“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. And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents. And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent. 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. And the king said, Inquire thou whose son the stripling is. 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. 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” (1 Samuel 17:52-58).
Introduction
In this section we find David taking the next step in God’s plan for him to become Israel’s next king.
The broken promise
The Philistines did not stay around but fled for their lives. We see that they had no intention of keeping their promise of becoming slaves to Israel if someone could slay Goliath, for they did not believe anyone was able to do it. We should never expect the enemies of God to be true to their word. If the Philistines had submitted themselves to Israel as promised, they would not have been slaughtered. Notice too how David’s act of faith and courage was the needed spark to cause the soldiers to go out against their foe. They would never have thought that a shepherd boy could do so much good for Israel. The armour of Goliath was put in David’s tent, but his sword would be placed in the safekeeping of the priests as memorials of the great victory won by the Lord. The giants head would be paraded around Jerusalem as a sign to all of Israel’s enemies that God was on their side. This might sound gory, but it reminds us of the fact that sin is horrible too. The Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross to deliver us from sin and Satan. He too paraded His triumph over them. “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:15).
Who is he?
Why did not Saul know who David was? He had already met him when he was employed to be Saul’s musician. He knew that he was the son of Jesse too. “Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, which is with the sheep” (1 Samuel 16:19). It appears that the “evil spirit” sent by God had made the king forgetful (1 Samuel 16:14). We already know that this spirit “troubled” Saul on occasions (1 Samuel 16:15), so this might be evidence of his emotional and psychological disorder brought about through disobeying God, or as Paul would say, “His reprobate mind”, “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind” (Romans 1:28). “The distemper of Saul's mind might make him forgetful” (John Wesley). Abner did not seem to know David for other reasons. He probably had only given David a passing glance in the palace, or as Wesley adds, “He took little notice of a person so much inferior to him.”
Sin is the reason why people have very little knowledge of Scripture. See how even church members can rattle off the names of film, sports and music celebrities, but can hardly remember but a few men and women of faith mentioned in the Bible. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6).
King Saul was impressed by the faith and courage of a shepherd boy. He must have had a few hundred warriors on the battlefield that day, but he saw the hand of God on David’s life. David had previously delivered Saul from his troubled mind, and now he had rescued him from the tyranny of the Philistines. No wonder the king was amazed at him.
Conclusion
David took his trophies from the battle, but most
of all he had won the day for Israel. Soon he would win the heart of the nation.
We should never believe that God cannot use us. There may be more qualified and
able people that could get the job done, but when God puts His hand on our lives
then He will anoint us for a purpose. “For
ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not
many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things
of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the
world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and
things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to
bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But
of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and
righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is
written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Corinthians
1:26-31).
© 2/2/2009