Teen Lightweight Defeats Heavyweight Champ!

David And Goliath
Teenage Lightweight Defeats Heavyweight Champ!

How does one write with originality about the story of David and Goliath, one of the best-known of all Old Testament thrillers? Seems best to simply review the already-well-known facts and just enjoy all over again God’s empowering of a most unlikely instrument when that instrument is willing to be used.

The nation of Israel is somewhere in the middle of the 40-year reign of Saul, their first king, who at first seemed to be God’s man for the job, but whose personal life and rule have now deteriorated dramatically. The Spirit of God has left him – because Saul rejected the will and authority of God – and “an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him” (1 Sam. 15:26; 16:1,14). The once popular warrior-king has been reduced to a cowering hostage to fear and the boisterous threats of one man, enormous giant though he be. And all Israel cowers with him.

Not that Goliath is not a formidable threat. To get a perspective on the giant’s size, two mathematically alert young men in our Bible study calculated that at nine foot nine inches Goliath might have weighed 850-900 pounds. Add to that his 125 pound coat of mail, his 15 pound spear head, and the unknown weight of his bronze helmet and javelin (these alone probably weighed more than David), and you have well over half a ton of a truly intimidating war machine! For 40 days this pagan nightmare had been taunting and terrorizing Israel (1 Sam. 17:16).

What intimidating, seemingly invincible “giants” – spiritual, moral, economic, social, personal – are menacing your life? Our human perspective on our problems seems to fluctuate between two extremes: either I can handle this myself; or it’s so big there’s no way I can handle it. Panic! Once reality breaks through, the first response – self-confidence/over-confidence – leaves us open to the second. But panic, despair, fear or frustration are not Christian responses either. Our God is able.

David is probably in his mid-teens. Diligent and dutiful, he leaves his “few sheep in the desert” (17:28) with another trusted shepherd; and obedient to his father, he went to the battlefield with supplies for his three brothers who were soldiers (17:17-19). As big brothers will do, the oldest, Eliab, ridicules his little brother’s appearance on the scene; but David’s attention is on Goliath – that ranting, raving Philistine giant. While the Israelites “ran from him in great fear” (17:24), teenaged David wisely sizes up the situation like no one in Israel has done: “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (17:26).

David’s inquisitiveness and fearlessness soon bring him to the attention of King Saul, who is so demoralized that he is willing to let a teenager decide the nation’s fate in one-to-one combat with the half-ton monster. I can’t understand Saul’s thinking here, but obviously, this isn’t about Saul. It’s about Jehovah God and a boy who is already more of a man in his experience of God than Saul ever would be.

This is the boy who grew up while standing alone for days and nights watching his father’s sheep and learning life-lessons about himself and his God. “The LORD is my shepherd ... even ... through the valley of the shadow of death will I fear no evil, for You are with me” (Ps. 23:1,4). Practical youth that he was, he practiced diligently with his only weapon – his trusty sling – during those long days and nights, occasionally against the live targets of slinking predators.

No doubt he also practiced his harp, serenading his sheep in the night with poetic praise ballads that flowed from his heart and his intimate experiences with his God. Thank God he preserved so many of these songs as psalms. What depth of intimacy and knowledge of God this teen gained, alone with Him and the sheep, while his siblings despised him and went about life’s “more important” big-brother pursuits.

How often, when we are deep in our “down times” – of stress, loneliness, temptation, or the feeling that we’re not appreciated – do we use them as opportunities to learn and grow in our personal relationship with our God? These are usually times He has designed to deepen our intimacy with Him and to strengthen and prepare us for the battles that are coming – though we don't often see this until later.

When his sheep were threatened by a lion or a bear, this fearless youth stood in that valley of the shadow of death, between predator and prey, and put down the threat with his bare hands. This time the lion and the bear are a giant warrior with no more regard for David’s God than those beasts. And he, too, would have to be put down. David can do it. Not in his own strength, of course. He walks with God; he lives with God; his God will use him and save him because this is not David’s enemy, nor Israel’s. Goliath is God’s enemy.

Perhaps because of his own inadequacy, Saul insists that David use his battle armor. David tries it, but soon finds it impossibly cumbersome. The burden would only doom the boy. This protective gear had not saved Saul from total spiritual and moral defeat; how could it save David? He had found a better defense:

“The LORD is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid? When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war should break out against me, even then will I be confident. One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek Him in His temple. For in the day of trouble He will keep me safe in His dwelling; He will hide me in the shelter of His tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at His tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD” (Ps. 27:1-6).

Armed with his simple but functional and effective weapon, David “ran quickly toward the battle line” (17:48). The Philistine ridicules him mercilessly (but David is used to ridicule from his brothers) and angrily threatens all manner of horrifying torture and abuse, cursing David by his impotent gods. David calmly and confidently responds: “I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied” (17:45).

It’s not David, nor Israel, who is threatened. This giant pagan is defying the Almighty God of heaven! And Almighty God is about to respond. Because the so-called “leader” of his earthly forces, Saul, is a coward and a spiritual washout, God is prepared to use a teenaged shepherd to put down the challenge. It’s not the size of your army or your champion, but the size of your faith and the quality of your relationship with God that decides the battle. He always wins. Walk with him, and you always win.

I once heard a speaker comment on this scene: As David ran toward the battle, all those watching (both Israelites and Philistines) were thinking how small he was compared to the giant, while David was thinking how small the giant was compared to his God! It’s all a matter of perspective.

David answers Goliath’s grisly threats with an equally horrible, but altogether straightforward and accurate description of what he will do with this enemy whom his God will put into his hands within moments. It’s not a mere threat; it’s the expression of his confidence in the God he knows and who goes into the battle with him – the God who is, after all, the enemy’s real target.

David’s well-practiced arm slings one stone (though he still has four more in hand). His aim is true. But, more importantly, his heart is true, and the God who lives in that heart guides the missile to its target. Hundreds of pounds of armor are useless, serving only to bring the defiant giant crashing more ponderously to the ground under the impact of one smooth stone on one square inch of unprotected forehead. David has no other weapon, but Goliath’s sword remains unused in its scabbard. So having promised to take the giant’s head off, he makes use of the giant’s sword to finish the job.

Our “giant” enemies are often formidable and seemingly invincible, but God knows their vulnerabilities. Our confidence in and obedience to God will terminally defeat them, sometimes with their own best weapon.

One adolescent shepherd trusting in the Almighty God and craving His exaltation above all else is more than capable of overcoming the most formidable challenger. The Spirit of the Lord, who had abandoned Saul when he abandoned God, is now with David who walks with and depends upon his God. Thus it is omnipotence, not human inadequacy, that engages the enemy.

God’s supernatural presence and power are ours today as we walk with and submit to Him, and face the enemy with Him.

The demoralized Israeli army is immediately revived by the stunning victory, and it pursues the enemy Philistines and ultimately destroys them. One boy’s faithfulness to his God, and his resulting bravery, turned a whole nation around.

While Israel was running from the enemy, David confronted and engaged the enemy, with the result that the enemy nation fled from the revived Israelites! God certainly has His way!

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith” (1 Pet. 5:6-9).

“In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37).

By Bill Van Ryn