I’ve had the wrong picture of David and Goliath in my head all these years.
I realized it a few weeks ago when I taught on the story of David and Goliath in Sunday School. I knew that David was a young man–probably in his late teens–when he killed Goliath. Yet somehow the picture that had stuck with me was a Sunday school picture I had seen as a child. It showed David as a young boy bending down to pick up five smooth stones from a stream. And somehow that image stuck with me. I pictured David as boy–and I also added a word to the verse. I imagined him picking up five small smooth stones.
Those stones weren’t exactly small. As I studied this passage with adult eyes, I learned that slings were a weapon in the Ancient Near East. The NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible says that in Israel shepherds used them to combat animals that would prey on their flocks, but in Egypt and Assyria they were weapons of war. The slings these warriors used could hurl stones between 100 and 150 miles an hour–speeds higher than a major league pitcher can throw a fastball. And these stones were no pebbles. Skilled sling throwers used stones between two and three inches in diameter, weighing about half a pound. Imagine a half-pound stone being hurled at your head at 150 miles an hour. That’s no toy. That’s a weapon.
Here’s what this detail helps us understand: God equips us to face our giants. David was young, yes. But he had already killed a lion and a bear who had gone after his father’s sheep (1 Samuel 17:34-35). Others regarded him as a “brave man and a warrior” (1 Samuel 16:18). Most importantly, the Lord was with him.
When David came to the camp and heard Goliath taunting the armies of Israel, he realized what Saul and the rest of the soldiers did not: Goliath’s challenge was an affront to the living God. In the ancient world, people understood that combat between champions was a representative battle between the deities these champions served. The person who won was the person whose god was stronger, and the army with the strongest god would win the battle to come. By refusing to fight Goliath, Israel was communicating their fear that the Lord was not as strong as the gods of the Philistines (“Combat by Champions,” NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible).
David knew God was stronger than any giant–and any god that giant served. His faith made him willing to face Goliath, confident in the belief that God had delivered him in the past would deliver him still. Yet David’s faith was not a matter of foolishness. Long before Goliath ever stepped into the valley to hurl insults at Israel, God had prepared David to face him. David’s time caring for his flock on the quiet hillsides of Judea had equipped him to use the very weapon he needed to face the giant: a shepherd’s sling.
God has been at work in our pasts preparing us for the challenges of our present moment. God has already equipped you to face your giants. Click To TweetGod was not surprised by Goliath, and God is not surprised by the giants that we face. God is at work now preparing us for the challenges of the future, and God has been at work in our pasts preparing us for the challenges of our present moment. God has already equipped you to face your giants. Your weapon probably won’t be a sling. But God has given you what you need to step forward in confidence. Look around you. What weapons has God provided? What power is there in your testimony? How has God moved in your past to prepare your for this moment? What Scripture passages speak truth into this moment? What answered prayers assure you God will continue to answer now? What skills has God developed in you that you can use now to show the watching world that your God lives? God will not leave you powerless. The weapon you need is already in your hand.
How has God prepared you to face your giants?
2 comments
Thank you, Leigh. Your post is perfect timing based on what the Lord has been speaking to me lately.
Thanks! I’m glad to hear it spoke to you.
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