In this chapter, a God-fearing shepherd boy stands up to a pagan giant. This story is so familiar to many of us, it is easy to read through and not catch some of the small details of the narrative. As I was reading through this passage today, I tried to read it as though I had never heard the story (which is difficult to do). What stood out to me in reading the passage this morning was David’s courage to stand up to Goliath because God’s name was at stake. David’s motive in going up against Goliath was not to win a battle for the nation of Israel, but to vindicate the name of Yahweh, which was being undermined by this pagan nation. David marches to the front lines of battle because he has confidence that God will not allow his name to be blasphemed among the nations. The courage with which David approached Goliath is the same courage that is required of us to go to the nations with the gospel. Going around the world to unreached people groups is a dangerous, and often daunting, task. It is only when we recognize what David knew–that God will make his name known–that we can have courage in the face of all dangers we face as we take the gospel to the world. He has established his Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. May we have the courage of David to risk our lives for the sake of Christ’s name.

-Jarrod Manning

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