Do Something Alternative – Part 1, Setting the Stage
2006 : February  |  Website Version  

With today’s message, we begin a Series by our friend Kevin Mounce. Kevin provided us with a devotion towards the end of 2005, and we are thankful he is back again. Kevin has a God given ability to communicate with his audience, and we pray this Series will be a blessing to you.

1 Samuel 17, as revealed by the Holy Spirit to Kevin Mounce…

The title of this Series is Do Something Alternative. I struggled with this title because the word alternative is not always looked upon in a positive light today; it’s associated with,

Hopefully, after this Series, you will see that being alternative is not always bad; in fact, it can be a good thing: a very good thing.

The Bible verses for this Series are found in 1 Samuel 17, and today’s message will begin by setting the stage. Verse 1 & 2 in Chapter 17 tell us that the Philistines and the Israelites are preparing for a war.
  • The Israelites were on one hill
  • The Philistines were on the other
  • And the battle line had been drawn
The Philistines had their champion, and his name was Goliath; to give you an idea about the size of this man, Scripture tells us that:
  • He was 9 ¾ feet tall
  • He wore a coat of scale armor (made out of bronze) that weighed 5000 shekels (about 125 pounds)
  • He wore bronze shin guards
  • His javelin weighed a total of about 32 lbs.
On top of being a monster of a physical being, this man had an additional 150 to 200 pounds of armor to protect him. He was a battle-hardened warrior who had seen many fights. This was truly an intimidating figure.

For 40 days Goliath came out every morning and, to use a modern expression, ‘talked trash’ to the Israelites. He took great joy in taunting them and would say things like,
 
          …"Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the 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 (NIV)
 
Goliath was willing to fight one on one, because, in times past, oftentimes an army would avoid the high cost of battle by pitting its strongest warrior against the enemy’s strongest warrior. This avoided great bloodshed, and the man who won the fight also won the battle for his side. In other words, if Goliath beat the fighter from Israel, the Philistines would be declared victorious in battle. If the Israelite won the fight, then Israel would be declared victorious.

Verse 11 of 1 Samuel 17 tells us that upon hearing Goliath challenging them, all the Israelites were terrified. As King of Israel, Saul might have had the most to fear; he was the tallest of the Israelites, and he would probably be the best match for Goliath. With everything that someone stood to lose personally, and with everything that Israel stood to lose as a nation, entering into battle with Goliath would take an extraordinary person.

David had 3 older brothers that had followed Saul to the battlefield and were prepared to wage war:
  • Eliab (i – li – ab)
  • Abinadab (a – bin – a – dab)
  • Shammah (sha – mah)
David, on the other hand, was tending his father’s sheep in Bethlehem, and he would make occasional trips to the battle camps to visit with is brothers. One day, David’s father, Jesse told David to take some grain, some bread and some cheese to his brothers, and he asked David to bring back some good news. While David is visiting his brothers near the battlefront, Goliath emerges and proceeds to taunt the Israelites. The Israelites scatter as Goliath urges them on to battle.

David hears Goliath’s taunts, and proceeds to ask, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel?” (1 Samuel 17:26 NIV) He is told that he will receive:
  • Great wealth
  • The King’s daughter’s hand in marriage
  • Exemption from taxes in Israel
When David’s older brother, Eliab, hears David speaking to the men, he is furious with David and says,
 
         28 …"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."
 1 Samuel 17:28 (NIV)
 
Doesn’t that sound like a typical older brother talking to his little brother? ‘What are you doing down here? Who do you think you are coming down here and acting like a man you arrogant little squirt?’ David responds like a typical younger brother, "Now what have I done?" said David. "Can't I even speak?" (1 Samuel 17:29 NIV)

David’s conversations at the battlefront are overheard and reported to King Saul, and Saul sends for him. David tells Saul that he will fight Goliath. To which Saul replies, “…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." (1 Samuel 17:33 NIV) David is unrelenting, and he continues to push Saul for permission to fight Goliath. Finally, Saul agrees to let David battle Goliath to determine the fate of Israel.
 
          …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, 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. 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. 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.”
 1 Samuel 17:34-37 (NIV)
 
Now, I’m sure most of you are familiar with the story of David and Goliath. It’s the classic story of the ‘little guy’ battling the ‘giant’ and emerging victorious. But, I want to approach these verses from a different angle in this Series. I don’t want to focus on the ‘little guy / big guy’ part of the story. I’ll focus on other aspects of this story that are important for Christians. When we resume the Series in the next message, I’ll first focus on how Saul wanted to dress David for the battle.

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you today and always…

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1 Samuel 17:34-50 (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.”
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 this hand, approached the Philistine.
41  Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David.
42  He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome,” and he despised him.
43  He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
44  “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”
45  David said to the Philistine, “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.
46  This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.
47  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.”
48  As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.
49  Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.
50  So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

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