The strategy of the enemy versus the strategy of the believer.

Folks, I’m starting a brand new series called the Battlefield Series through which I wish to give you a comprehensive look into the various battles mentioned in the Bible and what we can learn from it. In the first of this series, we look into the infamous face-off between David and Goliath. I know you probably have heard this story over and over again or maybe you haven’t! Either way, in this post we will learn about how David defeated Goliath.

The enemy always has a strategy to try to defeat us whether we like it or not. But if we don’t adopt a counterstrategy we will find ourselves quickly wearing out and inching towards defeat. Let’s see how David of Israel won the battle by single-handedly defeating the champion man of the Philistines – Goliath. There is an exchange of words before the two clash.

Reference Verses: 1 Samuel 17:41-47

⁴¹ The Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. ⁴² When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was only a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. ⁴³ The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴ The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the field.” ⁴⁵ But David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, ⁴⁷ and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not save by sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and he will give you into our hand.”

Lets’ break that down, shall we?

1. ⁴¹ The Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him.

At first, when Goliath saw there was finally a contender in Israel willing to fight him, he quickly approached him.

When we take the first step to counteract evil, the enemy charges towards us in an attempt to instil fear in us.

2. ⁴² When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was only a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance.

The fact that we are children of God always leaves a bitter taste in the enemy’s mouth and it is only natural to see Goliath despising David for his youthful appearance which also symbolised the Spirit of God upon him.

3. ⁴³ The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

He starts mocking David for his weapon of choice being just a slingshot. And that was followed by vehement curses.

Often times, we find ourselves being ridiculed for our choice of retaliation through prayer, praise, and obedience to God which, may seem like weaker forms of artillery according to worldly standards. However, the believer must clearly understand the true power of these weapons is no small matter! The enemy knows it too well and tries to discourage and deceive us into believing our choices are foolish and futile. 

The weapons of the believer will be covered in further detail in the upcoming parts of this series, so stay tuned.

4. ⁴⁴ The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the field.”

Now, Goliath breathes vicious threats against David and gives him a graphic description of his defeat.

The enemy will discourage and falsely impose defeat that might seem too plausible if you heed those words. 

5. ⁴⁵ But David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of theLord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 

But David doesn’t seem to be frazzled by Goliath’s words. How could it be?

Now remember, in the previous chapter Prophet Samuel had anointed David and the Spirit of the LORD had come mightily on him (1 Samuel 16:13). In other words, David was first anointed with the Holy Spirit.

This is a prerequisite and without the anointing of the Holy Spirit, you will tend to be confused as to how to move forward in the battle.

And David’s reply to Goliath is perfect. Firstly, he reminds his adversary that he comes in the name of the LORD. And by just declaring that, the battle was already half won! His passion for serving the Lord and defending His people is also very evident here.

When we are being threatened by our adversary it is always best to declare out loud that we are here in the name of the Lord- just to remind the adversary and also ourselves!

6. ⁴⁶ This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,

Now that he was focused on the will of God and coupled with his excellent communion with the Holy Spirit, he started prophesying the defeat of his enemy in this battle.

7. ⁴⁷ and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not save by sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and he will give you into our hand.”

He glorified God on the battlefield! He also reminded the terrified army of Israel who had apparently forgotten the wondrous ways of their living God that the battle belongs to the LORD and when we fight for Him, He will make us victorious!

The battle ends very quickly and just as David prophesied, Goliath was defeated and killed.

Although our battlefields might not literally have the enemy physically charging towards us with a sword or a spear as Goliath did before David, in most instances, the enemy employs this strategy subtly through our situations, challenges and people we face or maybe through other warfare such as sickness, financial crisis, and emotional pain. Either way, the strategy is one and the same. And our retaliation must be like that of David.

To recap, let’s see what we have learned from this face-off:

So till the next post of this series, remember your battle belongs to the LORD and He will fight for you!

God bless.

P.S. Let me know what you think about this post or if you’d like to add something to it, drop it in the comment box below!

(picture courtesy: featured image by valor ink, others pictures -JW and other awesome graphic artists whose names I don’t know!)