Then David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
— First Samuel 17:26
Saul and the armies of Israel, including David’s three oldest brothers, were in battle array against the attacking Philistines. Goliath, a giant among the Philistines, challenged any Israelite to fight him. At this point, David was sent to the battlefront by his father to bring supplies to his brothers and to bring back word how things were going (1 Sam. 17:17–18). Upon arriving, he found Goliath mocking Israel and Saul hiding in his tent, considering how to save himself, his army, and the country.
Why didn’t Saul at least order his archers to shoot down Goliath? If David could kill him by striking him in the forehead with a stone, couldn’t an archer have struck him down while he was mocking God and His people? Yet it seems that among all the Israelites, only David was upset that Goliath was allowed to defy the armies of the living God (v. 26). To David, the people of Israel were not simply Israelites; they were the people whose God was the living God. Where were those among His people who would challenge these idol worshipers on behalf of the true and living God?
Adapted from David: After God’s Heart, page 51.
Tomorrow: “An Inner Realization”