Zoom
Sunday School Classes – 10 December 2023 at 09:00 AM EST
Meeting ID: 848-9423-0612
Pass Code: 669872
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84894230612?pwd=Zk1ESitzbGZwTlJyV21UZXY5aTVPZz09
One tap mobile
13126266799\Meeting ID:84894230612\ Passcode: 669872 US (Chicago)
19292056099\Meeting ID: 84894230612\ Passcode: 669872 US (New York)
Facing
Life with Confidence
(The Faith of David)
1 Samuel 17:31-37, 45, 48-50
Background: 1 Samuel 17:1-50
Devotional Reading: Psalm 27
|
Daily
Bible Readings |
|
Monday: Faith Expressed Through Courage – Joshua 1:1-9
|
KEEP IN MIND:
“David 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!” (1 Samuel 17:37, NRSV)
LESSON AIM:
IDENTIFY times in your life
when faithfulness (or lack there of) made a difference in your life.
GROW in courage through faith in Jesus Christ; and
ASPIRE to have the confidence of David in the grace of the Lord.
BACKGROUND:
David is a man of
courage and, at this point, the only Israelite on the battlefield with courage.
Where does he get this courage? Let me suggest several sources. First, David’s courage grows out of his
theology – his understanding of God. David is “a man after God’s own heart” (13:14; 16:7). A person cannot be a “man after God’s own
heart” unless he knows the heart of God, and this comes through an
understanding of God through His Word (see, for example, Psalm 119). David knows God, not only historically (the
way God delivered Israel in the past), and theologically, but experientially,
as he will soon indicate to Saul.
David acts like the
king of Israel should act. He needs to
trust in God, to inspire his fellow-Israelites to do likewise, and to defeat
the enemies of God, especially the Philistines. When David was anointed as the coming king
over Israel (chapter 16), he must have spent a good deal of time pondering just
what all this meant, much like Mary would do centuries later (see Luke 2:19,
51). What does it mean to be Israel’s
king? What should David do as the king? No doubt his actions the day he faces Goliath
are the result of his meditations. This
young man is not a soldier, and some would say he is too young to fight, but
David is providentially placed in a circumstance where he must trust God and
obey His Word or cower in unbelief and disobedience, as Saul and the rest.
LESSON COMMENTARY:
David’s Offer to Fight Goliath (1 Samuel 17:31-40, NRSV)
31When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated
them before Saul; and he sent for him.
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!"
God’s providence brought David to the scene and into the presence
of King Saul, after perhaps an absence of two years. “Then David said to Saul, ‘Let no man’s heart
fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.’” When Saul tried to discourage him from doing
this because of his youth and inexperience, there came the response that was
the key to all that follows: “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). David had balanced reason and faith.
The tribe of Benjamin was noted for its skillful, left-handed
slingers and it was with this familiar long proven weapon of the shepherd boy
that David would encounter Goliath. Having
no intention of turning to run should his first throw miss, David chose five
smooth stones from the brook.
David’s Victory (1 Samuel 17:41-58, NRSV)
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.
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.
50So David prevailed over the
Philistine with a sling and a stone, striking down the Philistine and killing
him; there was no sword in David's hand.
The giant, doubly armed for offense with sword and spear, mocked
his youthful opponent without armor, brass, or iron. Seeing only the shepherd’s rod, Goliath took
offense and expressed contempt for David.
“I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the
field!” David, speaking as the Lord’s
champion, replied, “Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not
save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s” David ran toward the
Philistine and as he ran, he hurled the stone which struck and sank into the
forehead of Israel’s opponent. The
Israelites then pursued the Philistines, making good the prophetic words of
David. It was the bodies of the
Philistines that were left to the fowls of the air and the beasts of the earth.
David, called to action by the Spirit of
God, determined to do God’s will in God’s name, for His honor, and for the
deliverance of His people. This event
was a turning point in the history of Israel and marked David as the true king
of Israel.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. How can we fell these giants so that we can live in freedom
and victory and joy in the Lord’s service?
LESSON IN
OUR SOCIETY:
In the end, it is not
so much that David is great, but that the God he serves, the God who went
before him, is great. Saul seems to
focus on the size of the enemy rather than on the size of God. God always seems to give us enemies who are
much greater than we are, so that we fight in our weakness, trusting in God and
not in ourselves, giving Him the glory, rather than taking the credit
ourselves.
When we come to David,
we come to God’s chosen king. This is
the one whose seed will be the promised Messiah, whose kingdom will have no
end. And so, David often provides us
with a foreshadowing of Christ. Our text
is no exception. David is a prototype of Christ, as Goliath is a prototype of
Satan. Satan has the whole world
trembling in fear of him and of death (see Hebrews 2:14-15). We, like the Israelites of old, are powerless
to defeat him. What we cannot do for
ourselves, Christ has done for us, just as David fought Goliath for Saul and
the Israelites. Satan has a death grip
on lost sinners. There is nothing we can
do to save ourselves. Jesus came and
took on Satan one-on-one, and He won the victory. David did it by killing Goliath. Jesus did it by being crucified on the cross
of Calvary. But after He died to pay the
penalty for our sins, He rose from the grave, triumphant over Satan, sin, and
death. It was winner take all, and Jesus
won by dying and by rising from the dead. All who
acknowledge their sin, and who forsake trusting in themselves by placing their
trust in Jesus Christ, have the forgiveness of sins and the assurance of living
eternally in His kingdom.
NEXT WEEK’S LESSON: 17 December 2023 at 09:00 EST
God
Brings “Outsiders” In
(The Family of Faith)
Matthew 1:1-17
Background: Genesis 38; Joshua 2; 6:22-25; 2 Samuel 12:24; Ruth 4:13-22;
Matthew 1:1-17
Devotional Reading: Psalm 9:1-14
Sources:
Achtemeier, Paul J. Harper's Bible Dictionary. 1st
ed. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985.
Bergen,
Robert, D., The New American Commentary, 1, 2 Samuel. An
Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture (volume 7), Nashville:
Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996.
Biblical Studies Press: The
Brown, Raymond E., S. S., Joseph A.
Fitzmyer, S. J.; Roland E. Murphy, O Carm. The
Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968.
Dummelow, J. R., M.A. Rev. The One Volume Bible Commentary. New
York: The Macmillan Company Publishers, 1961.
James Orr,
M.A., D.D., International Standard Bible
Encyclopedia, Electronic
Edition, Parsons Technology, Inc., Cedar
Rapids, Iowa 1998.
Keck Leander E., The New
Interpreter's Bible Commentary, Volume II Introduction to the Narrative
Literature, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel. 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2
Chronicles, New York: Abingdon Press, 2015.
Klein, Ralph, Word Biblical Commentary Volume 10, 1 Samuel: Second
Edition. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2014.
Morris, William, ed., Dictionary of the English Language,
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1981.
Olson, Dennis, T., The New Interpreter's® Bible Commentary Volume
II: Introduction to Narrative Literature, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2
Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1& 2 Chronicles, New York:
Abingdon Press, 2015.
Spence-Jones, H. D. M. (Hrsg.): The
Pulpit Commentary: 1 Samuel. Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.,
2004
Strong, James, Strong’s Hebrew and
Greek Dictionaries, Electronic Edition STEP Files, QuickVerse, a division
of Findex.com, Inc., Omaha, Nebraska. 2003.
Vine, W.E. Vines Complete Expository
Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. Edited by Merrill F. Unger and
William White Jr., Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1996.