Giant Buster

[David said,] “The LORD who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!”

1 Samuel 17:37

The giant Goliath was intimidating. He was big, he wore big armor, and he carried a big weapon. Big any way you cut it.

For forty days, morning and night, Goliath mocked God’s people. Eighty times he shouted out his defiance and was met with fear and flight on the part of the Israelites. But the eighty-first time, he got the surprise of his life.

Israel’s army was focused on Goliath’s size. That’s what did them in. He was big and loud. When David first heard Goliath’s taunts, his reaction was, “Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Samuel 17:26). David didn’t even mention Goliath’s size. David was comparing Goliath to God, and Goliath was not coming out the winner. In David’s eyes, Goliath was puny.

Young David decided to take on the giant. This monumental event had some precedents in David’s life, as we read in today’s verse. David had not been trained in battle, but he had been trained in the power of God.

When David stepped out to meet Goliath, the giant couldn’t believe his eyes. He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, and he despised him.

But David was undaunted. He ran right at Goliath, took a stone out of his shepherd’s bag, slung it, and Goliath fell. “So David triumphed over the Philistine with only a sling and a stone, for he had no sword. Then David ran over and pulled Goliath’s sword from its sheath. David used it to kill him” (1 Samuel 17:50-51).

Goliath was big and loud and intimidating, but his size also made him a big target. His armor kept him from being light on his feet.

David, on the other hand, was small and nimble and unencumbered. What looked like strength was really weakness; what looked like weakness was really strength.

Father, with my eyes fixed on you, there is no reason to fear a giant.

For David, the size of the giant was irrelevant.

Dave Hunt(1926–), American Christian apologist, speaker, and author