1 Samuel 17:31-49
Saul hears through the grapevine that David's talking smack about Goliath. So, he sends his servants out to get him. He brings him into his office and asks him to speak his mind. David tells Saul about his background as a shepherd and how he's tended his father's sheep for years.
What no one knows about David is the conflict he's experienced inside the vocation of sheepherding. In the field, there are enemies. There are predators. David says that when his lambs are attacked and dragged away by a lion or a bear, he goes right after them. He tracks the predators down. Then, when he finds them, he knocks them down and rescues the stolen lamb. If the predator turns on him, he grabs it by the throat, wrings it by the neck, and kills it.
David says he doesn't care if the predator is a lion or a bear - he kills it. He's been rescued from the teeth of lions and the claws of bears.
Saul's listening to this and thinking David's may be just insane enough to actually stand up against Goliath. So, Saul starts outfitting David with war garb - the bronze helmet, the armor, and a sword. David starts walking around and can't stand up straight. The war garb is too heavy. The armor that Saul is dressing David up with symbolizes Saul's motives. In order to fight a war, and to conquer the Philistines, one must wear the battle garb of the soldier. The outfit represents self-empowerment and self-will.
David has a different motive though. He takes off the battle equipment. It's no use to him. He doesn't feel comfortable, and he feels like he's not staying true to his belief systems. He decides he needs nothing more than his staff (which points back to another great leader who used a staff), some river stones, and his man purse.
David's ready to kick some Philistine ass, but there's an underlying principle hear that easily gets lost in translation. The author doesn't tell us that God commanded David to fight. There is no dialogue recorded in this passage between David and God. David sees something he thinks is wrong, and he's willing to step up to the plate and play a part. What David realizes that no one else does is that this isn't his fight. He's merely a vessel.
In the face off between David and Goliath, David says something that I think captures the principle of the story. He says, "The whole world will see that the God of Israel is extraordinary, and learn that God doesn't save by means of sword or spear! The battle belongs to God!"
On one hand, David is ready for a fight. On the other hand, David has surrendered the fight.
This
story applies to conflict on all levels. Whether it's physical,
emotional, or relational struggle, there is a balance to be found here.
There is surrender and action. Imagine if the United States Marines went
into battle with BB guns. Imagine if the Unites States Navy went into
battle with water guns.
The battle between David and Goliath had nothing to do with the weapons being used. It had everything to do with the motives of the two fighters. Goliath and Saul were both ready to divide and conquer, using their own military strength and experience. David was the only one out of all of Israel who depended on a power greater than himself to restore Israel from the oppression of the Philistines.
When conflict is about getting even or getting ahead, the problems get bigger and bigger. The weapons get stronger and stronger. The government gets more and more controlling. Our resentments grow deeper and deeper. Our depressions get darker and darker. Fighting on our own terms of war leads to an ever darkening black hole.
When we find the balance between our part in the conflict and God's part, we stop caring about how to attack the problem. We step up to the plate ready to do our part and trust God with the rest.
The story about David beating Goliath isn't about holy war. It's not about one country infiltrating another country with religious propaganda. It's not about getting the rest of the world to just follow what we want them to do. It's about knowing where we stand. Are we promoting our own self-interests when facing conflict, or are we stepping back and figuring out how to let the God of Angel-Armies fight for us?
From the smuggest blurt of gossip to the most technologically advanced ICBM missile, our weapons are of no use. They are futile. It's when we surrender to the power of God fighting for us, and surrender our useless weapons that we find victory.
But the question again is, how free do we want to be? We have a choice to stay in the futile cycle of conflict, retaliation, and one-up-mansip, or to lay our weapons aside and find the partnership with God that works.
There exists a partnership that promotes restoration and redemption. It promotes turning weapons of war and retaliation into modes of peace and solidarity. When we stop going into battle with our own self-destructive agendas, and surrender all of it, we find something radically different, amazing, and extraordinary. We tap into a source of power that completely overwhelms us and makes us wonder how we never tapped into it in the first place. It's a power that works to serve and love and seek wholeness, pulling us to greater boundaries and ambitions. It pulls us forward to see the world through a different set of glasses, seeing people and institutions which were once foes to be conquered as redemption-bound parts of creation waiting to participate in the ongoing restoration of the world.
Saul hears through the grapevine that David's talking smack about Goliath. So, he sends his servants out to get him. He brings him into his office and asks him to speak his mind. David tells Saul about his background as a shepherd and how he's tended his father's sheep for years.
What no one knows about David is the conflict he's experienced inside the vocation of sheepherding. In the field, there are enemies. There are predators. David says that when his lambs are attacked and dragged away by a lion or a bear, he goes right after them. He tracks the predators down. Then, when he finds them, he knocks them down and rescues the stolen lamb. If the predator turns on him, he grabs it by the throat, wrings it by the neck, and kills it.
David says he doesn't care if the predator is a lion or a bear - he kills it. He's been rescued from the teeth of lions and the claws of bears.
Saul's listening to this and thinking David's may be just insane enough to actually stand up against Goliath. So, Saul starts outfitting David with war garb - the bronze helmet, the armor, and a sword. David starts walking around and can't stand up straight. The war garb is too heavy. The armor that Saul is dressing David up with symbolizes Saul's motives. In order to fight a war, and to conquer the Philistines, one must wear the battle garb of the soldier. The outfit represents self-empowerment and self-will.
David has a different motive though. He takes off the battle equipment. It's no use to him. He doesn't feel comfortable, and he feels like he's not staying true to his belief systems. He decides he needs nothing more than his staff (which points back to another great leader who used a staff), some river stones, and his man purse.
David's ready to kick some Philistine ass, but there's an underlying principle hear that easily gets lost in translation. The author doesn't tell us that God commanded David to fight. There is no dialogue recorded in this passage between David and God. David sees something he thinks is wrong, and he's willing to step up to the plate and play a part. What David realizes that no one else does is that this isn't his fight. He's merely a vessel.
In the face off between David and Goliath, David says something that I think captures the principle of the story. He says, "The whole world will see that the God of Israel is extraordinary, and learn that God doesn't save by means of sword or spear! The battle belongs to God!"
On one hand, David is ready for a fight. On the other hand, David has surrendered the fight.
The battle between David and Goliath had nothing to do with the weapons being used. It had everything to do with the motives of the two fighters. Goliath and Saul were both ready to divide and conquer, using their own military strength and experience. David was the only one out of all of Israel who depended on a power greater than himself to restore Israel from the oppression of the Philistines.
When conflict is about getting even or getting ahead, the problems get bigger and bigger. The weapons get stronger and stronger. The government gets more and more controlling. Our resentments grow deeper and deeper. Our depressions get darker and darker. Fighting on our own terms of war leads to an ever darkening black hole.
When we find the balance between our part in the conflict and God's part, we stop caring about how to attack the problem. We step up to the plate ready to do our part and trust God with the rest.
The story about David beating Goliath isn't about holy war. It's not about one country infiltrating another country with religious propaganda. It's not about getting the rest of the world to just follow what we want them to do. It's about knowing where we stand. Are we promoting our own self-interests when facing conflict, or are we stepping back and figuring out how to let the God of Angel-Armies fight for us?
From the smuggest blurt of gossip to the most technologically advanced ICBM missile, our weapons are of no use. They are futile. It's when we surrender to the power of God fighting for us, and surrender our useless weapons that we find victory.
But the question again is, how free do we want to be? We have a choice to stay in the futile cycle of conflict, retaliation, and one-up-mansip, or to lay our weapons aside and find the partnership with God that works.
There exists a partnership that promotes restoration and redemption. It promotes turning weapons of war and retaliation into modes of peace and solidarity. When we stop going into battle with our own self-destructive agendas, and surrender all of it, we find something radically different, amazing, and extraordinary. We tap into a source of power that completely overwhelms us and makes us wonder how we never tapped into it in the first place. It's a power that works to serve and love and seek wholeness, pulling us to greater boundaries and ambitions. It pulls us forward to see the world through a different set of glasses, seeing people and institutions which were once foes to be conquered as redemption-bound parts of creation waiting to participate in the ongoing restoration of the world.
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