1 Samuel 17.

The iconic battle of David vs Goliath is one of the most well known scenes from the OT, and a well-tread metaphor in the common vernacular. And rightly so. But for all its popularity, there is an aspect of the story that is sometimes minimized or missed. Chapter 17 of 1st Samuel isn’t just about David and Goliath, it is also about David in contrast to Saul, or more precisely, what a man with the inward work of the Holy Spirit, and the outer unction of the Holy Spirit for ministry can do versus what a man walking in the flesh and without the outer unction of the Spirit does and cannot do in the natural. In this powerful set of events we see a conflict and a sharp contrast: In David vs Goliath… the conflict between Jahweh the Lord of Hosts and the pagan, demonic gods of the Philistines, and we see the contrast between an Israelite man with the Spirit and another Israelite without. The fact is, the pagan Goliath is a military and political problem for Israel only because Saul is no longer a Spirit-filled man! A Spirit filled teen has to do the spiritual and military heavy lifting for a grown man because that man is walking in the soul-sucking power of the flesh. Don’t lose sight of this contrast in all the battle excitement!