Reactions ~
So, you know the story: David kills Goliath. David
~ the youngest son, the one Eliab (David's oldest brother) hated and abhorred ~
does what the rest of the entire army of Israel (yes, including King Saul) will not do: he takes on Goliath and kills him by hitting him in the center of his forehead with a rock from a sling. Then, adding insult to injury David takes Goliath's sword and cuts off Goliath's head. . .and carries it around for a while. Mental picture: really yucky!! Yeah! It is a great story ... so great the it is metaphor for the victory of the "little guy".
So -- by the by -- did you notice that God seems to have "a thing" for the youngest son, especially youngest sons who have a really bad relationship with their older brothers? Jacob...Joseph...and now David. Hmmmmm. . . interesting, don't you think?
but
that is not what I want to write about. I am caught by the reactions. The next few verses turn the camera from David (mostly) to everyone around him. This event changes so very much! Yeah, of course...the loud-mouthed giant is now dead, that is a big deal. But the writer of this account seems to almost rush past that. There is no scene of a wild, crazed, grateful mob grabbing David and hoisting him to their shoulders, no ticker-tape parade. In a few short verses we are given so much foreshadowing...so many reactions.
Reaction 1
1 Sam 17:51-18:5
When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron. [by the way...go check a map. This is a LONG way!] When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp. David took the Philistine's head and brought it to Jerusalem, and he put the Philistine's weapons in his own tent.
The entire Philistine army ran! OK, were they all just wimps who had counted on Israel's hysteric reaction to Goliath's rants...and yes, that had worked well for over a month. So did the Philistine soldiers just stop cleaning their swords and stop all archery practice? I suspect that they ran because of the real terror that came when David confronted Goliath, before David slung the rock:
1 Sam 17:45-47
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. 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. 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."
Imagine that you are a Philistine ~
Here comes this kid, no armor, no sword, and most importantly no fear. It is not the "no fear" of arrogant stupidity...it is the "no fear" of actual confidence. David isn't ranting. There is no bravado. David's confidence rings out. Everyone knows the difference. There is a sharpness in the quiet before he even starts to speak, there is a tone in the voice, he carries no sword, but there is glint of steel in his eyes. I think everyone stopped and thought, (whatever the Philistine equivalent would be of) "oh crap!!" So when Goliath falls like timber to the ground, the reaction of the entire Philistine army is to run! It isn't logical ~ Israel's army has been sitting on their duffs too. And David can't kill everyone! He did have 4 more stones (most sermons on the story note that he probably knew Goliath had 4 brothers...I am not so sure about that ~ what Goliath had with him was an actual army, not just 4 brothers. I suspect David thought that if it took one stone, great. If not...well he could surely kill him in 3 or 4 tries.) So it cannot really be DAVID the Philistines are afraid of. I believe the actual 'FEAR of GOD' hit. David had made it clear ~ I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty...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." I think this day was pivotal to David...not because he killed a giant. I think God wanted this lesson -- God WILL back you -- BRANDED into David's psyche. He knew it...he did take on a giant. But he had to KNOW...cuz soon he would be running for his life, not from enemies but from 'friends'. I think one of things God wants is not just for us to see miracles, but for us to draw the correct conclusions from those miracles, and for us to use those conclusions to make decisions from then on!
Reaction 2
As Saul watched David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, commander of the army, "Abner, whose son is that young man?"
Abner replied, "As surely as you live, O king, I don't know."
The king said, "Find out whose son this young man is."
As soon as David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with David still holding the Philistine's head. [GREAT mental image, huh!?]
"Whose son are you, young man?" Saul asked him.
David said, "I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem."
OK, so it seems that even though Saul had chosen David as his armor bearer and let him play the harp when he went on a demonic rant...Saul never really 'saw' David. You know, we look at things, and people and kind of keep them two dimensional. This conversation between Saul and Abner starts BEFORE David kills Goliath. I think Abner walked out of tent, heard the hush of the crowd, heard David tell Goliath how 'the cow was gonna eat the cabbage', as it were. I think he stood agape as David swung his sling. It must have been one of those 'slow motion' moments: the crackling snap of the leather as the sling released the stone, the intake of breath in two armies as Goliath freezes for a moment and then falls like a redwood. But -- I think the moment etched with a laser into Abner's memory was when David ran forward and grabbed Goliath's sword and sliced off his head. I can see a slow grin form, and I can see Abner nodding knowingly -- one warrior recognizing another. Can't you see it? Then it is mayhem...running, killing Philistines as fast as you can, running, more killing Philistines, lots more running after fleeing Philistines.
As Abner trudges home much later, amid lots of singing and backslapping, he grabs one of his attendants, "Hey, who's the kid? The one who killed the giant?"
"It is David, the youngest son of Jesse. You know, Eliab and Abinadab and Shammah's brother."
" Right. Wait...isn't he the one who plays ... "
"Yeah, the harp player ~ and the one Saul made armor bearer. Damn! Did you see ~ "
"Come on! We gotta go get him...Saul's gonna want to see him" . . . They find David at his tent. He is dirty and bloody. Someone gave him some old, mismatched armor to wear as they chased Philistines. He is holding Goliath's head, standing in a pool brown, thick blood, just staring. "David? Right? Saul would like to see you. I'm Abner. "
David tears his eyes from the empty stare of Goliath's glazed eyes and the blood dripping to the ground. "Yes sir, I know. ... ummm" David looks at his hands and Goliath's blood. He goes to set the gory head down.
"No, bring it with you! I think you should show it to the king. Joab, go see if you can get some water, and maybe something that fits him and ... that doesn't smell.... So, you're Jesse's son, huh?" I think Abner knew in that minute that he and this bloody kid were going to be friends.
Reaction 3
1 Samuel 18
After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return to his father's house. And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.
This is the reaction that I find maybe the most fascinating: I get that Jonathon and David are natural as friends. (There is a great story ... maybe I'll write about it next ... about Jonathon and his armor bearer taking on the Philistine army single-handedly.) But it is the last line: Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.
Jonathon was swearing fealty to David ... he was saying, "You will be the next king, I will not. And I will serve you." This is huge! Did David tell the story about the time Samuel came to dinner? Scripture doesn't say. What ever the case, they became friends and it seems quite clear that Jonathon was OK with David taking the throne .... David was taking the throne from him. David didn't take the throne from Saul ... Saul stayed the 'sitting' king till the day he died. But Jonathon, who was the heir, Jonathon took his own robe ~ the symbol of his authority, and put it around David. He took his sword and bow and belt and gave them to David ... clearly saying, 'I serve you.' WOW!!! This is amazing!! But it is so sad! Saul was a good warrior, but he lacked the key element that would have made him a great king: Saul had no personal relationship with God. Read the story...go back to 1 Samuel chapter 9 and read all the way through to 1 Samuel 13:14. Saul, it seems, wanted Samuel to 'do the religious stuff' for him. 2 Tim 3:5 calls it having "a form of godliness but denying its power." He gave God "lip service"... an exterior, a veneer of relationship; Saul did not have a heart for God, or a personal relationship with God and so real obedience was...well...optional. He did what was expedient, not what was right. It was because of that that God took the kingdom from him. But Jonathon...he did want and have a real relationship with God...or so it seems from the story where he and his armor bearer attack the Philistine outpost. I think he would have made a great king...but his father lost it all for him. And from his reaction to David, it seems, he knew it...and somehow, he was OK with it. Unfortunately, Jonathon died fighting beside his dad. He didn't leave with David when David ran off into the wilderness. I know, there would have been so many 'political' complications had he chosen to be in David's army. Maybe he wouldn't have died...we don't know. It is just sad to me. It is one of those "What MIGHT have been if ... ?"
Reaction 4
Whatever Saul sent him to do, David did it so successfully that Saul gave him a high rank in the army.
This pleased all the people, and Saul's officers as well.
This reaction -- the reaction of the people, but especially the reaction of Saul's officers -- tells me SO much about David. David was young. He was fiery and determined and full of confidence that came from a REAL relationship with God...but he was young. When a young man is promoted over older, seasoned officers and they are PLEASED ... that speaks volumes. Right? It is there that respect must be earned...the scent of Goliath's blood only wafted from David's hands for so long.
The author of 1 Samuel tells us so much about David from these reactions! So although the writer of 1 Samuel turns the camera, as it were, away from David on to Saul and Abner, on to Jonathon, on to the people and the officers of Saul, it is in the reflection from their reactions that we see David.
~ the youngest son, the one Eliab (David's oldest brother) hated and abhorred ~
does what the rest of the entire army of Israel (yes, including King Saul) will not do: he takes on Goliath and kills him by hitting him in the center of his forehead with a rock from a sling. Then, adding insult to injury David takes Goliath's sword and cuts off Goliath's head. . .and carries it around for a while. Mental picture: really yucky!! Yeah! It is a great story ... so great the it is metaphor for the victory of the "little guy".
So -- by the by -- did you notice that God seems to have "a thing" for the youngest son, especially youngest sons who have a really bad relationship with their older brothers? Jacob...Joseph...and now David. Hmmmmm. . . interesting, don't you think?
but
that is not what I want to write about. I am caught by the reactions. The next few verses turn the camera from David (mostly) to everyone around him. This event changes so very much! Yeah, of course...the loud-mouthed giant is now dead, that is a big deal. But the writer of this account seems to almost rush past that. There is no scene of a wild, crazed, grateful mob grabbing David and hoisting him to their shoulders, no ticker-tape parade. In a few short verses we are given so much foreshadowing...so many reactions.
Reaction 1
1 Sam 17:51-18:5
When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron. [by the way...go check a map. This is a LONG way!] When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp. David took the Philistine's head and brought it to Jerusalem, and he put the Philistine's weapons in his own tent.
The entire Philistine army ran! OK, were they all just wimps who had counted on Israel's hysteric reaction to Goliath's rants...and yes, that had worked well for over a month. So did the Philistine soldiers just stop cleaning their swords and stop all archery practice? I suspect that they ran because of the real terror that came when David confronted Goliath, before David slung the rock:
1 Sam 17:45-47
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. 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. 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."
Imagine that you are a Philistine ~
Here comes this kid, no armor, no sword, and most importantly no fear. It is not the "no fear" of arrogant stupidity...it is the "no fear" of actual confidence. David isn't ranting. There is no bravado. David's confidence rings out. Everyone knows the difference. There is a sharpness in the quiet before he even starts to speak, there is a tone in the voice, he carries no sword, but there is glint of steel in his eyes. I think everyone stopped and thought, (whatever the Philistine equivalent would be of) "oh crap!!" So when Goliath falls like timber to the ground, the reaction of the entire Philistine army is to run! It isn't logical ~ Israel's army has been sitting on their duffs too. And David can't kill everyone! He did have 4 more stones (most sermons on the story note that he probably knew Goliath had 4 brothers...I am not so sure about that ~ what Goliath had with him was an actual army, not just 4 brothers. I suspect David thought that if it took one stone, great. If not...well he could surely kill him in 3 or 4 tries.) So it cannot really be DAVID the Philistines are afraid of. I believe the actual 'FEAR of GOD' hit. David had made it clear ~ I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty...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." I think this day was pivotal to David...not because he killed a giant. I think God wanted this lesson -- God WILL back you -- BRANDED into David's psyche. He knew it...he did take on a giant. But he had to KNOW...cuz soon he would be running for his life, not from enemies but from 'friends'. I think one of things God wants is not just for us to see miracles, but for us to draw the correct conclusions from those miracles, and for us to use those conclusions to make decisions from then on!
Reaction 2
As Saul watched David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, commander of the army, "Abner, whose son is that young man?"
Abner replied, "As surely as you live, O king, I don't know."
The king said, "Find out whose son this young man is."
As soon as David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with David still holding the Philistine's head. [GREAT mental image, huh!?]
"Whose son are you, young man?" Saul asked him.
David said, "I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem."
OK, so it seems that even though Saul had chosen David as his armor bearer and let him play the harp when he went on a demonic rant...Saul never really 'saw' David. You know, we look at things, and people and kind of keep them two dimensional. This conversation between Saul and Abner starts BEFORE David kills Goliath. I think Abner walked out of tent, heard the hush of the crowd, heard David tell Goliath how 'the cow was gonna eat the cabbage', as it were. I think he stood agape as David swung his sling. It must have been one of those 'slow motion' moments: the crackling snap of the leather as the sling released the stone, the intake of breath in two armies as Goliath freezes for a moment and then falls like a redwood. But -- I think the moment etched with a laser into Abner's memory was when David ran forward and grabbed Goliath's sword and sliced off his head. I can see a slow grin form, and I can see Abner nodding knowingly -- one warrior recognizing another. Can't you see it? Then it is mayhem...running, killing Philistines as fast as you can, running, more killing Philistines, lots more running after fleeing Philistines.
As Abner trudges home much later, amid lots of singing and backslapping, he grabs one of his attendants, "Hey, who's the kid? The one who killed the giant?"
"It is David, the youngest son of Jesse. You know, Eliab and Abinadab and Shammah's brother."
" Right. Wait...isn't he the one who plays ... "
"Yeah, the harp player ~ and the one Saul made armor bearer. Damn! Did you see ~ "
"Come on! We gotta go get him...Saul's gonna want to see him" . . . They find David at his tent. He is dirty and bloody. Someone gave him some old, mismatched armor to wear as they chased Philistines. He is holding Goliath's head, standing in a pool brown, thick blood, just staring. "David? Right? Saul would like to see you. I'm Abner. "
David tears his eyes from the empty stare of Goliath's glazed eyes and the blood dripping to the ground. "Yes sir, I know. ... ummm" David looks at his hands and Goliath's blood. He goes to set the gory head down.
"No, bring it with you! I think you should show it to the king. Joab, go see if you can get some water, and maybe something that fits him and ... that doesn't smell.... So, you're Jesse's son, huh?" I think Abner knew in that minute that he and this bloody kid were going to be friends.
Reaction 3
1 Samuel 18
After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return to his father's house. And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.
This is the reaction that I find maybe the most fascinating: I get that Jonathon and David are natural as friends. (There is a great story ... maybe I'll write about it next ... about Jonathon and his armor bearer taking on the Philistine army single-handedly.) But it is the last line: Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.
Jonathon was swearing fealty to David ... he was saying, "You will be the next king, I will not. And I will serve you." This is huge! Did David tell the story about the time Samuel came to dinner? Scripture doesn't say. What ever the case, they became friends and it seems quite clear that Jonathon was OK with David taking the throne .... David was taking the throne from him. David didn't take the throne from Saul ... Saul stayed the 'sitting' king till the day he died. But Jonathon, who was the heir, Jonathon took his own robe ~ the symbol of his authority, and put it around David. He took his sword and bow and belt and gave them to David ... clearly saying, 'I serve you.' WOW!!! This is amazing!! But it is so sad! Saul was a good warrior, but he lacked the key element that would have made him a great king: Saul had no personal relationship with God. Read the story...go back to 1 Samuel chapter 9 and read all the way through to 1 Samuel 13:14. Saul, it seems, wanted Samuel to 'do the religious stuff' for him. 2 Tim 3:5 calls it having "a form of godliness but denying its power." He gave God "lip service"... an exterior, a veneer of relationship; Saul did not have a heart for God, or a personal relationship with God and so real obedience was...well...optional. He did what was expedient, not what was right. It was because of that that God took the kingdom from him. But Jonathon...he did want and have a real relationship with God...or so it seems from the story where he and his armor bearer attack the Philistine outpost. I think he would have made a great king...but his father lost it all for him. And from his reaction to David, it seems, he knew it...and somehow, he was OK with it. Unfortunately, Jonathon died fighting beside his dad. He didn't leave with David when David ran off into the wilderness. I know, there would have been so many 'political' complications had he chosen to be in David's army. Maybe he wouldn't have died...we don't know. It is just sad to me. It is one of those "What MIGHT have been if ... ?"
Reaction 4
Whatever Saul sent him to do, David did it so successfully that Saul gave him a high rank in the army.
This pleased all the people, and Saul's officers as well.
This reaction -- the reaction of the people, but especially the reaction of Saul's officers -- tells me SO much about David. David was young. He was fiery and determined and full of confidence that came from a REAL relationship with God...but he was young. When a young man is promoted over older, seasoned officers and they are PLEASED ... that speaks volumes. Right? It is there that respect must be earned...the scent of Goliath's blood only wafted from David's hands for so long.
The author of 1 Samuel tells us so much about David from these reactions! So although the writer of 1 Samuel turns the camera, as it were, away from David on to Saul and Abner, on to Jonathon, on to the people and the officers of Saul, it is in the reflection from their reactions that we see David.
Loved this. Great view from several perspectives helps us to understand the amazing significance of this conquest of Goliath and the Philistines. I agree that it was the fear of God that sent them running.
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