of David.’ (v50)  God taught the young warrior that he must trust in the armour of God and not that of fallen flesh.  Again ‘David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it.’  Prophecy was gloriously fulfilled for in Genesis 3;15, ‘The seed of the woman should bruise the head of the serpent, and it shall bruise his heel.’   When our Lord died on Calvary, he defeated or gave a head wound to satan, while His heel, or earthly life, was put to death, so that HE could rise again from the dead.

Christ’s complete victory is your’s when you entirely trust Him for your salvation.

The enemy was routed.  ‘When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.’  The ungodly were confused, disorderly, lacked leadership and heart-broken when their hero was slain.  Christ, our Champion, triumphed in every circumstance.

God breathed new life into the fearful Israelites under David’s faithful leadership.  ‘The men of israel and Judah arose and shouted, and pursued the philistines. Once tremulous, insecure and retreating, God’s people  enjoyed the spoils of war. David’s success had turned the whole campaign; and restored the hearts of the people.

David carried the evidence of his convincing victory to Jerusalem, as ‘ He took the head of the Philistine.  He stowed Goliath’s armour in a museum tent to remind them that God had overcome through the faith of a young man.

‘Abner, whose son is this, enquired King Saul’?  Surprisingly, Abner replied, ’As your soul lives , O King, I do not know.’ ( v55)  While this unknown youth had  overthrown  this blaspheming giant, neither General Abner not King Saul knew the central figure in the drama.   However, God knew him, having chosen and anointed him with oil through the prophet Samuel.  Our Father knows many of the mighty men and women of faith, often unknown to most.

‘Abner took David and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.’ Although Saul had been head and shoulders taller than most of his soldiers, he had lacked courage to face the enemy onslaughts.  Saul must surely have been ashamed to see the gruesome evidence of a national victory in the hand of this young man.

Saul neither commended him for his conspicuous bravery, nor honoured him for his courageous epic, but rather lamely asked, ‘Whose son are you, young man?’ To which David responded, ‘ I am the son of your servant Jesse, the Bethlehemite.’ (v58)

There is a greater Son than David the son of Jesse.  Our Lord Jesus was great David’s greater SON.  My wife and I have just spoken with friends of another race whose religion has no Saviour.  WE discussed the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, we discussed Mary’s pregnancy through the Holy Spirit, so that the life of God’s Son was given to her to nurture.  WE talked about His death on the cross, where, as Son of God and Son of Man, He became sin for us.  That was a problem for them.  Saul’s question, ‘Whose son is he’ was asked, relating to the dear Saviour our Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you know personally the Lord Jesus Christ as your own Saviour from sin, who causes you to triumph in every conquest of the giants of anger, lust, jealousy and pride?