1 Samuel 17:40-52 Then, armed only with his shepherd’s staff and sling, he started across the valley to fight the Philistine. Goliath walked out toward David with his shield bearer ahead of him, sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy. “Am I a dog,” he roared at David, “that you come at me with a stick?” And he cursed David by the names of his gods. “Come over here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals!” Goliath yelled. David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies – the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! And 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!” As Goliath moved closer to attack, David ran out to meet him. Reaching into his shepherd’s bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it with his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in, and Goliath stumbled and fell face down on the ground. 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 and cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they turned and ran.Then the men of Israel and Judah gave a great shout of triumph and rushed after the Philistines, chasing them as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron.
You feel small. You feel outnumbered. You see your enemy as infinitely more well armed than you. But what you need to remember, as my son David did, is that you have me. You have the Lord of Heaven’s Armies on your side. You are my warriors. You represent me. You stand for what I stand for. You are here, you have been put here – chosen to be here – because I decided that you were one of my warriors. Eyes off Goliath, child, and on me. Goliath was a bully. He used his physical stature and his tools of war to intimidate the Israelites – for 40 days they cowered before him. Yet, it only took one small boy with giant faith and trust to defeat him. One small shepherd boy, unarmed but for a sling and a few rocks, one nobody, untrained in the art of war, to defeat this giant of a man. One shot, straight to the head and the giant fell. Who would have believed that David’s skill with a sling and a rock would save the Israelite army, defeat the enemy, and prove – yet again – my faithfulness to my children and my might to the rest of the world? Who would have believed that this innocent mission – being sent by his father to deliver bread and food to his brothers – would result in the death of their enemy – and the death of their fear? The Israelite army focused on the physical size of Goliath, allowed his voice into their heads and hearts, internalized his taunts, and felt too small to defeat him. The tactics of your enemy. What was different about David? He only allowed my voice into his head and heart. He did not listen to Goliath, except to recognize that he was a pagan showing grave disrespect to me. And that was not acceptable to my son David. Your enemy is, at the core of all of this, not coming against you but against me. It wants to defeat you- to decimate you- in order to harm me. But, I have not changed since the days of David. I am still the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. And you are still my children. I fight beside you. Trust that. I chose you to fight. Do so. No fear. No worries. No thoughts as to the size of your enemy. It knows that you are more powerful, because it knows me. Grab your sling and choose your rocks, child. Time for battle. Eyes on me. Only me.
Amanuensis 