I’m guessing majority of people reading this know the story of David and Goliath. I have heard it countless times in Sunday School, sermons, read it in the bible, helped teach about it on mission trips. But, I just read 5 verses in another book of the bible and it has deepened my understanding and appreciation of this classic “Sunday School” story.
Okay soooooo in 1 Samuel 17, it tells the whole story, but I would just like to summarize it and emphasize certain aspects.
Saul, the king of the Israelites, went to battle with the Philistine army. The battle between the Israelites and the Philistines had been going on morning and evening for forty days. An Israelite man named Jesse had 8 sons. His three oldest boys were part of the Israelite army. Jesse’s youngest son, David, was in charge of tending to Jesse’s sheep.
Jesse sent David on an errand. David was supposed to bring his three brothers grains and loaves, bring the commander cheeses, and then return to his flock.
So David went to the Valley of Elah with the grains, loaves, and cheeses. When he was greeting his brothers,
“the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before [“Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” ( from verses 8 and 9)]. And David heard him.” (1 Samuel 17:23).
Goliath had been requesting for an opponent from the Israelite army- God, the all powerful creator of the universe’s army- to come and fight him. But the Israelites were all too afraid. David sees that nobody responds to Goliath, nobody prepares to fight him, nobody moves… so he asked the Israelites a simple question, “‘For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?’ (verse 26)”
David steps out, speaks up, and stands up for what he knows is truth. He does not go the way of the world, he does not take the “popular” response.
I feel safe to assume that probably wasn’t an easy thing to do. And to make things worse, it does not get any easier. David’s oldest brother angrily confronts and criticizes him. Then King Saul confronts and criticizes David. David is forced to defend himself, his actions, and intentions in front of his brothers, the army, and the king. Finally once David is actually facing Goliath, the giant and the Philistine army mocks David and David’s God.
YET DAVID DOES NOT WAVER. His entire army, his family, his king, the opposing army, the giant he was looking up at- probably what seemed to be the whole entire world- was doubting him and had no faith in his abilities.
David found his strength in the Lord. David did not back down. David trusted, feared, and only cared about the Lord. David was given the gift of courage and boldness and he obeyed.
You all know the ending, David’s trust in God paid off and Goliath was killed by a slingshot and a stone that SUNK into his forehead.
Okay so here’s where I learned something new and what made the story, somehow, WAY cooler…
Turn to 1 Chronicles 20:4-8
“Philistine Giants Killed
And after this there arose war with the Philistines at Gezer. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Sippai, who was one of the descendants of the giants, and the Philistines were subdued. And there was again war with the Philistines, and Elhanan the son of Jair struck down Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number, and he also was descended from the giants. And when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David’s brother, struck him down. These were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.”
Let me explain. The David and Goliath story happened years before David was king. In 1 Chronicles 20, David is king, and has been king for quite some time. Meaning that a significant amount of time has passed between David courageously stepping up and killing Goliath and these giants being killed.
The Philistines returned to the Israelites with 3 more giants this many years later. In the verses where the giants are killed, David is not mentioned once. He could have been there, he could have been in another part of the country- it doesn’t matter because he didn’t kill these giants. Three other men (one being his brother !!!!!!!!!!!) killed these three giants.
If David hadn’t been obedient to God and killed Goliath, then who even knows if these men would have had the courage to depend on God and his strength this day.
He paved the way, he reminded them of God’s almighty power and faithfulness. Three times the power was upon Israel, yet they nonchalantly defeated them. Some years later, it didn’t take 58 verses to explain the defeat of one giant… it took 5 verses to explain the defeat 3. In a matter of years, one man’s courage lead to three men’s courage, dependence, and faith in God. Is this blowing your mind????
How many times have I lived out of fear and, therefore, made an impression on others to do the same?
What if we actually lived without fear and it motivated others to do the same? How different would this world be?
What is God asking me to depend on His strength for so I can be and example and motivation to others?
People are always watching. Christians are witnesses of Christ whether they want to be or not. Live like David. Live in boldness and courage and faith and trust and dependency of God. He gave us these gifts (emphasis on GAVE- past tense). If you choose to walk in insecurities, fears, and doubts, you are making a choice not to walk in freedom. You’re making the conscious choice to live in lies and bondage and deliberately rejecting the gifts the Lord gave you.
