Prior to facing Goliath, David was faced with two adversities – a lion and a bear (1 Samuel 17:34-36) – who had come to take one of his father’s lambs out of the flock so that it could be devoured.

When faced with these adversities, both the lion and the bear existed to do the following two things:

(1) Kill his father’s sheep
(2) Kill David himself

Through these two experiences of having to face adversity and also relying on the Lord for deliverance, David gained confidence in overcoming a challenge not of his own wisdom and strength, but by relying on the hand of the Lord.

Likewise, Goliath existed to accomplish two things:

(1) Kill his Heavenly Father’s sheep (the children of Israel)
(2) Kill David himself (if David challenged him)

What is interesting to note is that our Heavenly Father wants us to feel confident. One way He does this is by giving us patterns that we can rely on and have confidence in.

Having previously faced the lion and the bear, he saw the type and shadow of this same threat in Goliath, even though Goliath was an augmented form of what he had previously experienced.

Furthermore, having previously succeeding in dispatching the lion and the bear through the strength of the Lord, David was confident that this pattern would hold and we too would be successful when facing Goliath.

And this brings up the first interesting point. When David was first challenged by the lion and the bear, in that moment, did he see the purpose or the reason as to why he might be required to navigate that challenge?

Here is a boy who is favored of the Lord and is striving to be obedient. And yet, he is faced with a challenge or a trial of large proportion.

Although David could not see with his own eyes the reason why these challenges were necessary, the Lord could. David needed to gain experience so that he could have confidence when faced with Goliath.

In short, the Lord was endowing David with the gift of confidence and surety in knowing how to confront a challenge that was still years ahead in the future. David needed these challenges to cloth him with the true armor that would matter when facing Goliath.

Second, why did David really choose to face Goliath.

Although often overlooked, David tells us directly why he chose to confront Goliath.

In 1 Samuel 17:45-47 it reads, “Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. 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.”

There it is … David was being a missionary. He was proclaiming he was on Heavenly Father’s team, and he was working to bring about Heavenly Father’s purposes.

Consider the following. At this time in Israel’s history, it could be said that many Israelites wavered in their testimony and their commitment to Heavenly Father. They were weak. They needed strengthening. And here comes Goliath … and then David shows up on the scenes and loudly proclaims the following two things:

(1) I am here so “that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.”
(2) I am here so that “all this assembly (the Israelites) shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will deliver.”

Furthermore, consider that David chose as his weapon a sling and five stones.

So why is that significant.

In Hebrew, the number five symbolizes grace.

In being a missionary … in holding up the hands that hang down, in strengthening the feeble kneed (in strengthening testimony and restoring confidence in Heavenly Father), David was doing an act of service. It was a gigantic act of grace that he had been prepared for and was well equip (not in the physical weapon, but in having confidence in relying upon the hand of the Lord).

In showing grace (in acting to strengthen the testimonies of the children of Israel), David was entitled to grace (an enabling power, a greater power than himself that was sufficient to the challenge at hand, that of the giant Goliath).

It wasn’t the sling or the rock that slew Goliath, it was grace from Heaven (for who could have directed the stone with such precision and accuracy).

In sum, God often places challenges or trials in our lives for reasons and purposes we might not yet comprehend (just as David faced the challenge of the lion and the bear before he was confronted with Goliath). We don’t always face challenges or trials due to sin or transgression. Rather, the Lord is often trying to endow us with a gift, or the experience and wisdom necessary to deal with something of greater import later on, which is usually calculated so that we might be the means by which we can help to lift and serve and save another soul for whom the Father has untold love.

Furthermore, when faced with our own Goliaths, it will often only be through an act of grace that we are then able to access the grace necessary to dispatch of it (just as David showed grace by being a missionary to many who were waving, and consequently, he received the means by which he was able to overcome a foe much larger and mightier than himself).