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.”
The verse is David's answer to a giant, spoken in the open ground between two armies. It names the real opponents in the fight, and says what the outcome will prove.
The Contest Redefined
One writer sets what human nature wants to see against the ground David chose.
James L HarrisThe flesh likes to see sword opposed to sword, helmet against helmet; the flesh loves its own. But David said, "I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied." So David puts the question on its true basis. It is now simply a question between the LORD of hosts and the Philistine. David puts David right out of the question. He brings in God Himself as the opponent of Goliath.
Why the Sling Mattered
David went out without Saul's armour, and one writer explains why that mattered.
C. H. MackintoshHere we have the true object of the man of faith. Israel and all the earth were to have a glorious testimony to the power and presence of God among His people. If David had used Saul's armour, no one would have learned that the Lord does not save by sword and spear. His warfare would look like anyone else's. But the sling and the stone gave little prominence to the one who used them. They gave the glory to Him from whom the victory came.
Another writer draws a wider principle from the weapon David used.
The Bible TreasuryThe weapon needed was not far off. The stone lay in the brook that ran between the two armies. It laid the Philistine champion low and silenced his boasting for ever. All his armour proved useless against the death-blow. Even the shield his armour-bearer carried in front of him did not stop the stone. God provided what was needed, and it proved to be enough. Here we have a principle of wide application. God does provide the weapons with which, if called upon, His people may meet those opposed to Him.
Two Names, Two Audiences
David names God twice, and not with the same name. "All the earth" is to learn there is a God in Israel; "all this assembly" is to learn that the LORD — Jehovah — saves. Mackintosh sees a deliberate distinction.
C. H. Mackintosh"All the earth" was to know and own the presence of God among His people. They could know nothing of the precious relationship involved in the title "Jehovah." That title was for the assembly of Israel alone. They were to know not only His presence among them, but His blessed way of acting. To the world He was Elohim; to His beloved people He was Jehovah.
"Into Our Hand"
David faces the giant alone, yet he says "into our hand," not "into my hand." One writer sets his words beside Jonathan's.
W. W. FeredayJonathan was conscious in his soul of his link with the people of God — with Israel. So he said of the Philistines, "The LORD has given them into the hand of Israel." We see the same in David when he went out to meet the giant: "He will give you into our hand." In both cases there was no independent action. The faith was indeed their own, but they acted for and with the nation that God owned as His.
How Faith Measures an Enemy
One writer asks how David sized up an enemy far stronger than himself.
Edward DennettLook at David in the presence of Goliath. Does he feel it is impossible to cope with such a powerful adversary? Nothing of the kind. His one conviction was that "the battle is the LORD's"; that Goliath was the Lord's enemy, and so the Lord would give him into his hand that day. He measured his enemy by the strength of the Lord. By that measure Goliath shrank into a tiny dwarf before him — into complete powerlessness and nothingness.
The Lord Saves
One writer takes the words "the LORD saves" and applies them to the reader.
W. T. P. WolstonNotice that — the Lord saves. You cannot save yourself; I cannot save myself. It is the Lord alone who can save me. God alone can meet man's need and ruin as a sinner, and I have no option but to accept God's Saviour.
Summary
- Whose fight — David steps aside and leaves the Philistine facing God. Goliath had defied Him, so the quarrel was His.
- Whose weapons — Saul's armour would have hidden God. The sling and the stone came from the brook nearby, and left the glory nowhere else to go.
- Whose name — the earth learns there is a God in Israel; the assembly learns the covenant name of the One who saves.
- Whose hand — David says "into our hand," not "into my hand." The faith was his own, but he fought for the whole nation.
- Whose salvation — the faith that cuts a giant down to nothing says the same thing to you. No one saves himself. The Lord saves.