When young David slew the gargantuan Goliath, was it really Goliath who was his enemy? Goliath seemed to think so, did David? Goliath’s Philistine army was dressed and draped in iron armor, an ancient war “technology” that Israel was only just then catching up to. You could tell that King Saul had metal on his mind; he tried to give David his own armor.. and David didn’t want it. David knew something that no one else seemed to—and it wasn’t that God was going to do a miracle. The moment David’s stone sunk into Goliath’s skull, everyone was surprised—except David. All this shiny technology didn’t stand a chance against David’s skill with a sling that he’d mastered in the field, with the sheep, when no one else was looking.
Imagine: You are the youngest of your brothers, you get stuck in the field with the sheep all day, every day. What is your favorite way to pass time? Slinging rocks at stuff, of course. David was even good enough to kill bears and lions with this thing; a human skull was no problem. But to everyone else, “shiny-pretty” was the new technology of war. Silly shepherd, slings are for kids. The arrogance of Israel, its king, and its enemies, had overlooked what God would only teach to a young runt kid. God slew Goliath that day, through a loudmouth teen who had his priorities right: learning to chuck rocks even better than Bilbo Baggins.
If you’d asked David, he might have told you that everyone was his enemy that day, well, except the God who’d given him the unexplained unction to fling stones for no good, apparent, “adult” reason. The King was focused on “bling-bling” warfare with his fancy armor. His brothers looked-down on him as more of a pizza delivery guy than anything else. Even I respect the pizza guy, what gives? Goliath was the loudest one supporting David’s entry. Even with the Scottish-style pre-fight resparte, Goliath had the least amount of “objection” to David entering the ring.
What I learn from David is not that “faith slays giants,” but that “passion makes practice.” David’s faith drove him to play around with stones, honing his skill with a sling, which gave him insight no one else had, to slay Goliath without so much as a blink. Practice what you are good at and what you want to be good at. Do what’s in your heart to do. And don’t forget, Bible was also part of David’s skill. On top of Kung Fu, I study the Sword of God every day: it’s fun—kind of like slaying giants when, really, it’s just you, the sheep, and some trees you can sling rocks at.