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Oct 27, '07 12:00p

Shirley Weaver
Saturday, October 27, 2007

David would be king of Israel. Beforehand he distinguished himself with ability to out-maneuver situation or opponent; facing the lion and bear alone, developing skill with staff and sling. By the time Goliath stood before him, David’s confidence was in place and the appearance of a boy concealed the heart of a man, and the judgment of a king.

Facing threat, he was calculating. In the verbal exchange, intimation did not bend him nor did he go with the conventional wisdom; how could he? - It didn’t fit! Saul’s armor was a joke for the good it could do young David, and it wasn’t doing Saul much good either. So the hard decision was made, though for David it would be natural and typical of his style.

Then David said to the Philistine, ‘You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.’

The battle changed even as his words framed what would unfold. Authority spoke and destiny slipped into position. God’s man David initiated, not waiting for the lesser to lead the greater. With his future on the line and isolated in the struggle, he invested strength which He had proven for the cause he valued highly.

But human passion alone did not win that day, though our script reads like a thriller. It was the Lord who battled and won, and his man David who delivered the blow. Without the One would we know the other? Without David would the Lord have arrived? Without the Lord would David have survived?

Amen.

I Samuel 17