In 1 Samuel 17 we read the famous story of David and Goliath. In verse 10 the Philistine cries out,“I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight together.”Tens of thousands of Israelite soldiers heard that challenge, and yet not one of them responded. Verse 24 indicates that “the men of Israel fled and were dreadfully afraid.” Not a man among them was willing to stand up and fight in the Lord’s battles! We’re not talking about one day of failure here. According to verse 16, after 40 days of fear still not one soldier was willing to fight with Goliath. There were plenty of soldiers but no men! Where were they? They fled and hid; they were afraid, uninvolved, aloof and disengaged.

Sounds like the condition of things today. Here we are 3,000 years later and the problem persists. Men are absent.They seem to have left the battlefield. Giant-slayers are desperately needed, but where are they? Where are the men? Let Goliath’s words sink in. Hear his booming voice echo:“Give me a man!" When David comes onto the scene he can’t believe Israel’s inaction. In verse 29 he says to his brother, “Is there not a cause?” The answer should have been resounding:“Our cause is to make God’s name great among the nations!” But no such answer was given. Passivity and a lack of conviction prevailed. The Philistine had defied the armies of the Living God and had mocked the power of Yahweh—and no one did anything about it.

David was only a youth but he seemed to know more about biblical manhood than the soldiers around him. A teenager was about to give Israel a few lessons in manliness. Real men are strong in the Lord and they know that their character is shaped by the decisions they make on a daily basis. Real men are willing to go upstream in a downstream world. A man’s faith in God is what conquers giants, and for David, even if it meant standing alone with nothing but a sling and a few pebbles, he would do it. Why? Because he believed that if God is for us who can be against us? He believed that the steel of manly character is forged in the fires of a fervent faith in the Lord. David heard Goliath’s words “Give me a man!” and he responded because there is a cause and it’s the greatest cause in the universe.

Today we continue to have a giant problem, and giant killers are few and far between. Men are absent everywhere. They have disappeared. Who will hear Goliath’s call: “Give me a man”? And who will respond? It’s time to face the giant. There are certain bold risks that are worth taking. Risk is right when it has to do with our great cause for Christ’s great kingdom. David took that risk and ran to fight Goliath (verse 48). Where are the men that do that sort of thing today?

Many would say don’t take risks, be cautious, be careful.That kind of thinking has debilitated many Christians, and they end up living a wasted life. John Wesley said, “Give me 100 men who fear nothing but sin in their own life and want no one but God and God alone. I care not whether they be clergymen or laymen, they will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of God upon earth.”You have to take the last part of that statement with a grain of salt, but the point is God uses men who flee only from sin and trust only in Him.

We are living in giant country. There are giants everywhere: the giants of false doctrine, postmodernism, evolutionary thinking, Islam, the homosexual agenda. And there’s the giant
of a rebellious world that has rejected its Creator. What are we to do? It has to start with the men and they have to start in the home. Men who love their wife, invest in their kids, get involved in their local assembly and preach the Word.We must be like David and run to the battle! Time is short; the stakes are high. Yet men everywhere are sleeping. They have disappeared, are uninvolved and missing in action.

Faithful and courageous men are greatly needed, men who are willing to be strong in the Lord and valiant in battle. I call to the men who are reading this to hear Goliath’s loud and terrible cry: “GIVE ME A MAN!” How will you respond?

Micah for the Tuttle's