David’s father sent him on an errand. David obeyed. Here is the account: “One day Jesse said to David, "Take this bushel of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread to your brothers. Give this cheese to their captain and see how the boys are getting along; and bring us back a letter from them! ….. Saul and the Israeli army were camped at the valley of Elah…. So David left the sheep with another shepherd and took off early the next morning with the gifts.” (1 Sam. 17:17-20 TLB)
David went because he was sent on a mission by his father to learn of the welfare of his brothers and to take them food. That was a comparatively simple thing to do. David was happy to be an obscure shepherd and an errand boy. His lot in life at this time was perhaps not as glamorous and public as being a soldier in Saul’s army like his brothers.
There are many who want to be known as giant killers but few who are willing to be known for doing small deeds. There are those who want to do only big things. Menial tasks are below them. They want only to do things that will bring them fame and fortune.
In the parable of the talents in Matthew chapter 25, Jesus told of a master who commended his servant in these words: “Well done, you good and faithful servant: you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.”
Richard Nixon was driven from the office of President of the United States in shame and upon leaving that office said these self-condemning words: “We did the big things rather well.” It was not the big things that ruined him but it was the little behind the scenes things that brought him down.
David did not go to the Elah Valley looking for giants. He obediently went on a simple, non-glamorous mission to serve others and it was while performing that menial task that he met Goliath. A life of acceptable service and assured victory begins with little obediences. That is the first requirement for spiritual fitness. Second,
David delivered the food to his brothers and then observed as Goliath made his daily challenge to the Israeli army. He was infuriated that this heathen giant was allowed to go unchallenged. David said to Captain Saul: "Don't worry about a thing," David told him. "I'll take care of this Philistine!" "Don't be ridiculous!" Saul replied. "How can a kid like you fight with a man like him? You are only a boy, and he has been in the army since he was a boy!" (1 Sam. 17:32-33 TLB)
“A kid ….only a boy” Saul said. But what a boy! Humanly speaking this confrontation was a no brainer. A mere boy without armor fighting two well armed and experienced soldiers. Yes, two: the giant and his armor bearer! Read again: “He (Goliath) wore a bronze helmet, a two-hundred-pound coat of mail, bronze leggings, and carried a bronze javelin several inches thick, tipped with a twenty-five-pound iron spearhead, and his armor-bearer walked ahead of him with a huge shield.” (v. 4 TLB)
This was a suicide mission David was on – unless David had some secret weapon. And he did have! Notice David’s boldness: “Goliath walked out toward David with his shield-bearer ahead of him, sneering in contempt at this nice little red-cheeked 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 shouted in reply, "You come to me with a sword and a spear, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of the armies of heaven and of Israel - the very God 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 Israel will learn that the Lord does not depend on weapons to fulfill his plans - he works without regard to human means! He will give you to us!" (vs. 41-47 TLB)
Goliath was bigger than Shaq, the basketball player! And here was a boy with a slingshot who aspired to be a giant killer. I imagine that there was laughter in both armies as the soldiers looked out and saw a midget compared to the monster!
Do you remember why Saul was King? Saul was king because he was, as 1 Sam 9:2 says, “An impressive young man without equal among the Israelites - a head taller than any of the others.” (NIV) The people chose Saul based upon his physical stature. However in I Sam. 16, when Samuel, obeying God’s instructions, went to anoint Saul’s replacement as King, God said, “Don't judge by a man's face or height, .... I don't make decisions the way you do! Men judge by outward appearance, but I look at a man's thoughts and intentions." (1 Sam 16:7 TLB) One does not have to be a giant physically to fight in God’s army.
David had no physical characteristics that commended him as a gladiator. By comparison he was not a physical giant but he was a spiritual giant. David’s unseen power was the God whom Goliath defied. He made his boast in the Lord. He knew the truth of Zech. 4:6 that it is “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD Almighty.”
