For forty days Goliath mocked the Israelite soldiers. He wore a suit of armor that weighed more than the average man could pick up. He didn’t have to know how to fight, he could just step on you, or fall on top of you, and squash you like a bug. But he did know how to fight; he was a trained warrior.
His voice was as big as he was tall. He stood across the valley and shouted for hours on end, ridiculing and mocking and taunting and making the men feel like helpless little boys. There was no escape from his voice. In the camp in their tents, during the night when they tried to sleep, while they ate, no matter where they went or what they did, Goliath’s voice reminded them of their hopeless situation.
Consider it: you against Maximus Prime.
Along came an untrained brother who had been sent by his father to “see how the battle goes.” At the battle front, David found his brothers in their tents, paralyzed with fear.
Then, Goliath came out of his tent to begin his show. After one sentence, in which Goliath ridiculed God, David was ready to fight. He turned to his brothers and the group of soldiers near him and said, “That’s not right.”
David waited briefly for a soldier-spirit to rise in the armor-clad men. “That Philistine is making fun of God. What are you going to do about it?”
Hanging heads and sideways glances were all that David saw.
It was more than he could bear.
In the solitudes of the shepherd’s life David had learned to hear the voice of God.
As he guarded, lead, and provided for the sheep, David had established an understanding of the relationship God wanted to have with him.
“The LORD is my Shepherd. I shall not lack any good thing.”
“He leads me. He guides me. He protects me.
Though at times I have experienced dangers that could have lead to my death, even in those circumstances, because His presence surrounded me, I feared nothing.”
David’s focus was not on himself or even on the Israelite army.
David could not bear the thought that someone was saying bad things about God.
David’s focus was on God – on defending God against the accusations being made and the insults being shouted for all to hear.
The most important thing for David was his relationship with God.
Loyalty to God demanded action.