God Has Prepared You For The Battle Ahead

1 Sam 17:33-37

Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth."

But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his 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 from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."

Saul said to David, "Go, and the Lord be with you."
NIV


When we first meet David, we see him in the spotlight. David had come with food to Israel's encampment, where a citizen army was drawn up to fight the Philistines. But the whole army was immobilized by fear of a giant, Goliath, who was some nine feet tall and magnificently proportioned. Goliath had challenged Israel to send out a man for single combat. All Israel feared the giant's power.

Young David, probably still in his teens, was amazed. Certainly no pagan defying the army of the living God had a chance of victory! The Lord would deliver the man who accepted the challenge.

Saul heard about David's remarks. David was sent to the tent of this man who, as leader and the largest man in the nation, had been chosen to fight Israel's battles for them (1 Sam 8:20). When David was brought before the king, he boldly affirmed that he would fight the giant and kill him. As a shepherd, David had battled lions and bears to preserve his sheep. Surely the Lord would deliver David from the hand of the Philistine giant, for David was going in the Lord's name, to battle now for His sheep!

We know the story well. David came without armor to meet the massive warrior. With a shepherd's sling, David hurled a stone which killed Goliath. Taking the giant's own massive sword, David then cut off his head. The demoralized Philistines fled, pursued by the triumphant Israelites.


The scene of David's triumph is not the beginning of his story. That beginning is rooted in the silent years David spent as a shepherd. It is rooted in the fear David must have felt of the wild beasts around him, and in the courage that was tested over and over again as David went out to meet his challenges. It is rooted in David's growing awareness and trust of God.

Insight into that beginning is also found in God's earlier word to Samuel. When Samuel was sent to anoint David as Israel's future king, Samuel had looked admiringly on David's tallest brother. God reminded His prophet: "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Sam 16:7).

David, though handsome, was not an impressive figure. But during the lonely years of shepherding, David had developed a heart for God. He learned to see God as his Shepherd (Ps 23), sensing in his own care of his sheep aspects of God's care for His people. Living in the open, David also sensed God's greatness through His creation. Later David wrote:

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
Ps 19:1


This same theme is often echoed in David's psalms. For instance, in (Ps 29) David calls on men to ascribe glory to God for all that He reveals of Himself in nature.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic.
Ps 29:3-4

The silent formative years, the weeks spent alone in the hills and valleys of Palestine tending sheep, deepened the youth's sense of God's greatness and power. David's heart responded to creation's revelation. His eyes saw the glory of the Lord. Measured against this vision of the Lord, whose majestic voice spoke in the thunder, David saw Goliath in true perspective. The giant was merely a creature. The Lord is God.