David and his 3 enemies

Enemy 1: overcoming (feeling of) rejection

The first thing that became David’s enemy was the rejection from within his own family. Born as the youngest of 7 or 8 brothers, 1 Samuel 17:12-14, 1 Chronicles 2:12–16, did not make David the most loved or spoiled like in this modern age, in the family of Jesse, who was from Bethlehem, 1 Samuel 16 :1. When Prophet Samuel came to Jesse’s house, David was not counted to be shown before Samuel, 1 Samuel 16:11.

He was not called together with the rest of his brethren to be consecrated at the sacrifice, 1 Samuel 16:5, not because he was just a little boy yet. But because he was also not inside the house at that moment, his father had him gone and feed the flocks, 1 Samuel 16:11. The question is this, has he been so trustworthy at his early age in taking care of the family business to shepherd his father’s flocks? Or had he deliberately pushed away from Jesse’s house? 1 Samuel 17:28, shows us that only 2-3 sheep were tended by David. This flock was not a big business, what is even sadder was that Father Jesse left this little boy, David, out in the field by himself to shepherd only 2-3 sheeps alone. Wasn’t there a father’s hired man who could do this, or couldn’t he just put the 2-3 sheep in the backyard of the house? So what kind of father would have the heart to let his young son go alone in the field and had to face the lion and the bear? 1 Samuel 17:34. No wonder David wrote these words in his Psalm, for my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the LORD will take me in. Psalm 27:10.

But it is also possible that this was caused by David himself. Notice what David said in 1 Samuel 17:26 ESV, What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? These words bother Eliab, his elder brother in verse 28, Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle. Oftentimes, the faith of someone who was full of confidence in the midst of adversity would sound more of a presumption or pride instead of encouragement. The attitude of David who refused to run into hiding like all other soldiers, 1 Samuel 17:24, including his own brother who ran away in fear, made his brother angry and thought David was prideful (evil, bad heart) and arrogant, 1 Samuel 17:28. Yes, courage because of faith is often misunderstood by many people, especially when someone dared to go against the flow! David’s attitude on the battlefield in 1 Samuel 17 did not just happen there. His courage against the crowd might have driven him out of his own house, but also what kept him upright and did not run to face the lion and the bear. 1 Samuel 17:34.

Faith was not built just when Goliath came, it was built first in a lonely place when we are alone. Psalm 23:1, The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want, was not written when David had become King. This psalm was written while he was out there alone, tending the 2-3 sheep of his father. He had learned to find God as his shepherd, that in the Lord he found contentment. When he had God, he had enough already. I shall not want doesn’t mean that everything was fulfilled already, but David understood that if God was with him, he wouldn’t need anything else. The presence of God, His Personality, His Word, was sufficient for David. He would not be alone anymore! He knew God was with him!

Enemy 2: overcoming fear

The Lion and the Bear were the next enemies, they could be called the second and the third. But these two beasts were only mentioned in 1 Samuel 17:34-35. There are no other references of this in the Bible. David did not even mention these two beasts in his writings in the Psalms or other books.

So besides Samson, Judges 14:6, David also killed a lion. Even David did it when he was a young boy, before facing Goliath. And David did not do it with super strength like Samson, pure in his courage (faith?) facing these 2 terrifying beasts. David seemed to have been a man of war since he was a child, and he was not the one to back down just because his opponent was bigger and stronger than him. It is interesting that these two beasts are mentioned when David was going to face Goliath. Goliath was 6 cubits and a span, or nearly 3.25 meters high. The average height of a lion is 1-1.2 meters. (Brown) Bear height ranges from 70 cm to 1.5 meters. The Polar Bear can reach 2.5 meters, but the Bear in the Middle East is a type of Brown Bear, the Syrian Brown Bear. So it seemed that David’s enemy did not get any smaller, after overcoming the rejection, he faced the Lion. Then the Bear, which was bigger and taller than the Lion. And now in 1 Samuel 17, he was going to face Goliath.

Lion, Bear, and Goliath, all three represent fear. David was facing a growing fear. The next fear got escalated after he won the previous one over. But only in this way his faith grew bigger until he was ready to face Goliath. God tested David one by one, step by step. He didn’t immediately give Goliath, but the Lion and the Bear first. His faith was trained from smaller things to bigger things. David was not afraid to face all of them, one by one he defeated them with God.

When he came to face Goliath on the battlefield, Goliath said, I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field, 1 Samuel 17:44. But David said, today I will give your corpse and the corpse of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and to the wild animals, 1 Samuel 17:46. David boldly challenged him that it was not only Goliath’s flesh but the corpses of the Philistine soldiers as well. David apparently not only saw Goliath being defeated, he knew he was going to defeat the entire Philistine army that day.

From the time of Goliath’s appearance, 1 Samuel 17:4, his appearance and stature brought great fear to the Israelite army. 1 Samuel 17:11. The problem was not only that Goliath was a man of war, but at that time the Israelite army itself was not mature enough with the experience and equipment of war. Saul was the first king and the Philistines were their main enemy at the time, Israel was just beginning to emerge from the grip of the Philistines that controlled them. In 1 Samuel 3:18-22 it says that only Saul and Jonathan had swords and javelins. Later, when David’s time became only the full king over Israel, then the Israelite armies attained their glory. They killed many other Goliaths, 2 Samuel 21: 15-22.

David’s presence in 1 Samuel 17 actually describes how the Israelite soldiers were very young as a nation that was just starting to stand on its own. But David came with a different spirit, unlike all the other soldiers of Israel. That is why God chose him in 1 Samuel 16:7, 12. God knew that David’s heart was not afraid to face Goliath, unlike Eliab whose only appearance impressed Samuel the prophet of God but he himself was afraid to face Goliath, 1 Samuel 16:6, 1 Samuel 17:28. So as the 2 others. Try to imagine what David’s brothers, Eliab, Abinadab, and Shama thought when they saw David walking forward to face Goliath, alone.

Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. 1 Samuel 17:40. Yes, David entered the battlefield with only his shepherd staff in his hand and 5 small-smooth stones that he put in his shepherd’s pocket. David did not face Goliath with weapons of war, he did come to face this enemy in the name of God. He believed and knew that the LORD did not save with the sword, nor with the javelin. He understood it is in God’s hands the battle, not in the hands of heroes and armies. 1 Samuel 17:47.

It was incomprehensible to the three brothers of David that day, maybe they all thought how would they explain later to their father about this little rascal guy, who died on the battlefield killed by Goliath. Yes, David’s behavior for Eliab was considered arrogant (arrogant) and pretentious (evil), 1 Samuel 17:28-29. Especially when they saw that David was advancing when everyone ran away to hide and moreover, without any armor. He didn’t carry any sword or a javelin. He advanced alone with only the shepherd staff in his hand, just as David was going into the open field carrying 3-4 of their father’s sheep. To them, this seemed to be more like a suicidal attitude before their very eyes. Not to mention, when David and Goliath began to face each other, they listened to David’s words, which to them were not really the words of faith, sounded more like the words of a man who didn’t comprehend what he was facing. Oops, our brother came forward to face Goliath not with weapons but with arrogant words. Exactly to what he would always say. Look, he’s advancing alone, how reckless! thought Eliab, Abinadab, and Shama.

It is interesting to note that David also actually tried to wear Saul’s armor. But he took them off not because they were too big, but because he had never fought before in such a suit. That’s why he decided to take off that war suit. 1 Samuel 17:38-39. David was apparently really used to just the shepherd’s staff and the sling in his hand.

But like previous experiences, when David faced the Lion and the Bear, he still didn’t try to improve his weaponry and combat equipment this time. Only his real faith grew bigger. The LORD, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. 1 Samuel 17:37. The problem was getting bigger and bigger but not shrinking his guts. In fact, his faith had grown significantly. The weapon David actually carried was not the shepherd’s staff itself. The shepherd’s staff is more of a reserve weapon. He stopped by the creek near the battlefield, just to get some bullets (stones) he needed. Only 5 smooth stones, small enough to fit in the shepherd’s pocket. In verse 49, 1 Samuel 17, David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it . The little rock was shot by slinging it, using a sling or some kind of slingshot, a small leather bag or wool swab tied to a long enough rope which could then be swung around by turning and releasing! Later in the future, David himself had this army of slingers. 1 Chronicles 12:2.