Jesus is often referred to as the son of David. To understand David, and his story is to understand the heart of the story that is the Old Testament, preparing the way for the coming of Christ. To understand David is to have insight into Christ himself, and the church. That's why we're devoting a whole series just to him. And if you stick with us through this series, I guarantee that you'll know the Bible in a way you didn't before. If you're traveling in the course of this series, you can read and hear our homilies online, from our website.
David is a complex and fascinating leader, a raw and transparent individual. In both his gifts and flaws, in his successes and failures, we see a man, a leader, a man after God's own heart. The backstory is when God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, and established them as a nation, there was no king, none was needed, according to God's plan, that people would live freely in obedience to God Himself. Of course, they didn't. And for several centuries, they experienced very uneven stability and sovereignty. This is called the Period of the judges.
But eventually, the people of Israel decide they want a king so that they could be like other nations, and they could reestablish their sovereignty and stability. That's what the Israelites wanted, and God lets them have their way. The prophet Samuel anoints a man named Saul, as the very first king of Israel. Saul looks the part. He's tall and handsome. He's strong and smart. And early on, he distinguishes himself as a talented military leader, winning important battles. Unfortunately, he always seemed to end up disobeying God in the process.
It got so bad that God sends Samuel to find Saul’s replacement. And that's where our hero, David comes in.To say the least, David was not an obvious choice. David is the youngest son of a farmer named Jesse living in utter obscurity in a backwater village called Bethlehem, no coincidence there. David's the low man on the family totem pole, the lowest, most menial tasks would have been given to him. He's not always included in family functions and events. They often overlook him.
He's got a dumb job for sure, just watching the sheep, nobody pays any attention to him, he's completely unappreciated. Do you ever feel like that? A dumb job, and from time to time, for David, it could be a dangerous one too, because predators like lions and bears would attack the flock. In such cases, it was the shepherd's job to try and shield the sheep by sacrificing one sheep for the many. But David, we learn, didn't do that. He spent his time in obscurity, wisely and well, learning how to confront and defeat the predators, honing the skills of a warrior.
God tells Samuel that one of Jesse's seven sons will be the next king. So Jesse proudly trots out his six older ones, and we read. "But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected them. God does not see as we do. The Lord sees the heart." So, Samuel asks Jessie, "Got anybody else?" Jesse thinks for a minute and he says, "Well, there's the youngest son, but you don't need to waste your time on him." And Samuel said, "Send for him. We will not continue until he arrives." So he sent for him.
David was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features. The Lord said, "Aha! He's the one." This is the official beginning of David's rise to leadership. He's not king yet. But he's on a short trajectory to it. David wasn't a schemer. There's nothing of an ambitious nature about him, but he catches the attention of Saul. And he ends up on Saul’s staff. "David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul became very fond of him and made him his armor-bearer." It's not a position of great importance. He's just an assistant, an errand boy.
But it is an opportunity for David to learn firsthand about being king. Well, at that time, the Israelites were at war with a powerful enemy, called the Philistines. While Saul scored earlier victories at this point, his army is clearly outmatched. They had won some battles, but it didn't look like they could win the war. Which brings us to the most famous episode of David's whole story. "A champion named Goliath came out from the Philistine camp, he was a giant. He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, 'Why come out in battle formation? Choose one of your men, and have him come down to me. If he beats me in combat and kills me, we will be your vassals. But if I kill him, you shall be our vassals and serve us.' When Saul and the Israelites heard this challenge of the Philistines, they were stunned and terrified." This was not an uncommon practice in ancient warfare, it was called single combat. To avoid the heavy bloodshed of open battle, two sides in a conflict would simply have their greatest warrior battle each other, winner take all. Intimidation was a factor in this kind of combat. And the Philistines mastered it.
They had this fearsome, fierce, giant guy, but his size was the least of it. This story takes place in the early Iron Age. Iron, arms, and armor were just being introduced. And those equipped with them, like Goliath, were nearly invincible to those using traditional arms. When Goliath appeared to the Israelites, they had never seen anything like him before. He was astounding and terrifying. It would be like a guy showing up at a boxing match in a tank. The Israelites refused to fight Goliath, not because they were afraid of him, although they were terrified of him. They refused to fight him because they couldn't possibly win. For 40 days, Goliath challenged the Israelites to battle, he taunted them, he baited them, he mocked them and they cowered in fear, every single one of them including the king, cowered in fear, except for David.
When David heard Goliath's challenge, when he heard him insulting Israel, and blaspheming God, he developed this holy, righteous discontent. And that, in itself, is a lesson in leadership. When most of us confront giants, when we encounter gigantic problems, it can be intimidating and overwhelming, which in turn, can lead to inaction. We do nothing. To a leader, a giant problem is also a giant opportunity. David refuses to do nothing. He insists on doing something, his own brothers mock him for it, but David doesn't care. He goes to the king and insists on fighting.
Naturally, the king acknowledges his youth and inexperience. But David pushes back. Here's what he said to the king, "Your servant has killed both a lion and a bear. This Philistine will be one of them, because he has insulted the armies of the living God. The same Lord who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear will deliver me from the hand of the Philistines." The skills he honed as shepherd, the skills he learned day after day, in his obscurity, now become critically important in this critically important moment. David could see that God had been preparing him all along for just such a time as this. And because he had been faithful in his job, he was ready for this opportunity. That was David. He was prepared for battle.
In a little comic scene that follows, Saul tries to suit up David with his own battle gear, all of which immobilizes the young man because it is too big and heavy. Instead, he strips it all off and races out to meet the giant, unafraid and unarmed. Well, not quite unarmed, because he's got God on his side. David announces to the giant as he races toward him, "You come against me with sword and spear, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of hosts."
So David goes into battle believing that God is with him. He fought Goliath not in the traditional hand-to-hand combat that the giant was ready and equipped for. Instead, he approached the challenge the same way he learned to fight wild animals as a shepherd, as a projectile warrior. That's what he would have been called, a projectile warrior using a slingshot. He placed a good sized rock in a sling, which was just a leather pouch with long ropes attached to it. And he whipped that pouch around his head, increasing quickly in speed up to six or seven revolutions per second. And then at a distance of many meters well beyond the range of the giant's sword, he aimed at the only exposed part of the giant's body, his forehead, and he hurled the stone. And all this happens within seconds, much too fast for Goliath to even process what's going on. And here's what happened. "The stone embedded itself in his brow, and he fell on his face to the ground.
Thus David triumphed over the Philistines with sling and stone. He struck him dead and did it without a sword." From this moment, David's life changes. He's not officially the king, but everyone recognizes him as the real leader of the nation. Well, right now, you might be feeling like David did, when he was a shepherd living in obscurity, your best efforts go unnoticed, un-thanked. Your job might appear unimportant some days, your work might seem like grunt work, but there is no wasted work if you work for God and you seek to honor him in whatever you do.
David's life reveals the importance of preparation and perseverance. God notices what you're doing. If you do it to honor Him, He rewards what you're doing too. The big days in your life, such as the wedding days, the graduations, the proms, the promotions, they're fruit, they're fruit of periods of preparation and perseverance. The up all night caring for a sick kid, the long, lonely work-night, the long night of homework, the hours of overtime. Those don't make for riveting biographies and interesting stories, but that's where character is formed and tested, quietly doing your job in order to honor God. You're getting ready for the giants, good and bad. You're getting ready for the giants when they come your way.
For David, the battle with Goliath was won far before he faced him on the field that day. Defeating Goliath didn't make David a leader. It revealed him as one. So this is what we want you to know: There is no wasted work if you work for God. And if you seek to honor him, in what you do, whatever that is, God notices what you're doing and He will reward you. What should you do? Persevere in doing God’s will. Be someone who is after God’s heart, and you will be prepared for the battle, the fight against all the giants, all the difficulties in your life.
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