David and Goliath
10 Keys to See How a Famous Fight Points Us to Christ
Aaron Lee | January 25, 2026 | FCBCW Children’s Worship | 1 Samuel 17
A shorter version of this sermon was given to our younger students here.
The story of David and Goliath is incredibly well known. While most retellings dramatize David’s slaying of Goliath with a stone from a slingshot, far more verses are devoted to the surrounding context and characters.
1. Introduction
Key 1
3 The Philistines were standing on one hill, and the Israelites were standing on another hill with a ravine between them. (1 Samuel 17:3) → Difficulties and darkness, the gap between man and God
Key 2
16 Every morning and evening for forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand. (1 Samuel 17:16) → Trials and testing, 40 days of Jesus in the wilderness and winning
Key 3
25 Previously, an Israelite man had declared, “Do you see this man who keeps coming out? He comes to defy Israel. The king will make the man who kills him very rich and will give him his daughter. The king will also make the family of that man’s father exempt from paying taxes in Israel.” (1 Samuel 17:25) → The rewards for winning and the rewards bestowed upon Christ
2. Goliath
Key 4
4 Then a champion named Goliath, from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was nine feet, nine inches tall 5 and wore a bronze helmet and bronze scale armor that weighed one hundred twenty-five pounds. 6 There was bronze armor on his shins, and a bronze javelin was slung between his shoulders. 7 His spear shaft was like a weaver’s beam, and the iron point of his spear weighed fifteen pounds.[d] In addition, a shield-bearer was walking in front of him. (1 Samuel 17:4-7) → A great enemy of God and our great enemy of death
Key 5
44 “Come here,” the Philistine called to David, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts!” (1 Samuel 17:44) → language that Goliah uses against God’s people and then later in Revelation this language is used by God against his enemies
Key 6
43 He said to David, “Am I a dog that you come against me with sticks?” (1 Samuel 17:43) → The weak weapons of David and the foolishness of the cross of Christ
Application
Nothing is too hard for God. God is not scared or afraid. God will always win.
3. David
Key 7
12 Now David was the son of the Ephrathite from Bethlehem of Judah named Jesse. … David kept going back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s flock in Bethlehem. (1 Samuel 17:12-15) → David from Bethlehem, Jesus from Bethlehem. David the shepherd, Jesus the shepherd.
Key 8
28 David’s oldest brother Eliab listened as he spoke to the men, and he became angry with him. “Why did you come down here?” he asked. “Who did you leave those few sheep with in the wilderness? I know your arrogance and your evil heart—you came down to see the battle!” (1 Samuel 17:28) → David’s rejection by his family, Christ’s rejection by his own people
Key 9
37 Then David said, “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17:37) → David’s trust in God, Jesus’ trust in God
Key 10
45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with a sword, spear, and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of Armies, the God of the ranks of Israel—you have defied him. 46 Today, the Lord will hand you over to me. Today, I’ll strike you down, remove your head, and give the corpses[j] of the Philistine camp to the birds of the sky and the wild creatures of the earth. Then all the world will know that Israel has a God, 47 and this whole assembly will know that it is not by sword or by spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord’s. He will hand you over to us.” (1 Samuel 17:45-47) → David’s heart for God’s glory, Jesus’ heart for God’s glory
Application
The Lord looks at the heart.
David shows us a heart of faith in action. A heart that trusts God and passes the test. A heart that trusts God and stands true in trials.
Gospel
Even those who were once enemies of God’s people will find they need a Savior:
It will become a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the Lord because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Champion, and He will deliver them. (Isaiah 19:20)
Big Idea
God defeats his enemies, and Jesus has defeated our greatest enemies: Satan, sin, and death.
Conclusion
David would defeat his enemy, pointing us to the true and better David, who would defeat the great, unbeatable enemies of sin, death, and the devil. While one stone slayed the giant — another stone would be rolled away. Death shall have no dominion, and we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.