It is apparent that David wrestles often with fear and despair as these are prevalent themes in the psalms of David. He sings about these struggles often. And this comes as a bit of a surprise that David would be troubled by these emotions so often in his later life. Think about it. This is the same David who testified to King Saul that as a young shepherd boy, whenever a lion or bear would attack his flock, he would go after that beast and rescue his sheep. He says in 1 Sam 17:35, “And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him.” Fearless courage in the face of ferocious beasts.

Now we know the reason David is telling Saul of his courage is because he has requested to go and face the giant Goliath on the battle field. Goliath has taunted Saul and his armies for days challenging someone to come out and face him in one on one combat. All of Saul’s soldiers are too afraid to face this giant on the battlefield, but not young David. Taking his strength in the Lord, he goes out to face the mighty Goliath with a sling and five stones. Hardly a match for such a towering foe as Goliath. Goliath has more fighting experience than David. Goliath has enormous size advantage over David. Goliath is equipped with weapons of war and is clad in the finest of Philistine armor. Yet David marches out to face down this pagan foe with nothing more than a slingshot and a faith in the power of God to defeat those who mock the people of God. Absolute. Fearless. Courage.

That is just the beginning of David’s multiple victorious fighting campaigns. He leads his army in victory after victory, causing King Saul to grow more envious with every victory. He is a man of war and time and time again, the Lord gives he and his men the victory. At last he is King. The mighty, unmatched, undefeated, unrivaled King David. Never would we imagine, never would he imagine, that fear would soon become one of his greatest struggles.

And yet in this new season of life, the new struggle of unexpected fear grips the heart of David. He is no longer the King on the throne; he is the King on the run. Many in his own kingdom have turned against him. His own son has turned against him. He often finds himself surrounded, outmanned and outgunned by his own who desire his life and his throne. To his own dismay, he begins to battle a new giant of fear within.

So where does he turn to slay such a giant, internal foe of his faith? Where should we turn to slay the giant, unexpected foes that rise in new seasons of life? He turns to the Gospel and he turns to prayer, and so must we do the same. He finds the Lord to be sufficient for the foe of fear just as he found the Lord to be sufficient for the foe of a Philistine. For this battle, however, his weapons are not a sling and some stones, but the Gospel and prayer.

Oh, my friends, the sweet promises of the Gospel are not for new birth alone, they are also for facing every temptation and trial in this life. And prayer is the means of holding fast and clinging to those rich promises in the face of any formidable foe to our faith.