Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
David Fought Goliath Without Armor
by Autumn Dickson
In 1 Samuel 17, we read about one of the most famous stories in the Old Testament: David and Goliath. It’s an incredible story of faith that can teach us a lot about following Christ. The fact that David saved the Israelites was a big deal, but how he defeated Goliath is likewise significant. Let’s talk about a couple of those “hows.”
Goliath taunts the Israelites for 40 days. David comes forward and offers to battle Goliath. Saul agrees, and he even puts his own armor on David. It doesn’t go well…
1 Samuel 17:39 And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.
David tried on the armor and “assayed” to go. In other words, David had a hard time moving. David hasn’t “proved” the armor, or in other words, David has never trained with it. He doesn’t know how to fight like a soldier, only like a shepherd. So David takes his shepherd weapons, forgoes the armor, and goes on to defeat Goliath.
Let’s talk about how David defeated Goliath and what it teaches us.
Detail 1. He went up with nothing but faith in God; the armor specifically hindered him.
A couple posts ago, we talked about how Israel came to Samuel and wanted a king. One of the direct messages we pulled from that story was the fact that the Israelites were rejecting God by wanting a king. They had a King; they wanted a different king.
In 1 Samuel 8, the Israelites specifically requested a king because they wanted someone to go out before them in battle. Like other nations, they wanted a physical defender in front of them when they were at war. This is significant.
So now we’ve found ourselves in 1 Samuel 17, and the Israelites are facing the giant Philistines. Goliath goes out and taunts the Israelites for 40 days. And where is Saul? Definitely not out in front of the Israelites.
Samuel gave the Israelites their king, King Saul, and then what do you know…Saul doesn’t go out before them. No one saw that coming. Shocking, right?
When we originally read this story, it would be easy to think David was being an arrogant punk by refusing the armor. Earlier on in the chapter, Eliab (David’s oldest brother) gets annoyed with David and accuses him of pride. But this isn’t about pride (even if David possessed some of that). This is about the fact that once again, the Lord was saying, “Hey Israel! I will go before you, not some mortal king!”
David didn’t just outright refuse the armor. He put it on, and it weighed him down. David was better off without man’s attempts to fight off Israel’s enemies.
The principle is NOT this: Don’t use anything manmade or you’re faithless. Refuse medicine. Refuse gear. The Lord will protect you if you have enough faith.
That is not the principle here. Sometimes having faith is understanding that the Lord inspired man to build tools.
However, for THIS specific example, it is important that David went without armor that weighed him down. The fact that David went without armor in this specific scenario can teach us the true principle: relying on man over God hurts us. It doesn’t help us. This is not every scenario. This is a very specific scenario in which the Lord was very clearly telling the Israelites that He was their King and Defender. The Lord didn’t want any confusion about why David won against Goliath. This detail is poignant with the backdrop of the Israelites rejecting God and choosing Saul. They didn’t want God’s protection; they wanted man’s. David and his lack of armor was God’s response.
Using tools is not wrong, but relying on tools over God is wrong. The armor in this story represents the same thing King Saul represented: insufficient protection from man. King Saul did not help the Israelites. The refused armor would have prevented David from defeating Goliath.
Detail 2. David showed up after Goliath had taunted the Israelites for 40 days.
So maybe the fact that David showed up after 40 days doesn’t necessarily seem like one of the “hows” of David defeating Goliath, but in my unqualified opinion, it is.
Gospel according to Autumn teaches this: If David had come sooner, he wouldn’t have been able to defeat Goliath because the Israelites wouldn’t have let him battle Goliath at all.
The number “40” is significant. It is used to describe a period of testing and trial. Christ fasted for forty days. It rained and flooded the earth for forty days. The Israelites wandered the wilderness for forty years.
Did Goliath truly taunt them for 40 days exactly or was this the Lord’s way of describing a full cycle of testing for the Israelites? Does the 40 really mean 40 or does it teach us that the Israelites had finally reached a point of desperation and were willing to utilize a young boy to fight Goliath?
Regardless of whether it was exactly 40 days of tauntin...
David Fought Goliath Without Armor
by Autumn Dickson
In 1 Samuel 17, we read about one of the most famous stories in the Old Testament: David and Goliath. It’s an incredible story of faith that can teach us a lot about following Christ. The fact that David saved the Israelites was a big deal, but how he defeated Goliath is likewise significant. Let’s talk about a couple of those “hows.”
Goliath taunts the Israelites for 40 days. David comes forward and offers to battle Goliath. Saul agrees, and he even puts his own armor on David. It doesn’t go well…
1 Samuel 17:39 And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.
David tried on the armor and “assayed” to go. In other words, David had a hard time moving. David hasn’t “proved” the armor, or in other words, David has never trained with it. He doesn’t know how to fight like a soldier, only like a shepherd. So David takes his shepherd weapons, forgoes the armor, and goes on to defeat Goliath.
Let’s talk about how David defeated Goliath and what it teaches us.
Detail 1. He went up with nothing but faith in God; the armor specifically hindered him.
A couple posts ago, we talked about how Israel came to Samuel and wanted a king. One of the direct messages we pulled from that story was the fact that the Israelites were rejecting God by wanting a king. They had a King; they wanted a different king.
In 1 Samuel 8, the Israelites specifically requested a king because they wanted someone to go out before them in battle. Like other nations, they wanted a physical defender in front of them when they were at war. This is significant.
So now we’ve found ourselves in 1 Samuel 17, and the Israelites are facing the giant Philistines. Goliath goes out and taunts the Israelites for 40 days. And where is Saul? Definitely not out in front of the Israelites.
Samuel gave the Israelites their king, King Saul, and then what do you know…Saul doesn’t go out before them. No one saw that coming. Shocking, right?
When we originally read this story, it would be easy to think David was being an arrogant punk by refusing the armor. Earlier on in the chapter, Eliab (David’s oldest brother) gets annoyed with David and accuses him of pride. But this isn’t about pride (even if David possessed some of that). This is about the fact that once again, the Lord was saying, “Hey Israel! I will go before you, not some mortal king!”
David didn’t just outright refuse the armor. He put it on, and it weighed him down. David was better off without man’s attempts to fight off Israel’s enemies.
The principle is NOT this: Don’t use anything manmade or you’re faithless. Refuse medicine. Refuse gear. The Lord will protect you if you have enough faith.
That is not the principle here. Sometimes having faith is understanding that the Lord inspired man to build tools.
However, for THIS specific example, it is important that David went without armor that weighed him down. The fact that David went without armor in this specific scenario can teach us the true principle: relying on man over God hurts us. It doesn’t help us. This is not every scenario. This is a very specific scenario in which the Lord was very clearly telling the Israelites that He was their King and Defender. The Lord didn’t want any confusion about why David won against Goliath. This detail is poignant with the backdrop of the Israelites rejecting God and choosing Saul. They didn’t want God’s protection; they wanted man’s. David and his lack of armor was God’s response.
Using tools is not wrong, but relying on tools over God is wrong. The armor in this story represents the same thing King Saul represented: insufficient protection from man. King Saul did not help the Israelites. The refused armor would have prevented David from defeating Goliath.
Detail 2. David showed up after Goliath had taunted the Israelites for 40 days.
So maybe the fact that David showed up after 40 days doesn’t necessarily seem like one of the “hows” of David defeating Goliath, but in my unqualified opinion, it is.
Gospel according to Autumn teaches this: If David had come sooner, he wouldn’t have been able to defeat Goliath because the Israelites wouldn’t have let him battle Goliath at all.
The number “40” is significant. It is used to describe a period of testing and trial. Christ fasted for forty days. It rained and flooded the earth for forty days. The Israelites wandered the wilderness for forty years.
Did Goliath truly taunt them for 40 days exactly or was this the Lord’s way of describing a full cycle of testing for the Israelites? Does the 40 really mean 40 or does it teach us that the Israelites had finally reached a point of desperation and were willing to utilize a young boy to fight Goliath?
Regardless of whether it was exactly 40 days of tauntin...
