Wednesday, May 11, 2022
David is sent by his father and arrives at the front lines to check on his older brothers, who are fighting in the Israelite army. It is at that point that David gets the first real look at what the Israelite army was facing. 1 Samuel 17:23-26; 32-37 “While he was speaking with them, suddenly the champion named Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, came forward from the Philistine battle line and shouted his usual words, which David heard. 24 When all the Israelite men saw Goliath, they retreated from him terrified.
25 Previously, an Israelite man declared, “Do you see this man who keeps coming out? He comes to defy Israel. The king will make the man who kills him very rich and will give him his daughter. The king will also make the family of that man’s father exempt from paying taxes in Israel.” 26 David spoke to the men who were standing with him: “What will be done for the man who kills that Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
Skipping down to verse 32: David said to Saul, “Don’t let anyone be discouraged by him; your servant will go and fight this Philistine!” 33 But Saul replied, “You can’t go fight this Philistine. You’re just a youth, and he’s been a warrior since he was young.”
34 David answered Saul: “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it down, and rescued the lamb from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, and kill it. 36 Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 Then David said, “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will recue me from the hand of the Philistine’” CSB.
You can hear, and even almost feel, the determination within David! Though just a boy, David knows someone has to stand up to this threat.
This threat is a massive man named Goliath. Goliath was a decorated warrior from Philistine. He struck fear into the hearts of all who saw him, he was a giant, he was terrifying. The entire Israelite army was paralyzed with fear. No one was willing to take on this giant. However, someone has to do something and David is willing to take that on.
What causes a young man, an underdog, to take on such a mountainous task? Hope. Hope that he will not fight this battle alone; Hope that with God’s help, there is nothing that is impossible. Hope that what little he has to offer is enough. David’s reasoning for this hope comes from God’s faithfulness in the past. God had been with him when he was protecting sheep in the field from lions and bears; surely the Lord would also protect him now that he was facing a giant!
POINT #2 – IF GOD IS FOR US, NOTHING CAN STAND AGAINST US
When we find ourselves in seasons of struggle, sometimes we have to remind ourselves of how God has been with us in the past. Hope is a derivative of trust. When we believe that something or someone is trustworthy, it gives us hope.
It is a lot like a child who plays with her father in the pool. I remember all too well when our daughter was little (still less than two years old). A cousin and his wife came to the Twin Cities (where we were living) for his work and they were staying at a hotel only a couple miles from our house, so they invited us to come swimming with them.
I had Marissa in the shallow water playing for a few minutes when she wanted to get out. I let her go by Gayle and I swam out to the deeper end of the pool. Suddenly, I saw her running toward the edge of the deep end of the pool opposite of where I was. Before I could get to her, she was at the edge and wasn't stopping: there was no slowing down, and under the water she went - it happened so fast!
As quick as I could, I grabbed her, pulled her up out of the water, and began wiping the water off her face, only to hear her laughing. I took her back to Gayle and before I could walk back to the pool she was running for the deep end of the pool again with absolutely no fear, no concern. She was absolutely confident that daddy would be there again. There was only trust in daddy’s love to catch her, to pull her out of the deep water as he had done every time before. She was full of hope - though she would throw herself into the deep water, her parents would keep her safe.
Continued