David and Goliath
Psalm 23 was written by a man who knew what it was to put his life on the line to protect his sheep.
This is the second in a series of articles about the life of King David. It forms part of a companion to my book:
“It’s a David and Goliath story”, is a phrase we might hear used in any walk of life, from football to finance, from warfare to software. The story of David and Goliath has come to represent any situation where an underdog faces a vastly superior opponent and wins. It is a story about bravery in the face of overwhelming odds, but most of all, it’s about confidence in God.
The Philistines were on one hill, the Israelites on another with the Valley of Elah between them. As David was visiting his brothers on the frontline suddenly Goliath appears:
Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified. (1 Samuel 17:8–11 NIV)
David had just arrived at the battlefield and must have wondered what was going on. What his brothers were probably too embarrassed to tell him was that Goliath had been shouting out this challenge every morning and evening for the last 40 days.
The Israelites were terrified of Goliath and for good reason. He was a giant — getting on for twice the height of an average man. He was intimidating — a champion fighter from his youth; and he was equipped with the latest battle field technology, including a coat of bronze scale armour weighing 125lb (57kg). Such overwhelming odds can paralyse anyone.
I imagine that many, if not all of us, have a Goliath in our lives. What giant are you facing right now? It might be a Goliath that is very obvious to us, like suddenly becoming unemployed, with all the anxiety and blow to our self-worth that that can bring. Do we have a giant decision to make, or a giant step into the unknown to take? Is there a giant of a relationship issue that we have no idea how to solve? Or our Goliath could just as easily have been intimidating us for so long that we’ve forgotten what it feels like to not be bullied by it. The Israelites were bullied by Goliath for 40 days, but we might have been suffering under our Goliath for 40 years. There is a long list of these kinds of giants: feelings of inferiority; anxiety; addiction; guilt; resentment; and many more.
After a while we become accustomed to any assault, deadened to it in a way. I would imagine that the Israelites were starting to feel as if helplessness was going to be the new normal for them, even after just 40 days of feeling intimidated and disgraced by Goliath’s challenge. There can quickly seem to be no way out of a situation.
But then God sent them a champion of their own, a saviour, a man after God’s own heart, David. How did he react to Goliath?
David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” (1 Samuel 17:26, 32 NIV)
If I had to use one word to sum up David’s reaction to Goliath, it would be CONFIDENT! But why was David so confident? King Saul certainly didn’t think his confidence was well placed:
Saul replied, ‘You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.’
But David said to Saul, ‘Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 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.’ (Samuel 17:33–37 NIV)
So, now we know, David’s confidence was based on trust in God. His confidence was based on his past experience of the Lord protecting him from injury or death from the paws of lions and bears. I’m guessing the lions and bears would not have taken kindly to having their dinner snatched from their mouths.
So what does all this tell us about David?
1. David’s heart was full of faith in God. This was one of the characteristics that made him a man after God’s own heart.
Psalm 23 was written by a man full of confidence in God.
2. God had taken David through his own unique training course to develop his faith and confidence. And guess what, he used trials to do it. Do you think David would have chosen to go chasing after lions and bears to get his sheep back?
Psalm 23 was written by a man who knew what it was to put his life on the line to protect his sheep.
The trials and difficulties David went through prepared him for his destiny; his battle with Goliath. And the same is true for you and me. It might be tough at the time, but God’s love ensures no part of it goes to waste. We don’t know when God will use it, but one day, just like with David, he will. God uses our trials to equip us to help others.
3. David cared passionately for God’s honour and glory, “he has defied the armies of the living God” he said to Saul, and he was prepared to do something about it.
Psalm 23 was written by a man who was bold in defending God’s honour.
King Saul recognised true confidence in God when he saw it, and to his credit, he exercised great trust himself in allowing David to go and fight. The consequences if he lost were that Israel would be defeated. Saul tried to help by giving David his own armour, but David rejected it. He had not needed armour when God gave him victory over the lion and the bear. Just because Goliath had armour, David was not going to meet Goliath on Goliath’s terms. There is an important lesson for us here. Fight the battle on God’s terms not the enemies. In the kingdom of God: we fight lies, not with more lies, but with truth; we fight abuse with kindness; we fight anger and opposition with kindness; we might at times seem like sheep among wolves, but we have a very big shepherd!
Goliath despised David:
He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”
David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied… All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” (1 Samuel 17:43–45,47 NIV)
David knew God and he saw the big picture — “THE BATTLE IS THE LORD’S”. As Zechariah 4:6 says, “‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.” (NIV)
Psalm 23 was written by a man who knew that the battle is the Lord’s.
Then David ran quickly toward Goliath, took a stone from his bag, and slung it at the Philistine. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Do you have a Goliath in your life; something that you feel helpless against? Feel helpless no longer. Your shepherd has come to fight for you, you can be confident in him.
Read “The Psalm 23 Life” to make King David’s experience of God’s love your experience too…
You can access the other parts in this series on the life of King David below:
Part 1
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
