The story of David & Goliath is told over and over to children in churches today. But when was the last time you heard it sermonized in church? The story of David and Goliath has a powerful message above and beyond a child's bible story or song.
    Now, in the story,Goliath stood 6 cubits and a span. Goliath, who is a giant among men, stands anywhere from 7-11', according to whom you are listening to and what their definition of a cubit is. The cubit was the measurement of a persons middle finger to their elbow, and is generally accepted to be 18". The span then was the open fingered measurement of a hand from pinkie to thumb, with the fingers splayed, which is generally accepted to be about 6" or so. Even with standard measurements, Goliath would be approximately 96", or eight feet.
    This would still make him a giant in Biblical terms, since the average height of a person in biblical times was rarely over 5' tall. The point of this article is to ask you what Goliath in your life you are facing today, and the similarities between David's Goliath and your own.
    Saul and the army of the Israelites were dismayed by Goliath, who strode out onto the field of combat each day and asked for a champion from among the Israelites. They were afraid of Goliath not only because of his height, but of his prescence.
    We sometimes get dismayed of the circumstances in our lives that seem very huge to us as well. We've tried to fight our way around them, or perhaps we're sitting, waiting for something to happen, but really hoping it will go away or someone else will take care of it. That's usually the cause of how little problems mount up into big problems, isn't it?
    When David arrives, he's not even coming for the war...he was instead sent to bring rations of food to his brothers, who were fighters at the war camp, and to bring rations for their immediate superiors. This is found in 1 Samuel 17:17 & 18. The first thing David says when he reaches camp is, "What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?" (1 Samuel 17:26).
    Now we've all had someone come up in the midst of our big problems and say something to the equivalent that David said to the Israelite soldier standing around. Usually the first thing that comes out of our mouths at that point would be something like, "Are you totally out of your mind!!! Look at the size of that thing! It's huge!".
    I'm thinking something similar to that was said in the camp of war, indeed, his brothers rebuked David. But sometimes, it's nice when someone comes along and sort of puts everything into perspective. Goliath was a huge problem that was presented to the Israelites.
    Partly this problem came around because Saul, the first King of Israel, was not running the kingdom in righteousness. The Bible is full of the false religions that Saul allowed, and the practises and false religions that the foreign wives that Saul had that took him away from God, but Goliath and the Philistines had arrived for another purpose as well: to show the Glory of the Living God in the outcome.
    If God took care of Goliath, then God can help you manage with your big problems too. Of course, like Saul, our big problems usually arrive because we either haven't been diligently budgeting our finances, have become selfish in some area or another, or we haven't been living righteously and have been indulging in sin; or a combination of those factors. Perhaps your a pregnant teen, and that is your big problem...how did the problem get there? You get my point.
    When this is noised about in the camp of war, the message of David eventually reaches Saul's ears. Hoping for a mighty warrior to fight Goliath, Saul sends for David. Instead, he gets a ruddy boy. Even so, David convinces Saul that just as the Lord delivered him out of the paw of the wild animals he's killed defending the herd, the Lord would deliver him from the hand of Goliath.
    Since no one else stepped forward, Saul bid David on. This would be a very important fight, because the winner and loser of this war would be decided by the winner and loser of this fight. Of course, they tried to fit David into armor, but he eschewed it, and instead only gather five smooth stones from a brook, and went to battle with his sling.
    It's very important at this point to acknowledge that David wasn't going in his own power. If he had, there would have been a very different outcome to the end of this fight. Perhaps you've tried to lick your own personal Goliath by your own power and have failed, maybe many times. Perhaps your Goliaths have taunted you in your own strength and your own power, like Goliath taunted David.
    It's only when we deign to know God's will, and then walk out into it that those Goliaths in our own lives will come tumbling down. David strode out onto that field of battle in the confidence and strength of the Lord. Goliath strode out onto that field of battle only in his own confidence and strength. We know who won that decisive battle, and that the Philistines fled in a rout afterward. Practice going out in the will and strength and confidence of God, and watch your own personal Goliaths go down.
    Better yet, if you diligently serve God and walk in His will, you'll go from a problem solver to a problem preventer, because those small problems will be taken care of by righteous living long before they become a Goliath. Don't ever be afraid, and by all means don't go in your own power and strength. Go with the Lord and you'll never look back.