How Long Is Too Long? Part Two: A Study of David

[Today's devotional is taken from the small-group study "Arrayed In Hope", which I wrote about a year ago.]

When David was initially anointed as king by the prophet Samuel, he was still young. In fact, First Samuel 16:12 describes David as “ruddy.” He had not yet grown facial hair. And he was not yet old enough to be enlisted in King Saul’s army, which had a minimum age requirement of twenty years old (see Numbers 1:3).

If we assume that David had just missed the age requirement for enlisting in the army, and was nineteen years old when he was anointed by Samuel, then we are contemplating a minimum waiting time of eleven years before David was able to take his place as king. But the wait might have been much longer than that, given the description in First Samuel 17:42: “When the Philistine looked carefully at David, he despised him, for he was only a ruddy and handsome boy.” From this description, it appears that David was so young that he could not even pass for a twenty-year-old.

The Scripture passages do not specifically tell us how David felt about the time gap between the anointing done by Samuel and the confirmation of David’s kingship by the elders of Israel. But we do have several psalms, written by David, in which we can read his affirmation of hope in God. Let’s read part of a psalm of David, aloud:

Psalm 25:1-5

In you, Lord my God, I put my trust.

I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame,

nor let my enemies triumph over me.
No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame,

but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause.

Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths.
Guide me in your truth and teach me,

for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

The Little One Is The Strong One.

The LORD is my light and my salvation-- whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life-- of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. (Psalm 27:1-2)

During the New Year's Eve sermon at Bronx Bethany Church of the Nazarene, Pastor Sam quoted from Psalm 27. It is a powerful psalm. Many of us have memorized portions of it, and some of us have memorized all of it. But, as Pastor Sam noted on New Year's Eve, we may be challenged with a disconnect between our knowledge of what is true and our complete devotion to the Word of truth, who is Jesus our Lord.

If we serve the One who is our light and our salvation, then we need not fear.

David had no disconnect. He knew what God could do for him personally. As we reflect on the narrative from last Sunday, First Samuel chapter 17, we recognize that the David who wrote Psalm 27 is the same David who lived Psalm 27. David went into battle fearlessly, fully expecting that the Lord was with him.

The Israelite army endured forty days of talk from Goliath, but then a boy named David showed up and did some talking of his own. What a contrast it must have been to see David, a young man who didn't even own proper fighting attire, running to fight Goliath-- while the army of Israel, in full battle array, stood back in fear.

I think this post today is directed towards those of us who know about Psalm 27 and First Samuel 17, and who have tons of head knowledge about the presence and power of God, but who find ourselves in 2015 scared. We're decked out in full battle array, and yet we're afraid to take on the Goliaths in our lives. I would like to encourage us today with the conversation between David and Goliath (printed below). If we know who our God is and what He can do, then we have no need to fear.

Don't run away scared. Run to the frontlines... and fight.

First Samuel 17:41-51

Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health 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 and the wild animals!”

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. 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. 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.”

As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. 

All Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Battle, Meant...

When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you. When you are about to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and address the army. He shall say: “Hear, Israel: Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not panic or be terrified by them. For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.” (Deuteronomy 20:1-4)

David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were. As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear. (First Samuel 17:22-24)

In the book of Deuteronomy we read the laws given by Moses to ancient Israel. Chapter 20 begins with a directive concerning warfare. The directive can be broken down into seven points:

v  The people were not to fear their enemies;

v  The people were to remember that God delivered them out of Egypt;

v  The people were to know that God would be with them in the war;

v  The priest was to announce Israel’s entry into battle;

v  The priest was to remind Israel not to be afraid;

v  The priest was to reassure Israel of God’s presence and role in the war;

v  The priest was to declare Israel’s victory before they began to fight.

The army of Israel, concerning Goliath and the Philistine army, failed to do what their law provided as standard protocol for warfare… but we see that David was not affected by Israel’s failure to keep the law. Let’s take a minute to consider the source of David’s success as a warrior. Pastor Sam shared two things about David that can encourage us today:

1. David had experienced the power of God. As a shepherd, David had received God’s power: to rescue his father’s sheep, and to avoid being killed by wild animals. First Samuel 17:37 gives us David’s mindset: “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.”

2. David had experienced the presence of God. First Samuel 16:13 shows us that David had an encounter with the Spirit of God: “So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David.”

Our modern-day warfare may not seem as dramatic as that of a boy defeating a giant, but in fact you and I may have to do some serious battling in the realm of the spirit. We face relatives who have given themselves over to deep evil. We hear the voices of prominent people, sometimes even those who claim to be people of God, and their words are full of fear. These who we love, and who are “the sheep of God’s pasture” (see Psalm 100:3), need to be rescued. And if we have experienced the power of God and the presence of God in our personal lives, then we are equipped to fight and win.

Today is a good day to take your experience onto the battlefield. The LORD is with you. Fight fearlessly.

All Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Fight Card: Genise vs. Goliath.

Then the Philistine said, "This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other." On hearing the Philistine's words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified. (First Samuel 17:10-11)

In Sunday's sermon Pastor Sam spoke of a grace for giant-killing. The message reinforced a kairos moment for Bronx Bethany Church of the Nazarene, as we stand between the victory of completing our building extension and the continuing battle for the souls of people who have not yet come to Christ.

In First Samuel 17, we read that King Saul and his army were fearful of Goliath, a Philistine warrior who stood about nine feet tall. Scripture informs us: "For forty days the Philistine came forward morning and evening and took his stand." (First Samuel 17:16) Though Israel's army was skilled, not one man stepped up to fight against Goliath. Instead, they spent more than a month listening to Goliath's rants against them and against God.

What did God do in the face of this army's delay? He sent a boy to fight a giant.

Young David, though untrained, had a huge advantage over everyone else on the battlefield: He knew the power and the grace of God. And as our pastor shared (paraphrased here), If a giant kills a boy, that is not news. But if a boy kills a giant...

I wonder if we in our current context have some "giant"-sized issues that have been taunting us for forty days, or six months, or several years. On Sunday we were reminded that if we serve the living God, then we have access to His graces. Pastor Sam noted that we may know of God's saving grace, His keeping grace, and His grace to heal and deliver. All these graces bless us. But there is also a grace that empowers boys to kill giants. This grace of God is available to empower us, in our frailty and in our weakness and with our unqualified selves, to go out and do great exploits in the name of the LORD.

We know the power of our God, and we know that He imparts His grace to His people. If we are walking with the LORD, then there is no need for us to fear. We can face, and overcome, any challenge.

Do you have a Goliath? Don't fear. Today is a good day to slay a giant.

Lord God, we love You. You know the struggles each of us face. Please help us to remember that You are the God of grace and glory! Give us Your grace so that we can overcome obstacles and win the war for souls. Thank You for standing with us and empowering us to fight: not in our own strength, but in Your strength and through Your strategies. Glorify Your name in and through us. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

All Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.