Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel [were] in the valley of terebinths, fighting against the Philistines.
This verse is a stage direction dropped into a father's instructions to his youngest son. As the father tells David where to find his brothers, the verse pulls back to show the whole nation of Israel drawn up in one valley against the Philistines. The setting matters. Israel had no strength in this valley, and that is where God stepped in with a deliverer.
The name of the valley carries its own irony: Israel stood in a place named for strength, and had none.
Saul and the army of Israel are camped in the valley of Elah, or "the terebinth," named like the oak for its strength — if it is not the oak itself. Spiritually, the "valley" is indeed the place to find the power that shows itself in life. But it is one thing to be in the position, another to have realized the blessing of it, and this, under their failed head, the Israelites have not done. In the presence of the enemy they have no strength.
One event has made this valley famous: David killed Goliath here, in full view of both armies (Morrish Bible Dictionary).
The verse says Israel was fighting. Each day brought noise, formation and retreat.
Saul might set the army in array. The armies might go out to the place of the fight and shout for the battle (1 Sam. 17:19-21). But "the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came out from the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before... All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid" (1 Sam. 17:23-24). This happened just as David reached the camp.
The stalemate was not an accident.
Goliath's challenge to settle the matter by single combat made the struggle in the valley of Elah very unusual. It was the very method by which one man could stand out. It was not army against army, as in ordinary cases. The question was which man in all the host of Israel would dare to stand before the terrible uncircumcised foe. It is plain that the blessed God was about to make clear again to Israel that, as a people, they were utterly powerless. Their only deliverance, as of old, was the arm of Jehovah. He was still ready to act in His wonderful character of "a man of war," whenever faith called on Him as such.
David does not arrive as a soldier. He arrives as a messenger, sent by his father with food for his brothers.
David, then, sent by his father on a simple errand of duty, was to be in the grace of God the instrument of His victory: "For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening." What astonishing patience on God's part! Every day, of course, increased the self-confidence of the uncircumcised champion. Every day added to the dismay of Israel.
Notice what is missing from the errand: any trace of David pushing for something bigger.
There is no sign of David fretting among the sheepfolds. He does not resent being away from the armies of Israel. At his father's bidding he is content to be his messenger, taking food to his brothers and a present to their captain, and bringing back news of how they were. The simplicity of David's obedience is very beautiful. His own will is completely out of sight. His father's will is the only reason for his mission.
The errand also carries a larger picture: a father sending his son into a battle where every man has failed.
This father sends his son down to see how his brothers fared. It reminds one of that lovely verse, "we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world" (1 John 4:14). God has looked down on this scene, where the devil has overcome every man, and has sent into it, as a Saviour, His own blessed Son.
The timing of David's arrival is part of the lesson. God let the crisis run its full course first.
Those forty days perfectly test the armies of Israel and show their weakness and utter incompetence. They are dismayed and deeply anxious. No deliverer appears until they have a true and deep sense of their feebleness. Then is the moment for God to step in. "For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly" (Rom. 5:6). Yes, it is just then that the gospel comes out.
- The place. The valley's name meant strength. Under a failed king, Israel had none in front of the enemy.
- The paralysis. They lined up and shouted for battle, then fled when the champion appeared. God was showing them that their only deliverance was His own arm.
- The errand. David came on a simple errand of duty from his father, and grace made that errand the door to God's victory.
- The obedience. His own will was out of sight; his father's will was the entire reason for the journey.
- The timing. No deliverer came until Israel felt its weakness. Christ came the same way: He died for the ungodly while we were still weak.
And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took his charge and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the wagon-defence; and the host which was going forth to the battle-array shouted for the fight.
The Goliath story begins with an errand, not a sling: David carries food to his brothers because his father told him to. The verse reads like a travel note. Yet commentators find in it the shape of the man God had chosen — and of Someone greater.
David did not resent the errand. His father's word was reason enough to go.
There is no sign of David fretting among the sheepfolds, or resenting being away from the armies of Israel. At his father's bidding he is content to be his messenger. He takes food to his brothers and a present to their captain, and brings back news of how they were doing. The simplicity of David's obedience is very beautiful: his own will is entirely lost sight of, and his father's will is the only reason for his mission.
David had already been anointed. That did not make him restless.
Like Christ, David is here a true servant. He rises up early in the morning (v. 20) and takes his charge, so as to do his father's will. Already anointed, he is the Spirit's man for this service, while at the same time keeping his character of humility in the pastures of the sheep.
The detail about the keeper is easy to skip past. One writer reads it as a habit of mind: David did not drop one duty to take up another.
In his obedience, David is careful to look after every interest of his father's, for on leaving the sheepfold "he left the sheep with a keeper." And when he ran into the army to greet his brothers, "David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage." Diligence and eagerness marked him in carrying out his father's will. He was also faithful with everything put into his hands, whether the sheep or his father's goods. Does this not remind us of Him who said, "And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that He has given me, but raise it up on the last day" (John 6:39)?
Jesse sent David; but the early start says something the command did not require.
David leaves his place, and Jesus left His place of bliss on high and came to earth. He was the sent One of the Father. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son." … And notice too that though David's father sends him to his brothers, he went willingly. "David rose early in the morning" (v. 20). He did not hesitate or set out with dragging feet. He was not driven; he went gladly. And Jesus, though sent by God, came willingly.
The army David walked into was shouting. One writer sets it beside an earlier shout, when the ark arrived in Israel's camp.
There were great shouts in the camp when the ark arrived. It was the same at a later time. Israel was again in conflict with the Philistines, and when David came in, "they shouted for the battle" (1 Sam. 17:20). But neither shout was "the sound of shouting for victory," nor was "the shout of a king" among them. It was the expression of a vain and fatal confidence. It was much easier to shout than to fight. In the same way, it is easier today to catch fire at big meetings, stirring talks and exciting music than to live in real devotion to God.
(Older translations read "shouted for the battle"; the ESV has "shouting the war cry.")
The shouting collapsed as David arrived. It exposed the one man who was not afraid.
Saul might set the army in array, but there came up the champion, Goliath of Gath, out of the armies of the Philistines… This happened just as David reached the camp. Their loud shout for the battle was soon over, and all the people were in complete panic. But David was calm and undismayed through it all.
The years with the flock were not wasted. They were the training for that day.
When his presence was no longer needed at Saul's court, he returned to his original work of keeping his father's sheep in the wilderness (1 Sam. 17:15). He knew his place, and kept it. In that place he learned about God in a way others had not, and that lesson fitted him for future usefulness. … Who would say he had wasted his energies in the sheepfold, when as a shepherd he experienced the deliverance of God? Now the time had come, and the occasion arose, for which God had been training His servant in the wilderness.
- Sent. David goes because his father said go; his own will is out of sight, and the command alone is his reason.
- Willing. He was not driven. Rising early shows he went gladly, as Christ came willingly when the Father sent Him.
- Faithful. He leaves the sheep with one keeper and the baggage with another. He drops nothing along the way.
- Prepared. The wilderness years were the training, not the delay — he learned God there in a way others had not.
- Contrast. He arrives to an army shouting for a fight it will not take; the shouting stops, and the quiet shepherd is the only calm man there.
And Israel and the Philistines put the battle in array, rank against rank.
Two armies stand facing each other across the valley, drawn up in full battle order. Yet the battle that follows will not be fought by those ranks at all.
The armies line up as if a normal battle is coming. But Goliath's challenge had already changed the terms.
Goliath's challenge to settle the matter by single combat made the struggle in the valley of Elah very unusual. It was exactly the way in which one individual might be singled out. It was not army against army, as in ordinary cases. The question was who, in all the host of Israel, would dare to stand before the terrible uncircumcised enemy. In fact, it is plain that God was about to show Israel again that, as a people, they were completely powerless. Their only deliverance, as in earlier days, was the arm of the Lord, who was still ready to act in His wonderful character of "a man of war," whenever faith called on Him as such.
The ranks did more than stand still; they raised the battle cry. The noise, though, outlasted nothing.
Saul might set the army in array; the hosts might go out to the place of fighting and shout for the battle (vv. 19–21); but the champion came up out of the armies of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before, and all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid. This happened just as David reached the camp. David heard the proud defiance of Goliath, and he saw the dismay and dishonour of Israel. Their loud shout for the battle was soon over, and all the people were in complete consternation.
Another writer compares that cry to the shouting in the camp when the ark arrived years before, and turns it on the reader.
There were great shouts in the camp when the ark arrived. Israel shouted again later, when they were in conflict with the Philistines and David came in (1 Sam. 17:20). In neither case was it "the voice of those who shout for victory," nor "the shout of a king" among them. It was the expression of a vain and fatal confidence. In both cases there was more shouting than real or effective fighting. It was much easier to shout than to fight. Today it is easier to grow excited under the influence of big meetings and stirring talks with exciting music than it is to live a life devoted to God.
Meanwhile God's answer was already on its way to the camp. It came as an errand, not as an army.
David, then, sent by his father on a simple errand of duty, was to be in the grace of God the instrument of His victory... "For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening." What astonishing patience on God's part! Every day, of course, increased the self-confidence of the uncircumcised champion. Every day added to the dismay of Israel. There was one heart at least that knew no such unworthy fear; but what shame and grief!
The ranks gave Israel no real strength. And no one could see any strength in David either.
No one could see any reason in David why he should step forward to meet the Philistine, when no one else dared to do so. Men judge by "the outward appearance," and they could see no power in him — quite the opposite. Human nature sees power in "the host," in numbers, in armour, or in the mighty Goliath. It never sees power in the young man just come from his "few sheep in the wilderness!"
So the drawn-up armies had one part left to play: to watch.
The conflict lay between the champions of Israel and Philistia, David and Goliath. The two armies stood on either side of the valley in battle array. Yet the battle lay wholly between the two men who represented them.
Their own freedom hung on how he fared.
"And the men of Israel and of Judah arose and shouted." Every doubt and fear vanished at the return of their victorious representative. His victory was their victory. They were as clear and as free from the Philistine oppressor as he was.
- Array — Two armies drew up in perfect order. But this was not army against army; Goliath's challenge had reduced it to one man against one man.
- Shout — The ranks raised the battle cry, but there was more shouting than fighting. The confidence behind it was empty.
- Powerless — God was showing Israel that as a people they could do nothing. Their only deliverance was His arm.
- Representative — The armies could only watch. The battle lay wholly between the two champions.
- Shared victory — When the victor returned, every fear vanished. His victory was their victory, and they were as free as he was.