Encouragement

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What's your motivation?

David and Goliath,the confrontation of a shepherd against an armed giant calling for blood. What made the young shepherd stand against the huge warrior and king's champion when none other would?

Believe it or not, Goliath's height, weight and strength were against him. He had an advantage against a man of similar proportions. A warrior of Saul's army actually had a good chance of defeating Goliath. For one, men who are very tall, extremely muscular and heavily armed such as Goliath would most likely be lacking in agility and flexibility. His size and muscle would keep him from engaging a smaller man effectively. Goliath was armed with a kopesh style of sword, a sickle shaped, cutting edge weapon of bronze. Its size precluded being made of iron since metallurgy of that date could not make a strong iron weapon of that size. He could bring the sword downwards , but an enemy could predict the angle from high guard and avoid it. He also wore armor of bronze greaves, overlaid pieces of bronze linked to deflect a downward blow, not an upper thrust from spear or sword. An agile, flexible and motivated warrior could have ended the fight early by a swift upward thrust. But no one came forward. Only a shepherd boy who was there to bring supplies to his brothers who bore arms under the King.

David carried a sling, a shepherd's weapon. It was a portable, high velocity, and supremely effective weapon. Armies of the time had slingers as part of their assault forces. They were lightly armored, killed from a distance, and were not highly respected by their compatriots. The warrior ethic was to engage the enemy one on one, honor was at stake, and the enemy's arms and possessions as well. Shepherds used the sling to engage predators at a distance so that they could protect the flock, a few dead wolves deterred a pack, especially if the leader were killed. A spear, bow or sword were a deterrent to mobility and to being able to respond quickly to danger on short notice. The shepherd had to keep to a close perimeter to guard the sheep and move to confront the attack. The smooth oval stones were extremely aerodynamic, high velocity projectiles and there was no shortage of reloads. A bow required arrows, and these had to be specially fabricated with multiple parts and carrying a reasonable number in a quiver was cumbersome and could impede his mobility. A shepherd needed to be able to move quickly and had the need to use both hands simultaneously. A sling gave him that ability.

Why didn't one of these skilled Israelite warriors come forth ? King Saul has offered riches, freedom from taxes, even a daughter in marriage to whomever would meet Goliath in combat. These incentives had their obvious lure, but also created some doubts in the soldiers. For one, what was on the mind of the heir to the throne, Jonathan ? It was a custom for the new king to eliminate any competition for the throne by death if those connected by blood or allegiance. Being a member of Saul's Royal family placed the soldier in the camp of any competitors to Jonathan and a possible death sentence or an early exile. Also,Jonathan could increase taxes, and eliminate their exclusion as well. Solomon taxed the Israelite to fund his building and household expenses. Later kings after him increased those levies even more. So, no one came forward. They had the skill, the strategy, even an advantage. Only David was enraged by the warrior's taunts against the army of God's chosen people.

Saul insisted that David use his armor. In respect and obedience David put on the helmet, breastplate and picked up the shield and sword. Perhaps Saul was genuine in his concern for the youthful volunteer. David must have been of average height and most likely of good build since shepherding was a physically demanding type of work. He had also killed a bear and lion in defense of his father's flocks .Yet his words speak of his confidence, he said he was not used to these weapons, he would go forward with the skills and training he had.


David had all the advantages of size, mobility and an extremely effective weapon to engage an enemy from a distance. Instead, he approached to close range, close enough for Goliath to effectively use his sickle sword (no one had seen Goliath in battle, he might have been more agile than anyone thought).
David confronted the giant warrior with his insults against the Lord God of Israel and condemned his words. As the giant warrior laughed at the idea of this unarmored boy daring to stand up to him, the projectile struck him in the temple, the fracture and deadly shock must have been instantaneous, he fell and David seized Goliath's kopesh sword and decapitated him, holding aloft the head for the Philistine army's amazed eyes. Seeing their champion dead, they panicked and fled.

David's greatest weapon was his motivation, given to him by God. His justifiable rage at Goliath's insults against the Lord enabled him to engage at close range instead of using the sling's advantage of killing power at a distance. God had His victory in a youth's stand against power, impressive weaponry and the offerings of wealth, freedom from taxes and a royal maiden's hand.

Today's culture offers lures of money, power, advantage, admiration and instant gratification to the senses and ego. We face challenges to our belief in God's Word and following it obediently and in full trust. When you face your Goliaths today, what's your motivation ? David's full trust in and obedience to God led him to become Israel's greatest general, most remembered King and the founder of the line that saw the Messiah come to redeem mankind from sin and its penalty. A young shepherd with a simple weapon met an overwhelming enemy and slew him in God's Name. If God is for us, who can be against us.

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