Dave Hop As he stands there, staring across the valley, the army behind him waiting with their knees knocking and teeth chattering… David knows he has two things. As he stares across at the mouth-foaming, curse-slanging, ego-towering giant… he knows he has two things. The giant may be big, his threats may be colourful and demeaning… but David has two things.
His sling and his faith in God.
The giant wants him to move closer so he can hack him to pieces with his sword, pin him with his spear. But David doesn’t work like that. He’s had years of collecting stones and using them well. Protecting vulnerable sheep, and fending off predators.
And so he lifts his eyes, and even as the belittling noise of Goliath’s swagger comes belching across the valley at him, he whispers a quiet prayer. Then he kneels and picks up five smooth stones. Goliath could easily defeat him if he tried to be someone other than David the young, God-trusting shepherd boy. So he remains true to himself. True to the person God made him to be.
He places a stone and lifts his sling, and with his prayer still whispering in his mind he does what he can. He brings together his gift and his experience and his personality and his faith… and he defeats the giant. Even as the sound of the bone-shattering thud echoes across the valley, even as the frightened army behind him regain their courage and hope, even as the clouds of dust from a misguided Goliath are still settling… David says a quiet thank you.
However small or great, weak or strong we may be, we have two things… our abilities and our faith.
1 Samuel 17 v 32-37
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