A quick internet survey provides many life lessons from David’s battle with Goliath including (i) be bigger than your fears, (ii) size doesn’t matter, (iii) make use of what you already have, (iv) believe victory is possible, (v) don’t underestimate your capabilities, (vi) pick the right tools for victory, and (vii) ignore experts who say you’re not up to the task. There’s almost always one thing missing from these life lessons: Jesus, the one who the Bible is all about. If we want to read the Bible as a Christian, we must see how the David and Goliath story is part of God’s redemptive history that all points to Jesus. A faithful reading of the Old and New Testaments finds the Gospel in every verse, not merely a collection of inspiring stories that would be appropriate for a motivational speaker.
After forty days of taunting God and His people, the Philistines met Israel again on the battlefield with the fate of their people at stake. Goliath was a champion soldier who was so big that he had custom-made armor and weapons. No one from Israel had stepped up to fight him, even with enticements of fame and fortune from King Saul. No one in the army thought David could be of any use in the battle. He had not even been enlisted to cook, fetch water, or clean up after the troops. As a child, he was not even trained to use any battle weapons. But David did not just show up that day unprepared. David had faithfully cared for and watched over his sheep, protecting them from small threats to increasingly deadly threats from bears and lions. His faithfulness in small matters prepared him for this significant battle. The stakes were high that day. If David had been killed, none of his descendants would have been born, including Jesus. After David stepped onto the battlefield and killed Goliath, the battle wasn’t over, but Israel’s victory was secured.
Since Genesis 3, there has been an on-going spiritual battle between God’s people and the forces of evil. When David defeated Israel’s enemy, he foreshadowed Christ who defeated death and the devil at the cross. Like David, Jesus didn’t just show up one day at the cross. Jesus spent a lifetime learning faithfulness and obedience, daily seeking the grace and strength of God. In His final hours, Jesus did what no other god could do: He displayed incredible courage. He could have walked away. He could have called an army of angels to rescue Him. But instead He remained obedient to His Father’s will through a terrible and terrifying ordeal. While Jesus secured victory against sin and death, the battle is not over. God’s people are still commanded to stand up against the forces of evil. Being faithful and doing what is right in the face of fear, threats, danger, and suffering is so important to God that the cowardly and the faithless lead the list of sinners who will suffer the second death in the lake of fire. (Revelation 21)
Today may be your day to face a significant life battle. Or today may be another day to be faithful in small matters as you prepare for some major, future conflict. Spiritual battles and worldly conflicts occur in our homes, at work, at school, in our neighborhoods, between friends, and with our enemies. These spiritual fights also occur in our own hearts. They damage relationships. They harm society. They have a supernatural dimension (ex. Job 1). If you’ve been sitting on the bench and watching from the sidelines, it’s time to join the fight. If you’ve been fighting for the losing side, it’s time to follow Jesus and join the God who promises that His people will overcome sin, wickedness, and evil, and celebrate an eternal victory with Him in Heaven.