David and Goliath: God’s Pattern for Salvation

"...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.” 1 Samuel 17:47

We all know the story of David and Goliath. Amidst the story, David makes this phenomenal statement: "the Lord saves not with sword and spear." If this is how God does not save, then how does he save?

In ancient times, the primary weapons of war were not guns, tanks, and bombs, but rather swords, spears, and shields. These weapons of war were what pagan nations trusted in to win their battles, and also what the Israelites trusted in to win their battles when their faith was not in the Lord their God. These weapons, though perhaps appealing, were the representation of human effort. To fight with full reliance upon a sword and shield was to fight in your own strength, to trust in your own power. However, the Israelites were called to trust in the Lord.

In verse 11 of 1 Samuel 17, we see that the Israelites were afraid because of the presence of a great enemy: Goliath. However, let us note that the true enemy in this story was not Goliath, but the Israelite's fear. The problem was not a fierce warrior who opposed God's people--he was certainly no problem for David. Rather, the problem was the unbelief of the people who were called to have faith in a God who has already promised to save.

Yet even amidst the Israelite's great unbelief, God had a plan for salvation, and that plan came from no merit of their own. Amidst their greatest fears, David comes along. Let us note that David, in previous chapters, has already been anointed as a future king of Israel. Thus, he was already chosen to lead the Israelites out of trouble. And we all know that as the story goes along, David defeats Goliath, and the Phillistines stand in awe of a shepherd boy who merely trusted in the Lord for salvation.

Thus, we find an answer to our question. How does God save? Not by sword or spear, that is, not by human effort, but by his chosen anointed one, his chosen son, his chosen Messiah.* In 1 Samuel 17, there was an enemy: unbelief, that is, sinful rebellion against a God who has promised to provide. In our lives, there is the same enemy: unbelief, that is, sinful rebellion against a God who has promised to provide, to sustain, and to save. Yet in 1 Samuel 17, there is also a solution: David, God's anointed messiah. In our lives, there is a greater solution: Jesus, God's Anointed Messiah. In 1 Samuel 17, there is a reason for victory: not swords or spears wielded by human effort, but God's grace in providing salvation for a people who didn't deserve it. In our lives, the pattern is the same: God saves us by his grace, not by own merit. Thus, we find one thing and one thing alone from 1 Samuel 17: that the Lord's pattern of salvation is not by our own merit, but by his own Messiah, given by his own grace. Amen.

*Messiah literally means "anointed one." Furthermore, "Christ" is the Greek word for "messiah" or "anointed one."