Do not fear! David the shepherd boy certainly needed courage when he faced the giant, Goliath. He found his strength in God.
Ready to Fight Goliath
David is getting ready to fight Goliath. In 1 Samuel 17:32
“David said to Saul, ‘Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.’”
1 Samuel 17:32
David says, “Do not fear.” Did you know that “Do not fear” is God’s most repeated command in the Bible? Isn’t that what Jesus says to us? Look at your great enemies. Stare Death in the face. Take a hard look at your Sin. Think about the most powerful evil creature in the universe – Satan. It is enough to make your blood run cold. We’ve got to be afraid, right? No – Do not fear.
“Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.”
Judges 20:16 describes 700 chosen men who could sling a stone at a single hair and not miss! 1 Samuel 17:42 reads,
“And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth.”
1 Samuel 17:42
It was a Beanstalk Giant against the String Bean Kid.
The Battle Begins
1 Samuel 17:45-47 tells the story,
“Then David said to the Philistine, ‘You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.” David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. So, David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him.”
1 Samuel 17: 45-47
The Showdown& Three Takeaways
The showdown comes to a climax in the 100 mile-per-hour whistle of a sling shot. A casual onlooker might watch this ending and say: What a kid! What a hero! What skill! What luck! But those who look with the eyes of David’s faith say, What a God! What a Savior! What power! What faithfulness!
I see 3 takeaways in this story. First, the Goliath story is not meant to show what we can do, though puny like David, but what God can do with weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9 promises us: “’My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
Second, when David defeated Goliath no other Israelite was like David, not even King Saul. However, every Israelite had a David. Even if you feel you can never defeat your giants, you have a David who can. Jesus.
Third, No Israelite but David was willing to be the champion, but every Israelite had a champion. None of us is able to be the savior for our sins, but each of us can have a Savior – Jesus.
A Prayer
Let us pray: “Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for giving me Jesus to defeat sin and death and Satan. May all who hear these words, put their faith in Jesus who won the greatest battle at the cross where he died for sinners. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Brian Stapley is the husband of Margaret and “Christian-proud” father of Tabitha, Ben, Jeremy and Joel. He has been director of the Boys JIM Club of America since 1981 and a “JIM Clubber” since 1958, the year he became a Christian. The mission statement of the JIM Club is, “Discipling boys to love Jesus deeply and express him vividly.”
He has been an educator since 1970, primarily as a high school English Teacher. (Don’t dangle your participles.) He has been in fellowship at Scottlea Gospel Chapel, St. Catharines, since 1976 and travels to preach about three dozen times a year, in Ontario and New York State. He is a ventriloquist, in company with Casey, Theodore, Dodo, Grumpa, and a menagerie of others. Also, a bit of a magician.
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