Kings of Israel: David and Goliath – What Does This Mean?

A Sermon on 1 Samuel 17

Wednesday in the Second Week in Advent

December 13, 2023

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The theme is this: The King slays our enemies and saves us.

There is one basic truth that is has applied in all civilizations: The King fights for us. The Pharoahs of Egypt led the armies out on chariots to take back the Israelites. Joshua led the people around Jericho until the walls came tumbling down. The Judges of old led the armies to victories over the Midianites, the Moabites, the Ammonites, and all the other OT -ites in the Scriptures.

The King fights for us. Sennacherib led Assyria to take away the Northern Tribes and Nebuchadnezzar led Babylon to exile the Southern Tribes of Israel. Alexander the Great led his troops on conquests on multiple continents. Romans Caesars led armies clear into Britain to expand the empire.

The King fights for us. This has been true even in our country because of the first President George Washington, who was a military commander first who became President later on. Even today we consider our political leader to be the Commander-in-Chief. If the King (or in our case President) does not control the army, then he does not control very much. The Executive Branch isn’t the Executive Branch, or is a government with no teeth.

What is most surprising to us this evening is that the King does not fight for us. No, King Saul is afraid. The whole army is afraid. When the leader is afraid, then the followers become afraid. When the shepherd is afraid, then the sheep become afraid. When the world around us is afraid, then we too become afraid and worry. When the church becomes afraid, then we lose our hope and our faith and our trust in God the King.

David knew about that very well. His sheep trusted him because he protected them from the lion and the bear. Like Joshua led God’s people walking around Jericho, David led his sheep out in the wilderness walking around in danger all the way. The shepherd fights for the sheep; the shepherd dies for his sheep.

And so David fights for Israel. David is anointed, but he isn’t the king yet. No, but David knows what the real problem is. David understands this basic truth: God fights for him! Physical strength and height have defied the armies of the living God, but the living God will not be defeated. That is what David knows. That is what we know too.

The King fights for us. God Himself fights for us. Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings all show us this promise and comfort. And so no, I am not going to preach the tired sermon “go slay your Goliaths” or “God will give you strength.” That works-righteousness message is not the point of the reading and it is not the point of the Bible. The point is that God fights for you.

And this is most obvious to us in Matthew 4, the temptation of Jesus. The Holy Spirit leads Jesus out into the wilderness. And the devil tempts and taunts Jesus out there in the wilderness. And there Jesus fasts for forty days just like the forty days that Goliath taunted the Israelites in our reading this evening. This Old Testament battle is just like the New Testament battle. And the God is the same God in both. And God wins both battles too!

For the King Jesus fights for us. He slays our enemy the devil and saves us from him forever. How? The same way that we ought to resist temptation: through the Word of God. When the devil assails us, use the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, to combat the evil one. And you will not win on your own power or faith, but Jesus fights for you!

Jesus fought for us when He healed the demon-possessed men. This ought to be comforting for us too. God fights for us, and He alone has the power of both devil and demons. He has won the victory and slayed our enemies. We are saved from the powers of evil and the destruction of souls in hell.

Jesus fights for you. He slayed your enemies and saved you. He forgave your sins, paying for them like a shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep. He forgave your sins, like a king cancelling a debt, like a king promising you an inheritance of grace and mercy and love and peace.

This He applied to you like He did to the paralytic man. Our God is not a God who piles up sins and expects us to pay for it. No, our God is the only God who forgives sins and sets His people free. God fights for us! The Lord Jesus slays our enemies and saves us!

Jesus fights for you! He defeated death when He rose from the grave on Easter Sunday. Surely we can see how David realized that he would have to die to defeat Goliath if he did all by himself, but he knew that God fights for Him. God had mercy on David and saved him from death. And we definitely believe that Jesus knew He would have to die to defeat death, that curse of Adam, so that we can live forever. And so the shepherd laid down His life for the sheep and died to show that He alone has the power and the victory over the grave.

So I say to you this basic truth: The King Jesus has slain your enemies and saved you forever. Jesus has won a greater victory than David at Socoh, than David defeating Goliath. Jesus has won a greater victory than the temptation in the wilderness. Jesus has won for us because Jesus has fought for us. Our enemies sin, death, and the devil have no power over us. We the sheep do not need to be afraid.

For the King of Kings has gone out and fought the battles and won. The King of Kings has led the army out like all the kings of old and now we live in His glory. The King of Kings, Jesus Christ, the Lord of heaven and earth, has slain our enemies and saved us forever as His holy people.

In the holy name of Jesus. Amen.

Rev. James Peterson
St. John Lutheran Church
Curtis, Nebraska