Goliath seemed to have everything on his side _except_ God. And the things
in which he boasted were just the things in which men are prone to boast
to-day.
He had physical strength. "His height was six cubits and a span."
Athletics had done all they could for him, and he was a fine type of
animal perfection.
He had splendid military equipment. "A helmet of brass," and "a coat of
mail," and "a spear like a weaver's beam!" Surely, if fine material
equipment determines combats, the shepherd-lad from the hills of Bethlehem
will be annihilated.
And he enjoyed the enthusiastic confidence of the Philistines. He was his
nation's pride and glory! He strode out amid their shouts, and the cheers
were like iron in his blood.
But all this counted for nothing, because God was against him. Men and
nations may attain to a fine animalism, their warlike equipment may
satisfy the most exacting standard, and yet, with God against them, they
shall be as structures woven out of mists, and they shall collapse at the
touch of apparent weakness. The issue was not Goliath versus David, but
Goliath versus God!