1Sam017 David Kills Goliath

It goes without saying, that this narrative contains one of the most beloved and well known stories in all of the Bible as it records David's all too impossible defeat of an overwhelmingly superior opponent in the legendary giant named Goliath. One wrong interpretive turn in evaluating this narrative is to sieze on how this story provides rays of hope and light for the underdog as they face impossible odds or by spiritualizing Goliath into a symbolic figure of imposing obstacles which riddle the pathway of the Christian's earthly pilgrimage which can be overcome by the ingenuity of faith-filled believers. The author of this story helps us put our finger on the vibrant pulse of this narrative which is not David action or Goliath as literary symbol, but rather the Lord of Hosts who achieves spectacular victories in unconventional ways. In the final word spoken by David before he slays Goliath, we are given the inspired interpretive lens which helps us discern the main point in this narrative in the words of David: the battle is the Lord's. With this interpretive touchstone in place we can see that this narrative communicates the message of God's conquest of evil through the humble means of an insignificant shepherd boy who is treated like a mere servant by his father and as a precocious and meddlesome youth by his older brothers. As we see this divinely anointed yet humble youth slay this uncircumcised Philistine giant we recieve a typological picture of Jesus Christ who took upon the form of a servant and triumphed over Satan and the kingdom of darkness through the humble means of His cross.