1 Samuel 17:1-11

Aggression not defence.

The facts are—

1 . The armies of Israel and Philistia are drawn up in array, with a valley between them.

2 . A gigantic champion, heavily armed and proud of his strength, challenges any one of Saul's army to a personal encounter, and with lofty words defies the armies of Israel.

3 . Saul and his men are in great fear. The episode given by the sacred writer is one of those occurrences likely to arise under the conditions of ancient warfare. It must be viewed by us as one of the events which Providence overruled for the gradual introduction of David to the notice of Israel. But in this section we may confine attention to truths not immediately affecting him.

I. We have here AN EXHIBITION OF THE WAR SPIRIT . This giant was under the influence of a mere love of fighting. It was not a question of rightness or wrongness, but of slaying or being slain. The modicum of patriotism was overlaid by the lust of contention. This passion dwells more or less in all men. Its mildest form is a contentious spirit—a quarrelsome temper, a desire to try our strength against others. It has found wide and pernicious scope in the history of nations. There is a tendency to foster this unhallowed spirit even in civilised, so called Christian countries. The profession of soldier, the pomp of military parade, the zest with which battles are described, the haze of glory thrown around the unutterable horrors of war, and rivalry among men for distinction in action—all show that the war spirit is fostered. Is it not true that a mere desire to find actual occupation in fighting determines the first choice of multitudes in entering on warlike enterprises? The evils of this spirit are patent. In itself it is a debasement of our nature. The God of peace and love is our Father, and we are to be his children in the spirit that governs us. The execution of law and right is a totally different thing. The woes it has brought on the world, in deaths, widows, orphans, poverty, desolations, debts, suspicions, and engendered vices, can never be told. It is the duty of every Christian to strive to crush it out, by careful training of the young, by discouragement of popular passions, by enforcement of the teaching and Spirit of Christ, and by earnest prayer that the Church may be firm in protest against it.

II. We have also AN EXHIBITION OF PRIDE IN HUMAN STRENGTH . This giant thought himself mighty, and he boasted in his strength. Boastfulness in any form is disgraceful. Man is not in a position to magnify himself on any possession, for it is as a shadow, and may quickly vanish. Pride in mere physical strength is the lowest form of boasting, save that in actual vice. A quick, bright, intelligent mind is of more account than height of stature and strength of limb. Yet self-satisfaction in intellectual qualities and powers is evidence of a moral weakness which renders man inferior in the higher realms of life. We have need to learn that man at his best estate is vanity; that it is not by might nor by power that the highest achievements are wrought in the spiritual sphere.

III. We have also A REVERSION OF THE NATURAL ORDER OF THINGS . The natural order is that which follows from the normal constitution and relations of things. By appointment Israel were the possessors of the land. The promise had read thus: Be true and obedient, and ye shall possess the land in peace, and be exalted above all nations ( Deuteronomy 28:1-13 ). Had the conditions been faithfully observed, God long ere the days of David would have subdued their enemies ( Psalms 81:13-16 ). Or, had new enemies trespassed on their borders, Israel would have assailed in confidence, and not be assailed in great fear. Aggression on the foes of God and man is the work of God's people; there is a reversion of the natural order when they are barely able to hold their own, and tremble at the aggressive onslaughts of the foe. The attitude and work of the Church in relation to the manifold forms of evil in the world is not inaptly indicated in Israel's original relation to the abominable nations that once held and begirt the promised land—namely, aggression till the earth is subdued to Christ. If there are defiant systems assailing the Church of God and making inroads upon her, it is because she has been unfaithful in her aggressive work. If we do not make aggression on the domain of sin, the forces of evil will gain power and make positive aggression on the domain of religion. Vices of all kinds, and infidelity in brazen forms, flourish and become more than defensive in action when Christians lose faith in their mission and sink to the level of other men. Not even the vilest of men nor the hardiest unbeliever will venture to assail a pure and very devoted spiritual life.

General lessons : —

1 . The Christian Church should consider how much of the prevalence of the war spirit is due to her imperfect treatment of the natural tendency to it.

2 . Those who despise the low type of life which glories in mere brute force should remember that, from the higher spiritual sphere, glorying in any mere human possession may be regarded in the same light.

3 . The earnest cultivation of spiritual life will be proved by the aggression which, as individuals, we make on our besetting sins, and, as communities, on the sins of the world.