David, Goliath, and the Gospel:

Living in Light of Our Savior’s Victory

Chapter 4 Living in Light of Our Savior’s Victory

If the point of David and Goliath is not to inspire us to face difficulties with God’s help, but rather to point us to Jesus—the One who was the ultimate Messiah–King, who won the ultimate victory (over sin, death, brokenness, and alienation from God) for all who would turn from their sin and trust him—does this story still help us in the struggles we face every day? The answer is YES! In fact, when we read the individual story of David and Goliath in light of the grand story of the whole Bible, we find deep and practical personal relevance.

First, as we look again at the story of David and Goliath we find that the victory of David did impact God’s people more broadly. In fact, before David stepped onto the scene, Saul (the ungodly failure–king) and the warriors of Israel were on a mountain living in tents while the enemy taunted and threatened to obliterate them. The lives of these people were completely transformed by the victory of David, after which the enemy army turned and ran. Before David defeated Goliath, the people were fighting for victory, and after David defeated Goliath, the people were fighting from victory.

The story of David and Goliath is a picture of the Gospel—the good news of Jesus Christ—that focuses on one incredible aspect of the gospel: the victory of King Jesus for us. In fact, ultimately, the story of David and Goliath can teach us to live in light of the greatest victory the world has ever seen. In weakness on the cross, Jesus died the death that we deserved, and rose from the dead, conquering sin, death, brokenness, and hell for us. If we keep in mind David’s significance as a type of Christ, we can see that the characters in the story we resemble most are the Israelite army, who lived in light of the victory that had been won for them.

So how might this transform our response to this story? First, we must recognize that our problem is greater than we could have ever imagined. Right now, while we are in the nitty–gritty struggles of everyday life, our biggest problem may seem like it is an opposing sports team, or a broken–down mini–van, or a final exam, or even a more serious crisis like a terrifying health diagnosis. But when we look at the grand story of the Bible, we see that the root of our problem began in Genesis 3, when our first parents, Adam and Eve, chose to doubt the good word of God and rebel against him. In that act of rebellion, everything changed for them, and for all who would follow them.

The Bible reveals that since all of us were born into a world where sin reigns (Romans 5:12–14), we all grow up to commit sins against God (Romans 3:23). On our own, we are not able to get right with God. And on our own, we could never regain the ability to be in God’s presence, under God’s favor.

This—our alienation from God—is the ultimate root of our deepest longings. How often does it happen that our successes in life leave us longing for something more? We beat the opposing sports team, fix the broken–down mini–van, pass the dreaded final exam, or find treatment to overcome the terrifying health diagnosis, but these successes don’t ultimately satisfy. Why? Because we were made for more than this life could ever offer. Because our ultimate longing is to live every day under the favor of God, to show through our lives the greatness of God, and to live in anticipation of eternity in the presence of God. The successes in life do not ultimately satisfy us because we were made for more than earthly success.

After we recognize that although our ultimate problem is bigger than we could have ever imagined, we need to recognize, secondly, that the victory of Jesus for us was greater still. David was weak, but in God’s strength, he won the victory for the people as a whole. But Jesus is not weak; he is God the Son. It was through him that the world was made (John 1:3), he existed in the beginning because he never had a beginning (John 1:2), and he holds the world together through his powerful word (Colossians 1:17). Yet God the Son chose to become weak for us. He chose to humble himself, to be born as a baby and placed in a feeding trough for animals (Luke 2:7); he chose to experience hunger (John 4:7–8), fatigue (John 4:6), broken–heartedness (John 11:35), betrayal (Luke 22:47–48), shame (Hebrews 12:2), and death (Philippians 2:8). In the light of Genesis 3:15 we see that Jesus chose to die so that he could defeat the ultimate enemy for us. Jesus lived the perfect life that we all fail to live, died the death that we all deserve to die, and won the victory—for us.

What about the “giant” challenges in our lives? The David and Goliath story not only points us to our deepest, ultimate need, but it also points us to the way the Lord calls his people—those who have turned from their sin and who trust Christ as Savior—to respond to life’s many challenges. Put simply, we need to remember that “Goliath” is not equivalent to our broken–down mini–van! Goliath was a deadly warrior who sought to slaughter the people of God. Compare him to Satan (the one whose work Jesus defeated on the cross)—Satan is not seeking to skin our knee; he is seeking to keep us from God’s grace. In other words, life’s daily problems pale in comparison to the ultimate problem.

Yet when we live in light of our Savior’s victory, understanding that we can’t contribute toward our right standing with God because Christ has purchased it for us, our response to the nitty–gritty details of our lives is also impacted. We recognize that God indeed cares about our broken–down mini–van, our final exam, and our terrifying health diagnosis. But he cares for these things in relation to the ultimate thing. God is working in all things for the ultimate good of his people (Romans 8:28), so that they will persevere to the day of Christ and shine his character to a watching world. Sometimes this means that he will also give us victories over challenges (for example, Acts 5:17–20); other times, this will mean that he will allow those challenges to remain (for example, 2 Corinthians 12:7–9).

When we trust Christ as our Savior, nothing can snatch us from his hand. We can live every day in light of the victory of our Savior, as we anticipate the eternal experience of our reward in its fullness (Romans 16:20). Praise God that in Christ, we don’t fight for victory, we fight from victory, the victory he won for us.

Questions for Reflection

1. What are some ways the work of Jesus on the cross reminds you of the victory of David over Goliath?

2. What are some ways the work of Jesus on the cross is greater than the victory of David over Goliath?

3. What are some specific areas of struggle in your life right now?

4. How does living in light of the victory of Christ for you transform your approach to each of the struggles you listed in question 3?