Do Giants Fall at the Faith of the Small?

Some of us are old enough to remember the song we used to sing as children in Sunday School and Good News Club:

Only a boy named David

Only a rippling brook

Only a boy named David

But five little stones he took.

Only a boy named David

Only a little sling

Only a boy named David

But he could pray and sing

And one little stone went in the sling

And the sling went round and round

And one little stone went in the sling

And the sling went round and round

And round and round

And round and round

And round and round and round

And one little stone went up in the air

And the giant came tumbling down.

It is the musical version of the well known-story where the young shepherd boy slays a giant soldier and sets his life on a course that eventually leads to him becoming a great warrior king. It is one of those common Bible stories that repeats itself in much of the mythology of Western secularism. The secular understanding of story is the way it is all most all ways explained even among the people of faith. 

The myth is that right always triumphs over might, and faith always triumphs over doubt. Even the smallest person who stands strong (and in the case of the Christian has faith) will eventually prevail. David was just a small boy. But when he saw his country and his religion paralyzed in fear before this powerful weapon of their enemy he acted bravely. He stood firm in his belief that God would deliver him. He gathered five stones took one stone, put it in his sling, whirled it around his head, shwr...shwrrr...shwrrr, finally, releasing the stone, it found its mark. It hit the giant square in the center of his forehead, penetrating the skull, lodging deep in the giant's brain. He fell dead. David went to the giant removed his sword from it's sheath an used it to decapitate him. So the story goes when we are confident and brave like David  all of our giants will fall. But what about when they don't?

 I've heard it a thousand time is sermons stories and Christian movies. Christian who faith overcomes whatever it confronts. A small boy with meager weapons believed God and the giants fell, and so it goes. If we believe God is bigger than our obstacles we can stand against them and watch them fall. Can I get an Amen? "Greater is he who is in you. Than he who is in the world."

The problem with view is that it is inconsistent with both our experience and the very basic biblical teaching about faith. What does the story of David and Goliath offer to those who are overcome by things bigger than them. Are they lacking in faith, or is God arbitrary in the way he fulfills his promise. What about the innocent junior high student who faces a school shooter, proclaims her faith and dies? Did her faith, fail her? What do we say to the Christian family who's children are hit by a car that swerves off the road at a bus stop, killing them all. Did the family fail to call on God's protection, or does God have any control over such things. What do we say to the Christian's who though believing in God have lost life or property in the fires sweeping California.  Why did their giants prevail? Did their faith fail, or did God is God capricious? Does small faith always win? Or does faith prevail even when our losses are great. Those who teach that all our giants will fall if we just believe God have accepted a worldly myth or legend rather than understanding the message God has for his people in this text.

Hebrews 11 is often called the faith chapter. It commends the  faith of David and others:

[32] And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of ....David and Samuel and the prophets—[33] who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, [34] quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. (Hebrews 11:32–34ESV)

It is clear that David's faith accomplished great things, but are the victory gained through David's faithful actions guaranteed to anyone who believes in the face of challenges. Are Christians suffering chronic illness, lacking in faith. As a hospital chaplain I have seen Christians become disillusioned because this story and others have been used to teach a secular notion of faith rather than a biblical one. I have seen family members of teenagers who have been mortally shot who believe their faith guarantees  a miraculous recovery for their child. I believe with God all thing are possible. I never attempt to disparage someone hope in a miracle. I believe in the miracles. But miracles occur in the Bible sometimes even in the lives of those who do not believe (Numbers 22:28 & 29; John 5:5-8; Acts 9: 1-7) 

A miracle is defined as, "a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific law, and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency." Sometimes when facing a terminal illness Christians show a profound confusion over the relationship between faith and miracles. As Christian  facing insurmountable obstacles like mortal injuries or terminal illness we can rely on the promise of Jesus that with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26), but we also  trust in the promise that God has numbered our days  (Job 14:5). If our faith is in God and we believe in him all is possible while accepting his divine plan for our lives. When human medicine has done all it can do we act in faith when we remove life support and trust in whatever outcome God brings. Yet all too often Christians who believe they must trust in God, declare that their faith requires them to use every human means to continue supporting their loved ones. Is this misunderstanding of faith a result of confusion about some of the event recorded in scripture. It is a misunderstanding to think that Goliath's death was miraculous. 

Oh yes, God was working through David that day, and David was trusting in what he knew to be true about God, but what took place has happened before. There are lots of examples of unexpected triumph. A ragtag bunch of farmer's and rouge soldiers in the 18th century defeated the mightiest empire in history. It was a David and Goliath story. Many in our country still find it unbelievable that a billionaire, who in comparison to the leviathan he faced had very little, defeated the most powerful political machine in history to become President of the United States. There are plenty of examples of the small defeating the large, but is that because of faith or logistics. Even Goliath's death is explainable.

A modern coroner would declare his death to be a homicide by "blunt force" trauma. As unlikely as it was as improbable as the math, David's stone met it's mark and Goliath fell. There was nothing in that act that any of the men on that battlefield did not have the ability to do. While improbable it was not miraculous. It didn't even seem to be a divine judgment like when Ananias and Saphira fell when Peter pronounced their guilt (Act 5: 1- 11). While God clearly stood behind David's act I would submit we miss understand the point of the text when we ask "Do giants fall at the faith of the small?

The faith chapter continues to explain the outcome of a life of faith for the believer:

[36] Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. [37] They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—[38] of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.[39] And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, (Hebrews 11:36–39 ESV)

 Faith involves trusting in the promise regardless of the outcome. It is important to understand how God uses the narrative events of scripture. The events recorded in scripture are descriptive not proscriptive.  While God clearly lead the authors to record event "for our instruction." We do not act the same way and expect the same results. The Bible describes Paul using a cloth as an instrument of healing "Acts 19:11 -25" does not make "towels" that are prayed over by an evangelist a prescription for healing." Faith is not a means for us to manipulate Divine outcomes. Yet that is precisely the way this passage is often taught. So what is the lesson of the little shepherd boy named David who slew the giant Goliath.

The story is recorded in 1 Samuel 17. First Samuel is a story of contrast. It contrast the failed prophet Eli and the failed King Saul with the faithful prophet Samuel and the faithful King David. The prophet Eli is chosen by God to lead the people and ultimately fails to lead his own household live according to the covenant and God replaces him with Samuel. Saul is chosen by God to lead the people, but rather then depending on God Saul takes matters into his own hands and tries to manipulate his own success. God raises up David to replace him and ultimately restates the covenant of promise to him. 

David is a Shepherd, the youngest of seven brothers. He has no means or opportunity to do anything great. He is the least likely to ever advance socially or politically, yet God promises that he will be king. All during Saul's reign Saul is plagued by the Philistines. In Chapter 17 the Philistines come out to the battle field and challenge Saul to a fight. There secret weapon is this terrible giant: Goliath. The Bible says that Goliath was six "cubits" and a "span" or 9 feet six inches, and he wore a full suit of bronze and iron armor. How could anyone with their primitive weapons defeat him. Saul and his armies were terrified at the site and were unwilling to confront him:

[8] He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. [9] If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” [10] And the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” [11] When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. (1 Samuel 17:8–11ESV)

Goliath offers a challenge: send one man out to represent their country, and he will represent Philistia; who ever wins the other country will be subservient to the winner's. Saul and his army were terrified, while in a battle against a legion of soldiers they might be able to defeat Goliath was there a single man who could stand against him? Goliath chortled and demeaned  the inferiority of the Israel army, "“I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” Seldom has there been a more uneven match. The problem with Goliath was that he did not understand whom he fought. Enter David

David's father Jesse sends him with food to his boys who are in the battle line that day to fight Goliath. David taunts them for their cowardice, and they demean him as the "silly little brother." Then David shows an insight that no one else appears to have he says, "[26] And David said to the men who stood by him, '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?' [27] And the people answered him in the same way, (1 Samuel 17:26–27 ESV)" 

David's question was rhetorical: He knew that King Saul had promised to give his daughter, Michal, in marriage to anyone who slew this man. David knew that if he slew this giant he would suddenly be a member of the King's court, the royal family. David understood something that apparently Saul and his armies forgot. Goliath was an "uncircumcised Philistine," who had "dif[ied] the ranks of Israel." There was no physical strength that was given the ranks of Israel because of their circumcision, nor was Goliath weakened because he had a foreskin, but the circumcision of the armies of Israel aligned them with the promise of God and his redemptive purposes through the covenant he had made with Abraham. This was not a battle between warring people's; it was not even between God's enemies and his people. It was a spiritual battle.

Goliath was  from Gath. The scripture speaks of five giant brothers descended from  the Rephaim, a gigantic people whom the Bible mentions at least 20 times. David apparently slew not only Goliath but his four brothers as well (2Samuel 21:22 and 1 Chronincle 20:8). They were enemies of God's people who sought to destroy the people of God. This was a Satanic battle for the the gospel, as contained in the covenant of promise itself. It is the picture of what David, a type of Christ, will do against the great enemy Satan.

It is the story of the gospel that one who comes as a child will defeat the enemy of God the great Satan. David and Goliath illustrates the promise Paul would later state, "[20] The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. (Romans 16:20ESV)" It is acting out in history the faith of both the conquerors and the defeated of Hebrews 11:39–40, "[39] And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, [40] since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. (ESV)" The story of David and Goliath is the gospel acted out on the pages of scripture.

The gospel prevails by faith. If I were to preach from this text my theme would be something like "The covenant keeping God responds to faith alone." As the book of Samuel has progressed we have seen that the law-keeping priest Eli failed because he neglected to lead his family to covenant faith. We see that handsome, strong competent Saul is rejected when he attempts to make a sacrifice for God that was only the purview of Samuel. He takes on for himself the role of God. 

Then we see David, every thing about the story point to his diminution. He is the youngest son of Jesse. His three oldest brothers are in Saul's army and like the other are trembling in fear at this giant. He criticizes them for not fighting the giant, and they tell him to leave. When he announces his intention to fight the giant King Saul offers him his armor. It is too big for him. So he chooses five, stones from the brook He may have expected to not only have to fight Goliath but each of his four brothers. David put his faith not in the stone, or in his ability to sling them, but in the covenant God had made with his people. 

When David came forward Goliath patronized and insulted him:

[43] And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. [44] The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” (1 Samuel 17:43–44 ESV)

Goliath declared his own strength and superiority and the power of his God. 

David stood victorious against Goliath by declaring the simple truth of the gospel:

[45] Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. [46] This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, ...that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hand.” (1 Samuel 17:45–47 ESV)

David declared that salvation was not a matter of strategy, weaponry, political prowess, or even personal righteousness. David's authority came from the promise and the covenant God had made with Israel. Those who stand in defiance of the covenant promise fall, and those who believe prevail. Eli was a competent priest, but he defied the Lord passively. His relationship with God consisted of ritual and ceremony. It was little more. Saul was self-reliant. He depended on his own ability when Samuel failed to appear when Saul expected he took matters into his own hand. Goliath was openly hostile to the God of Israel. A relationship with God is more than ritual and ceremony and doing the right things; it is more than living a good life. Those who rely on their works are as defiant toward God as was Goliath. The enemy of the covenant is our own self reliant defiance. That is the giant we all face.

All of us face giants in our lives, but these are not the difficult or tragic event of our lives. The giant is our own nature, as Paul said:

[15] For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. [16] Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. [17] So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. [18] For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. [19] For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. [20] Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.[21] So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand...[4] in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. [5] For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. [6] For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. [7] For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. [8] Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 7:15–8:8 ESV)

The giant we face is the giant of our sin. Our own rebellion indifference and defiance before God, rather than trusting wholly that his promise of liberty is secured solely through our faith in the death of his Son, Jesus Christ. David knew that stones in a sling would never bring a giant to the ground, but faith in God's work that he had accomplished through his covenant, and in the righteousness of another who would come as a child would empower them to defeat all enemies that stood in the way of the gospel's work in his life and that of his people.

Our giant's that oppose us are not our illnesses or disasters or even our own bad choices; they are sin, and it's consequences in our lives. What we can not do with mighty armies, sound doctrine, holy liturgies, God alone accomplishes for us in his Son. David slew the giant because he trusted in the gracious promise of a deliver. So no giant's do not fall at the faith of the small. Giant fall when we trust in God's promised salvation to all.