Smooth Stones

“I wonder why the Bible says the stones were smooth?” I asked after reading about David and Goliath.

“A smooth stone could fly through the air faster and be more accurate…They were probably smooth from being in the water a long time…I’ve heard there were five because Goliath had 4 brothers,” Eddie offered.

I envisioned David slaying all five giants should they have shown up on the battlefield, his hurling one stone after another, but my thoughts caught on the comment about the stones being in the water for a while. Because water often represents the Spirit in Scripture, I began to consider David’s smooth stones in a figurative light, symbolic of my spiritual weapons. This is where my pondering led me:

• 1. God knows where we will encounter our giants, those difficulties that are too big for human intervention; temptations that threaten to overpower us; taunts that say we are defeated. Long before we hear the giant’s roar, God positions a brook, loosens the rocks, and erodes them smooth so that they are ready and waiting for us when we need them. Before we go through a trial, God has the tools for the solution provided. Investments that carry us through a financial difficulty or delays that work in our favor seem like ordinary stones until it they're retrieved from the brook to take down our giants.
• 2. The stones would have been irrelevant if David wasn’t a sling swinger. Practice made him aware of his part, and usage led him to previous victories over a lion and a bear. Smooth stones had already proven their worth against opposition. Why wouldn't they kill a giant? In the same way, our daily spiritual habits and our repetition of relying on God lead us into greater faith conquests. As our spiritual weapons are proven, we pick up similar smooth stones and align ourselves with God’s Spirit to combat what we are too weak to handle on our own. God's Word, for example, is a smooth stone. One verse kills the bear; another takes down the giant.
• 3. David countered Goliath’s threats with a confident word that showed his dependency on God. “…I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.” (1 Samuel 17 44-45). The spiritual weapons are in our hands, but our assurance is in the God of the weapons, and we SAY so. "But the word is very nigh unto thee,, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it." (Deuteronomy 30:14).
• 4. The smooth stones knocked Goliath face-forward, and he was beheaded with his own sword. Our spiritual weapons slay our adversary, and when he falls, we turn his own blade against him. When we forgive our offenders, grow in God’s Word during a set-back, or rise from the ashes to help others with our testimony, the devises Satan intended against us, instead, benefits the Kingdom of God. With a strike of his own weapon, Satan's glory is put to shame.

Amid the shouts of triumph, David took Goliath’s head to Jerusalem, a place occupied by Jebusites. When he later became king, he drove them out and made Jerusalem his capital city. Our victories free us, but they also liberate much more. After David killed Goliath, other Israelites rallied against the Philistines, and subsequent giant slayers rose up in Israel. We inspire giant killers in our wake. Kingdoms and future generations are affected when we pick up the smooth stones God has provided for us and through His power defeat the giants that dare to threaten the people of God.


Tip/Tidbit: Begin a practice of spiritual discipline so you will be ready to use the tools God has provided to help you win.

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