Why did David fight Goliath?

Have you ever wondered why David chose to fight Goliath while everyone else backed away? What did David know that made him willing to risk his life? Was it the enticing rewards Saul promised? People will take great risks if they think it will pay off.

Three possible reasons why David fought Goliath

The first could have been because Goliath told Israel that if any of them would fight Goliath and won, the Philistines would become Israel’s slaves (1 Samuel 15: 8). It sounds like a pretty good deal, fight and win, and Israel will have slaves for years to come.

The second possible reason why David fought Goliath was because King Saul said he would give his daughter as wife to the man who beat Goliath. Again, this is a good deal because you get a wife, so that stress is no longer on you, and you get to be a prince. So you have to win this three-meter-tall man, and you become royalty.

Then we come to the third possible reason why David fought Goliath. In 1 Samuel 17: 31, we read that the king called David to hear his story because David said that Goliath was mocking Israel, which means he was mocking God. God made Saul king of Israel; thus, he was regarded as one of the representatives of God on earth. David heard this and said that the Philistine was mocking God.

A different kind of reward

When David came to Saul, he was slightly offended by the fact that nobody was willing to fight Goliath, for God’s name was at stake. And this brings us to the answer to the question I asked in the beginning: why did David fight Goliath? David couldn’t let Goliath keep on blaspheming against God. David obviously realised that Goliath could kill him, but he also knew that if he chose God, God would come through for him. 1 Samuel 17: 36-37 tells us that David had been in fights with lions and bears and won because God was by his side.

David had three options, two would get him incredible dividends, and the third had no reward for David, but he chose it. David did not fight to get a slave or a wife; he chose to defend God’s Name.

We all have daily choices we have to make; we can benefit from them immediately, or we might not benefit at all. The catch is that the things we do not benefit from immediately will eventually see results.

The problem is earthly things make us feel good, and the reward is immediate, but the price you have to pay for it is where the trouble comes in because all those things have a price. We are free to choose how we want to live, but we are not free from the consequences of our choices.

Young people looking for inspiration can check out I Am Youth. You can also read our daily devotional, The Word for Today.