Facing the Giants

Several years ago, the giant toy company Mattel sued a man named Gopi Mattel. It seems that this Indian immigrant registered the domain name “mattel.org” and Mattel Incorporated brought domain name arbitration proceedings against him claiming copyright infringement. The arbitration ruled against the toy-maker, concluding that Gopi Mattel had the rights in his own surname. So if you visit www.mattel.org, you can read Mr. Mattel’s resume and some articles on brokerage sales—but you cannot order Barbie dolls or Matchbox cars. The title of an article in USA Today about the incident is “David Beats Goliath in Domain-Name Dispute.”

The metaphor of David and Goliath is routinely rolled out anytime the little guy wins out despite tremendous odds in business or sports or politics. And the metaphor makes sense… if you look at the Biblical story from the viewpoint of the Philistines. When the warrior hero Goliath saw David come out to fight him, he said, Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” (1 Samuel 17:43, my daily reading for today). Looking at the battle through the eyes of the world, it was dead solid certain that David had no chance. But David saw things a bit differently—

David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. (1 Samuel 17:45)

The difference in Goliath and David take on the battle was not that David believed that sometimes the little guy does have a chance. No, they disagreed on who was really the little guy. The giant pointed to his size and strength and experience... and David pointed to God. David knew that the living God was mightiest of all warriors, and thus poor little Goliath never stood a chance.

May God give us the faith of David as we go out to face the giants of our world. May we always remember that battle belongs to the Lord! May God give us the absolute certainty of Paul’s declaration, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31). At the end of the day, Goliath always wins... but the true Goliath is God! Everything that the world throws at us, as intimidating and overwhelming as they seem at times, become pretty puny when compared to the awesome power and majesty of our Goliath God.

Oh what I would do to have the kind of strength it takes to
stand before a giant with just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand
But the giant's calling out my name and he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me time and time again.
"Boy you can never win! You can never win!"
But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
The voice of truth says, "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth
© 2003 by Casting Crowns