_Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle._ THE BATTLE OF ELAH While the Philistines were posted on the stony hills covered with brushwood which bounded the valley on the south, Saul and his army were posted on a similar stony ridge on its northern side. The valley, one of the m... [ Continue Reading ]
_One bearing a shield went before him._ THE SHIELD BEARER OF GOLIATH I. That it is a grievous mistake for men to arm themselves as in triple mail against good influences. Goliath had a “helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, etc., and one bearing a shield went, before... [ Continue Reading ]
_When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid._ THE INSULTING ATTITUDE OF WORLDLINESS TOWARDS RELIGION The insult was a symbol of the insulting attitude of worldliness towards religion. Brute force and power paraded themselves as contemptuous... [ Continue Reading ]
_Eliab’s anger was kindled against David._ A SERIES OF VICTORIES Hitherto David has had little suffering. Life is made up of trials: the Christian’s course is never free from them: this we are to see here, for this seventeenth tells us, besides the contest with the lion and the bear, of three grea... [ Continue Reading ]
_Is there not a cause._ THE GIANT SIN OF ENGLAND Surely there was a cause. David’s was not intemperate zeal, nor his anger causeless or unprovoked. It was time even for the holy shepherd to play the warrior, when God was thus openly dishonoured and His cause despised. What is the state of this Chr... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine._ SPIRITUAL HEROISM I. Spiritual heroism is sometimes unexpectedly developed. Little dreamt David, when he left his home at Bethlehem that morning, for the simple purpose of visiting his brethren in the camp, what wonders his single arm would achi... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear._ THE LION AND THE BEAR David’s first battles were with a lion and a bear. His next with the Philistine Goliath, and after that with many enemies, with the Amalekites, the Philistines, the Moabites, the Syrians, the Edomites, and others. It seems to me... [ Continue Reading ]
_Go, and the Lord be with thee._ THE CONSCIOUS PRESENCE OF GOD WITH US IN OUR PERSONAL LIFE The Philistines originally formed part of the great Shemitic family. They wandered from Palestine to Crete, and afterwards, returning to their former homes, reestablished themselves, and built their five gre... [ Continue Reading ]
_I cannot go with these._ I have not proved them. SUITABLE EQUIPMENT The words recall to you at once the whole vivid story of the combat between the stripling David and the Philistine giant Goliath. It is a simple tale from the memories of border warfare in an early and somewhat rude time. There... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook._ THE EXAMPLE OF DAVID IN THE USE OF MEANS There is much in these particulars to furnish matter for profitable meditation. Let us take them as our subject of discourse. In the first place we will consider how Dav... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David._ COMBAT AND CONSEQUENCES The inward preparation through outward trial may have been hidden from David. We are not permitted to know the why of many an hour of discipline; God lets when wait on why! David urges his suit; he wishes to go. Every wa... [ Continue Reading ]
_I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts._ THE CONFLICT AND THE CONQUEST OF FAITH God is not unmindful of any of His anointed ones: He has a work for all His people to do. It was a great work to which David was called; there were before him greet conflicts, and great triumphs, and therefor... [ Continue Reading ]
_The battle is the Lord’s._ DAVID AND GOLIATH This familiar dramatic story has much to teach us. One lesson only is our present consideration--David’s heroic and victorious faith. “Time would fail me,” said the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews in his beautiful chronicle of the worthies of fait... [ Continue Reading ]
_And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and smote the Philistine in his forehead._ FAITH WORKING WISELY It would be interesting to dwell on the various personages that appear prominently in this historic scene. They are Saul, Eliab, Goliath, and David; the dismayed monarch, the... [ Continue Reading ]
_So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone._ DAVID’S FIRST VICTORY I. David was a type of our Lord Jesus Christ. The early fathers of the church were very great in opening up typical analogies. With regard to this particular transaction let us note, at the outset, that be... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted and pursued the Philistines._ KEEPING THE VICTORY When General Wolfe was mortally wounded at the battle of Quebec, he said after his third injury, “Hold me up; do not let my brave boys see I am wounded.” A little later, as his blood was fast e... [ Continue Reading ]
_Whose son art thou, young man?_ RELATION OF ANCESTRY TO CHARACTER I am not surprised that when this shepherd boy (ushered in and introduced by Abner, commander-in-chief) entered the Royal presence with the ghastly trophy, his fingers clutching the hair of Goliath’s head, the king looked at him wit... [ Continue Reading ]