David And Goliath (Building Courage in the Face of Fear)
The story of David and Goliath is one that a number of us are quite familiar with from our bible stories, and also from movies made about that epic battle between a shepherd boy and a Gigantic war veteran.
However… I’m certain that we have never heard it told quite like this, what if I told you that Goliath was no match for David in that battle, and that from the moment he stepped forward the battle was lost to him and the philistines. Well it certainly was because David had God on his side…but away from the spiritual angle of things, how many of us have ever tried to take a deeper look at the strategy behind such an epic win for a seemingly clueless shepherd boy.
I’m a softie for historical stories of all kinds, but when you throw in Religion, Psychology and Strategy in one mix…aaahhh you’ve got my attention 100% plus. So…1st things 1st…a quote!
“But the Lord said, do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; For the Lord does not see as mortals see, they look on the outward appearance but the lord looks on the heart.”
– 1 Samuel 16: 7
Wow! I must have come across the above quote in more places than I can remember but in this book, I read it with new eyes and new understanding. Again, moving away from the spiritual angle of this story, to our mortal everyday lives; how often do we look at things only at surface value, without really assessing the full picture or details behind what we are faced with, understanding the nuances around it or looking behind the bling and glamour? a lot I assume, and this is not to say you should assess everything with a microscope, but how about when dealing with a Giant (Giant being powerful opponents of all kinds e.g. oppression, disability, abuse, misfortune, heartbreak ..whatever oversize challenge you face) then by all means you should be taking more than just a cursory look…
But back to the book, lets analyze both men in this story starting with Goliath.
Goliath
Goliath was a giant of a man, oppressive in stature and in battle, who from youth trained as a warrior and had fought and won many battles. He was skilled with several weapons, and on this day carried a javelin, a spear and a sword moving slowly and looking menacing, plus he had an attendant who carried a large shield in front of him. In addition to all of this, he wore a bronze helmet, and full body armor made of bronze. To cut a long story short this dude was covered from head to toe in armor, and with the weapons he carried was ready + skilled enough to annihilate David. This he made very clear when he shouted out “come to me that I might give your flesh to the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the fields”. Sounds unbeatable but….
(from a strategic point of view, can you think of all the things “WRONG” with this picture? humor me and try)
David
David was a young shepherd boy who had never been in battle, except with animals while protecting his sheep. Infact on this very day the only reason he was out there was because he was taking food to his older brother who fought with Saul’s army. He had on no armor (actually refused Saul’s armor, said it was too heavy, hint), for weapons he carried a sling and a pouch filled with rocks, and chanted his own battle cry while racing down the hill “You come against me with sword and spear but I come against you in the name of the lord almighty, whom you have defied”. Sounds foolish but…
(from a strategic point of view, can you think of all the things “RIGHT” with this picture? humor me and try)
I’m hoping you did try to think of what could be wrong and right with both scenarios, but here’s the authors convincing take on it.
Strategic Lessons
- Do your homework: Goliath was well known so guess what, David had his data, every possible thing there was to be known about Goliath was known by David. He knew his history, his weapons, his fighting style, his thought patterns, he basically knew every move Goliath was planning to take, why? because of the very thing that made Goliath so great. He was big, he was skilled and he was famous for it. Therefore nothing he could have done would have been new to David…But Goliath knew absolutely nothing about David except that there was a frail lad racing downhill. David knew what he was up against and was prepared, Goliath had no clue.
- Look beyond the obvious: For all who looked upon the battle scene, what they saw was a heavily armored & skilled giant with hideous weapons in his arsenal + a guard with a shield to protect the giant, and then smallish David…with no battle experience, shameful weapon arsenal, and no armor to protect him. What they did not see ( or more correctly… what they saw but did not register) was how heavy Goliath was at that point, he could barely move due to all that he was wearing and carrying, whereas David had less hindrance and more flexibility on his side, he could have danced circles around Goliath while Goliath was still trying to raise his sword. Also, David was used to taking on opponents bigger than himself who were very swift and mobile and had succeeded every time in overcoming them (remember the lions he protected his sheep from?) but of course Goliath had no knowledge of this. He was confident in the fact that this frail dude has never done battle, grossly underestimating David. I bet if you were on the scene that day, you would have put your money on Goliath, but Big, bold, shiny isn’t always what’s best. We’ve got to start viewing advantages and disadvantages differently and it all starts with our own inner compass versus popular opinion on what appears to be best.
- Switch the game on them: This one we’ve probably heard before. Don’t be predictable or follow the status quo, where there are veterans and you do this, you’re going to loose. They know it better than you, they’re more skilled at it than you, they’ve got more experience and contacts than you, they’ve got deeper pockets than you… you’ve got to come up with something new, you can’t do same old and expect to win. Switch the game up on them. Goliath was used to close combat where he could display his strength and expertise, he even gave away his battle style by saying “come to me that I might give your flesh to the birds of the heavens”….he expected that David will come close to fight him in the way that he was used to fighting, but David had other plans. David knew what it was like to fight opponents bigger and stronger than him, he had practiced with the Lions and wild beasts of the wilderness, he knew it was better to weaken them from a distance before going close and that’s exactly what he did. Goliath was armored from head to toe, but the one place where he was unprotected (his forehead) was where David struck, and he had the perfect weapon for this. See? he had studied Goliath from a distance and saw his vulnerabilities where others saw strength, he knew just where to strike, he had the right weapon too (Sling & rock) and had refused Saul’s armor because he knew it would add no value to his strategy. The books says..”Goliath had as much chance against David as any Bronze age warrior with a sword would have against an opponent armed with an automatic modern age pistol”. The rock went into Goliaths forehead much the same way a bullet would and knocked him out cold!
- Never despise humble beginnings or perceived difficulties: Sometime we make the mistake of despising our humble beginnings, or regretting the difficulties we encounter during the course of our lives, but as earlier said…that is a mistake. Difficulties have a way of bringing out the best in us. I personally believe this and know this for a fact from my own life experiences…the book places emphasis on this as well. While we all wish to be successful and have a cushy life, we cannot take away from the fact that some tough experiences have contributed immensely to who we are and who we will become, therefore change your perspective on difficulties and learn to embrace all situations (find the good/lesson in it) as they are bound to come in useful some time in future. I bet David never thought his lion fighting skills would come in handy for anything other than guarding sheep some day, he must have wished to be safe in his bed far away from danger on some of those cold, dangerous nights out in the wilderness. But look what he was able to do with those skills.
- It is okay to be afraid but don’t stay there: Fear is a terrible feeling, a paralyzing feeling, but the feeling of fear is most times worse than what we even fear and sometimes we compromise ourselves and values just to avert what we fear. How many of us have dreaded experiences so bad, but when they eventually happened you came out stronger and better for it, and you’re like…what was I so afraid of? yeah…I know that feeling all too well. Fear can be scary but it’s really not that terrible when lined up against other real issues. It’s okay to feel fear…but don’t stay there, move forward any way…keep going anyway, have a plan and execute it anyway, the feeling of fear is far worse than the actual event you fear itself. And once you’ve overcome one significant fear your courage builds up, and the next fearful event isn’t so fearful anymore because you’ve survived one before and you know you’ll be okay. Overcoming fear promotes self confidence and is the very mother of bravery.
- Believe in something bigger than yourself: ” I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all” Ecclesiastes 9:11
Its incredible what happens to supposed ordinary humans when they have a conviction in something bigger than themselves. Some people say its a belief in God, others say its their calling or duty, a few even tag it revenge, still another group call it love. The consensus however is that once a person is able to transcend self or selfish motives, their ability to achieve great things inspite of great adversity becomes unpredictable, as the normal rules no longer apply to them or what they become capable of. So… for you I ask, what is your why? what is your purpose for wanting to overcome? what do you believe in? and why do you do what you do? it’s got to be something beyond just you, else you’ll probably never get very far with it. Find a way to contribute, a way to add to this world vs just taking from it, a way to be useful and of help vs just making profit and enjoying life. Your life should count for something and be of use to others beyond yourself. If you keep this at the forefront in all things, the courage to overcome every Giant standing in your way will somehow always be available to you.
Well….no harm in trying some of this out right?
The book gives lots of other great/real life examples, so if you wish to know more, you could check it out for yourself.
The book gives lots of other great/real life examples, so if you wish to know more, you could check it out for yourself.
I hope this was useful🙏…Cheers🍸 to open minds!
You can contact me on aykay80@gmail.com for any enquiries you might have, or just leave a comment and I’ll be thrilled to respond.
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