So Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.” So David took them off. I Samuel 17:38-39
This spring, I took a class on a topic of interest to me. With great anticipation, I registered, listened to the lectures, and did the homework. This class was promoted as having all the best and most up-to-date information, and it did. The presenters were endorsed as experts in their field. And they were. I was learning from the best.
And yet, as the class progressed from one week to the next, I hated it. The more I learned about this particular subject, the more I discovered how ill-suited it was for me. Something I thought would empower and energize only grew cumbersome and weighed me down.
As I was telling the Lord about my disappointment, the story of David came to mind. He, too, had come under pressure to change into something he wasn’t.
The day Goliath came on the scene, the Israelite army quaked with intimidation. David happened to be on the battlefront visiting his brothers when he saw Goliath and heard his sneers.
David’s confidence in the Lord eventually gained him an audience with the king. David offered to fight the giant himself, but King Saul was skeptical. “You are not able to go aginst this Philistine to fight with him, for you are young, but he is a man of war from his youth.”
David convinced the king to let him go, so Saul clothed David with his armor and put a bronze helmet on is head. He also clothed David with a coat of mail. David fastened on the sword and tried to walk, but took the military gear off because he wasn’t used to them.
What did David do instead? He gathered up stones for his sling and went out to meet the giant just like he would have a lion or a bear.
Have you ever been in a situation where the role you’re expected to assume doesn’t quite fit, or the project you’re asked to take on is heavy or uncomfortable? This was David’s dilemma when the king gave him the armor to wear.
Yes, the king was right in saying David was unable to fight due to his young age. David lacked the experience of war that his opponent possessed.
His chances of success were slim, but they’d become non-existent if he had to face the giant wearing the restrictive armor.
David knew this, so he took everything off and gave it back to the king. Even the sword. The Bible makes a point of noting that David met the giant with no weapon in his hand.
He rejected the king’s armor and returned to his own set of proven, reliable skills. David met the giant as the simple, humble shepherd boy that he was, and not as the showy, prestigious mascot in the armor, pretending to be something he was not.
This shepherd boy was young. True. He’d never been a military hero, and had never fought in a war. David didn’t need any of those things because he only had to rely on the Lord. This was the same Lord who had delivered him from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear. He would also deliver David from the hand of the Philistine (I Samuel 17:37).
When faced with the choice to follow the king’s way of approaching a battle, David went the risky, uncertain way of trusting his own abilities. They’d been given to him from the Lord. God wouldn’t let him fail.
Whatever happened, David could rest in the protection God provided and the strength that God had been growing in him all those years in the wilderness tending vulnerable sheep.
The giants in our lives aren’t conquered in a borrowed identity. They are brought down through a belief in ourselves, through awareness of how God has been shaping us, and a willingness to go the direction that He chooses.
When we relate to the Lord in this way, the final outcome means deliverance for so many others than just ourselves. In David’s story, his trust in God meant the deliverance of an entire nation. One young man’s bravery changed the lives of thousands.
This can be true for us too. Where in your life are you facing a giant? Maybe you are facing more than one at this moment. Are you under the pressure to be something you’re not in order to gain a victory? Can you take the risk of believing in yourself and trusting the work God has done in your life?
The bravery to follow David’s example as our simple, humble selves has far-reaching rewards. Take the risk to believe in God, and to trust how he has worked in your life. He will deliver, and He will come through for you.
