On-Guard!

Last week we looked at David’s spirit of submission and obedience, and how that servant’s spirit served him and led him to be in the time and place he found himself in. We saw how his vision of the enemy was different than the rest of Israelites due to his experiences as being in the positions of the least instead of the greatest. The responsibilities he’d known in his life had prepared him to trust not in his own abilities but in the abilities of the one he submitted himself under. He began to rally the disheartened troops by reminding them who their enemy was, “this uncircumcised Philistine,” and who they were, “the army of the Living God”.  This week we see he wasn’t afraid to put his faith in action.

What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?  If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?  Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.  You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!  But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? James 2:14-20

What David believed about God shaped him from the inside out, just like it does all of us. If you want to know what a man believes it is revealed in his countenance. If he believes that his problems are overpowering him and his hope is no more than a raisin then that’s what his expression will look like, a raisin. He will be dried up and withering because his ripening has overpowered him. But if he is an overcomer, and his hope rests in the Lord, and he knows nothing can defeat his God, then he is ‘grapes’. What is on the outside will be smooth and pleasing to the eye and what’s on the inside will be able to be squeezed, if need be, into a pleasing sacrifice for others. He is fit for use whether he is consumed whole or squeezed out. He need not know the result because he’s still clinging to the vine. God is still working in him, and that work is evident on the outside.

 Now when the words which David spoke were heard, they reported them to Saul; and he sent for him. 1 Samuel 17:31

            Saul got wind that someone was shooting off his mouth in the camp about fighting the giant. It doesn’t say what Saul thought about it, if he was hopeful or fearful. He could have been hopeful that finally someone was standing up to the bully, and that maybe he’d overlooked a giant in their midst, someone even taller and stronger than him. He could have been fearful that the mumbling would reach the Philistine camps and they would assume the battle was on and come pouring into the camp before he could prepare for battle. He heard that David was calling them out, so Saul sent for him. He summoned his servant, this talker, this cheerleader, to find out what his plan of action was in getting the army to face Goliath. Like Eliab before him, he had to wonder if David just didn’t understand the implications of what this battle could cost in lives. Saul had seen the giant, Goliath, and had heard the threats, and knew that they were not idle. Goliath was not just talk. Saul had a healthy respect for the enemy, but what he lacked David possessed in spades. David had a healthy respect for Goliath’s enemy.

            With a lack of faith, we do the same thing. We tend to focus on the enemy against us, instead of focusing on our enemy’s adversary who is with us.

 Then David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.”⁷ Moreover David said, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!” 1 Samuel 17: 32-37

            The first thing we see here is that David is submitting to Saul by calling himself “your servant”. He is saying to him that he is going out under the command of Saul to fight for Saul and Israel, and not in his own name or for his own honor. He wasn’t in it for self. Now, Saul could have used this for a diversionary tactic, but he didn’t. He didn’t call in his generals and say, “Hey, while he kid is distracting the Philistines let’s circle round back and…” He didn’t have a plan like that. What he saw in David must have been something that let him know that David was sure he was going to be victorious. Saul’s response shows this because he reversed the roles. He became the armor bearer. He outfitted David for battle.  But first let’s look back at why the roles reversed and what it was that got to Saul. It wasn’t David. David simply did what he did to the troops. He reminded Saul whose battle it really was.

            David’s response to why he would win shows that he had faced big opponents before, and that he knew he should have been toast, literally. He told the story of defeating the lion and the bear. These animals are not circus lions and bears. These are wild lions and bears that David, a kid, defeated. I could not imagine the fear that must have gone through him when he came face to fang with those wild beasts of the field. His cry to God did not go unheeded. He says that he grabbed it by its beard and struck it. David didn’t have super human strength like Samson. When that animal fell dead he immediately knew his prayer had been answered. His faith was enormous in those moments. If you have ever had a lion or bear moment you know what I mean. Answered prayer is mountain moving prayer. David knew God slew the bear, God slew the lion, and it would be God who slew Goliath. That’s what he said, and that’s what he believed, and that’s what he was about to act upon. David’s faith resulted in action.

 So Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.” So David took them off. 1 Samuel 17:38-39

            David’s faith was so assuring to Saul that he, the king, forgot his position and became the servant. He armored David up for battle. The nice thing about faith in a defeating situation is that it can be contagious among believers. Saul, as weak in faith as he was, was still the anointed of God. He still knew that God did things in and for Israel despite his own frailties as a leader. He was, after all, still the kid that hid in the baggage when the nation was calling for him to be crowned king. Saul had faith too, his was just a little shaken at times. This was one of those shaking times for him. He put his armor on David. Why shouldn’t he? David was going out in his name too. Why shouldn’t he look like Saul’s emissary?  David was his servant. This was a way for Saul to save face and maybe from a distance it could look like Saul took a stand. Shaking faith is not standing faith.

The armor didn’t fit. It was too big. David was hindered by the size of it. While in the previous chapter of 1 Samuel, David had been anointed king of Israel, it wasn’t his time yet. He hadn’t been proven, or put through the training ground that he would need to go through to govern the people of Israel. God had lessons to teach David, hard lessons, about ruling by testing him. David recognized that things that hadn’t been tested weren’t appropriate for battle. It takes a seasoned warrior to defeat an enemy of Goliath’s caliber. David had learned a lot by coming so close to death before. Despite his limited experience, he knew how to fight such an enemy, and it wasn’t by the means Saul or the traditional warrior of the time was used to employing. This battle could not be fought hand to hand or he would be torn limb from limb. It would have to be an aerial assault.

 Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. 1 Samuel 17:40

            David left behind all that Saul had given him. He stood as he had come. He left behind the army and the protection of his older brothers. David stepped out armed with his faith, just he and an Almighty God against a giant enemy, but it wasn’t just his enemy, it was his God’s enemy.

            Next week we will pick it back up at this verse. Until then let me know what you think so far in the comments section. Just click on the comments and leave one. God Bless! Happiest of Holidays to everyone!