Samuel chapter 17 records the famous story of a young David who kills the 9-foot giant named Goliath with a slingshot while all the people (Israelites) were scared in the background.

Eisegesis: 

You are like David; pick up your stones of faith and defeat the giant in your life. 

Exegesis:   

You are not David in this story; Jesus is the proper representative of David. We represent the scared and helpless people in the background. The story of David and Goliath was meant to demonstrate how the Lord intervenes on behalf of His people.

This Biblical account is primarily used as an allegory to teach that “because you are a spiritual David, you can also slay the Goliaths of your life, which can be a multitude of things such as depression, addictions, financial problems, etc.”   

Contrary to the above, the proper interpretation of this text is simply to show us God’s faithfulness to the nation of Israel by using David (a picture of the future Messiah) to deliver them from the Philistines. 

David’s victory over Goliath was a picture foretelling the victory Jesus won for His people on the cross. 

Christ defeated the two biggest giants in our life, SIN & DEATH, and because He overcame them, we do not have to face it alone. 

As we can see, this type of interpretation, where we insert ourselves into the biblical narrative, is a bad type of biblical interpretation. Not every passage that describes a historical event is  necessarily interchangeable with one’s life. 

Furthermore, the danger in reading Bible stories where we slot ourselves into the role of David (or whomever) is that we can come away thinking that the Christian life is simply about us being brave, bold, or faithful to God in difficult times. 

David points us to Christ. 

The significant part of this story is that David represents the future anointed one, Jesus, who would ultimately redeem His people in an unexpected way. 

Both David and Jesus were Israel’s saviors, and both their victories were against the odds. Here are some of the parallels between David and Christ; 

• As David defeated the Philistines, so would the coming Messiah defeat the enemy (Ps 2:9; 110:1). 
• Just like David, who would rule in Jerusalem one day (Ps 2:4–6; 110:2), the Davidic king Jesus Christ’s rule would be unending (Ps 21:4; 45:6; 72:5).
• Just as David was a son of Jesse, the Messiah will also come from the lineage of Jesse (Isa 11:1) who, like David (1 Sam 16:13), will have the spirit of the Lord upon Him (Isa 11:2) to carry out the mighty works of God. 
• Just as David judged and ruled “doing what was just and right for all his people” (2 Sam 8:15), so will the Messiah “with righteousness  judge with justice and make decisions for the poor of the earth” (Isa 11:4).
• Just as David was a shepherd, so will the Messiah shepherd Israel. (33-34)

The story of David and Goliath is far more than an inspiring tale about courage or overcoming personal challenges. It is a profound illustration of God’s faithfulness to His people and a foreshadowing of the ultimate victory of Christ over sin and death.

David’s triumph points us to Jesus, the true and greater David, who defeated the giants of sin and death on behalf of His people. Where David delivered Israel from the Philistines, Christ delivers us from eternal separation from God. This narrative reminds us that our hope and salvation do not rest on our own bravery or strength but on the One who stands in our place and secures the victory for us.

Rather than seeing ourselves as David in this story, we should humbly recognize our position as the helpless people in need of a Savior. The parallels between David and Christ beautifully highlight God’s redemptive plan through His anointed one, demonstrating that salvation comes not by human effort but by God’s divine intervention.

In every trial, we are not called to pick up the stones and fight the battle alone; instead, we are called to trust in the victory that has already been won for us by our Savior, Jesus Christ.