1 Samuel 17:34

Commentary on 1 Samuel 17:34

In 1 Samuel 17:34, David, a young shepherd, is speaking to King Saul. The Philistine giant, Goliath, has defied the armies of Israel for forty days, and no one dares to challenge him. David, having arrived at the battlefield to bring provisions to his brothers, is deeply offended by Goliath's blasphemy against God. When he volunteers to fight the giant, Saul is skeptical due to David's youth and lack of military experience. This verse is part of David's powerful and humble explanation to Saul, outlining his past experiences that prepared him for this seemingly impossible task.

Context and Significance

This verse is crucial because it reveals the foundation of David's extraordinary courage. He doesn't boast of his own strength or skill, but rather recounts specific instances where God delivered him while he was faithfully performing his duties as a shepherd. His past victories over a lion and a bear, fierce predators that threatened his flock, were not random events but divine training grounds. This personal testimony aimed to convince Saul that David was not foolishly overconfident, but divinely equipped.

• David's Humble Beginnings: The verse highlights David's ordinary life as a shepherd, tending his father's sheep. This contrasts sharply with the grandeur of kingship and warfare, yet it was precisely in this humble setting that God prepared him. This aligns with God's pattern of choosing the humble and overlooked, as seen when Samuel was sent to anoint God's chosen king.
• Divine Protection: David's ability to confront and defeat a lion and a bear indicates extraordinary courage and strength, but he attributes the success to God's hand. This foreshadows his confidence that the same God who protected him from wild beasts would also deliver him from Goliath.

Key Themes

• Faithfulness in Small Things: David's diligent care for his father's sheep, even risking his life for a single lamb, demonstrates faithfulness in his assigned duties. This faithfulness in seemingly small responsibilities prepared him for greater ones.
• God as Deliverer: The core message is David's unwavering belief that God was his deliverer. His past experiences were not just tales of bravery, but testimonies of God's intervention. This confidence in God's protective power emboldened him.
• Preparation for Purpose: David's encounters with the lion and the bear were not mere accidents; they were part of God's sovereign plan to prepare him for the ultimate challenge of Goliath and, eventually, for his role as king.

Linguistic Insights

The Hebrew words for "lion" (אריה - 'ariyeh) and "bear" (דב - dov) are straightforward and denote these specific formidable animals. The emphasis is on the tangible and deadly nature of the threats David faced. The phrase "took a lamb out of the flock" implies the swift and devastating action of the predators, making David's intervention all the more remarkable.

Practical Application

David's testimony in 1 Samuel 17:34 offers profound lessons for believers today:

1. God Prepares Us: Our seemingly ordinary or even difficult past experiences can be God's training ground for future challenges. The skills, resilience, and faith we develop in smaller trials are often precisely what we need for larger battles.
2. Build on Past Victories: We should remember and celebrate how God has delivered us in the past. These "stones of remembrance" build our faith and confidence to face new obstacles. David's experience here directly leads to his declaration in 1 Samuel 17:37: "The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine."
3. Courage Rooted in God: True courage is not the absence of fear, but confidence in God's presence and power, even when facing overwhelming odds. Like David, we can face our "giants" when we trust in the God who has been faithful to us.