I love the David and Goliath story.
I have lots of favorite bible stories, but this one is in my top three. It’s one of those stories that makes you decide every single time you come up against something if we are putting our faith in God or are we saying that our situation is bigger than God?
Goliath was BIG. Relationship issues are BIG, Financial issues are BIG, infertility is a big deal, sickness is a big deal, the issues of the world in which we live – ARE A BIG DEAL!
The bible tells us that God is the God of the impossible! Are our life Goliaths bigger than God,or do we believe that God works in the impossible?
The Philistines didn’t see how Goliath could lose. They believed they were going to win this round of the war and the Israelites were going to be theirs. They sent Goliath out every single day, twice a day, for 40 days before David arrived on the scene, to send fear through the Israelite camp. Goliath tormented the Israelites to weaken their position. Goliath was dressed from head to toe in his brass warrior, which included a brass helmet! He held his spear around his neck, and a man stood before him, holding his shield. The Israelites didn’t have a giant to fight a fair fight. They were petrified. Saul had NO idea who to send out to fight Goliath.
When David arrived, he wasn’t there to fight, he was there on a mission from his father Jesse to go and deliver a care package to his brothers, and to bring back news from his brothers as to what was happening on the front line.
David did not come to irritate his brothers, nor did he come to fight the giant. He just wanted to do what his father asked of him. When he arrived to the camp,he witnessed Goliath for himself, and noticed that the Israelites were afraid and not sure what they should do, let alone who to send out to fight the giant! They had no plan in place. David couldn’t understand why the Philistines were trying to mess with the armies of the living God – Who did they think they were?
David convinced Saul to let him fight the giant. Saul tried to resist, but David insisted that he could do it. He tried to dress David in warrior gear, but the warrior gear didn’t fit. They were far too big. God doesn’t want us to be somebody else, or fit somebody else’s gear, we were created to be ourselves, and to live our lives honouring Him, and believing that God will do what He said He will do. God has a plan for each person individually!
One of the interesting things about Goliath, is that he wanted to fight one person from the Israelite camp. He wanted to take one Israelite aside and fight him. He knew he had an unfair advantage, a giant and a shield holder against a regular sized man. Remember he was the size f two men standing on top of each other, and built like a tank. He would have been training to be a warrior from the time he was a teenager.
Isn’t it funny how the devil likes pull us away from our churche, or our community to make us think we are powerless? He reminds us of our weaknesses? He wants us to forget who’s we are, He wants us to forget that we are part of God’s army. Our strength is in our numbers, in our relationship with God, and in our community of like believers. The plan was to take down the entire army of Israelites by taking out one person. One individual.
Who does the devil think he is., trying to mess with us, the children of the living God!!?? We need to remind the devil of his future every time he pokes his pointy misshapen nose into our lives. David seemed to understand this. He understood who he was in God, and he knew how powerful God is. David was a worshipper and he just knew in his heart that God loved him and loved the Israelites. Somebody had to go fight Goliath. David knew that God would help whoever fought Goliath, but nobody was stepping up from the Israelie army, so David bravely said he would do it.
David collected 5 stones from the brook. He prepared himself to go into battle with Goliath. He probably spent time in prayer, asking God to go before Him to protect him, to have the glory when the giant was dead. David would have taken the giant off guard. A young kid dressed without battle gear, without swords, fronted up from the Israelite camp. Goliath probably thought he was a joke, but David got himself ready and waited for the perfect moment to strike. The stone had to hit Goliath at the right time, in the right place. David was a shepherd, and had killed lions and bears to protect his sheep. He knew what he needed to do. David used one stone. He had more, but he only needed one. He would have had other opportunities to take down Goliath if he needed them, but he didn’t. It took one stone to drop Goliath to the ground. David then ran and cut off his head before the giant could get up again.
‘Can you imagine how freaked out the Philistines would have been at the moment Goliath fell to the floor? Can you imagine how excited the Israelites would have been when they realised that David had taken down the giant? Can you imagine how proud Jesse would have been when he heard his youngest son was the kid who killed the giant?
The glory went to God, because it was through David’s obedience, confidence and bravery, that God worked a miracle in the lives of those people that day. Just imagine how they would have celebrated!
The story of David and Goliath is in 1 Samuel 17: 1-58.
“Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. They were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah. They set up their tents between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. 2 Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and set up their tents in the valley of Elah. They came up dressed for battle to fight against the Philistines. 3 The Philistines stood on the mountain on one side while Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with the valley between them. 4 Then a strong fighter came out from the armies of the Philistines. His name was Goliath, from Gath. He was almost twice as tall as most men. 5 He had a head covering of brass, and wore brass battle-clothes that weighed as much as 5,000 silver pieces. 6 He wore brass leg-coverings, and had a brass spear on his shoulders. 7 The long part of his spear was like a cross-piece used on a cloth-maker. The iron head of his spear weighed as much as 600 pieces of silver. A man walked before him to carry his shield. 8 Goliath stood and called out to the army of Israel, saying, “Why have you come out dressed for battle? Am I not the Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I fight him and kill him, then you must become our servants and work for us.” 10 Again the Philistine said, “I stand against the army of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were troubled and very afraid.
12 Now David was the son of Jesse, an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and was old in the days of Saul. He had lived many years. 13 Jesse’s three older sons had followed Saul to the battle. Their names were Eliab the first-born, next Abinadab, and third Shammah. 14 David was the youngest. The three oldest sons followed Saul. 15 But David went to and from Saul, to take care of his father’s flock at Bethlehem. 16 The Philistine came out and showed himself morning and evening for forty days.
17 Then Jesse said to his son David, “Take for your brothers a basket of this baked grain and these ten loaves. Hurry and carry them to your brothers among the army. 18 And take these ten pieces of cheese to the leader of the thousand man group who is with them. See how your brothers are doing, and bring me news of them. 19 Saul and your brothers and all the men of Israel are in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.”
20 So David got up early in the morning and left the flock in the care of a shepherd. He took the food and went, as Jesse had told him. And he came to the tents as the army was going out dressed for battle, calling out the war cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines came near each other dressed for battle, army against army. 22 David left the things with the man to take care of them. He ran to the army, and went to meet with his brothers. 23 As he talked with them, Goliath the Philistine from Gath came out of the army of the Philistines, and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him. 24 When all the men of Israel saw the man, they ran away from him and were very much afraid. 25 The men of Israel said, “Have you seen the man who has come out? He has come out to stand against Israel. The king will make the man who kills him rich. And he will give him his daughter, and make his father’s family free from paying taxes in Israel.” 26 Then David said to the men standing by him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine, and takes away Israel’s shame? For who is this Philistine who has not gone through the religious act of the Jews? Who is he, that he should make fun of the armies of the living God?” 27 And the people answered him in the same way, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.”
28 His oldest brother Eliab heard what he said to the men. He became very angry with David and said, “Why have you come here? With whom have you left those few sheep in the desert? I know of your pride and the sin of your heart. You have come to see the battle.” 29 But David said, “What have I done now? Was it not just a question?” 30 Then David turned away from him to another and asked the same question. And the people gave him the same answer.
31 When David’s words were heard, they were told to Saul, and Saul sent for him. 32 David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart become weak because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 Saul said to David, “You are not able to go and fight against this Philistine. You are only a young man, while he has been a man of war since he was young.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant was taking care of his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and fought him and saved it from his mouth. When he came against me, I took hold of him by the hair of his head and hit him and killed him. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear. And this Philistine who has not gone through our religious act will be like one of them. For he has made fun of the armies of the living God.” 37 And David said, “The Lord Who saved me from the foot of the lion and from the foot of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.” 38 Then Saul dressed David with his clothes. He put a brass head covering on his head, and dressed him with heavy battle-clothes. 39 David put on his sword over his heavy battle-clothes and tried to walk, for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I am not used to them.” And David took them off. 40 He took his stick in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the river. He put them in his shepherd’s bag. His sling was in his hand, and he went to the Philistine.
41 The Philistine came near to David, with the man carrying his shield in front of him. 42 When the Philistine looked and saw David, he thought nothing of him. For he was only a young man, with good color in his skin, and good-looking. 43 The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine spoke against David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me. I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the animals of the field.” 45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and spears. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of All, the God of the armies of Israel, Whom you have stood against. 46 This day the Lord will give you into my hands. I will knock you down and cut off your head. This day I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the earth. Then all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All these people gathered here may know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands.” 48 Then the Philistine rose up and came to meet David. And David rushed to the center of the valley to meet the Philistine. 49 David put his hand into his bag, took out a stone and threw it, and hit the Philistine on his forehead. The stone went into his forehead, so that he fell on his face to the ground.
50 So David won the fight against the Philistine with a sling and a stone. He hit the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in David’s hand. 51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine. He took his sword out of its holder and killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their strong soldier was dead, they ran away. 52 The men of Israel and Judah rose up and called out and went after the Philistines as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron. The dead Philistines lay on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. 53 Then the Israelites returned from following the Philistines and took what had belonged to them among their tents. 54 David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem. But he put his battle-clothes in his tent.
55 When Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner the head of his army, “Abner, whose son is this young man?” And Abner said, “By your life, O king, I do not know.” 56 The king said, “Find out whose son the young man is.” 57 So when David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner brought him to Saul with the Philistine’s head in his hand. 58 Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem.”