Everybody likes an underdog. And is there any bigger underdog story than David versus Goliath? Goliath is the fearsome champion of the Philistine army; David has no impressive fortune, reputation, or pedigree. And while there's a strong argument that translation errors and other transmission miscues have blown the vaunted height difference out of proportion (very likely David and Goliath were the same height as my wife and me), they were nevertheless a starkly mismatched pair.
But should we really be surprised that the underdog won this contest? And while we're challenging assumptions ... was David really the underdog here? Saul certainly thinks so. "'You are not able to go
out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and
he has been a warrior from his youth'" (1 Samuel 17:33). But God tells Samuel, "'The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart'" (1 Samuel 16:7), and we know from a few chapters back that David is a man after God's own heart (1 Samuel 13:14).
Lastly, look at the banner each man flies. While Goliath boasts of his strength and military prowess, David declares, "'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'" (1 Samuel 17:45). Taken all together, then, it would appear that Goliath never stood a chance! But we have the benefit of hindsight and familiarity with the Israelites' story; the fact remains that David's great victory first and foremost gives glory to God.
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