THE RISE of a Man, a Mountain, a Nation

Page 165-167. Paragraph 8, Line 1.

When committed to what may seem an impossible task, self-doubt often arrives. Reality set in full-blast for David as he gained a closer view of the massive giant and the enormous army of Philistines lining the opposite hillside. At that moment, he thought, “What have I done? LORD, have I run ahead of you, presuming you will come to my rescue? Was Eliab right? Am I motivated by pride and ego?”
Just as before, when faced with such questions and doubt in the face of a great challenge, the LORD brought to David’s mind the victories God had given His people; the Red Sea, Jericho, and the image of Abraham at the Rise, with the provided lamb. He thought of his own lamb at the Rise. Then his mind focused on a veritable that kept him moving. “My nation and its army is being shamed. My king is being humiliated. The LORD my God is being dishonored. This is His battle and I know in my heart He wants me to fight it.”
These thoughts energized David and flooded his being with divine assurance. With a renewed faith and strength, his downhill pace increased until he was now running in the valley toward the giant. As his pace increased, so did the clapping of army of supporters. When he came to the brook that meandered through the five-mile long valley, he bent down and chose five smooth stones from the rippling water. He straightened up, wiping them dry on his garment, put them into his pouch, and with sling in his right hand and staff in his left, the youngest son of Jesse continued his approach toward the towering Philistine.
When the giant Philistine saw David picking up stones, he laughed out loud and with a voice like thunder said, “You have problems, little boy. If all you have is rocks to throw at me and hit me with a stick, then you are in real trouble. I am about to eat you alive.”
What Goliath did not know is, he was the one with problems. He continued to ridicule his challenger with curses and laughter.
From his vantage point, David was now lifting up his eyes at the very tall figure of a muscular man moving toward him. The irony occurred to David and he laughed to himself when first he saw a large shield moving with two eyes peeping over the top and out from under the bronze helmet, visible at the top. It looked like a huge shield with a helmet on walking toward him. Drawing closer, he could catch glimpses of the top of the giant’s shoulder armor and the breastplate and armor-covered shoulders of the champion called Goliath. The shield covered most of the giant’s body and all of the armor bearer, who could not be seen.
The shepherd, still in his older teens, had never seen such a large man. Truth is, few people had ever seen such. David was close to six feet in height and this man was over three feet taller. His shoulders seemed wide as an ox cart. David could see very little of the man except his face, and even most of that was shielded. He knew that his one chance of success was the area of his eyes and forehead. He remembered the dove that he felled on the rise, the lion he brought down with a head blow. Once he could determine the amount of the giant’s forehead that was exposed, his eyes focused intensely on that spot. He had confidence he could hit the mark, but his best source of strength at the moment was a certainty that he belonged to the LORD and this was the LORD’s battle.
As the two men, or more accurately three men, drew closer to each other, David could hear the deep voiced taunts of the big man as he continued to make light of his challenger. By appearance, David seemed anything but a seasoned warrior. The worst thing Goliath could think of to say with a chuckle as he looked at this handsome man still in his teens holding a staff was, "Am I a dog that you come to me with sticks?" And the transplanted Philistine cursed David by his pagan gods. This challenger seemed to be such a pushover that he began to play with David, poking fun at his size and belittling his lack of armor and weaponry. As he laughed aloud, his deep voice echoed throughout the valley, ringing even more fear in the hearts of the army of Israel. Even Eliab and his brother warriors felt a sense of genuine pity as they saw the terrible contrast in the size between their brother and Goliath. In his mind, Eliab knew their father would never forgive them for letting David do this.
All who were there that day heard the Philistine’s loud mockery when he said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field."
Such a thought sent a chill of horror in the army as they looked down into the valley from their safe perch. They could not hear David’s softer, deliberate voice when he came back at Goliath: “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD'S and He will give you into our hands.”