David’s victory over Goliath proved that he was indeed the man to be Israel’s king. Here was a man who could finish what Joshua began, and that, in this context, is the key. Joshua’s leadership was proven by the fact that he had the faith to face the giants in the land in order to possess what God wanted to give to his people. Throughout his life, therefore, Joshua was victorious. He won because he was willing to fight in obedience to God. Saul would not do this, which is why he was rejected as king (1 Samuel 15). The story of David and Goliath is not just about a boy winning a victory over a giant. It is the reactivation of the conquest. At last the giants in the land are falling again because another Joshua had come. David was picking up where Joshua left off and completing the task. The name Joshua means ‘Yahweh Saves’. This was also Jesus’ real name (‘Jesus’ is the Greek rendering of ‘Joshua’). Jesus, like Joshua, began a conquest: the establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth. It is not a conquest in which we fight against people, but one in which we fight for people. It is a battle against “the spiritual forces of evil” (Ephesians 6:12). Jesus’ death and resurrection was a kind of D-day in which the power of the enemy was decisively broken. It is now up to us to bring to completion what Jesus began. We are on a mission against the giants that overshadow this world and keep it in darkness. Are you willing to fight?
Focus on how David chose to fight and devote yourself to the same pattern.
Read 1 Samuel 17 again
