David and Goliath: Dealing with Conflict as a Soldier of Christ

Introduction

This David and Goliath sermon on 1 Samuel 17 is about dealing with conflict as a Christian. Goliath frames the fight as human against human, but David sees a spiritual battle. Revd. David Hall works through fear, righteous and unrighteous anger, hope that rests on the Lord rather than our own strength, and a victory that belongs to the Lord, for every soldier of Christ.

That was beautiful. What a wonderful preparation for our look together at God’s Word.

If you are able to see it in front of you, maybe one of the Bibles in the pews, do grab 1 Samuel 17, 1 Samuel chapter 17, as we look together at verses 4 to 11 and 24 to 49. Let’s pray. Oh, loving Lord, we thank you that your goodness is running after us. And you’ve been so faithful. Even when we’ve not listened to your voice, you’ve been faithful. And you have redeemed us and called us to be your children, to be in relationship with you. Oh, loving Lord, help us to listen to your voice this evening. Help us to be those who build their houses on the rock, and who listen to what you are saying, and who apply and do what you tell us to do, that our lives might be transformed by your power, and we might be a blessing to all those around us and bring glory to your name. Amen.

Well, I want to look at 1 Samuel 17, verses 4 to 11 and verses 24 to 49. I want to look at these verses under the title: David and Goliath: Dealing with Conflict as a Soldier of Christ. Dealing with conflict as a soldier of Christ. Last month, Mary, Daniel, Sophie and myself, we visited Kariega Game Reserve in Eastern Cape, South Africa. We were celebrating my 60th birthday as guests of some very kind friends. And we went on an evening game drive in one of these open-topped cars. And as we drove through pitch darkness, our guide spotted two lions on the road ahead of us. And he said, “Let’s pull over and let them pass.” So we pulled over, he switched the engine off and he switched on his infrared lamp so we could see them. But even though we pulled off to the side, the lions didn’t stay on the road, they headed straight for the car. And this is one of these open cars, no windows, no roof, no protection whatsoever. Mary had thoughtfully positioned herself in the middle of the car with the ranger in front, myself at the back and her children either side of her. So if the lions were hungry, they would eat her children first. Isn’t that a wonderful example of good parenting? The lions that we had so thoughtfully pulled over to the side of the road for headed straight for the car. One went one side and the other went the other side. And I remember looking to my left and seeing this lion silently walking past about one and a half metres away, thinking, “That’s about as close as I ever want to get.” And the guide said, “Oh, that’s no problem. Lions have got very bad eyesight and a very bad sense of smell. They just perceive you as part of the car. Leopards, on the other hand,” he said, “they do know that you’re not part of the car and that you’re edible.” Now, the way he described it to me, it seemed that if it had been leopards walking past, we would have resembled a set of canapés lined up on a tray. About 20 minutes later, the car broke down and we were sitting in the middle of this game reserve in the middle of the night with no engine. And he radioed for assistance. His controller said, “Where are you?” He tried not to say the exact spot, but in the end he had to say the exact spot; we’d never be rescued. He said, “We’re on Leopard’s Walk.” Thankfully, about 15 minutes later, the lights of the rescue car appeared in the distance and we were rescued. Now, in the story of David and Goliath, we find Saul and his army stuck, and they’re in need of rescue. They’re bogged down in a conflict. They seemingly can’t win. We know one or two of those, don’t we, that are happening at the moment around the world. And this is a situation that Saul’s in. And they can’t win it until God sends David, who amongst other things has dealt with lions. And as we consider our title, dealing with conflict as a soldier of Christ, I want to talk about four big themes. I want to talk about fear. I want to talk about anger. I want to talk about hope. And I want to talk about victory. First, I want to talk about fear. And just imagine yourself there on the battlefield as Goliath appears. Verse 4: “A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span. He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armour of bronze weighing 5,000 shekels. On his legs he wore bronze greaves and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod and his iron point weighed 600 shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him.” Now, how tall actually was Goliath? Well, the debate has raged, and when we were children we were told he was enormous and one possibility that was talked about at the time was that he was actually three metres tall, hence the sort of pictures that you see in children’s books of this massive guy towering over everyone, almost the size of a house. Now, the best scholarship suggests that he was actually six foot nine inches or two metres six centimetres tall, but even that was regarded as very tall because the average height at the time was just five feet four inches or one metre 53 centimetres. So he’s about a quarter of a person taller than the average person. And he’s described here as a champion, i.e. he’s a winner in the Philistine’s armies fighting competitions. However, the whole exchange is really bizarre. I mean, Saul could easily have said, “Don’t be silly,” and the whole Israelite army could have just rushed across, killed him, and then carried on going. But Goliath has taken control of the narrative. He has framed this as a contest between two human beings. Verse 8: “Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, ‘Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine? And are you not the servants of Saul?’” But it’s not a conflict between two human beings. The people of Israel are God’s chosen people. It’s a conflict between the forces of darkness and the living God. And I want to say this to you about any conflict that you might face. Don’t let anyone mislead you. It is not just a conflict perhaps between human beings. Every conflict needs to be placed within the correct spiritual context. The evil one is the source of defiance against God and his laws. And Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace. Now, having taken control of the narrative, Goliath dictates the ground on which this battle is to be fought. He says, “Choose a man and have him come down to me.” Verse 9: “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.” Who does he think he is, dictating these terms when a well-aimed arrow could end his life in an instant? And note his command, verse 10: “Then the Philistine said, ‘This day I defy the armies of Israel. Give me a man and let us fight each other.’” Where is Saul in all this? He’s nowhere to be seen. And if we leave a spiritual vacuum in our lives or any situation of conflict that we face, the evil one will fill it. Finally, Saul appears in our narrative. Verse 11: “On hearing the Philistines’ words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.” Now David appears on the scene. He’s a young lad. He’s shepherd of the family’s sheep. He not only hears what Goliath is saying, but he sees the reaction of the army of Israel. Verse 24: “Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.” How does Saul try to fix this spiritual problem? Well, very inappropriately, he tries to solve it with money and sex. We live in a fallen world where everyone thinks that all the problems in the world can be solved with either money or sex. And Saul is not a spiritual leader. He’s a secular leader. He believes not in the living God to deliver him, but in money and sex to deliver him. Verse 25: “Now the Israelites had been saying, ‘Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage.’” Now, it’s setting on one side quite how we feel about women being traded like that. If money and sex were not enough to solve the problem, Saul tries more money, verse 25, “and will exempt his family from taxes in Israel.”

Why was Saul ultimately replaced by David? Because he was not a spiritual leader. He was a secular leader. What kind of leader are you in any conflict you face, in any situation in which you have influence? So there’s fear. The second big thing we see here is anger. We were driving across France on Friday and we saw horrendous driving conditions. We drove around trees falling across motorways. We saw the emergency services rushing around, struggling to cope. At service stations, we saw busloads of police and soldiers being deployed across the whole country to contain the violent protests which had erupted. France felt very much like a country in crisis. What is the prevalent emotion behind the protests? I understand that it is anger. Where is the anger here in this story? Verse 26: “David asked the men standing near him, ‘What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?’ They reported to him what they had been saying and told him, ‘This is what will be done for the man who kills him.’ When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, ‘Why do you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is. You came down only to watch the battle.’ ‘What have I done?’ said David. ‘Can’t I even speak?’ He then turned away to someone else who brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before.” There are two types of anger here. There’s the righteous anger of David, that God’s name has been disgraced by the humiliation of God’s people. There’s also the unrighteous anger of Eliab, the older brother, who really wounds him emotionally. He doesn’t just accuse him of leaving the sheep, he denounces him spiritually. Verse 28 again, “I know,” he says, “how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is.” This is David, whose heart is grieved for God’s name, being accused of being God’s enemy by his brother. Oh, families, families, how deeply they can hurt each other. Let’s bring our emotions to God and ask him to help us. Help us recognise the difference between righteous and unrighteous anger. And help us deal with perhaps the emotions we feel in a godly way. So there’s anger. There’s fear and there’s anger. But I’m glad to say there’s also hope. Amidst the great suffering of the war in Ukraine, I heard an inspiring story of hope last week. Ukraine carried their first ever unmanned drone evacuation of an injured soldier from the front line. A Ukrainian soldier with the code name Kostya was wounded at the front and he was surrounded by mines, so he couldn’t be rescued on foot. So a huge drone was sent in to rescue him. It was flanked by smaller kamikaze drones and also quadcopters carrying nets to snare any Russian drones attacking him, and this huge drone landed next to him. He crawled into the harness and the drone picked him up and flew him 11 miles to safety, and his brigade commander radioed him when he landed, “Welcome back to earth.” Now, when drones can heal as well as kill, there is hope. Where does the hope come from here? Verse 31: “When David was overheard and reported to Saul, Saul sent for him.” And David makes this promise. He says to him in verse 34, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or 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 his hair, struck it, and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear.” Now, in human terms, David has every cause for confidence. He has killed both the lion and the bear. Now, apparently a lion will flee if you hurt it. It’ll even drop its prey because it can’t hold on to it and move quickly. But a bear is different. It will stand and it will fight. It’s stronger than a lion and it’s very fast. The Syrian bears that were around at the time could outrun horses over a short distance and were, of course, much more aggressive. The fact that David had killed both a lion and a bear is kind of next level. David is a top fighter in his own right. It would have been very easy for David to trust in his own human strength, but David does not rely on his own human strength. He is a spiritual fighter and says to Saul, “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 rescued me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” As the psalmist says in Psalm 121, “I lift my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.” And that’s the temptation. You know, when we’re good at something, to rely on ourselves. David was a top fighter, but David trusts in God before the showdown with Goliath really begins. And it’s easy, isn’t it, to bring problems to God when we fail to fix them ourselves. Well, what about the things that we’re good at? Let’s bring our top skills and our top abilities under the lordship of Christ. Our hope comes from the Lord. So there’s hope. Finally, there is victory. In the Amazon Prime drama, Blue Lights, police in Northern Ireland are shown training on how to deal with a violent person. And the scenario is that they’re told a violent man is just about to burst into the door, into the room through a door. And this heroic pair of officers, who kind of win the exercise, they catch him as he comes through the door and what they do is just whack him on the knees and he falls on the ground and he begs for mercy. Now, David knows what he’s doing when he uses his slingshot to bring Goliath down. Goliath is tall, but everybody is the same height when they’re lying on the floor. I also want to point out that back in verses 8 to 10, Goliath frames this as an armed conflict between just two fighting men. But scripture twice refers to the fact that he has a shield bearer with him. The shield bearer would go 10 to 15 feet ahead of him and protect him and allow Goliath to step out from behind and throw his spear before kind of hiding again, effectively cheating. It will be two against one. But when he steps out from behind this shield, this shield bearer, David fires first. Other than that, I think the narrative speaks for itself. Verse 40: “Then David took his staff in his hand. He chose five smooth stones from the stream. He put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and with his sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine. Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer,” what a coward, “in front of him, kept coming closer to David. He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. He said to David, ‘Am I a dog that you come at me with sticks?’ And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ‘Come here,’ he said, ‘and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals.’ David said to the Philistine, ‘You come against me with sword, 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 deliver you into my hands, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. This very day, I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.’ Verse 48: As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly to the battle line to meet him. 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 face down on the ground.”

No matter how gruelling or even humiliating any conflict is, remember that the victory belongs not to us, but to the Lord. That’s victory. Well, in conclusion, we’ve looked at some big themes here, haven’t we? We’ve sort of considered how to deal with conflict as a soldier of Christ. We’ve looked at fear. Goliath is big, but let’s not imagine he’s bigger than he really is. Let’s not be secular in our thinking. Let us not be afraid of things that people in this world are afraid of. Anger. Let’s recognise the capacity of human beings, particularly within families, to hurt each other. And let us differentiate between righteous and unrighteous anger and ask God to help us deal with our own anger at times. Hope. Let’s not trust in our own strength. Even if we’re good at something and we have resources at our disposal, our hope comes from the Lord. And victory. Victory. Christ has already conquered sin and death. All we are doing is waiting for his return when he will be glorified. Victory is on his terms within his timing. Victory belongs to the Lord. And with all that in mind, what is the best advice that I can give you when you are dealing with conflict as a soldier of Christ? It is the words of verse 37. Saul said to David, and these are the words I want to leave with you: “Go, and the Lord be with you.” Amen. Let’s pray.

We bow our heads just for a few moments of reflection.

And after I’ve prayed, we’re going to just remain seated. And this beautiful song is going to be sung over us, the Father’s song. And I think it’s wonderful to think of God’s strength in all the conflict situations we face and his care for us. So that will be sung over us as a benediction after I’ve prayed. Let’s just take a moment now. And in the silence, let’s invite the Holy Spirit into any conflict situation that we are facing right now, and then I’ll pray.

Loving Heavenly Father, help me not to be afraid and to imagine things to be bigger than they are, but see my conflicts, my problems and my difficulties within the correct spiritual perspective.

Help me recognise the difference between righteous anger when your name is insulted and wrong things are done, and unrighteous anger when I am quick to accuse and wound others.

Give me hope, not based on my own abilities or resources but founded on Christ my rock and my redeemer. Lastly, help me to trust in and celebrate your son’s completed victory on the cross and look forward in your perfect timing to the glory which will be revealed on that day when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. You, my Father and mighty Deliverer, in the power of your Holy Spirit and in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.