Saul Hath Slain His Thousands, and David His Ten Thousands

 

When young David killed Goliath of Gath, the champion of the Philistines, and the men of Israel and Judah returned after greatly defeating the army of the Philistines, the women came out of all the cities of Israel. They sang and danced with timbrels and instruments of music, welcoming those who had returned victorious from the battle.

 

But the problem lies in the words the women sang one to another: “Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” In fact, these words were not entirely wrong, because David had killed the champion Goliath, and through this the men of Israel and Judah were able to win the battle against the Philistines.

 

The army of Israel feared Goliath, who came out morning and evening for forty days to defy them. He was six cubits and a span in height, said to be about 2.93 meters tall, and no one dared to fight him. But young David could not endure Goliath defying the armies of the living God. So he went out against him with a staff in his hand, five smooth stones chosen from the brook, and a sling, and he killed him (1 Samuel 17).

 

However, what is important is that it was not David himself who defeated Goliath.

 

1 Samuel 17:45-47 “45Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a javelin: but I come to thee in the name of Jehovah of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. 46This day will Jehovah deliver thee into my hand; and I will smite thee, and take thy head from off thee; and I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day unto the birds of the heavens, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47and that all this assembly may know that Jehovah saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is Jehovah’s, and he will give you into our hand.”

 

These are the words David spoke to Goliath just before fighting him, but they are also words spoken to us who read them today. They clearly teach all of us that God caused David to overcome Goliath and gave victory in the battle against the Philistines.

 

Therefore, the women’s words, “Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands,” were wrong. They should not have exalted David, but should have exalted only the name of God, who caused young David to overcome the champion Goliath. And this error of exalting a person more than Jesus is not only the error of those women. It is an error that we today can also easily commit, and Romans 1 clearly points out this wrong.

 

Romans 1:21-23 “21because that, knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened. 22Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23and changed the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things... 25for that they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.”

 

As this passage says, we must not exalt the creature more than the Creator. This is because Jesus alone is the One who is worthy to be praised forever. Neither Saul nor David was an object to be exalted by people, because all men are the same in this regard. Therefore, the apostle Paul also spoke as follows to the brothers who were quarreling with one another, some claiming to belong to Apollos and others to Paul.

 

1 Corinthians 3:4-8 “4For when one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not men? 5What then is Apollos? and what is Paul? Ministers through whom ye believed; and each as the Lord gave to him. 6I planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 7So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. 8Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: but each shall receive his own reward according to his own labor.”

 

That is right. At that time, the brothers in the church of Corinth boasted as though they belonged to Apollos or to Paul, and they quarreled with one another. But the apostle Paul himself exalted God alone, saying that Apollos and he were nothing, and that only God gives the increase.

 

This is the truth. People are nothing, and only Jesus is everything. Therefore, it is only natural that Jesus alone should be exalted among us.

 

Revelation 4:10-11 “10the four and twenty elders shall fall down before him that sitteth on the throne, and shall worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and shall cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11Worthy art thou, our Lord and our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power: for thou didst create all things, and because of thy will they were, and were created.”

 

In the case of Peter also, when a man who had been lame from birth was made to walk and leap, the people thought that Peter had healed him. So they gathered in the porch that is called Solomon’s, looking intently at Peter. At that time, Peter said the following to the people.

 

Acts 3:12, 16 “12And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this man? or why fasten ye your eyes on us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made him to walk? 16And by faith in his name—the name of Jesus—hath his name made this man strong, whom ye behold and know: yea, the faith which is through him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.”

 

Amen. Truly, it is so. Young David was able to overcome Goliath by relying on the name of God, Peter healed the man who had been lame from birth in the name of Jesus, and the apostle Paul was no different.

 

Acts 21:13 “Then Paul answered, What do ye, weeping and breaking my heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

 

Thus, our forerunners of faith all lived for the name of God, that is, the name of Jesus. Therefore, we also must not exalt or boast in people, but must boast only in knowing Jesus (Jer. 9:23-24) and exalt only the name of Jesus (Ps. 148:1-14).

 

King Saul sought to kill David from that day onward because the women ascribed ten thousands to David but only thousands to him. Although being exalted by people is not important at all, he tried to kill David in order to protect his own position. In the end, the women, who should have given glory and praise to God, instead compared Saul and David and exalted David. As a result, they ended up driving a wedge between Saul and David.

 

From this, we can see that jealousy, envy, strife, and quarrels among people can easily arise when we do not think only of Jesus, but first think of ourselves or of people. The apostle Paul called such people still fleshly.

 

1 Corinthians 3:1-3 “1And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ. 2I fed you with milk, not with meat; for ye were not yet able to bear it: nay, not even now are ye able; 3for ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you jealousy and strife, are ye not carnal, and do ye not walk after the manner of men?”

 

Therefore, if we belong to the Spirit, that is, to God, then we must no longer boast in or exalt people, but must exalt only Jesus and boast only in the name of Jesus.

 

1 Corinthians 1:26-31 “26For behold your calling, brethren, that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27but God chose the foolish things of the world, that he might put to shame them that are wise; and God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong; 28and the base things of the world, and the things that are despised, did God choose, yea and the things that are not, that he might bring to nought the things that are: 29that no flesh should glory before God. 30But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption: 31that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”

 

Amen.