The spies sent to survey the Promised Land committed a major error – they allowed what they saw to crowd out what God had said. It was a fact that there were giants in the land. God told them that much. The truth was that God had promised to give to them those mightier nations for their inheritance. Rather than consider what God said, they focused on the intimidating statistics of the enemies. Neither the spies nor those who believed their negative report made it to the land. Something similar played out when the Philistines came out against Saul’s army. Goliath of Gath stood as the champion on the side of the Philistines, but no one could stand for Israel. The men of Israel were already in fear as they described him to David.

What could have been the propelling force for David to take on Goliath? I believe the revelation of God as his Shepherd came to the rescue. While the men were crippled by fear, perhaps he was chanting the shepherd’s psalm. He saw the rod of the Lord guarding him out of the shadow of death into a stable land. The men saw Goliath only, but David enjoyed the extra view. As it were, he saw the invisible God who is rightly described as the Man of war. Propelled by the revelation of the God that keeps covenant, he launched an attack against Goliath and delivered Israel from a crushing defeat. Victory in life does not come by fixing our gaze on the problem; we need a surpassing view of what we can achieve with God on our side. No matter how terrifying the physical circumstances are, never lose sight of what God has told you.