1 Samuel 17:20-40 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is 1 Samuel 17:20-40. As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
1 Samuel 17:20 (NIV)
20 Early in the morning David left the flock with a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry.
On verse 20: David was responsible. Before leaving for the next mission his father gave him, David found a qualified person to be in charge of his flock. What can we learn from this? The way to expand how much territory we manage is through wise delegation, planning and involving others. There’s only so much you can do by yourself. Whether it’s in your home, ministry, workplace or elsewhere, is there a role, a responsibility or a skill that you need to start training others to do?
1 Samuel 17:21-27 (NIV)
21 Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other.
22 David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and greeted his brothers.
23 As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it.
24 When the Israelites saw the man, they all ran from him in great fear.
25 Now the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his father’s family from taxes in Israel.”
26 David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
27 They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.”
On verses 21-27: The prize Saul promised to the one who defeated Goliath had to be great enough that the best warrior would be willing to risk his life for it. So Saul promised to give that warrior “great riches”, his own royal daughter in marriage as his bride, and freedom for his family (“make his family free in Israel” is what the King James Version says, referring to exemption from taxes).
What was the prize Jesus won when he faced and defeated Satan? It was you and me, His church. In Jesus’ eyes, we were the prize worth giving his life for. For example:
– We are, for Jesus, great riches — a great treasure worth giving up everything to have (Matthew 13:44), a pearl of great price (Matthew 13:45), His inheritance (Ephesians 1:18).
– We are His royal bride (Ephesians 5:25; Revelation 21:9-10).
– And because Jesus defeated Satan, we His family have been set free, no longer to be taxed by death and our old sinful self (Romans 6:6).
Praise God! If ever you question your worth, just remember that you are the prize Jesus risked his life to win. You are a treasure in God’s eyes!
1 Samuel 17:28-30 (NIV)
28 When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.”
29 “Now what have I done?” said David. “Can’t I even speak?”
30 He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before.
On verses 28-30: Here we get a sense of David’s relationship with his oldest brother Eliab. It seems like Eliab had the habit of picking on David. Rather than quarrel with his brother right there and then, David wisely focused his attention elsewhere. What can we learn from this? There is a time to confront and communicate, and there’s a time to let go and focus on other things. The wise and happy person knows when to do which.
1 Samuel 17:31-33 (NIV)
31 What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him.
32 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”
33 Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth.”
On verses 31-33: When David told Saul that he would fight Goliath, Saul’s response was not encouraging. Parents and other leaders, let’s be careful to speak words that build up those we lead, especially when they share their dreams with us. That doesn’t mean we must endorse everything they want to do, no matter how silly or unrealistic it may seem to us. But we must still be careful in our choice of words. Through our words to those we lead, may we be a launchpad, not a lid, for their potential.
1 Samuel 17:34-37 (NIV)
34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock,
35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.
36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.
37 The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you.”
On verses 34-37: David had the insight to see that the previous challenges he had faced and conquered had prepared him for the current challenge in front of him. Likewise, your past experiences are preparing you for the future challenges you will face. So when you’re facing uncertainty today, look to God’s faithfulness yesterday to give you hope for tomorrow. The same God who delivered you yesterday is with you today and will deliver you from every trial you face tomorrow.
1 Samuel 17:38-40 (NIV)
38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head.
39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. “I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off.
40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.
On verses 38-40: Why did David pick five stones? Some scholars speculate that Goliath may have had brothers. Other scholars say that the number 5 in the Bible symbolizes God’s grace and so when David picked up 5 stones it represented his belief that he would defeat Goliath not because of his own power, but because of God’s grace. The fact is we don’t know for sure.
But here’s something we do know: David approached Goliath not in a warrior’s armor but with a shepherd’s staff. Similarly, to fight Satan for us, Jesus Christ laid aside his “God armor” — his rights, privileges and abilities as God — and took on human flesh (Philippians 2:5-8). Rather than appearing as a conquering warrior, like David he came as a gentle shepherd. Yet Satan would never encounter a more formidable foe than this Son of David.
Thank You Lord Jesus for the way You risked and gave Your life for us. Thank You that in Your eyes we are a treasure worth sacrificing everything for, a bride worth fighting for, and a family worth dying for. May we see Your church with those same eyes and love the way You do. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
Copyright © 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.
