1 Samuel 17:4
And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
Goliath of Gath came forth from the camp of the Philistines as their champion while the Philistine and Israelite armies were drawn up in array army against army, with David in Israel's camp talking with his brothers. His height was six cubits and a span, about twelve feet, and his massive size and strength made him terrifying and helped make Israel's army afraid. He was heavily armed and protected by formidable armor, making him a figure of formidable strength.
He defied Israel and God with insulting language and challenged them to provide a man from their ranks to meet him in single combat, coming morning and evening and repeating his defiance day after day for forty days without arousing a champion to silence him. All Israel were filled with fear while Saul and the army lacked trust in God. David had come to the camp by his father's direction to carry a message and gift to his elder brothers and learn if they were safe and well, but he had also been directed by an angel to save his people. Seeing the fear he was stirred within him and fired with zeal to preserve the honor of the living God and the credit of his people.
His proud, boastful defiance against God's people dishonors God and must be met rather than left unanswered. God delivered Israel from the idolatrous Philistines not through Saul but through David, whom He had raised up to rule His people. David slew the Philistine champion, and that victory later caused David to be recognized in Gath and put him in danger when he sought refuge there.
As a boastful, imposing warrior magnifying himself, he is a model for ministers who provoke disputes and then rely confidently on prepared arguments and magnify their own ability instead of humbly trusting God and relying on Jesus, and such self-confidence can lead to failure and harm to themselves and others. As a proud and boastful champion defying the armies of Israel, he pictures boastful opponents who state falsehood as truth and misrepresent the Sabbath, and David's small pebbles defeating him shows that truth, though seeming small and weak, exposes the opponent's weakness and brings victory when the controversy is met with calm dignity under the Holy Spirit without sharpness, severity, or loss of temper. His character as boastful champion come out against God's people is bombast and defiance expressed in ridicule, bold assertions, falsehood and misrepresentation while taking on the appearance of a godly man, carried forward with a noisy, high, boasting, infuriated spirit. His conduct as a proud boaster defying Israel illustrates the contemptuous ridicule directed at Brother Hare. His extraordinary size and armor illustrate that public opinion supported by intemperance and gluttony can be even more powerful and difficult to overcome.