Courage to Face Giants
Originally shared September 7, 2026
Here’s a question I’ve been pondering: In the famous showdown between David and Goliath, what gave an obscure shepherd boy the courage to take on a giant when the rest of the Israelite army was shaking in their boots?
None of them had asked for this one-on-one battle against Goliath, the gargantuan Philistine. The NIV describes Goliath as over 9 feet tall with armor and a spear to match. And Goliath sets the stakes very high, proposing that the losing side become subject to the winning side.
Based on the Israelites’ terror, they did not think that their odds were very good. (See 1 Samuel 17 to read the full account.)
Why was David alone able to meet this challenge head-on?
Surely, the threat was real and intimidating. Surely, David didn’t seem like the obvious or logical choice to stand up against this massive, battle-hardened warrior.
Now, David had already been anointed by the prophet Samuel, and we know that the Spirit of the Lord was “powerfully upon David” (1 Samuel 16:13). Undoubtedly, that is critical here.
I also think there’s a perspective that David had cultivated that served him well, and that will serve us well too if we follow his example.
Did you notice how, in the opening paragraphs of this devotional, I made a big deal of pointing out Goliath’s size?
But this is precisely what David doesn’t focus on.
David said to Saul,
“Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”
Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”
But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”
Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”
1 Samuel 17:32-37 NIV
Everyone else was focused on the size of the threat.
Meanwhile, David had been rehearsing the faithfulness of God.
Everyone else viewed Goliath with respect to themselves, terrified by their own relative smallness and inadequacy.
Meanwhile, David, who was in fact “little more than a boy” (v.42), was the only one to see Goliath with respect to God.
This, I believe, is a recipe for courage.
Relative to the bigness and power of God, Goliath’s height advantage becomes absolutely negligible. David doesn’t once mention it.
In fact, by both faith and experience, David knows that he is the one who holds the true advantage—not because of his own size or strength, but because God is with him in the fight.
No one else believes that Goliath can be defeated, and so no one else is willing to step up.
But David had seen the Lord rescue him more than once as he protected his sheep. He knew well that his own size and skill weren’t the primary issue.
This perspective didn’t suddenly appear as he stepped onto the battlefield for the fight of his young life. David cultivated it through all of the ordinary moments and earlier battles that arose before he ever came face to face with Goliath. He had learned to trust the Lord repeatedly, and that gave him courage for the bigger battle that was to come.
His eyes were focused on the faithful, rescuing, and powerful presence of his God. David’s great victory happens here: in his faith and trust in his God. The rest follows from there.
I know that some of you are in battles right now that you didn’t choose. Diagnoses that came out of nowhere or other circumstances you didn’t ask for.
I’m not here to diminish them or to glibly claim that everything is fine. These battles and all the emotion they provoke are real and painful. David of all people didn’t shy away from expressing his struggles and his raw and desperate need for God’s help. We see it all through the Psalms.
(In fact, I’ve often thought that the Psalms give us the “how” behind the hero. They show us the heart cries of a man who—with a couple of notable failures—had a pattern of trusting God for everything. He put God at the center of every victory and every struggle.)
It’s the depth of David’s surrender and trust that underpinned the outward greatness of his life, because it actually wasn’t based on his own might or power. It was based on making space for God to be at the center of everything in his life.
We don’t know the specific outcomes of our battles, but we do know this: we have a good Shepherd who is much greater than David. Who protects us fiercely even when it feels like we are walking through the fire. Who loves us and leads us tenderly, not from a distance, but from up close. And who is powerful to deliver and to break the reign of terror of our enemy.
We can’t choose all of our battles, but we can choose our point of reference.
When we fight to fix our eyes on God (and I do believe that is often the bigger battle—whether in seasons of difficulty or abundance), the battle can position us to see God in ways we might otherwise not have seen Him.
🌿 Question for Reflection
Are there battles, or perhaps aspirations, that you have been measuring with respect to your own capacity? How does the view change when you place the greatness of God at the center?
🙏 Prayer
I don’t have any better words to pray over you than these from David, and I invite you to pray them along with me.
May they help you center the Lord in whatever you are walking through and carry the peace of His presence to your heart.
The Lord is my shepherd,
I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Psalm 23 NIV
Thanks so much for reading!
Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.