How to Be a Modern DAVID Against a Modern GOLIATH

Historical accounts in the Old Testament were chronicled to teach or warn future believers, meaning you and me (Romans 15:4 & 1 Corinthians 10:11). With this in mind, let’s take a fresh look at Israel’s conflict with the Philistines when David was still a teenager and not yet a soldier.

¹Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Sokoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Sokoh and Azekah. ²Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. ³The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them.

1 Samuel 17:1-3

God’s kingdom reigned on Earth in the Old Testament thru the physical nation of Israel whereas God’s kingdom reigns on Earth in the New Testament period via the spiritual nation of the Church (1 Peter 2:9). Israel and the Church refer to God’s chosen people in two different ages relating to two different covenants. We’re currently living in the New Testament era, of course, wherein our New Covenant with the LORD is superior to the Old Covenant that the Israelites had (Hebrews 8:6).

Israel in this historical account is a type of the Church — God’s chosen people (1 Peter 2:9) — whereas the Philistines are a type of the enemies of God’s holy nation. In our era of the New Covenant, who are the enemies of the Church? The Bible plainly says:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Ephesians 6:12

Our enemy may operate through physical bodies & the corresponding organization at times, but he is nevertheless a spiritual adversary. His filthy minions — demons or evil spirits — are likewise spiritual in nature and function according to ranks of authority. We see this in their description as “rulers,” “authorities” and “powers.” In every battle you & I face there’s a key spiritual adversary on which victory will be won or lost:

A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span [nine and a half feet tall].

1 Samuel 17:4

The camp of the Philistines had a champion who was 9.5’ tall. Every nation, city and town today has dark spiritual forces assigned to them with a ‘champion’ in each. For instance, in Daniel we observe “the prince of Persia” and “the prince of Greece,” both demonic authorities dispatched to these areas (Daniel 10). These particular evil authorities were ‘princes’ in the kingdom of darkness.

Israel was led by kings, priests, judges and prophets (Jeremiah 2:26) while the Church is led by apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, which means fivefold ministers (Ephesians 4:11-13). ‘Minister’ means “servant,” by the way, so the Church is led by servant-leaders (2 Corinthians 4:5). There are of course servant-leaders that function under fivefold ministers, like deacons, administrators, encouragers and so on (1 Corinthians 12:28 & Romans 12:3-8). These positions must be filled and refilled in order for the body of Christ to be effective as a unit in any battle with the enemy.

Now consider the champion warrior of the Philistine camp:

⁵He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels; ⁶on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. ⁷His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him.

1 Samuel 17:5-7

The resident spiritual enemy will always present itself in an intimidating manner, making you think it’s an impossible-to-win situation. The adversary wants you to run away screaming in fear, as was the case with Goliath and the army of Israel:

⁸Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. ⁹If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” ¹⁰Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” ¹¹ On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

1 Samuel 17:8-11

Today, the enemy brazenly defies Christians because he’s not afraid of believers who are ignorant of their authority and intimidated by his mocking threats. Too many Christ-followers tremble at the thought of satan & evil spirits and their diabolic works. Some liberal Christians even smirk at the thought of the devil & demons, chalking them up to superstition or myth.

Why is this? Why don’t most believers know the authority they have over the kingdom of darkness and boldly walk in it? (Colossians 2:15 & Luke 10:19). Why do we, generally speaking, walk in fear rather than courageous faith when it comes to fighting the enemy? What’s holding us back from being modern Davids against modern Goliaths?

One reason for the Church’s weakness is that many of us aren’t following the true God, but rather Christian religion and its teachers. These ‘leaders,’ like King Saul, are afraid and ineffective. They may have the titles and décor of Christianity, but not the faith and power (2 Timothy 3:5).

Satan & his filthy demons know that if the Church follows the unbiblical teachings of Christian religion — as opposed to the biblical teachings of Christianity — believers will be powerless against them. Like Saul & his troops, believers will not engage in spiritual warfare with the enemy if they’re misled, ignorant and afraid. They’ll be ineffective.

Like Saul’s army, too many of us are standing away from the warfare, fearful and basically useless. It’s safer to hide amidst the ranks and go with the flow than to step out as an individual and take a bold stand against the enemy. Too many of our leaders are just religionists with the corresponding title & garb rather than effective warriors for God’s Kingdom.

An Uncompromised Youth

The story in 1 Samuel 17 switches focus to a young male who was tending sheep for his father; this was David when he was about 17 and too young for service in the military. His three older brothers were with Saul’s troops on the hill and David’s father would regularly send the teen to the camp with food supplies (verses 12-20).

Why does Scripture bring up this greenhorn adolescent? If the LORD cannot depend on the clergy, the elders and their congregants, He will send a willing youth to do what they are unwilling. God will raise up someone unsoiled by the ineffective leadership of human religion and develop him to the point where he is qualified to fulfill the needs of the hour.

This explains why young people are often the most receptive to revival and active in sparking it. They are willing to fight because they have a fire inside them — a godly zeal — to carry out the mission.

Young people only become ineffective when they’re brainwashed by error and taught the art of comfort & complacency. Woe to Christian ‘leaders’ who cause pieces of steel to become wilted vegetables!

When David arrived at the camp, dropped off the supplies and met with his older brothers he happened to hear Goliath’s daily challenge and was astonished at the terror of the troops (1 Samuel 17:22-24). Notice young David’s response:

David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

1 Samuel 17:26

He referred to the intimidating Goliath as a “disgrace” and an “uncircumcised Philistine.” Since physical circumcision was the sign of being in covenant with the Almighty at the time (Genesis 17:9-11 & Leviticus 12:3), David was emphasizing how this giant wasn’t even in covenant with the LORD, like the Israelites, so who the frick was he to defy the armies of the living God?! In other words, David was thinking in terms of covenant and faith. No matter how fearsome Goliath appeared to be, he was not greater than the LORD in whom the Hebrews had an agreement — a covenant. They needed not fear because victory was assured (Deuteronomy 20:1-4).

David also inquired what the reward was for slaying the giant because he caught word that King Saul had cited a generous incentive — great wealth, the king’s daughter in marriage and exemption from taxes (verse 25). There’s nothing wrong with desiring a reward for your faithful service. After all, you didn’t give your life to the Lord for nothing: You expect forgiveness of sins, reconciliation and eternal life, right?

Weak Christians Will Object to Your Bold Willingness to Fight

This can be observed in the response of David’s oldest sibling:

²⁸When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.”

²⁹“Now what have I done?” said David. “Can’t I even speak?” ³⁰ He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before.

1 Samuel 17:28-30

Why was David’s brother being so hard on him — mocking his job, calling him conceited and wicked? Such mistreatment was unreasonable, to say the least. Obviously Eliab was challenged by his younger sibling’s bold zeal and embarrassed by his own fear and apathy.

No matter what you sincerely do for the Lord you can be sure there will be some “elder” brother or sister who will try to douse your fire with mocking criticisms and putdowns. This “more experienced” Christian will try to discourage you one way or another, including sharing a dubious doctrine to defend their position, thus hiding the pain s/he feels by the threat of having to once again become active.

Notice that David doesn’t blow crucial time & energy on fighting with such an “elder.” Rather, he simply turns away. I call this the Turn-Away Principle.

At some point you too will have to “turn away” from some of your relatives, friends or colleagues if they’re treating you the way Eliab treated David. Don’t fight with them, as far as it is possible (Romans 12:18). Like David, refuse to enter into life-sapping conflicts of this sort because they’ll break your focus and inevitably pull you into the realm of the flesh. If you make a battle out of everything you won’t have enough energy left over for what’s important. Just turn away.

“Leaders” Who Try to Stifle Your Fire

The leader of the army of Israel was King Saul. Notice how he responds to David’s spirit of courageous faith and obedience:

³¹What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him.

³²David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”

³³Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”

1 Samuel 17:31-33

Some leaders in the Church today have the same response. They basically teach apathy to passionate young disciples by insisting that only the clergy can do God’s work, which they end up not really doing. “You can’t do that,” they’ll say. “You first have to go off to seminary (for years and years),” assuming you can afford it. Thus revival is stifled.

To defend their decision to not enter into any taxing service for God they naturally try to silence those who would, which insures no example for comparison and secures their position of employment.

Notice how Saul accentuates Goliath’s fearsome power while emphasizing David’s inadequacy. He basically praises the darkness and tries to snuff out the only flicker of light at hand. Church leaders like this cripple our forces through misinformation and discouragement, depicting the enemy as unstoppable. They’ll say things like “One person cannot save the whole world.” Isn’t it great that Jesus Christ didn’t heed such advice?

First and foremost, God is looking for a willing heart, regardless of how mature the person is. Maturity can be taught to a degree, but it can’t be tested until stepping into the arena! David wasn’t mature yet, but he was mature enough for God to use because he was boldly willing to enter the arena, unlike Saul’s seasoned soldiers.

Why David Had Faith

David’s response to King Saul reveals how he had the great faith it took to take on Goliath: He said that when he tended his father’s sheep a lion and a bear attacked the lambs on a couple of occasions and thus David struck the predators and slew them; he reasoned that, just as the LORD gave him victory over the lion and the bear when he boldly acted, so God would give him victory over Goliath (1 Samuel 17:34-37).

We could relate this to us today: If you haven’t first been tested with a situation where you needed $100 or $1000 and exercised your faith to receive it (Mark 11:24 & John 16:24), you’re not likely going to have the faith to receive $12,000 when it’s needed, or more. If you haven’t exercised your faith to receive healing for the common cold or back pain, you’re not likely going to have the faith to overcome the ‘Goliath’ of cancer.

Those smaller items would be your ‘lion’ or ‘bear’ whereas the bigger challenges would be your ‘Goliath.’ Are you following? So I encourage you to praise God when you face those smaller things because God is allowing them in your life so that you can work your faith muscles, which will naturally prepare you for your ‘Goliath’ down the road.

Since Saul was backed up against a wall with the Philistines & their champion, he wisely gave-in to David’s faith and persistence by agreeing to allow him to face Goliath.

Be Led of the Spirit NOT by What Everyone Else Is Doing

King Saul insisted that David wear full armor and use his personal sword in squaring off with the giant. But David wasn’t feeling it and so rejected the armor & sword (verses 38-40). He didn’t care “what everyone else was doing” and went with what he had a peace about, what he was gifted at — using a sling-shot. You’ll have to do the same if you want to conquer your ‘giants.’

Too often in Christendom we are told to do something a certain way or do things we were not designed to do. If we refuse we are made to feel ashamed, as if we’ve committed some great sin. Don’t allow yourself to be encumbered by someone else’s conviction or bondage. The Creator makes every person unique for a reason so disregard “what everyone else is doing” and be led of the Spirit (Romans 8:14). “Let the peace of Christ reign in your hearts” (Colossians 3:15); in other words, don’t do or say anything you don’t have a peace about doing, even if it happens to be the hip thang to do.

That said, one tool every believer needs in order to be effective in service of the Kingdom is God’s Word since it’s the blueprint for genuine Christianity (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Another thing you need, of course, is a tight relationship with the Lord. For details on developing in both areas see this video.

March Forward in Faith to Victory

The enemy will naturally despise you, put you down, and mock you when you boldly seek to carry out your God-given mission:

⁴¹Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. ⁴² He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. ⁴³He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴“Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!”

1 Samuel 17:41-44

Your adversary will try to distract you from your source of Power by getting you focused on your own limitations and flaws, which is why you’ll need the breastplate of righteousness, not to mention the full armor & weaponry of God.

Observe David’s response to the enemy’s hateful intimidation as he confronts him:

⁴⁵David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

1 Samuel 17:45-47

Forget about tomorrow, march toward victory today while the mood strikes (i.e. as the Spirit moves you).

Remember:

…“This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.’ ”

Zechariah 4:6

…the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

1 John 4:4

The Sovereign God is greater than the “god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4). And God lives in you through the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). You are a temple of God — act like it, speak like it!

As far as physicality, skill, experience and weapons’ technology go, there was no way David could beat Goliath. So he had to rely on the One who is greater than all of that — the Almighty. He had to act on the leading and power of the Holy Spirit.

Speak the Word of Faith

The Bible teaches that words have the power of life and death (Proverbs 18:21) and Christ emphasized the power of speaking in faith (Mark 11:23). In the literal rendition of that passage the mighty Messiah stressed speaking three times as opposed to believing, which he noted once. So if you’re having trouble believing something biblical or something the Spirit wants you to get a hold of, start speaking it in faith, even if you’re struggling with believing it. Paul taught on believing & speaking too (2 Corinthians 4:13).

Both Goliath and David understood this powerful principle because they both utilized it in their pursuit of victory, as shown in verses 41-47. Since Goliath was the champion of the Philistines for many years, he obviously had much success with this principle of believing & speaking. The difference between the two, however, is that David was in covenant with God while Goliath was not. This tipped the scales in the former-shepherd boy’s favor and thus he beat Goliath even though — physically speaking — his chances for victory were minuscule. Do you want victory over the giants that surface in your life and threaten you & your loved ones? Of course you do. Then learn to speak God’s blessings & truths into the situation by faith; and then take action led of the Spirit (Romans 8:14).

Take Out the Lead Bully and the Others Will Flee

We see this principle at play after David used his sling shot to plant a stone in Goliath’s forehead, his “Achilles’ heal,” which dropped him facedown to the ground. David wasted no time in cutting off the giant’s head as a grisly trophy, which sent the Philistine troops fleeing like curs with their tails between their legs (verses 48-54). This “woke the dead” as it inspired the Israelite soldiers to break free from their fog of fear & comfort to route the enemy!

This principle can be observed in a spiritual sense in the New Testament:

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James 4:7

Get ahold of this fact: The powers of darkness don’t have spiritual authority over you; you have authority over them:

And having disarmed the powers and authorities [of darkness], he [Christ] made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Colossians 2:15

“I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy, nothing will harm you.”

Luke 10:19

There are myriad ways that these principles will apply to your specific situation depending upon what particular “Goliath” you are facing. Use your God-given imagination and be led of the Spirit.

When you set the example by taking a risky stand, only then will the religious dead in your midst be inspired to wake up from their apathy and take on the enemy with renewed zeal. Those who refuse should retire from service.

This is how the wicked giants of our fallen world are slain by modern Davids.

Do it.

This article is available in book form as chapter 1 of…