Sermon: “Why David Always Wins”

If you want to learn what it means to wear “the whole armor of God,” there’s no better story, I think, than David and Goliath, today’s Old Testament lesson.  But before I read it, I first want you to hear an important  “pastoral warning label”:  Do not be tempted to take the Bible LITERALLY and think it’s OK to kill in the name of God.  With jihad, or Holy War, in the Middle East and abortion doctors murdered here at home, we know how dangerous that can be.  We have to read the Hebrew Scriptures through what one of my seminary professors liked to call our “Christian reading glasses.”  Jesus was hailed as “son of David,” but he did not take up a sword, or a slingshot, against Rome.  In fact, at Gethsemane (Matt. 26:52), Jesus tells everyone to put their swords away, “for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.”  Jesus gave his life on the cross, out of love for the world.  So today, let’s look at David and Goliath through the METAPHORICAL lens of the Letter to the Ephesians.  What might it mean for us to wear “the whole armor of God’?

Today I’m going to read the story from First Samuel, but not all the verses, because I want to focus mostly on this one part, the armor part.  If you want to follow along, or see what I’m leaving out, it’s on pp. 248-250 in your pew Bibles.  The old Congregational preachers would do this, read a whole chapter at a time, and stop along the way to preach the sermon – and they would really rev up the battle scenes.  They loved to preach for a couple of hours on these Bible “tales of terror,” and people (especially dating teenagers) loved to come to church for them – the same way we love our action movies.  I don’t know whether I can fire it up that much, but let’s try to imagine the scene. From 1^st Samuel 17:

17Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle; ³The Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. ⁴And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath… whose height was six cubits and a span.  ⁵He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. ⁶He had greaves of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. ⁷The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and his shield-bearer went before him.

OK, let’s stop here first.  A cubit was the length of a man’s arm from elbow to fingertip (or about 18”-20”) and a span was a man’s hand spread out from thumb to pinkie (or about 9”).  Depending on the translation, Goliath was either 6 cubits and a span (or about 9’6” tall) or only 4 cubits and a span (only 6’9”).  The point is that, back then, the average man was only about 5 feet tall, so Goliath was the star “center” on the Philistine team.  He wasn’t a fairy tale giant, but a war hero big enough to wear all that heavy armor, which weighed in at anywhere from 125 to 200 pounds.  And his weaver’s beam spear, it was something like 50 pounds, with a 15-pound iron point.  Basically, we just have to imagine Dan McKee in his kilt throwing a Scottish caber, right?  You know those giant telephone poles they throw at the Highland Games?  OK, now that you’ve got the picture close your eyes, and keep that image of Goliath in your head as we hear Ephesians again: 

¹⁰Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. ¹¹Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹²For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil.

We all have Goliath-sized challenges we face every day.  The problem in baptizing a baby and singing “Jesus Loves Me,” as we did today, is that it is all so sweet and nice.  It’s hard to imagine this “gentle Jesus, meek and mild” doing much to protect little Owen against all the bullies and very real evil that may come his way before his life is over.  And yet we bring our kids to Church School each week so they can learn to trust the Lord’s love and grace but also “the strength of his power.” 

Do you remember the three boys in the Church School at my last church – Terror, Mahem, and Destruction?  The ones I told you about who drove a grown man to tears before it was over?  Well, one time I got them involved in dramatizing the 23^rd Psalm for worship, and they talked me into playing “the Good Shepherd” as a bunch of ninja warriors.  They figured if God’s rod and staff gave comfort, it would be as a defensive weapon.  So we got 3 shepherds’ staffs from the Christmas Pageant closet and they defended the sheep with so much energy, we were a little worried about the altar flowers!  But don’t we all have times in our lives when we need our Savior to protect us like that?

Especially when our little babies get to be teenagers, we know they will face new Goliaths every day – the first temptation to cheat on a test, the first offer of illegal drugs, the first invitation to ride with a drunk driver.  When their graduation day comes, and it’s time for them to “fly the nest,” we hope and pray they’ve grown used to wearing “the whole armor of God.”  So Goliath is not just a historical figure, he represents all our spiritual enemies.  He challenges David’s people to battle, and they (like us) are wise to be afraid.  Let’s read on to find out what David has that no one else had that makes him win. 

¹²Now David was the son of …Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years. ¹³The three eldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle; …¹⁴David was the youngest; the three eldest followed Saul, (It doesn’t say what the other four were doing – presumably they were back home on the farm.)  ¹⁵but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. ¹⁶For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening. (OK, so poor David is schlepping himself almost 15 miles to the battlefield and back for 40 days in a row, just to check on his big brothers, who were camping with the army in this beautiful valley full of shady oak trees.  The Bible leaves out all the whining and complaining he must have done along the way, but keep that in mind as you hear the next part of the story.)

¹⁷Jesse said to his son David, “Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain (that’s about a bushel) and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers; ¹⁸also take these ten cheeses to the commander ....  A bushel of grain, 10 loaves, and 10 cheeses – you’ve got to hope he has a horse, or cart, or something.  But they were about out of food, so after 40 days of walking, he has all this to bring.  ¹⁹Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. ²⁰David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, took the provisions, and went as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the encampment as the army was going forth to the battle line…²²David … ran to the ranks, and went and greeted his brothers. ²³As he talked with them, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him. ²⁴All the Israelites, when they saw the man, fled from him and were very much afraid.  But then ³²David said to Saul, “Let no one’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”

This was David’s breakthrough moment, when he was possessed with the Holy Spirit, or “zeal for the Lord,” and clothed from head to foot with the “whole armor of God.”  Maybe he was just fed up with that long hike to the battlefield every day.  Or maybe he was just worn out from having just carried a bushel of grain, 10 loaves of bread and 10 cheeses all that way to a bunch of ungrateful soldiers who teased him for being a little kid.  But the important thing was David was moved to place his faith in God.  Saul doesn’t think David can win, but David does.  ³⁷[He says], “The Lord, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine.”

But Saul continues to trust in the whole armor of Saul more than the whole armor of God.  We read, ³⁸Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a bronze helmet on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail. ³⁹David strapped Saul’s sword over the armor, and he tried in vain to walk, for he was not used to them.  Have you ever felt the weight of this world’s conventional wisdom on your body, as David did when he tried on the armor of Saul?  It always seems like a good idea, to place our trust in practical and tangible things instead of God.  Especially in these tough times today, when many of us are facing some giant problems, like lost jobs or serious illness, we may be tempted to place our trust in worldly things.  But both our worries and their solutions can pile up and drag us down.

Where do we place our trust?  In our investments?  In our education, or resume?  Do you have faith in your insurance policies?  Or doctors and nurses? Or friends and family?  We are called to trust instead in the “whole armor of God,” in the help God alone can provide.  That’s why we have that reminder on our U.S. currency, “in God we trust.” The great stories of our faith, like this one, remind us that it is God alone who holds the power to triumph over evil.  David was willing to bet his life on the promises of God that he had learned from his youth.  David traded in Saul’s armor for the whole armor of God.

Then David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these; for I am not used to them.” So David removed them.  ⁴⁰Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the [creek] and put them in his shepherd’s bag, in the pouch; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.  Goliath ridicules and curses David by his gods, but David loudly proclaims the power of HIS God.  ⁴⁵David said …“You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel…”And that’s what happens.  ⁴⁹David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead; the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.

What’s most important to remember was that it was not David’s superior strength or body armor that won the day, but his sheer, naked faith – combined with all the brains and skill God gave him.  Active resistance to evil takes both intelligent strategy and also the courage to proclaim the truth of God’s power at a loud volume.  People of faith are called to proclaim the Good News of God’s love from the mountaintops. That’s why David always wins – because he was willing to proclaim the truth of the living God with such confidence that his army followed him to victory, both that day and for years after.  David told the truth, which was not really that “David always wins” but that “God always wins.”  Thanks be to God for this Good News.  Amen.

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Psalm 9

¹I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.

²I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

⁹The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

¹⁰And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

¹¹Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion. Declare his deeds among the peoples.

1 Samuel 17:1a, 3-24, 32-49

17Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle; ³The Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. ⁴And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. ⁵He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. ⁶He had greaves of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. ⁷The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and his shield-bearer went before him. ⁸He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. ⁹If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” ¹⁰And the Philistine said, “Today I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man, that we may fight together.” ¹¹When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

¹²Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years. ¹³The three eldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle; …¹⁴David was the youngest; the three eldest followed Saul, ¹⁵but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. ¹⁶For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening. ¹⁷Jesse said to his son David, “Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers; ¹⁸also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See how your brothers fare, and bring some token from them.” ¹⁹Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. ²⁰David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, took the provisions, and went as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the encampment as the army was going forth to the battle line, shouting the war cry. ²¹Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. ²²David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage, ran to the ranks, and went and greeted his brothers. ²³As he talked with them, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him. ²⁴All the Israelites, when they saw the man, fled from him and were very much afraid.

³²David said to Saul, “Let no one’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” ³³Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” ³⁴But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father; and whenever a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb from the flock, ³⁵I went after it and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its mouth; and if it turned against me, I would catch it by the jaw, strike it down, and kill it. ³⁶Your servant has killed both lions and bears; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.” ³⁷David said, “The Lord, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine.” So Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you!” ³⁸Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a bronze helmet on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail. ³⁹David strapped Saul’s sword over the armor, and he tried in vain to walk, for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these; for I am not used to them.” So David removed them.

⁴⁰Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the wadi, and put them in his shepherd’s bag, in the pouch; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine. ⁴¹The Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. ⁴²When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was only a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. ⁴³The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the field.” ⁴⁵But David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, ⁴⁷and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not save by sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and he will give you into our hand.”

⁴⁸When the Philistine drew nearer to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. ⁴⁹David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead; the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.

Ephesians 6:10-18

¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. ¹¹Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹²For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. ¹³Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. ¹⁴Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. ¹⁵As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. ¹⁶With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ¹⁸Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.