"Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?" -1 Samuel 17:26
I recently re-read the story of David and Goliath and was reminded again of why David was a man after God's heart. He had incredible confidence in his identity in God.
It struck me that when Goliath came out to challenge Israel, the passage says that "All the men of Israel said, 'Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel." However, when David hears this guy, he says something slightly different: "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?" And again, "Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God." And when he addresses Goliath: "I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied."
Clearly, David recognized from the start that Goliath was not just defying Israel. He was really defying God himself. The battle wasn't a champion versus a lone, young boy. It was a human champion versus the living God of the universe. That perspective was what gave David the courage to stand up to this guy and enter the fight with full confidence that God would deliver.
Complete trust in the almighty, unconquerable God. It makes me think how unfounded my fears are when I encounter evil and hostility toward Christianity in this world. If I genuinely believed that my identity is wrapped up in Christ, and that God is fighting for me, I would have no lack of boldness. I would not be hesitant to display my faith in Christ. And I would not be so concerned for others' acceptance of me.
David didn't use his confidence in his identity for personal gain either. "This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand... that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel..." He wanted God to make his own name glorious in the face of this God-defying, self-exalting human being. He was confident that God is a jealous God and his glory will not be robbed by an insignificant, boastful human.
I want David's kind of confidence in my identity in God. When I am rejected, judged, or considered naive to be a Christian, when my choices and goals in life do not make me look successful by the world's standards, and when I am despised for it, it doesn't need to affect me, because it is the almighty God of the universe whom they are rejecting, not me. The God I serve can't be beat. So let his enemies try and fight, because, to borrow words from The Office, it is a "lose, lose, lose situation."
