Saul and Goliath

"Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, 'Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me... This day I defy the armies of Israel!'" (1 Samuel 17:8, 10)

Who does this guy think he is? Everyone is afraid of him. Our armies are quaking in their boots. We'll never win that way.

Why doesn't the king do something?

For me, the answer to that last question used to be quite simple: Saul didn't face Goliath because he was afraid. But recently, I remembered that at this point in the story, God had already abandoned Saul, and was with David. Therefore, David had the courage to face a giant all by himself, and Saul hid behind him.

This realization prompted me to take another brief look at Saul's story, so that I could find out why Saul was unable to defeat Goliath.

Let's start by examining why everyone would have expected Saul to be the one to face Goliath.

1. Having someone fight their battles was the reason Israel asked for a king in the first place.

"But the people refused to listen to Samuel. 'No!' they said. 'We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and go out before us and fight our battles.'" (1 Samuel 8:19-20)

2. God himself had placed that purpose on Saul's life.

"About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him ruler over my people Israel; he will deliver them from the hand of the Philistines. I have looked on my people, for their cry has reached me." (1 Samuel 9:16)

3. Who better to fight a giant than the tallest man in Israel?

"They ran and brought [Saul] out, and as he stood among the people he was a head taller than any of the others. Samuel said to all the people, 'Do you see the man the Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.' Then the people shouted, 'Long live the king!'" (1 Samuel 10:23-24)

The first time around, God chose someone to suit the interests of the people. Someone who was grand in stature and mighty in battle. It was what Israel had asked for. However, Saul soon became too interested in suiting people.

A little way into his reign, Saul assembled a campaign against the Philistines, and since he wanted to seek God's favor through the offering of a sacrifice, he waited for Samuel.
And waited.
And waited.
For all we know, he may have kept waiting if it weren't for one thing: his troops started leaving him. It would seem that, even though he was waiting to seek God's favor, Saul was actually relying on his great army. So he offered the sacrifice himself. And of course, that was the moment when Samuel arrived, catching him red-handed.

Saul had placed his faith in his army more than in God. That led him to disobey God's command. As a result, he was told that his kingdom would not endure. Someone else (a man after God's own heart) had been appointed ruler in his stead (1 Samuel 13:14).

However, God was still using Saul, and was still with him. He hadn't anointed David yet. "After Saul had assumed rule over Israel, he fought against their enemies on every side: Moab, the Amonites, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment on them. He fought valiantly and defeated the Amalekites, delivering Israel from the hands of those who had plundered them." (1 Samuel 14:47-48). If only that verse could have been Saul's legacy! However, in chapter 15, God gives Saul a mission: completely destroy the Amalekites.

Unfortunately, that is where Saul made his next mistake. God gave him specific instructions, and Saul didn't obey them. His disobedience this time is prompted by the same fear as the first time:

"Then Saul said to Samuel, 'I have sinned. I violated the Lord's command and your instructions. I was afraid of the men and so I gave in to them." (1 Samuel 15:24).

Once again, Saul put man's opinion and expectation above God's, which led to disobedience. It was then that God rejected Saul as king over Israel (in 1 Samuel 15:26), and left him.

Fear of man. As Saul's story illustrates, it is a dangerous attitude to take; a dangerous thought to listen to. And yet, it is very easy to do so. For whatever reason, man's opinion tends to hold a high place in our hearts. I know it does in mine. Man's reward when your behavior pleases him is instantaneous. It's nice to be the center of attention, and so we want to stay there.

And yet that is one of the main differences between Saul and David. David did not care what people thought of him. His focus was entirely on God. So when David saw a man that everyone around him was afraid of, he instead considered his God and thought, "Yeah, this guy doesn't stand a chance." Whereas Saul was thinking, "I don't stand a chance." Saul was afraid of men. That is what his legacy is.

Yet, there is another reason why Saul didn't face Goliath and David did:
"The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him." (1 Samuel 16:14)

"So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed [David] in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David." (1 Samuel 16:13)

Who in their right mind would go out to face a giant knowing for a fact that God was not with him? Whereas David, on the other hand, had not only been told that God was with him, but he had experienced it.

So what's the takeaway for us? It's true that most of us don't have battles to fight or giants to slay, but each of us still has the daily choice to put man's opinion of us above God's or below it. The choice is simple, and most of us probably know which one is the right choice to make. But as Saul learned, it is not easy. So how do we do it?

First, I encourage you to take a step back and think about this story again, and take special note of the evidence of God's grace, both for Saul and for David.

For Saul, God's grace is evident in the many warnings and opportunities he was given to get things right. But instead of learning from his mistakes, Saul chose instead to rely on man's strength, and try and meet man's expectations. God does the same for us when we make mistakes. He tells us, and gives more opportunities to grow. Our job is to be teachable.

For David, God's grace is evident in the battles he faced with lions and bears during his time as a shepherd (See 1 Samuel 17:34-36). You see, God knows us and our weaknesses. He accommodates our need to grow gradually in our faith by starting us off with the small stuff. Now, in the moment, I'm sure battling lions and bears must have been terrifying for David. But it served to teach him just how powerful his God was, which resulted in him growing in his faith, and in his confidence that God would deliver him.

So when we're facing situations that test our faith, we should let ourselves be reminded of the times that God has proven himself to us in the past. And when we face situations that we could easily handle on our own, we should stop and consider it as an opportunity to see what will happen if God is in charge instead. That way,w we're faced with something truly impossible, we'll be ready.