The Rise of David: Part 1
Rare moments come for a man to step into a truly noble task that alters the course of his life. Maybe every man gets a moment but misses it, either because he cannot see what is at stake or because he is not prepared to rise. But the man who can see the moment, who can see what is at stake, it is he who gets the glory.
Maybe the only men who recognize it are the ones who were preparing for it. But they weren’t preparing for it some abstract sense. The glorious moment may not look much different to them than all their years of preparation. The warriors in Israel’s army had been preparing for battle. Many had fought in battles. But none had faced Goliath. Maybe they depended on God in word but not in heart. That option is not available when a man faces a bear or a lion with few weapons and no training. The only hope he has is dependence on God.
David could see the moment. He could see what was at stake. David knew how to rise.
The Stakes
The Philistines had marched into Judah and made camp there. Judah was David’s home, part of the birthright given to his ancestors by divine ordinance. The Philistines lined up for battle on one side of a valley, Israel on the other. Goliath’s challenge must have reminded them of Egypt - lose, and become enslaved again. Dismay turned their hearts to cowardice, and Saul’s inability to lead strangled any confidence they had that God was with them.
David, sent to deliver cheese, witnesses first hand what is happening to his nation. The men are cowering, dismayed, discouraged, afraid. Even if Goliath disappeared, Israel could not do battle to protect their invaded homeland. No amount of reward enticed a man to risk his life for the nation, for their home. There was no strength, no fortitude, no courage, no faith.
Centuries before Goliath made his challenge, two men stepped out of the land of Canaan to give a report to Moses about the good land they had just inspected. Their report was drowned out by 10 other men who were afraid of the giants. They had no faith that God would do as he had promised. That generation of men died in the wilderness, wandering in circles, complaining and grumbling. No strength, no fortitude, no courage, no faith.
400 years later, Israel was facing another giant and responding the same way their ancestors had.
When David stepped onto the field of battle to face Goliath, he recognized what was at stake. Had he not risen up, his people would become slaves again. They would have died without faith in God, the promises being nothing but empty words in their hearts. In this battle, not only is God being defied by the shouts of Goliath, but the hearts of his kin believe Goliath. Responding to Goliath’s taunts, David says:
“You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand.”1
Every sentence in the scripture is loaded with meaning. Everyone knows David defied Goliath in the name of the Lord of Hosts. But his retort to Goliath is not just about what David will do to him, but what Israel will do to the Philistines after David has killed Goliath. Consider this line:
And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
One man will kill the whole host of the Philistines?
No. Israel will. David knows because he has risen to what the moment required, and that God will deliver Goliath into his hand, Israel will find its heart and faith again. David’s message is not just against Goliath, but also against the fear that has kept Israel on their side of the valley.
that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.
Israel needs the reminder that God is with them just as much as they need Goliath to go away. “This assembly” is not the Philistines. It’s Israel.
David had an ancestor who wasn’t afraid of giants. His name was Caleb. He stormed into Judah with a different spirit than the rest of his kin. Carrying the fire in his chest of his ancestor, David stands in the gap between an army who forgot who they were against and an army who forgot who was with them. One man, recognizing the moment and what the moment required, defeats the enemy, reinvigorates the nation, and earned the glorious name known in all generations.
This wasn’t a battle just against Goliath. This was a battle for the soul and faith of Israel.
And the battle began before David stepped on the field with a staff and a sling.
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