More than Morality, Part 2
This week, we continue to look at the story of David and Goliath in First Samuel 17 as a case study for how to properly interpret Bible stories, particularly OT narratives, in connection with Scripture's gospel storyline. We must avoid reducing any story to a moralistic message. The Bible is Gospel. In Part One, I called us to purposefully search the story itself for the words that are actually there. How many times have we skipped over things that are right under our noses? David was young, unable to wear Saul's armor, unimpressive, and laughably not intimidating! The point of the text certainly cannot be "toughen up like David; slay your giants!"
Purpose Statements
I also said to look for any purpose statements in the text itself (we found two in verses 46 and 47). The author is telling us a lot about why this story is there: "that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel" and "that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear." These statements are the expressions of David's faith in God to deliver his people despite their weaknesses and without their weapons. Little old ladies, fearful men, and frail youth all can take that lesson home.
Repetition
I also called you to pay particular attention to repetition. Our passage repeats a negative—Goliath defied God (we are told this five times)—and one positive—God will deliver up Goliath. David testifies to the Israelites that the LORD will "deliver" just as he has "delivered" in the past (v. 37). David has the same confidence before Goliath, "This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand" (v. 46). We find this statement right before the purpose statement, further reinforcing the point that we are to trust God who delivers those who trust in him; he gets the glory. Repetition often guides us to the central theme(s) of a text, especially in the OT.
Theological Questions
Throughout our exploration of a passage, we should ask many theological questions. What does this teach us about God? What does this teach us about man? What does this teach us about sin? What do we learn about salvation? and so on. If we simply stop and think about it, we will be amazed at how much light shines on a story when we ask these questions. We have already unearthed a good bit so far. God is the only true God and he is the Deliver, yet Philistines worship idols. Goliath, their captain, defies God. That's a problem. God alone is to be worshiped. Furthermore, the Israelites do not seem to be exercising much faith in their God. That is an even bigger problem. Goliath is defying God by defying the army of Israel but who is concerned about God's glory enough to do something? Where's the man who believes God? Enter David. As scrawny and scrappy as he is, wielding cheese but no sword, David has a great leg up on his contemporaries. He believes God. Who needs a sword anyway? God delivers without them. You must think theologically when you read!
What Has Come Before?
Next, we must seek to fit the story in the development of the book so far. What has come before? in the case of David & Goliath, sixteen chapters have come before. (You are reading through whole books of the Bible, right?) We need to think just as much historically as theologically here. 1 Samuel is at a key transitional time from the period of Judges to that of a Monarchy. The last words of Judges leave us expecting a king and a solution to sin. "In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (21:25). First Samuel seeks to tell the story of God establishing a kingdom in Israel. It also painfully records how many in Israel, let alone the nations, still did what was right in their own eyes. From Eli and his sons to the people of Israel to king Saul, we are confronted with many sins and little faith.
But then there's Hannah, a barren woman mistaken for being drunk when she prays. Eli should have been scolding his sons not her! Hannah's prayer (2:1-12) is a mini theology of God himself, but I want to point out two things in relation to David and Goliath. One of the purpose statements we uncovered above is here, many chapters before: "for not by might shall a man prevail" (2:9). Then there's her prophecy of a king, an anointed. "The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed" (2:10). The Hebrew word for anointed is the equivalent to "Christ." This concept will be fleshed out even more in the rest of Scripture. And don't miss whose king, whose Christ, we're talking about: his king, his Christ. Let's see where this goes. This ought to be good!
The theme of king and kingdom are central to Samuel. The people demand a king so they can be "like all the nations," to which God says "they have rejected me from being king over them" (8:5,7). Though Saul is coronated at God's command, Saul's sin results in the kingdom being torn from him (13:13-14; 15:28). Instead, "The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you” (13:14). The kingdom was looking dismal almost as soon as it began. But God had other plans. He was not done with the kingdom. He would give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.
Then there's Chapter 16. The author of Samuel puts the anointing of David as king right before the story of David and Goliath (though it is unclear if the anointing came before that event chronologically). God's choice of king, the youngest son of Jesse, is not the people's choice nor Samuel's! "But the LORD said to Samuel, 'Do not look on his [Eliab's] appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart'" (16:7). Certainly God was not looking for a worldly icon of a man to lead his people, he was looking for someone whose heart belonged to him, who trusted him, who worshiped him. In the story of David and Goliath, we see David's heart for God. Why is it then that this story is so often taught emphasizing the outer man, muscles, and manliness (improperly defined)? If we are interpreting David and Goliath along macho-man lines, we are actually going against the author's point: "for not by might shall a man prevail" (2:9). If it's not might, then how do we prevail? By faith. This isn't pull yourself up by your bootstraps stuff, folks!
Next week, I will take us down the road of what comes after the David and Goliath episode. This story is one development in a grander narrative that the author of Samuel is stitching together. For now, remember that the Lord is looking at your heart. And, to quote the greater David, the Christ, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Mt 6:21). Is God the treasure of your life, the prize of your heart, the wellspring of your soul? If so, it will show in how you live, in what you say, and in how you put your faith, even small faith, in a great and glorious God into practice. Trust God. Live for God. Worship God that all the earth may know him!
