We know the story well: David vs. Goliath. A true underdog classic. Against all odds, the newly anointed shepherd-boy-king bravely faces the evil warrior-giant in battle when no one else would. With a holy and public zeal, he defends the name of his God from disgrace and his countryman from Philistine slavery or worse. Rejecting the normal armaments and strategies of war, he goes out to battle with a somber confidence in the Lord, a sling, and five riverbed stones. He charges into battle and slays the arrogant giant in one fell swoop, taking both his sword and his head home as spoil. And in his victory he proves to his countryman God’s power to save, makes his enemies retreat in fear, and secures for himself a future bride.

This story is great. It is so great we want to read ourselves into it as David – we are the warrior king who, against all odds, slays our great enemy, frees the captives, and secures renown and reward. Regrettably we are not David (in this scene). Look closely at the story again: just like the Israelite men who would not fight, we slink back at threats. Just like Eliab, David’s oldest brother, who denies the virtue of David’s heart, we are prone to accusing God of wrongdoing. Just like Saul, anointed as king to lead, we use God’s giftings for our own glory and self-preservation. Just like Michal, Saul’s daughter and David’s bride, we eventually despise our warrior-king with unfaithfulness (2 Samuel 6:16). And just like David himself, though we know the extent of God’s power and faithfulness, we lose courage and faithfulness. We are not our own knight in shining armor.

We cannot be the holy warrior we want to be or need. Our enemy is too great and we are too susceptible to save ourselves. We must look to the true and better David, the ultimate warrior-King Jesus – the promised Shepherd-King (Ezekiel 37:24-28) who came to crush Satan’s head (Genesis 3:15) by being raised triumphantly over death (Romans 6:9) for God’s glory (John 8:30-59), the good freedom of His people (Galatians 5:1), and who will one day return again in victory (Revelation 19:11) to bring His bride-church to Himself (Revelation 19:7) in perfection for all eternity (2 Peter 3:18). Praise God! Only in Christ’s glory, power, and faithfulness can we stand up against our greatest enemy of sin and death in blessed righteousness.

So we must ask, what does it matter that Christ is our warrior-king? Or, what does it look like to live in light of Christ’s warriorship? Four thoughts from Samuel 17 (and 1 John 2).

Remember who you are in Christ – It is no coincidence the story of David vs Goliath comes right after Samuel’s anointing of David. David is God’s newly anointed king, his purpose and work is set before him by God and he responds in bold faith and action (1 Samuel 17:37). The believer has a similar anointing in Christ, we have been set aside for God’s purpose and work through the gospel. 1 John 2 details how the believer responds to his or her gospel anointing – the Christian has been made holy by Christ’s atoning sacrifice and thus does not reallocate himself with sin or Satan. In other words, believers exercises fellowship with God not with the world because Christ has secured them to Himself. So do not give into sin, if you find yourself in sin turn to Christ our victorious advocate, and make sure your love for the father shows up in your love for others.

Remember Christ’s victory over Satan – In a brief back and forth between David and Goliath, right before David domes Goliath, Goliath claims he will win while David confesses the Lord will win (1 Samuel 17:41-47). 1 John 2:18-23 picks up the finality of God’s victory by detailing how God’s truth has overcome Satan and the antichrists’ reign of deceit. The Lord’s victory ensures that Satan and his schemes are powerless against His family. Take some time to mediate with thankfulness on the trueness of God: consider we know good, right, and true things about God and the gospel through His Word, consider that He Himself is perfectly true, faithful, and steadfast, and consider how God’s victorious salvation unto you rests assuredly upon His never-changing steadfastness. Praise God indeed church.

Look toward the victor’s reward – We find David in 1 Samuel 17:25-30 asking around about the reward promised to the one who bests Goliath. We may decry David as selfish, but I would disagree. The Christian life is one that knows its reward and looks forward to it. In fact, true Christian worship cannot happen unless we are desirous of our promised and blessed reward. 1 John 2:24-29 is helpful here – how should the Christian maintain blessed fellowship with God (and not the world) despite Satan’s deceitfulness? He or she should look forward to the coming of Christ! The revelation of our beloved and righteous Warrior King, whose victory has secured our eternal life! For more on this read through the book of Revelation and see how our present hope and faithfulness is directly tied to the victorious return of Christ for His bride. 

Utilize God’s spiritual armaments – In order to rally David before his duel with Goliath Saul’s criticizes him as too young and unskilled (smart). Saul’s solution is to put his own personal armor and weapon on David. David quickly shucks off Saul’s heavy and impeding armor claiming he wasn’t used to them. What David was used to was trusting the Lord to protect him and defend His own name (1 Samuel 17:34-37). With all the spiritual self-help or add-ons solutions available to us now-a-days nothing better protects us from Satan’s lies and rallies us to live for God’s glory than God’s truth, righteousness, the gospel, salvation, God’s Word, and, tying each of these together, prayer (Ephesians 6:10-20). Are you fighting with man-made armaments or God’s spiritual armaments? Are you searching for the latest and greatest methods of spiritual life or God’s tried and true ways? Are you relying on God’s victory and wisdom as you struggle or are you turning to what you can muster up day in and day out?

Christian, fight the good fight in the name and victory of our Warrior King Jesus Christ!