By Augustus Henry (PhD)
WHO was the Underdog, David, or Goliath?
Have you been on a school ground where a bully draws a line on the ground and dares a seemingly weaker victim to cross it? Well, that was the case between Israel and The Philistines.
1 Samuel 17: 1-16, Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Sokoh in Judah. Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance. Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them. I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other. For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.
The Philistines can be that daring because they have a champion called Goliath:
His height was six cubits and a span (9ft, 3 ins). He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armour of bronze weighing five thousand shekels(125lbs); on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod (12ft, 17lbs, 2in, di.), and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels (15lbs). His shield bearer went ahead of him.
The contest – call to battle:
Verse 8, Goliath 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?
Israel response to the challenge:
Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified. Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his family from taxes in Israel.” But no man took this enticing offer, except a young and seemingly, inexperience boy.
David accepts the challenge: David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”
Who is David? A youthful and inexperienced, a shepherd boy, the last of 8 sons with no experience in battle.
The Battle.
Versus 40 – 49, Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. David 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. As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground. Verse 50, So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand, he struck down the Philistine and killed him.
It is not always what is seen.
Why was David victorious? David was more than he appeared to be, and Goliath was less than what everyone saw. A second look at the resumes of the two warriors reveals something interesting.
There is sufficient evidence in the scriptures to conclude that Goliath suffered from giantism or acromegaly – that results from a tumor on the pituitary gland. Individuals with that condition live shorter lives. It causes slothfulness and visual dysfunction:
Slothfulness: 48- Goliath moved towards David but David run to him, V42. Tired – tells David, come here instead of going to him.
Visually impaired: v.40, David takes a staff, Goliath saw sticks, v.42, only when David got close to him, he saw it was a boy.
David on the other hand was more than what met the eye:
Skilled with a sling shot, did not have to get close to his target to destroy him.
He was young and agile, quick on his feet.
He had formidable experience in defeating unconventional opponents:
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.
Most importantly, he possessed the internal fire of God: The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”
The effectiveness of the Christian does not lie in his size or cognitive prowess, but in his attitude towards obstacles, his disdain for evil and faith in the God inside of him.
David said, all 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.”
Little things can possess gigantic power within.
Strength in little things: small does not mean less effective, less strength or less impactful: the mustard tree grows 20ft tall, 20 ft wide from a seed that weighs less than a gram. Little things can produce enormous results. It is Not the size of the dog barking, but the size of the fight in the barking dog. Gideon with 300 men destroyed an army of more than 50 thousand soldiers.
Problems may approach you from every side and angle: north, south, east, and west. They may come from your spouse, from your children, from finances; but all that matters is that you go to the problem in the name of the lord. David: you come with a spear and a sword, I come to you in the name of the lord. It is not the problem without that counts, it is whether there is a Jesus within.