The Champion

1 Samuel 17:1-16                                                                                                          May 31, 2026

The story of David and Goliath is one that nearly everyone is familiar with.  Most of us heard the story when we were young.  It is the kind of story that kids, especially boys, can understand and enjoy.  What kid has not enjoyed a giant getting his comeuppance?  Even though the story is familiar, let us find some new things to add to our understanding of one of the shortest battles in history.

The Philistine and Israelite armies gathered on either side of the Valley of Elah.  This valley is around 19 miles south west of Jerusalem and an ancient road can still be seen beside the modern road.  By automobile, it is a pleasant 45-minute trip to Jerusalem.  Not far from the site of the battle is a winery with a large accompanying vineyard.  Also, beside the ancient road, one finds the ruins of a Byzantine church and near it is the traditional grave of Goliath.  For centuries pilgrims have angerly thrown three stones on the gravesite and today there is a huge mound of similar sized stones that are not native to the area.  

The Philistines were people of the coastal plain while the Israelites were people of the Judean hill country.  Consequently, the Philistines had thirty-thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen.  Prior to the fight between David and Goliath, the Philistines were soundly defeated by the Israelites at Michmash.  They were looking to get revenge against Israel.  There is another factor that enters this situation.  The Philistines smelted and worked Iron while the Israelites were still in what we call the Bronze Age and their weapons were made of bronze.  They had no iron weapons.  Obviously, the Philistines had quite an advantage over the Israelites as iron is stronger than bronze.  However, since both armies were gathered on the opposite side of the Valley of Elah, some of the Philistine advantage was tempered.

What is a kid doing on the front lines?  David’s father gave him the task of taking supplies to the Israelite army and bringing back information.  He is bringing thirty-six pounds of roasted grain, ten loaves of bread and ten cheeses.  The grain and bread are for his three soldier brothers and the cheese for the commander of their unit.  David was the youngest in his family and was a shepherd boy, not a soldier.  His experience was herding sheep, not fighting Israel’s enemies.

What does David find when he enters the camp?  He finds King Saul and his army in fear of the enemy.  There is no battle going on.  The Philistine’s secret weapon, Goliath, and the fear of the Israelite soldiers and king have created a stalemate.  Every day for forty days, morning and night, the giant Goliath comes to the area in the valley between the two armies and challenges the Israelites to come and fight him.  

Israel is quite familiar with giants.  When Moses sent twelve men to spy out the land of Canaan, they saw giants.  Ten of the men were shaking in their boots but Caleb and Joshua were not intimidated by them.  The giants were descendants of Rapha.  The Bible reports that Goliath had four brothers.  I would hate to have been Goliath’s mother.  We don’t know how much he weighed at birth.  Much later than the current battle, one of David’s brothers fought a giant who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot.  Israel, indeed, had experience facing giants but King Saul and his soldiers must have forgotten this.

We are familiar with giants too.  The giants we face are intimidating, threatening and enormous.  Sherwood Baptist Church in Atlanta produced a film, “Facing the Giants.”  It was about the Shiloah High School Eagles football team who were having a losing season.  They faced an undefeated team called the Giants.  In addition to coaching issues, the Eagle’s coach, Grant Taylor was facing some personal giants but he inspired his team to play for God’s glory and they defeated the Giants.  I’m sure the writer was inspired by the story of David and Goliath.  Some writers tell us that, “Giants are absolutely necessary for our spiritual growth.”  We grow spiritually as we trust God and successfully deal with the giants that come in our lives.  One writer wrote: “The whole Christian life is one battle after another and most of us will face a whole army of giants before the story is fully told, to answer the basic question, a giant is any situation in our path which blocks the way God wants us to go.”  Our giants may not be the size of Goliath, but they are challenges we face as we trust God and put our faith in him.

The Bible reports: “A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp.  His height was six cubits and a span.  [In our measurement system, he was nine feet nine inches.]  He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighting one hundred and twenty-five pounds; on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back.  His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighted fifteen pounds (1 Samuel 17:4-7).”  It is no surprise that the Israelite soldiers were filled with fear.

History reports that there was a winner-take-all system in some conflicts.  Rather than exposing the armies to terrible injuries and death, each army named a champion.  The champions would fight, often to death, and the winner’s side would win the battle.  The winners would likely enslave the losers and would plunder their camp.  Goliath was the Philistine Champion and he called the Israelites to send a champion to battle him.  By right of position, King Saul would have been the Israelite champion but he was consumed with fear.

When David came on the scene, he noticed that the Israelite soldiers were fearful of Goliath.  Every day, morning and evening, Goliath came down and uttered a challenge that put fear in the Israelite army.  Twice a day for forty days, Goliath came down into the valley and issued a challenge: “Why do you come out and line up for battle?  Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul?  Choose a man and have him come down to me.  If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us (1 Samuel 17:8-9).”  He is calling for a battle of two champions.  In addition, he yelled out, “This day I defy the armies of Israel!  Give me a man and let us fight each other (1 Samuel 17:10).”  What was the Israelite response?  “On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified (1 Samuel 17:11).”  

What we do not understand was that this was not only a battle of weapons of war, but it was a spiritual battle.  The Philistines were pagans and devoted to their god, Dagon.  The Israelites were devoted to the Lord God.  This is primarily a battle between the Lord God and the false god of the Philistines.  King Saul should have understood that.  His soldiers should have understood that.  Their cowardness was a sign of their lack of faith in the Lord God.  When Goliath says that he is defying the armies of Israel, he is defying the Lord God.  From Scripture, we learn from another Old Testament war, “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s (2 Chronicles 20:15b.)”  The Psalmist proclaims, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God (Psalm 20:7.)”  All through Scripture, we read that the battle is the Lord’s.   

David is the only one who sees the real situation.  The soldiers are blind to the Lord God.  King Saul should have seen what was really going on but he is also blind to the Lord God.  Everyone is filled with fear; no one except David is unafraid.  He comes to King Saul and the king warns him that he is only a young boy, not a soldier.  Goliath is a trained, experienced and seasoned, warrior.  David is not discouraged and the king gives him permission to do battle with Goliath.  King Saul even puts his own armor and helmet on David but since he was not a trained soldier, he could not deal with the weight of armor and helmet.  The only weapons David had was a shepherd’s staff and a sling.  Goliath was of the Iron Age and, in essence, David was of the stone age.

David goes down to fight the giant.  His presence angers the giant.  Goliath despised him and issued insults.  He cursed David by his gods.  Goliath, the pagan, understood not only physical warfare but also comprehended spiritual warfare.  In essence, he said that Dagon would easily win.  Was David intimidated?  No, he replies, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.  This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head.  This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and [get this!] the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.  All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands (1 Samuel 17:45-47).”  King Saul was the spiritual leader of Israel but David knew the Lord God and trusted in him.  You know the rest of the story.  David nailed Goliath in the forehead with a stone then cut off his head.  Goliath died on the battlefield.  A neurologist writes: “Goliath suffered a devastating, penetrating craniocerebral injury.”  But we know that.  The Lord won the victory.

The emphasis here is not on David’s ability to sling a stone but on how great and powerful the

Lord God Almighty is.  The last time I preached I spoke about Gideon and his weaknesses.  The Lord God seems to use the weak to accomplish his purposes so that he will get the glory when a great thing is accomplished.  A church has a motto that points this out.  It was simple: “Small Church; Great God.”  God’s power is accomplished through us when we trust in him to deal with our giants.  Giants are intimidating and powerful.  We fear giants.  However, God working through us will conquer the giants we face.  It is a matter of trusting in him and having faith that he will prevail.

A sermon preached at Veterans Memorial Chapel by CH (COL) Michael W. Malone, USA RET