First Samuel 17:37

The Bible says in First Samuel 17:37-51, “David said moreover, The LORD 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. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.[38] And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail.[39] And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.[40] And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.[41] And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him.[42] And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.[43] And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.[44] And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.[45] Then said David to the Philistine, 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.[46] This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.[47] And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hands.[48] And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.[49] And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.[50] So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.[51] Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.” It is amazing what the Lord can do with one young person who is prepared and who trusts in Him. David knew what he could do. David knew what he was going to do. This was the Old Testament time when things were much different than the New Testament time in which we live. Also, this was war. David was going to chop off Goliath’s head because Goliath dared to oppose God. And that is exactly what happened. Goliath was defeated, and the armies of the Philistines fled.

The Bible says in First Samuel 17:52-58, “And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron.[53] And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents.[54] And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent.[55] And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell.[56] And the king said, Inquire thou whose son the stripling is.[57] And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.[58] And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.” This was a violent time. The Israelites were at war in hand-to-hand combat. David is carrying Goliath’s head “in his hand” when David comes before King Saul. What an image this presents. Most of the pictures of the story of David and Goliath show a view of things before Goliath was killed: David standing in front of Goliath with a slingshot in David’s hand. There is no slingshot in his hand now. It did its work. Something else is in David’s hand: the bloody, ugly, huge head of Goliath the slaughtered Philistine. When God wants to make a statement, He makes a statement. God is going to give the victory, and He will use whoever He wants to use. If the adults will not enter the battle and fight, maybe God will use a youth. That is what He did with David.

The Bible says in First Samuel 18:1-5, “And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.[2] And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father's house.[3] Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.[4] And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.[5] And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul's servants.” It is amazing how God guides each of our lives. One of the results of all that happened to David up to this point was that he came into contact with Saul’s son, Jonathan. David and Jonathan were one of the great friendships in the Bible and of all time. Much more will be said about their friendship in the rest of the book of First Samuel. They were soulmates as it says at the end of verse one, “the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.” That was a friendship made in heaven. It says in verse three that “he loved him as his own soul.” And then Jonathan gave clothing and armament to David so that David would be dressed appropriately. True friendship will result in doing things for the friend. If you are a Christian, then other Christians should be your friends. It says in First John 3:17, “But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?”

The Bible says in First Samuel 18:6-9, “And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of musick.[7] And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.[8] And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom?[9] And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.” Human nature does not change. We should be happy about other people’s successes and congratulate them. Jealousy and envy are terrible sins. Such sins happen because of the selfishness of human nature. Saul was jealous, then he was angry, and then he was out to get David. God forbid that such a thing would happen with Christians in Christian congregations, but it does. Christians are warned in James 3:14-16, “But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.[15] This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.[16] For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.”

The Bible says in First Samuel 18:10-16, “And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul's hand.[11] And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice.[12] And Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and was departed from Saul.[13] Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.[14] And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the LORD was with him.[15] Wherefore when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him.[16] But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.” Normally, in the Old Testament when it says that someone “prophesied,” it is a good thing. But an “evil spirit from God came upon Saul.” Prophesying, preaching, and teaching can be evil. It depends upon what is motivating the speaker. It depends upon what spirit they have. There is the spirit of the world. There is the spirit of evil. And there is the Spirit of God. Those who serve Jesus rely upon the Spirit of God. Saul tried to kill David with a javelin, but Saul missed his target. God decides everything. David would not die until God’s time. None of us die until God’s time. Notice that verse twelve says that “Saul was afraid of David.” Courage and boldness and the right kind of confidence come from God. In verse thirteen Saul put David in the army, hoping that David would be killed in battle. Of course, that did not happen either. In spite of how much Saul hated David, it says in verse sixteen that “all Israel and Judah loved David.” The Lord is in control. Do the right thing: stay close to the Lord, and God will bless your life and use it according to His will for you.

The Bible says in First Samuel 18:17-25, “And Saul said to David, Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife: only be thou valiant for me, and fight the LORD's battles. For Saul said, Let not mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him.[18] And David said unto Saul, Who am I? and what is my life, or my father's family in Israel, that I should be son in law to the king?[19] But it came to pass at the time when Merab Saul's daughter should have been given to David, that she was given unto Adriel the Meholathite to wife.[20] And Michal Saul's daughter loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him.[21] And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul said to David, Thou shalt this day be my son in law in the one of the twain.[22] And Saul commanded his servants, saying, Commune with David secretly, and say, Behold, the king hath delight in thee, and all his servants love thee: now therefore be the king's son in law.[23] And Saul's servants spake those words in the ears of David. And David said, Seemeth it to you a light thing to be a king's son in law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed?[24] And the servants of Saul told him, saying, On this manner spake David.[25] And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.” This passage shows once again how evil Saul was. Saul even used his daughters and their marriages to be a snare to get at David. Yes, there are parents who are so selfish that they will attempt to manipulate and use their children for their own deceitful purposes. Saul did not keep his word. First, he offers his oldest daughter to David, and goes back on his word. Merab was promised to David, and then given to someone else. Perhaps Saul was trying to provoke David into doing something rash for which David could be accused. But David was too wise and humble to be deceived and manipulated in that way. Do the right thing and things will work out for you. David appreciated the opportunity to become the king’s son in law no matter how that came to pass. Of course, Saul used his second daughter, Michal, to try and set David up to be killed. It says at the end of verse twenty-five, “Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.” Of course, as we have already seen: God had a plan for David’s life and therefore Saul could never kill David. One of the benefits of knowing Christ as Savior is that we know that we will not die until God’s time.

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