“You, Israel! Did you come out for battle? Then, send a man to fight me. If he kills me, we will become your subjects; but if I kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us! Why doesn’t anyone come out? Is there no warrior among you?”
When the Philistine army attacked the land of Israel, the Israelite army assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them. Then a champion came out of the Philistine camp and provoked the Israelites, taunting them. His name was Goliath. He was over nine feet tall. Being armed with a bronze helmet and a coat of mail, he was wielding a ponderous spear. King Saul and the Israelite army were so terrified at his sheer size that they did not even think about fighting him, even though he came forward to mock the Israelites every morning and evening for forty days. At that time, a young boy named David came to the battlefield on an errand for his father Jesse to see how his brothers were. While there, David heard Goliath shouting his daily defiance. Being enraged at the taunting challenge Goliath made to the Israelites, David came to King Saul and stood before him.
“Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; I will go and fight him. I have been keeping my father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep. I have killed both the lion and the bear; that Philistine who insults the armies of God will be like one of them. I believe that God will deliver me from the hand of that Philistine, just as He delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear.”
King Saul who had tried to stop him allowed him to go out to fight Goliath, seeing how strong and resolute his will was. David took off the coat of armor and the sword that Saul had given him because he was not used to them. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached Goliath.
“Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks? Come here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”
As Goliath despised young David and cursed him, David shouted to him.
“You come against me with sword and spear, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day God will hand you over to me, and I’ll cut off your head, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel and that the victory in the battle comes only from God.”
Finally, they ran straight toward each other. However, the giant Goliath suddenly fell facedown on the ground. The stone that David had slung sank into the forehead of Goliath. David ran to the fallen giant and cut off his head. The Philistines who lost their hero were frightened and ran away, and Israel won a great victory.
Usually, people compare the fight between a smaller, weaker person and a bigger, stronger opponent to the battle between David and Goliath. The giant warrior Goliath had been a fighting man from his youth, while the young boy David had been a mere shepherd. At a glance, it seemed like a typical struggle between the strong and the weak. In actuality, however, it was a match between “the one who trusted in his own ability” and “the one who relied absolutely on God.” Since David knew his weakness, he asked God the Almighty for strength and was clothed with power from God. How dare anyone call David weak?
As the Bible says, “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Co 12:10), the one who knows his weakness is the strongest person. Since he is weak, he doesn’t trust his own ability but relies on God all the more, earnestly asking for His help. Let us realize our shortcomings and weaknesses, and clothe ourselves with God’s strength every day. Then we will experience an amazing victory.