Pondering the Word – 1 Samuel 17:45-47

⁴⁵ Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a 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. ⁴⁶ This 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 host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, ⁴⁷ and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord‘s, and he will give you into our hand.”

David has always been somewhat of an enigma to me. On the one hand he is a murderer and an adulterer. He did not seem to do a good job of parenting his kids. He had wife issues. He at times comes across as manic-depressive. But on the other hand, he knows how to be a great friend. He is not vengeful. He is courageous. He is a natural leader. And he loves God. Acts 13:22 describes him as a man after God’s own heart.

And this passage in 1 Samuel 17 is an indication of his love for and trust in the Lord.

Here are a few questions to ponder as you think about David’s encounter with Goliath. No answers – just questions.

1. How was David’s perspective towards Goliath different than everyone else’s?
2. What was going through David’s mind as he faced this giant of a man?
3. How had God prepared him for this very moment?
4. Was David by nature a risk taker or was it his faith in God that just took over in the moment?
5. How had this kind of faith developed in him – his brothers certainly didn’t seem to possess such faith?
6. Do you think he had a back up plan if the “slingshot strategy” did not work? After all, Goliath had a lot of armor on so David had a very small window for success.
7. Was he at all worried about what everyone else was thinking as he made his bold move?

After pondering these questions you can then begin to make some personal applications. Most people want to jump to the application of this passage without first thinking it through – i.e , Who are the Goliaths in your life? Make sure you do the pondering of the passage prior to making the practical application of the passage. This is a lesson you want to use for any passage you are reading.