David ran at Goliath.  David ran QUICKLY at Goliath.

Almost everyone knows the story from 1 Samuel 17 of young David armed with staff, a sling and five smooth stones who bested the giant Goliath carrying a sword, a spear, and a javelin. Goliath was indeed huge – nine feet nine inches or 6 feet nine inches, depending on the Bible version you are reading.  He must have been massively strong, as his chain mail vest weighed 125 pounds, and his spear’s head weighed 15 pounds.  And he had a shield-bearer who went before him carrying a full-height shield.

David, on the other side of the battle, had no armor at all because he hadn’t or didn’t know how to use it… “he had not tested them.” David’s faith was not in his own prowess, but that “the Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lions and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

The Philistine taunted David with, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks? Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.”  David replied with similar warnings about Goliath’s demise, but added that all the Philistines would share the same fate.  And he made clear why he would win, “… I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.  This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cur off your head, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear.  For the battle is the LORD’s and he will give you into our hand.”

And then David RAN at Goliath.  It may have given the stone additional power, like a thrown javelin, but it was a pretty confident move; the closer he got to the giant, the more likely that the spear and sword would wreak havoc.  But David trusted his weaponry, his practice and experience, and most of all, he trusted his God to bring him through.  No wonder David was a man after God’s own heart.