1 Samuel 17:42-44 “He (Goliath) looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him. He said to David, ‘Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?’ And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ‘Come here,” he said, ‘and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!’”

Trash talk is not a phenomenon that began with late 20^th Century sports. This kind of psychological warfare goes back at least 3000 years. Goliath used it against David. Right away the giant went to work trying to destroy David’s courage.

First, he attacked David’s person. He despised the young man. Goliath seemed offended that the Israelites would send a teenager to fight him. His words and body language said, “You are an inadequate little wimp.”

Some still use that kind of trash talk against those fighting on God’s side. Many years ago a pastor was attending a conference where an agnostic professor was speaking. After the speech the pastor questioned the speaker about something unbiblical he had said. The professors just dismissed him by saying, “Oh, you’re from one of those churches where they have no scholars.” He was saying, “Intellectually, you are an inadequate little wimp. You can’t win this argument with me.” The same thing is going on when you stand up for the truth and others call you a “fundamentalist,” “Bible-thumper,” or “dinosaur.” “You’re too stupid to figure this out,” they imply.

Second, he mocked David’s weapons. “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” David had nothing more than his slingshot, a little bag of stones, and a staff in his hand. They didn’t look like much use against a giant whose spearhead alone weighed 15 pounds, not to mention his sword, shield, and armor. “You don’t have the tools, the weapons, to beat me.”

Do our weapons for fighting God’s battles look even weaker? We have nothing more than a message about God’s love, a ritual involving words and water, a little taste of bread and wine mixed with a promise of Jesus’ forgiving presence. They look harmless compared to the money, the fun and excitement, the reasonable sounding arguments, and sometimes the raw power and influence of those who find Christianity old-fashioned, restrictive, unscientific, or too boring to take seriously.

Sometimes we even begin to believe the trash talk. We doubt whether word and sacrament are enough. Then we reach for gimmicks or lose courage. We begin to fold, because we don’t think we have the tools, the weapons, or the resources to win.

So are we just going to let the giant win? Should David have resigned himself to the conclusion that Goliath was going to feed him to the birds that day? Should we accept that we are going to lose the next generation to the world and the false teachers, that we can’t compete with worldly pleasures for the hearts of our neighbors, that we are too small and too poor and too outgunned to make a difference in a culture that seems bent on overturning everything that is good and true and godly?

Or are we going to stand and fight? Our weapons don’t look impressive, but we wield divine power when we use them. The gospel is enough to protect ourselves and drive back the enemies of biblical faith in every era.