1 Samuel 17

17:8–11From Sermon 212 · David and Goliath As A Trauma AllegoryAug 10, 2025NRSVue ↗

Goliath in our story is going to equal trauma. … Notice what Goliath does. He comes to the scene. He announces his big idea: anybody come and fight me, and if you win, then we'll be your slaves, and if I win, you'll be our slaves. And nobody can say, no, we're not going to take the deal. Nobody can say, we're not interested. Nobody can come along and say, actually, we're just going to take you on now. Everybody freezes. Or the armies of Israel actually run away whenever Goliath shows up on the scene. Saul, the king, the one who was supposed to lead the armies — he has no voice in this story except to gird up David or to tell David, I don't think you can do it. The leaders are frozen. The people are frozen or running away.

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