TO PROVE AND NOTHING TO LOSE.

He realized that everything that he was and everything that he had belonged completely to God. Even as he stood on the battlefield, he was there under the authority and direction of God. He wasn’t there to impress Saul or Goliath, or his brothers or friends. And he wasn’t there to prove anything to any of Saul’s soldiers who were probably bigger and stronger than he was. So, why was he there? David was there fighting that battle because someone was standing there making a disgrace of the Living God, and now David was the only one who would stand against that. He had nothing to prove and nothing to lose.

The story goes that the Israelites and Philistines met in the Valley of Elah to battle. The Israelites were on one side and the Philistines on the other side of the valley and each had a battle line. If one side wanted to relay a message to the enemy or taunt them without having to attack them, they would send a soldier to the battle line to do that. Everyday for 40 days, this Philistine named Goliath would step out of his ranks, go to the battle line, and he would trash talk Israel. Chapter 17, verses 4-7 give us a very physical description of Goliath. He was huge! He stood about 9 ½ feet tall, and wore a bronze armour that weighed 5000 shekels (125 pounds). He wore bronze greaves, which are like leggings to protect his legs, and had a javelin and a spear with an iron point that alone weighed about 600 shekels (15 pounds). His armour alone weighed close to 200 pounds, maybe more. The guy was MASSIVE! And he approached the battle line and wanted to play “Let’s Make A Deal.” He said to the Israelites, “Choose a MAN to come and fight me, and if I defeat your man in battle, you will become our servants. But if you find someone who can beat me, then we will become your servants.” And after he said all of that, he stood there and had the audacity to say, “I DEFY THE RANKS OF ISRAEL.” Translation? If you’re too chicken to send someone to fight me, then your God can’t be much better. Do you know how Saul and his soldiers reacted to that? Verse 11 says, “they were terrified.” For 40 days, twice a day, Goliath would put on this show, and we see the reaction of Saul and his men again in verses 23-24 – they ran away in fear. There was something about the way Saul was approaching this giant that was different from the way David would approach him.

When you look at this, there seems to be a sharp contrast in how to battle a giant. Notice how Saul approached the situation. They kept putting it off, and the more they delayed, the more intimidated they got. And the more intimidated they got, the harder the problem became for them to handle. It’s the same thing when we battle our giants. We wake up every morning and walk to the battle line. We look across the valley and see the intimidating problem standing there. And it happens day after day, and the more we delay in battling the giant, the more intimidating the problem becomes, and the harder it is to handle later. But do you notice what David did? He shows up, surveyed the situation, saw a black-spot, and did some immediate housecleaning. And the next morning, the Israelites would not have that giant to worry about any longer.

David could fight this battle because he had nothing to prove and nothing to lose. It’s not that