1 Samuel 17:50
So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.
David, a mere youth, struck down the boastful Philistine champion who defied Israel when he went out to defend God's honor and deliver His people, felling him with a pebble from his sling to the forehead though he carried no sword, then cutting off his head with the giant's own sword. The triumph came not by superior weapons, armor, or human strength and skill, but because the Lord delivered him and proved He can save without sword or spear, for the battle was His. David overcame by humbly making God his strength and going in His name with steady trust, while Goliath went forth confident in his armor, magnifying himself with contempt and ridicule. Because David laid aside Saul's armor he could not wear and used his familiar sling, no one is to consent to wear another man's armor but is to work faithfully with his own God-given ability and talents in the armor God provides. The small stones stand for truth by which God gives His servants victory over boastful falsehood, gained not by harsh dealing or loss of temper but by calm, dignified, Spirit-guided defense with prayer.
Setting and Victory Described
This verse belongs to David's mission to save Israel when the Philistine army threatened them, undertaken to defend the honor of the living God and His people. David was a stripling who stood to face Goliath's boasts. Goliath was a proud, boastful champion who defied the armies of Israel with contempt and ridicule.
David defeated and killed Goliath the Philistine with a sling and a stone, with small pebbles, although he had no sword in his hand. The stone struck Goliath in the forehead and brought him down. David then took Goliath's own sword and cut off his head. David's valor with sling and stone turned the battle against the Philistines, which explains why the Philistines remembered him and later hoped he would join them against Saul and Israel.
Victory Through Trusting God
David prevailed over and slew the Philistine with a sling and a stone though no sword was in his hand, and that triumph came by trusting in God and by God's deliverance. It was not gained by superior weapons, human strength, armor, or any boast of personal skill. It proved that the Lord can save Israel without sword or spear, because the battle belongs to Him.
In humility David made the God of Israel his strength, looking to Him in faith in the midst of danger, going in God's name with steady trust, and so overcame the giant. By contrast Goliath trusted in his armor and went forth confident, boastful, and magnifying himself. The victory shows that God gave David courage to do what he could never have accomplished by relying on human strength alone, and remembering God's power in that earlier deliverance would have helped him remain at peace and trust God in later danger.
Lessons for God's People
David could not wear Saul's armor, so he dropped it and took the sling and the stone with which he was familiar and slew the Philistine who defied Israel. No person is therefore to consent to wear another man's armor, but is to work with his own God-given ability in the armor God has provided for him, trading faithfully on the talents God gave him. A life consecrated to God is developed and beautified in its own individuality after the Lord's ideal, not man's pattern, and is not to be sunk in that of another or fashioned after another's character. Even the best of men are not all to be of the same character, but each is to form a character after the divine similitude, consecrated to God's service.
All are to be grafted into one parent stock in unity in diversity, with mind blending with mind and without two being of the same mold. There is abundant room for each to act the part assigned him, and fellow workers are to be allowed to grow in religious experience under the molding of the Holy Spirit without being demerited, belittled, or despised for not bearing another's likeness. The small pebbles with which David prevailed over proud, boastful Goliath stand for truth, which defeats boastful falsehood and exposes the weakness of the boaster despite apparent weakness. The victory belongs to the Lord standing by His servant, and it is gained not by sharp, severe dealing or loss of temper when falsehood is stated as truth, but by dignified, calm, Holy Spirit-guided defense of truth with earnest prayer each time before meeting the opponent, leaving a right impression that causes many to favor the truth.
Ministers who defy and provoke discussion and go forth confident and boastful in the strength of truth and their own arguments or prepared arguments take Goliath's part, for Goliath trusted in his armor and went forth confident, boastful, and magnifying himself, while David prevailed because in humility he trusted in the God of Israel and made God his strength instead of trusting in armor. Ministers are not to do this instead of hiding behind Jesus, but are to let defying be on the side of opposers of truth, humble their hearts, and in faith trust God to give the truth the victory. When they become elated, lose balance, and fail to humbly trust God, discussions are unsuccessful and injure their own souls and the souls of others. Goliath's contempt and ridicule in defying Israel was the worst kind of insult and the most difficult to endure patiently. The same defiant, abusive spirit is repeated when opposers of the law of God uphold their position by abuse, trampling God's law underfoot and heaping personal contempt and ridicule on its defenders, and those meeting such opposition stand in a circumstance like Israel facing Goliath and are to remember Goliath, endure without retaliation, and move forward by faith.