A King After God's Glory
For Meditation
We saw last week that what the Israelites and even Samuel valued in a king- something they might have found in one of David’s older brothers - was the exact opposite of what God valued. Instead, God valued and chose the one who was small, powerless and overlooked in the world’s eyes, but who would become the instrument of God's deliverance for his people.
Now in chapter 17, David is king-elect, but still pretty much living life as normal. He’s back to being the forgotten little brother who tends the sheep in the countryside while his brothers follow Saul into battle against the Philistines. But the Israelite army has been stymied by a terrifying foe, a giant of a man named Goliath. He is not only challenging any Israelite in battle but also blaspheming the name of the living God. Saul and his troops cower in fear. They clearly did not hear God’s exhortation to not be overly swayed by outward appearance! But when David hears Goliath’s taunting, he is incensed and asks a question that Saul and his troops had not considered: what about God? Walter Brueggemann writes, "By his bold speech [v. 26], David introduces a new factor into the action: the ‘living God.’ Israel, who faces the Philistine threat in fear and immobility, acts as if God were irrelevant to the battle. If God is irrelevant in the face of the Philistines, all is lost for the Israelites. But David will not have it so. For David it is unthinkable to assess a battle (or anything else) apart from the rule of the living God.”
This Sunday we’ll look at this great story and find ourselves in it. Surprisingly, the place we ultimately find ourselves is not in the shoes of David facing down our giants, but in the shoes of the fearful Israelites, watching our representative Warrior go out and fight our battle for us. “The message of the Bible is not that we are called to save the world. Its message is that we have a Savior” (Tim Chester).
In preparation for worship this week, read and meditate on Psalm 33 in light of the David and Goliath story. Spend some time praising God for his unfailing love and deliverance.
1 Samuel 17:31–47
31 What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him.
32 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”
33 Saul replied, “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.”
34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”
Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”
38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.
“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.
41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. 43 He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!”
45 David said to the Philistine, “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, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”