Win your Goliath battles every day

In I Samuel chapter 4 we find a giant has come to turn King Saul and the men of Israel into the Philistine’s servants.  Saul and his men feared and fought the tactics of this giant, Goliath, for 40 days but were not getting anywhere.  When David, a mere shepherd, was sent to check on his brothers he found the stag mate of fear. So David went to King Saul and told him that he would fight the Philistine’s Goliath.

So relieved and amazed by David’s strength of conviction that he could win over Goliath’s threats, Saul took him up on his offer.  King Saul tried to put the armor of a warrior onto David. He wanted to protect him against the fierce seasoned warrior, Goliath.  But David had to take that kind of armor off.  He hadn’t proved that type of tool.  It hadn’t been his way of fighting.  His battles, with the lion and the bear who had tried to take his lambs away, had been through prayer and trust in God. The courage that went with his kind of battle, and win, came through his love and acceptance of God’s ever-present powerful help.

The symbolic gesture of taking the five smooth stones and sling is one of the most beautiful in the Holy Bible.  David took these tried and true weapons of warfare against all fear.  His courage and understanding came through his knowledge of God.  He knew that he could slay this giant through his trust of who and what God is, the One and Only Power.  The knowledge that God was always with him sustained him through all of his battles.  He knew that he could do battle against anyone and anything with the fierceness of one who runs at the evil instead of running from it.  David went with strong conviction, trust, courage, fearlessness, calm, and determination born through the daily turning to God’s care and Love.  He knew he was always safe with God.

We too can go into our day’s battles with this same kind of trust and knowledge.  The more we battle with the Goliath problems of our day, with the understanding that God is the All Power we win.  God’s Truth about His creation wins over all fear, depression, anxiety, and confusion. He replaces them with courage, a spirit of confidence, calm, and peace, His Love for us all. God’s all-knowing is through His perfect changeless Mind.  Mind’s creation can never be defeated by any suggestion of another power.  Mind knows only of One Power, His.  This Truth frees us from the false claims of ugly conditions, fearful tactics, unfair or violent threats. God is the All and Only, His Life is all there is and that is very Good. We must turn our focus upon What God is doing and turn our thoughts from the upsetting and uncomfortable.  We must turn our trust to God’s Truth and away from the suggestion of another power that can control our lives.  It is a lie.  God’s Good is always the Truth.

The five smooth stones?  These are prayers that keep us safe in the understanding that God is All-in-all.  The all-knowing, all-powerful Good, that protects us through all hardships, is the courage given to us by God, the All-loving, all-caring, tender and true.  The more we pray to see this One and Only Good in our lives we see His freedom as evidence. His ever-presence is always with us. 

Each day is a step closer to understanding that God is everything and that all is well.  Each time we fight the battle holding to the Truth that God is All and is all-harmonious, the perfect expression of God’s creating appears everywhere.  God created this and every day.  We can start living a life of dominion, peace, calm, and trust.  We can start by being obedient to God’s call for us to witness what He is doing and stop trying to do everything from our limited point of view.

Here is one smooth stone of prayer for our day.  Take it, use it, and enjoy its Truth:

“They go in Thy strength, and they speak in Thy name,
With power of Thy promise forth faring,
And during the battle the victory claim, —
Their trust in Thy truth is their daring,
Salvation to all men declaring.”¹

Let us use this stone against any Goliath temptation to fear.  Let us trust in God today and always. Let us claim our victory through the Christ during the battle!  This trust in the Truth is our daring, our salvation to all men declaring.

David didn’t believe that the lion, the bear, or this Goliath had any power to succeed over God’s ever-present Good.  With this knowledge he won the battle over Goliath’s huge threats. With the assurance that God is Good, the only Power, David succeeded over all threats that came at him each and every day.  We can too.



1Christian Science Hymnal No. 204 vs. 3