Saul and David’s brothers saw the Goliath problem as a military problem. David saw it as a theological problem that should be decided not by the size or military equipment of the opponent but by the size of the God that he served. David had been under matched against the claws of both a lion and a bear. He knew what it meant to be an underdog. But he boldly declared, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” David knew that God would also give him victory over the giant with his armor and spear which was the size of a weaver’s beam.
David’s great confidence did not come from his ability, or even from the past experiences with the lion or the bear, but from the feeling that the battle was one in which God would be with him. You can almost hear this little shepherd boy writing a song for this occasion. It might go something like this:
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside the still waters,
He restores my soul.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death (Elah?)
I shall fear no evil (Goliath)
For thou art with me….
By the way, the major message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that the Lord is with you also. If God is with us and for us, what difference does it make who’s against us in the valley of death?
Chuck
Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you. 2 Corinthians 13:11