The prospect of facing Goliath must have been an awe-inspiring one for David. Being the youngest of all his brothers, what we know of David is that he stayed home from war to tend sheep because of his age and size, while his older and likely more muscular brothers battled it out. And Goliath? We know he stood out among men because of his great stature. Recorded at being just over 6 cubits (9 feet tall), he likely had what we might in our day term as medical giantism or Marfan syndrome. An interesting thing about Marfan syndrome: the individuals who have it often don’t see very well because their rapid growth causes a detachment of the lenses in their eyes. Perhaps it is no wonder that Goliath wanted David to “come to him” so he could destroy him. This may also infer he needed David to come close to order to even see him. Our Goliaths in life often need us to come close enough to them so that they can crush us in their grips. But David was wise, and held fast to the iron rod by keeping a healthy separation between himself and real danger. He therefore picked the sling as his weapon of choice, and came off conqueror by slaying Goliath from a safe distance.
1 Nephi 15:24 And I said unto them that it was the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction.
LESSON LEARNED: Like David of old, we should hold fast to the word of God and keep a healthy distance between ourselves and temptation. This is the surest way to come off conqueror from sin.
FEEDBACK: WHAT APPLICATION OF THIS SCRIPTURE AND ANALOGY HAVE YOU SEEN IN YOUR LIFE?
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