The measure of a man

David stands up to a giant

by R. Douglass Mahaffey

David, the son of a shepherd from Bethlehem, was out tending his father’s flock one day. David’s family lived near a valley that stretched from just east of Bethlehem to just west of Jericho. Traditions held by Jews in that region believe this area to be the valley that David wrote about in the 23rd Psalm, when he wrote, Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for thou art with me.”

            Just a side note; there is also a spot in this same valley where it is believed that Mary and Joseph stopped to rest on their way to Bethlehem from Nazareth before Jesus was born. The animals in the valley, which were mostly predatory, were said to have been more desirable to face than the criminal element of Samaria, that would have awaited them, had they taken the eastward route from Nazareth, which would have been shorter.

            In that valley, David slew some of the world’s most fiercest predatory animals of that day, in order to protect his father’s sheep. He was only a boy of about 16 or 17 years old. Jesse came to David with food to take to his brothers, who were in the Israelite Army behind enemy lines, battling the Philistines, who controlled the area that we now call Gaza.

            David set off to take the food to his brothers. When he got to the Israelite’s camp and found his brothers, he was ashamed to find them hiding in their tents. He confronted them and asked them why they were hiding. They told him that they were afraid of the Philistine’s biggest weapon against them, Goliath of Gath.

            The Philistines would come up to the battle line and taunt the Israelites. They would call them dogs and threaten them to come out of their tents and face the onslaught from Goliath. The Israelites remained in their tents, hiding. When David heard the things that the Philistine army was saying to them, he couldn’t believe his ears.

            David told his brothers that they were God’s chosen people and that no giant should be able to stop them from living freely in the land God gave them. David had a personal relationship with King Saul, as his armor-bearer and musician. David came before King Saul and offered to face Goliath. King Saul attempted to “talk some sense” into David, that no boy could defeat the giant on his own. David told the king that he didn’t plan to face Goliath alone. He planned to destroy Goliath with God on his side.

            King Saul continued to discourage David to no avail. David was dead set on showing Israel and all of their enemies what can be accomplished with God on their side. King Saul then tried putting his armor on David. But David was too small to fit the armor and it was too heavy for him. David told King Saul that having God on his side was all the armor he needed. Saul told David to go and may the Lord be with him. King Saul didn’t believe that David would survive facing Goliath.

            David walked down to the river that flowed within the valley of Elah. Picking up five stones and placing them in his shepherd’s bag, he approached the Philistine’s camp, where Goliath came out to face-off with David. Goliath scoffed at him, “Am I a dog that you come at me with staves?” The Philistines cursed God before David.

            David rebuked Goliath and the Philistines and said, “You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day will the Lord deliver you into my hands; and I will smite you and take your head from you; and I will give the carcases of the Philistine army this day unto the fowls of the air and the beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.”

            Goliath ran toward David and David ran toward Goliath. Before Goliath could strike one blow at the Shepherd, David reached into his shepherd’s bag, grabbing one of the stones that he had gathered from the river earlier. He put it in his sling and shot it at Goliath, sinking it into the forehead of the giant. Goliath fell dead to the ground.

            David drew Goliath’s sword from its sheath and cut the head off of the giant, just as he said he would. The Philistine army ran away in fear of David after seeing their hero fall to the little shepherd boy. The Israelite army caught and killed all that were present for the army of the Philistines, and the birds and beasts fed on them.

            What giant are you facing? How do you deal with the things that come at you with adversity? Do you stand up to those that mock God and belittle you for being a believer? We are called to be soldiers for God. If you were serving in man’s army and an enemy came after you, you wouldn’t stand idly by and let them walk all over you and what you stood for. You would be court marshaled for not fighting back.

            God expects the same thing from His soldiers. Put on His armor; that is, read His word and turn to him in your time of need. He will be your shield of protection. Then you will measure up to being the person God created you yo be.

R. Douglass Mahaffey – Founder and Publisher of The Wise Conservative.