Read 1 Samuel 17:32-50
The story in the Bible about David & Goliath is perhaps the most iconic and well-known story from the Old Testament. Only Noah’s Ark is its rival when it comes to recognizability. It has all the elements of a great underdog story, which all of us love! An unlikely hero against a seemingly insurmountable opponent, with the fate of two nations hanging in the balance. There’s a lot at stake, and the odds don’t seem to favor the ‘good guys.’ I can’t help but picture Rocky Balboa facing off against the giant Russian Ivan Drago in Rocky IV. I can actually hear the music in my head now. However, it’s not a nail-biter, because we already know how the story ends, with David quickly and rather easily defeating Goliath on the battlefield.
But, there are aspects of this story that arrest my attention. Let me set one up with a question: Have you ever read something in the Bible that kind of stops you in your tracks with one or more of the following thoughts?
- That doesn’t make any sense to me
- That sounds both unrealistic and crazy to me
- I never would have been able to do that
- This person has lost their mind
Well, there’s a part of the David & Goliath saga that has this effect on me. Here it is in 1 Samuel 17:48: “As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.”
Did you see it? Did anything in that short verse leap off the page at you? What strikes me as surprising in this part of the story are 3 words: “David ran quickly” to the battle line. I’m not sure I have a box for that. If we have the stage properly set in our minds for this scene, these 3 words are downright crazy. Goliath was a million to one favorite in this fight. NOBODY on either side of the Valley of Elah that day would have gambled even a nickel on the ruddy and untrained shepherd boy. Everyone watching - and that’s exactly what they were doing - was prepared to watch this well-meaning but foolish sheep-herder have his body torn limb from limb by the giant, with very little effort on the giant’s part. Yet David ran. No, David ran quickly to the battle line.
No matter which translation of the Bible you read this story from, the conclusion is the same. There’s either something very wrong with this boy, or something very right about him. Every version translates this part of the story the same: David, without hesitation, indeed runs towards Goliath rather than staying safely on the sidelines.
From a human perspective, it appears as if there’s something very wrong with David. Like he just doesn’t get it. There’s a very good reason why for 40 days (that’s how long Goliath had entered the valley looking for an opponent) not one single trained soldier from Israel dared walk into that valley - they had no chance of winning! The Bible says Goliath was over 9 feet tall. His armor likely weighed as much as the average soldier on Israel’s side. This was not a fair fight, nor a wise choice, so not one of Israel’s trained military men worked up the courage to face Goliath. Not one. That is, until the young shepherd boy brought lunch supplies for his brothers.
Is it possible that instead of there being something wrong with David, there was something very right about David? This 19-year-old young man seems to have had an unshakable confidence. But confidence in what? Certainly, David doesn’t seem to have lacked confidence in his own abilities to work a slingshot, as he tells King Saul that he has been successful at fighting lions and bears to stave them off from his flocks. Oh my! So this future king carried a degree of confidence in his years of preparation in the fields.
But there’s something else at work here: David’s confidence in God. As the prophet Samuel records this story, we learn in 1 Samuel 17:37 the ultimate source of David’s confidence: “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” David lived with an unwavering trust and confidence in the God of Israel. Regardless of the size of the challenge he faced, his God was bigger still! It was this confidence that empowered David’s courage to walk undaunted into the valley that day, to face an undefeated enemy. Goliath was about to suffer his first loss - to a visibly unworthy shepherd boy who had the God of the Universe on his side. So he ran quickly toward the battle line…
Friends, let us be reminded today from the life of David that God is on our side. He has delivered us, and He will deliver us, according to His perfect will and plan for our lives! Let us be reminded that the battle is the Lord’s, and continually trust Him with our difficult circumstances.