With Your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall. As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in Him. For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. 

II Samuel 22:30-33, NIV (1978)

 

Did you ever wonder how a shepherd boy could kill a lion and a bear? Have you ever wondered how that same shepherd boy could face a giant who was armed with a sword and shield and spear and defeat him with nothing more than a sling and a stone? Or how he could fight with only a handful of men against incredible odds and win again and again? Or how this humble shepherd could rise from leading a few sheep to leading an entire nation? What was it about David that allowed him to do such things? What was it that allowed him to become a hero?

 

We don't have to wonder, for David himself told us. It was due to the fact that he trusted in God with all of his heart and soul, and because of this he won the battle every time. He knew that God was the One who ultimately would allow him to succeed as long as he walked in full obedience to His perfect way. In Psalms 56:10-11, King David is recorded as saying the following:

 

                                    In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise - in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

 

David knew that no man alone could advance against a troop. He understood that a man by himself could not scale an unscalable wall. But David also knew that with God's perfect direction that there was nothing that would be impossible for him just as long as it was something that God wanted him to do. So, David lived in obedience to God. When God sent the prophet Samuel to anoint David king, even though he was nothing more than a mere shepherd boy, David believed God and became a king. Even though it is impossible for a man to kill an enraged bear or lion with his bare hands, that is exactly what David did, because he knew that he had to live and become a king, and he trusted in God enough to know that He would ensure the victory. And even though Goliath was such a fierce warrior that the armies of Israel fled from his presence, David took a stand, defeated the Giant, and became a hero.

 

David could not have done any of these things on his own - no man who ever lived could. But David trusted in God, listened to His words, and so became a hero.

 

Do we believe that? Only a fool would not, because only a fool would fail to believe the things that are revealed in God's word. The strange thing is that even though the wise person does believe these things, these same wise people often do not believe that God can protect them from the challenges that they face. Perhaps the reason is that we know that heroes are special, and we do not feel all that special. We intuitively believe that David succeeded because there was no way that he could fail as long as the task was something that God wanted him to do, and as long as he was walking in obedience to God's commandments.

 

Yet, how often do we who acknowledge that David was able to beat the giant with God's help, then turn around and doubt that he can help us with the much smaller daily challenges that we face? How often do we fail to apply God's Word to our own set of circumstances? For example, how often do we see a parent giving up on trying to raise their child for the Lord for the simple fact that they are afraid that they will lose this child? How often do we fail to speak up for things that we know God expects us to, because we are afraid of the disapproval of our bosses and coaches and teachers and sometimes even our peers? How often do we even lose the daily struggle with ourselves when it comes to reading the Bible, to praying with purpose, or even getting our lazy selves out of our warm beds on Sunday mornings to go to worship? 

 

How are we to be heroes, when we aren't even willing to do the simple tasks that God calls us to? 

 

How often do we lead a subpar life for the simple fact that we are too afraid of the consequences that our actions might bring? Isn't that the true reason that we see too few heroes in our society today? They (and we) are just too afraid to take a righteous stand! And why is that? It's because we don't trust God! David was not chosen to be a king because he was the obvious choice in the eyes of men. David was chosen to be king because he trusted in God. David was chosen to be king because he longed for God's Word. And David, more than anything else, was chosen to be king because he was a man after God's own heart.

 

Do you know how rare it is to be a person after God's own heart? Maybe that's the reason that we have so few heroes today; it's because there are not many people who have that kind of trust in God.

 

So, why all of this talk about heroes? Why even talk about such things at all? The answer is as simple as this: Your children need a hero. Your friends need a hero. The people you work with and go to school with need a hero. All of society needs a hero. But the sad reality is that there just aren't many heroes left in this world that we live in today because people are too busy or too lazy or too scared. This world needs a hero! It needs people who are unafraid to make righteous stands, or at the very least people who are afraid but who know that stand they must if this world is to have any hope at all. This world really does need heroes. Furthermore, God expects you to be that hero. The only question is, do you have what it takes?

 

Perhaps it is time for each one of us to prayerfully consider what God wants us to do, and then to trust in Him enough to believe that He will help us with everything that He expects us to do. Perhaps it is time for each one of us to become a hero.