Who Is Goliath?

I’m sure you have heard the story of David and Goliath if not read it in full on your own. I read this story over again and wanted to just briefly go over the story to put the rest of this post into perspective.

King Saul was without God – the Spirit of the Lord had left Saul and because of the tormenting spirit that was now inside of Saul, he was then filled with depression and fear. To make Saul feel better at his darkest moments, the servants sent for a musician. This musician was David.

David, from what I read and gathered, was described as a talented harp player, brave warrior, man of war, having good judgement, a fine-looking young man and that the Lord was with him. Saul came to love David very much.

Goliath was a Philistine champion from Gath. He was over NINE FEET TALL. (Maybe one question should be, if Goliath was here today, would he play in the NBA? The world will never know…) Goliath taunted and shouted at the Israelite army. He wanted a single man to come fight him. That’s just rude because hello, Goliath, you’re clearly not normal height, but okay. Was that all part of God’s plan? Sure. Do I agree? IDK YET.

David asked some soldiers nearby about the giant while he was delivering (obediently) a basket to his brothers who were in the army. (SIDENOTE: It’s so foreign to modern-day Americans [me] that you could just walk out to a battle field. It happened in America ages ago but like… I’m in my twenties, which explains everything.) These men explained and David was really interested. I don’t know if it was ego or just… pure confidence in God that led him to believe he, a mere BOY at that time, could defeat GOLIATH. (Doesn’t Goliath’s name just SOUND like a giant’s name now that we know he was one?? #justsaying)

Saul calls upon David and basically laughs and says YOU? Nah, fam. David defends his thought to go fight Goliath and it doesn’t take much to sway Saul. WHY? Saul loved David! The reward (for anyone who defeats Goliath) would be a daughter of the king to marry (which is a whole other situation after this is all over, by the way). Perhaps this was David’s way of proving himself and Saul went along with it – he already loved David, why not bring him into the family for real?

David was given armor by Saul to go into battle. BUT WHAT DOES DAVID DO? “You know what, this armor is very uncomfortable, I’ve never worn this before so I think I’ll be okay without it. I’ll just leave this here.” -David probably. *insert WHAT IN TARNATION meme here* This is definitely a boy move. Let’s go into battle like we’re 13 and decide we no longer need a helmet to ride our bike.

So, David goes out picks up some STONES and puts them in his bag. He goes out to the field and meets Goliath. In 1 Samuel 17:46 David begins telling him what all he’s going to do and that the whole world will then know that there is a God in Israel! In 47 he continues on saying that “everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!”

Those are some strong words coming from David. It shows the faith and confidence he has in God here. David cast his stone toward Goliath’s head. He went down and was killed. ONE STONE, people… Only God could explain that one. Not that important but I’m sure Goliath’s head was pretty big and it’s hard to believe a simple smooth stone took him down, but God wasn’t in that to show us some scientific thing – He was in that to prove a point.

Described earlier in this, David lives up to all the things that the servants of Saul said – brave warrior, man of war, having good judgement and that the Lord was with him.

Your Goliath

• a coworker
• a relative
• spiritual questioning
• persecution
• doubts
• blame
• fear
• selfish nature
• flesh
• a series of unfortunate events
• health
• a friend
• death
• government
• finances

Do you see your Goliath listed here? Has it already passed? Are you going through it right now? How are you coping with that? Are you fighting against the Goliath or THROUGH the Goliath?

What do you do about a Goliath?

Remember how David had great faith? He was so young yet stood up to the biggest giant. I get amazed every time I read that he was given armor by Saul but David decided to lay it down and not even take it. David faced a giant without armor because the power of God was with him. #WHOA

We can be that way too. We don’t always even know what we need in our bag of weapons to fight our battles. We don’t always know what exactly we’re going to face even. I doubt David knew exactly what he would be up against, even if he did have a glimpse of Goliath at the field. David probably didn’t have much of a plan of attack.

So where does that actually leave us? Faith. If we have faith in God, He will see us through. Proverbs 3:6 says to “Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”

The Lord is my light and my salvation – so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?

Psalm 27:1

We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9

Can you prevent a Goliath?

Probably not. Goliath’s are everywhere. If you try to prevent one Goliath, another will pop up. They’re tests just like David proved his worth this way in a sense. When we face a Goliath, a trial, we were MADE to suffer and persevere. It’s not that some people have a Goliath and others don’t. It’s that our Goliaths will look different when they come.

Our Goliaths are for our good. Overcoming them builds our character and grows our faith in the One who conquers all. Don’t be afraid to face your Goliath.

This is my command – be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

Isaiah 41:10

Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.

Romans 8:18

Take Note

The important thing to remember is that no matter what battles we face, no matter what Goliath we are facing off against, GOD IS GREATER THAN GOLIATH. God triumphs. God will not always, and may never, take us out of Goliath’s way, but He will see the situation through and WE will get THROUGH it with Him.

The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

Romans 8:11

Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

More importantly, don’t let your Goliath get in the way of the Great Commission.