So much of the time when we seek to learn something, we look for someone who has lived well beyond their youth. We seek someone who has had many life lessons for us to learn from. We want someone who has the plus and the minus sides of the lesson. Many will say you must learn from your mistakes, and while it is true, we should learn from our mistakes, you don’t have to do something wrong before you do it right. Today we will learn from one who was probably in his teen years of life. This young man is David.
In I Samuel chapter 17, we see David bringing food to his brothers who are in the army of King Saul. For forty days the Israelites and Philistines had been camped out facing one another for battle. The Philistines were represented by a man named Goliath. He was a giant in every sense of the word, and he challenged the Israelites to send a man to fight him. If the Israelite won, the Philistines would become their servants, but if Goliath won, the opposite would happen. The future of the Israelites rested upon the shoulder of one man. No one was willing to take the challenge.
Now, David appears to bring his brother’s food and sees the situation the Israelites are facing. He, a young man, volunteers to fight the giant. Of course, no one believes this young lad should represent them. In their minds, it will be certain death for David, and servanthood to the Philistines. David seeking to make his case reminds them that there is a cause. They are defending the name of God!
I Samuel 17:29 “And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?”
David’s brothers saw his job as a shepherd as a negative. Their argument was that he tended sheep and knew nothing about being a warrior. However, David shows his tending sheep as positive. David was no ordinary young man. When his sheep were in danger, he risks his life to defend them. He had killed a bear and a lion to protect them. It was obvious while David was tending sheep he was learning to depend on God. He was preparing to do great things for God by taking care of the little things that no one saw. His statement “is there not a cause” and his willingness to defend the honor of God shows he had developed a great love and respect for his Lord.
I Samuel 17:37 “David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.”
When no one stepped up to defend Israel David’s offer was told to Saul. Saul listened and agreed to allow David to fight Goliath. He gives David his armor, but David refuses. His answer to Saul was that he had not tested the armor. While he did not know what the armor could do for him, he did know what God could do. It is amazing to me that Saul, the one God had already withdrawn His Spirit from, trusted David to defend them.
David understood the task before him. He was young in years, but his confidence was purely in the power of God. His weapon of choice was five smooth stones that would be directed by the God he trusted completely. David understood that it was God who would win the battle, he was only an instrument for God to use.
As he approached Goliath the taunting began. Even David’s enemy didn’t take him seriously, but when your confidence is completely in God, it doesn’t matter what anyone says or thinks.
I Samuel 17:45-46 “Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.”
David made it clear that he was defending the honor of the God of Israel. He was not seeking glory for himself. There was a greater cause and a grander purpose for his victory. God honors His obedience and his confidence in Him with a victory over Goliath. Only God could defeat a giant with a slingshot and rocks.
I see several applications we can take from the account of David and Goliath. First, David was content to do the small stuff. The job of a shepherd was not one that most would aspire to, but David did what was necessary and what he was asked to do with a standard of excellence. It may not have seemed like an important job to anyone else, but it was to him. Do the small stuff as if it were the greatest task on earth. Third, David showed humility even when he did great things. He did not take credit for his victories, he gave all the credit to God. Fourth, David never wavered in his faith. When the giant was making fun of him and threatening him, he simply proceeds to defend the honor of God. The doubts of his brothers, the disbelief on his countrymen, not the taunting of Goliath could not discourage David. He had seen God work in the past and he trusted him to work now.
We must remember that it is not our strength, but God’s that wins the battles we face. He is the creator of everything, the Master of the Universe, the Sovereign God, and the God who is still in control. No one can match His power nor His love for us. He is for us, and when we obey, we show our love for Him. We can face anything with God leading us.
Isaiah 41:10 “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
Jeremiah 32:17 “Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:”
Ephesians 6:10 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.”
Romans 8:31 “What shall we then say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
