1 Samuel 17:40

In 2002, the Anaheim Angels were predicted to finish in third place in the AL West. The first 20 games of the year went as the analysts had planned as the Angels sputtered to a 6-14 record. The following 142 games saw the Angels finish with a 99 win season, at the time, the best ever by the southern California franchise, and good enough to send the team to the playoffs.

Nobody expected much from the Angels. The team’s shortstop and leadoff man, David Eckstein, was 5’7” and 175 pounds soaking wet. Their playoff experience was nearly nonexistent, and their first opponents were the historic New York Yankees. After a game one loss, the Angels won three straight and advanced to the ALCS where they defeated the Minnesota Twins four games to one, setting up an all California World Series with the San Francisco Giants. The northern California group was appropriately named as their lineup featured the current all-time home run leader Barry Bonds, 6’2” 240 pounds. Seven games later, the Angels had claimed their first World Series title and comparisons began to be made to another team led by a small David who also bested a Giant.

This David was the eighth son of Jesse, and nobody expected much of him either. When Samuel visited with Jesse’s sons to find the next king of Israel, David was not even called in to meet him. In fact, Samuel would have been content to anoint David’s oldest brother, Eliab, as the next heir to the throne. That is, of course, until the Lord told him, “Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7).

Even after being chosen to lead Israel, he was still not invited to join Saul as a member of the Israelite army. Instead, he went about his daily activities as a shepherd. Such a profession hardly seemed fitting for Israel’s future king, but the lessons learned and experiences had amongst a few sheep played an important role in David’s future. He was finally able to see the army when his father asked him to run some food over to his three older brothers and make sure they were all accounted for. It was then when David first saw Goliath.

Convincing Saul to let him do battle with the Philistine’s giant was not an easy task. David, however, did have some related work experience on his resume. While guarding the family sheep, he had killed a bear and a lion. Aside from this, the countless hours in the field were likely full of target practice with his weapon of choice, the sling. Nonetheless, it wasn’t until David told Saul “The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine” (1 Sam. 17:37) that his request was permitted.

Saul however, was taking no chances and dressed David in his best armor, equipping him with his best sword. David’s remark is interesting, “I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them” (1 Sam. 17:39). He then rid himself of the armor, grabbed his sling and shepherd’s bag and went to face Goliath. There was however, one more stop that David made. A stop that is often overlooked.

“And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine” (1 Sam. 17:40).

Before the battlefield, David went to a brook, a place where he knew he could collect stones. The stones had to be perfect. He had seen Goliath and knew what he had signed up for. The stones needed to be round and the weight had to be evenly distributed, anything less would not fly straight and could be the difference between life and death. What catches my attention above all else is that he collected not one, but five stones. His statement to Saul demonstrated his faith in the saving power of the Lord, so it could not be that he doubted the Lord’s ability to help him slay the giant. Why would he then need five stones? It must be something else.

I like to believe that although he knew he would be helped, he was wise enough to act like everything depended on him, while simultaneously trusting completely in the Lord. His trust in the Lord was manifest when he met Goliath on the battlefield, “This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hands” (1 Sam. 17:46-47 emphasis added).

Perhaps life’s greatest challenge is going to battle without Saul’s armor and sword. The Lord had been preparing David for this point in his life for years. I have often wondered if I am trying to live with armor that I have “not proved.” Do I recognize the Lord’s hand in my daily endeavors, can I see the vision that the Potter has for His clay?

What a terrible event it would have been for David to release his sling and watch the projectile soar through the air only to crumble as he realizes he had unknowingly chosen a dirt clod, or to reach into his shepherd’s sack to only find a hole. Belief alone was not enough to kill Goliath and free Israel. In the end, it wasn’t David’s great faith that downed the giant; it was a stone, a carefully selected stone, and had that one been ineffective, he had four more.

When placed in trying circumstances, we too must search for stones. Not just any stones; they need to be rounded and smooth. And with those stones and the faith developed in their collection, there isn’t a giant who cannot be slayed.