For 40 Days – Day 17: Intimidation: Content

Key Episode Scripture: 1 Samuel chapters 16-18

So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. (1 Samuel 17:50 ESVUK)

For 40 Days, the army of Israel was intimidated by one man. What led to that moment and what would break that moment would be pivotal in the nation’s history. Having considered some contextual factors in the previous entry, we’re outlining the content of the episode here. There’s a good question as to why not just focus on chapter 17, which features the episode. Still, as will be explained in future entries, something about the surrounding chapters richly informs this episode, making it worthwhile to include in the content. This outline in no way replaces the delight and joy of reading these for yourself, but it should hopefully touch on areas that will be explored in future entries.

1 Samuel 16

1-5 – God instructs Samuel to snap out of the funk of ditching Saul and move on to anoint the next King from the sons of Jesse. Samuel expresses a concern about the current King. God gives Samuel the occasion of a sacrifice in which the anointing will happen. Samuel pops up in Bethlehem and lets the elders know that the folks better get ready for sacrifice time.

6-13 – Samuel observes Jesse’s firstborn and likes the look. God says it isn’t appearances he judges by; it’s a heart issue for Him. Jesse presents almost all his sons for Samuel to reject until it comes to the youngest, who is out tending the sheep. When this youngster approaches, he has a handsome look, and God confirms that this is the guy to anoint – Samuel does so in front of his brothers, with the Spirit of God being a part of David’s life.

14-23 – As the Spirit of God rests on David, it leaves King Saul to be replaced by a spirit that torments him. His servants acknowledge it and suggest that music therapy might help. Saul commissions them to go ahead and get the right guy. Someone suggests there’s this fella called David who’s decent on the lyre and has other very positive qualities. Saul brings him, and David serves Saul so well that Saul asks Jesse to let him keep the youngster as his armour bearer. When he gets that feeling, Saul gets musical healing.

1 Samuel 17

1-11 – Philistines set up to take on Israel – the skirmish is set in the Valley of Elah. Goliath, the Philistine Champion – a big man if ever there was one, armed like a proper warrior – challenges Israel to put up a challenger so they can go one-on-one with Philistine’s great one. Rules are straightforward: the winner (as determined by the last man standing) takes all – the opposition. Goliath defies the enemy. Saul and Israel’s army hear this and are petrified.

12-18 – Jesse’s an old guy; his first three sons have gone with Saul’s army to take on the Philistines. David switches between Saul and looking after his Dad’s sheep. Jesse instructs David to go and give provisions to his battling brothers and return with a welfare update on them. Goliath challenges Israel for 40 days with morning and evening challenges.

19-27 – David leaves early to get to the battleground; he arrives and drops off the provisions before looking for his brothers. Goliath makes his regular challenge; David hears it as the Israeli army beats a terrifying retreat from the big guy. The soldiers talk about the prize the King has given to the man who can defeat the big guy – tax-free living for the family, riches galore and the King’s daughter in marriage. David pipes up to get confirmation as to what will happen to the uncircumcised fella who defies God’s army.

28-30 – Eliab, David’s oldest brother, hears David and rebukes him, suggesting that David’s just there to see the latest deal and that he needs to get back to the sheep. David wants to know the problem before piping up again to get confirmation as to the prize for knocking down the big guy.

31-40 – David’s chirping gets to Saul and gets him an audience. David volunteers to take on the big guy. Saul says that he’s not really up for this. David outlines his CV in dealing with threats to the sheep and says the big guy is no different from those threats, especially as the God who gave him the victory before will do it again. Saul accepts the CV and offers David some armour to take on the big guy. The outfit isn’t David’s speed, so the youngster informs Saul that he’ll wear what he’s used to – some stones, a staff, and his trusty shepherd’s pouch.

41-49 – Goliath approaches David in disgust, giving some smack talk to this runt of a figure, informing him what will happen. David responds that Goliath is going down because He’s nothing compared to the Lord of Israel’s army. David also gives as good as he can get with the smack talk whilst praising God. Goliath gets closer; David picks one of the stones, puts it in the sling, and slings it right into the big guy’s head, leading Goliath to fall face first.

50-58 – To confirm the win, David uses the big guy’s own sword to chop his head off. The Philistines notice that their champ has lost his head and duly fled. Israel is encouraged enough to chase the Philistines, killing some of the enemy as they go and then returning to plunder the enemy’s camp. David takes the big guy’s head to Jerusalem and keeps the big guy’s armour. Saul enquires who is the guy who brought the victory; his army commander doesn’t know but gets David to inform Saul that he is the son of Jesse.

1 Samuel 18

1-5 – Jonathan, Saul’s son, deeply connects with David and sets a covenant with him. Jonathan gives him all his army gear. David’s war record sets him up in the army, and he gains a reputation with Israel and Saul’s people.

6-9 – As the conquering heroes return home, the women sing a song stating David killed much more than Saul. Saul doesn’t take that well, suspecting that his throne is in jeopardy, and becomes paranoid about the young man.

10-16 – Saul has a torment episode, and instead of getting musical healing from David, he looks to kill the young man twice, but David dodges the efforts. Saul’s afraid of David, and so keeps him busy with military activities. David does well in these, exacerbating Saul’s awe and fear. Meanwhile, David’s popularity has grown in the nation.

17-19 – Saul wants to set up David with his first daughter and tells David to fight for her, hoping that the Philistines will kill David for him. David humbly suggests that being in the royal family is a bit much for him. So, the first one is married off to someone else.

20-30 – Saul learns that his daughter Michal loves David. Saul looks to set up David again, and despite the initial reluctance, Saul sets David a challenge with the bride price of 100 Philistine foreskins. David feels much better with that challenge and gets 200 so he could be the son-in-law. Saul knows for sure that God has David covered, gives Michal to David and is even more afraid of the guy. Meanwhile, whenever the Philistines wanted to come out to battle, David would give them a similar experience to their big guy, further improving David’s reputation.

Next, we will explore some of the episode’s concepts to understand the significance of these 40 days of intimidation.

For His Name’s Sake

C. L. J. Dryden

Shalom