BiblicalInsights.net

In I Samuel 17, the armies of the Philistines and the Israelites were set in battle array against each other in the area of Shochoh.  Saul was king of Israel at this time. The Philistines had a champion named Goliath who was nine feet nine inches tall.  He was heavily armed.  His wore a helmet made of brass.  He had a coat of mail that weighed 5,000 shekels of brass.  He had greaves of brass upon his legs and a target of brass between his shoulders.  He possessed a spear the shaft of which was like a weaver’s beam and the head of which weighed 600 shekels of iron. To complete his armament, a shield bearer went before him.  Goliath was an awesome spectacle.
The giant taunted the armies of Israel.  He challenged them to send out a man from among the army to fight with him.  The challenge involved a winner- take- all element.  The losing side would become servants to the winner.  There would be no more fighting.  The conflict would be resolved by this one battle between two men from opposing sides.
Saul and the army of Israel feared Goliath.  No man dared step forward.  David came into the camp of Israel bringing supplies for his brethren.  While in the camp, David hears Goliath’s taunt and makes an immediate response.  David’s heart was stirred within him and he seized the moment and volunteered to fight the giant.
Saul does not think David is fit for battle.  Saul believes David is too inexperienced and weak.  David persists and relates that God had delivered him from a lion and a bear.  Saul relinquishes and attempts to outfit David with his own armor.  However, David did not approve and rejected Saul’s armor on the basis that he had not proved the weapons.  Instead, he chose a sling, five stones and his staff to face the giant, Goliath.
Ancient armies like Israel had three types of soldiers.  The first was cavalry.  These men were armed and road on horseback or in chariots.  The second was infantry.  These men were foot soldiers who wore armor and carried swords and engaged in hand to hand combat.  The third was projectile warriors.  These men were archers and slingers.  Slingers had a leather pouch attached on two sides by a strand of rope.  They would put a rock or lead ball into the pouch, swing it around in increasingly wider and faster circles, and then release one end of the rope, hurling the rock forward to its mark.  Slinging took an extraordinary amount of skill and practice.  In Judges 20:16, the Bible indicates that some slingers could throw a stone within a “hair’s breadth.”  An experienced slinger could kill or seriously injure a target at a distance of up to two hundred yards.  Paintings from medieval times depict slingers hitting birds in midflight.  The Romans had a special set of tongs made just to remove stones that had been embedded in some poor solider’s body by a sling.
David had no intention of honoring Goliath’s call to single, hand-to-hand combat.  He was a slinger and would strike the giant from a distance.  His strategy was an important part of his victory.  He runs toward Goliath using both speed and agility.  He attacks the giant from a comfortable distance and takes him by surprise.  He aims at Goliath’s forehead–the giants most vulnerable point.  He puts the stone into the sling and hurls it around and around, faster and faster and at six or seven revolutions per second, he releases one end of the rope and sends the stone speeding toward its target.  Eitan Hirsch, a ballistics expert with the Israeli Defense Forces, recently did a series of calculations showing that a typical-size stone hurled by an expert slinger at a distance of thirty-five meters would have hit Goliah’s head with the velocity of thirty-four meters per second–more than enough to penetrate his skull and render him unconscious or dead.  This is the equivalent of a fair-size modern handgun.  David could have attacked Goliath in a little more than a second.  David changed the shape of the battle.  He used strategy, skill, speed, and surprise and won a great victory.
The duel reveals our assumptions about power.  Saul and the army of Israel feared Goliath because they measured his strength in terms of physical might.  David is small and weak, but reveals that power can come forth in strategy and substituting speed and surprise for strength and using skill to defeat an opponent.   In many ways, David had the advantages and used them to execute a great victory.
The duel also reveals assumptions about the enemy.  Saul and the army of Israel thought they knew Goliath, but did they?   Goliath was certainly big and had proven himself adept at hand-to-hand combat.  However, his size also worked against him.  He was heavy and slow.  He asks for David to come to him.  He cannot maneuver well.  His giant size may have been attrributable to acromegaly –a condition where a binign tumor on the pituatary gland causes an overproduction of human growth hormone.  A side effect of this condition is poor eye sight.  Goliath may have had difficulty seeing David.  David carried only one staff.  But, Goliath mentions staves (plural).  Golaith did not respect David.  Instead, he mocks him.  He seem oblivious to what is really going on around him.  He is dull rather than sharp.  David exploited his enemie’s vulnerabilities which led to his triumph.
David also possessed some intangibles.  David had tremendous faith in God.  He was confident that he could defeat Goliath because of past victories that God had given to him over a lion and a bear.  He was courageous because of his authentic faith in the living God.  In short, David had heart!
Goliath was defeated by a smaller, in some ways weaker, but smarter adversary.  David used strategy, speed, surprise, and skill to defeat Goliath.  His spirit was strong and his confidence was high.  He never doubted his ability to win.  He knew the vulnerabilities of his enemy and exploited them.  In the end, David triumphed and began a long career of military accomplishments.
As we begin a New Year, let us go forth in the spirit of David.  Let us be smarter in fighting our adversary the devil.  Let us go forth in the strength of the Lord.  Let us connect with God by faith and obedience to His will for the “battle belongs to the Lord.”  (reference:  Malcolm Gladwell, David and Goliath, pp. 3-15).