This record is also a wonderful representation of the salvation effected through Jesus.
God’s promise from the beginning was that the seed of the woman would wound the enemy, which is sin, in the head, i.e. destroy the adversary as David destroyed Goliath. David came as Israel’s saviour and was amazed that there was no man to help them, just as it was prophesied of Jesus Isaiah 59:17.Waiting for response for Isaiah 59:17
David’s brothers rejected him as Israel’s saviour and derided him,v.28Waiting for response for 1 Samuel 17:28 and the brothers of Jesus rejected and derided him John 7:5.Waiting for response for John 7:5
Both David and Jesus trusted in the living God and achieved great victories over the enemy. Jesus destroyed sin by his life of obedience and his sacrifice, and he will destroy the enemies of God and of Israel when he returns from heaven. This future victory is well signified in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, recorded in Daniel 2, in which the kingdoms of men were represented by a colossus which is finally destroyed by a stone, symbolising Jesus “the shepherd, the stone of Israel” Genesis 49:24.Waiting for response for Genesis 49:24
It is interesting too that David took Goliath’s head to Jerusalem because it would be there that Jesus would achieve his victory over sin - at Golgotha, “the place of a skull” Mark 15:22.Waiting for response for Mark 15:22
Also, Saul expressed lack of knowledge concerning David’s identity, asking him: “Whose son art thou?” v.58Waiting for response for 1 Samuel 17:58 even though he had been in his presence before! Likewise, when Jesus returns and saves Israel from the invading armies, the rulers of the nation will also be confused as to his identity. They will know he is the Messiah by the power of God he manifest, and it will soon dawn on them that he is Jesus of Nazareth whom they, the Jews, have rejected for centuries. They will realise that their Saviour is the same man who came before to comfort them. On his return they will ask: “Whose son art thou?” and he will answer: “The Son of God!”.
The giants were a race of very large men who had almost all been exterminated, but a few remained in Israel, notably in Gath, Joshua 11:22Waiting for response for Joshua 11:22 Goliath’s city.
David’s was astonished that none of his own people was willing to meet the challenge of this man who dared to “defy the armies of the living God”.
David himself offered to fight the giant, confident of God’s help, as he said to Saul, citing his experiences as a shepherd when wild beasts attacked the sheep. David was still a youth and inexperienced in battle so the people doubted he could be victorious, but he did successfully defeat and kill the giant - his trust in God being vindicated.
When they confronted each other the giant boasted of himself and denigrated David, but David expressed his complete confidence in victory, not by his own might, but by the providence of God. The fight was over in moments for David slung a stone which struck Goliath in the forehead, throwing him to the ground. Whereupon David cut off his head with the giant’s own sword. The Philistines then fled before the men of Israel and a great deliverance resulted.
This record is a marvellous exhortation to us all to be courageous and to trust in the living God in the face of any adversity that comes to us in life.