Ordinary People: David

This morning, Will Dyer continues our summer series by looking at the story of David and Goliath. Rather than seeing this as a story about good versus bad, perhaps God is trying to show us what it means to trust in him.

A brief programming note: next week we are having a bring-your-own-picnic event at Chris and Karen's home in Bradford and, as such, there will not be a teaching podcast posted next Sunday. Regularly scheduled programming will resume the following Sunday, August 9th.

Please find the slide deck for this week's teaching here.

Home Church Questions:

1. What stood out to you from Sunday’s teaching?

2. Read 1 Samuel 17:1-51 (prefereably in different translations). What stands out to you from this passage?

3. Have you ever had to rely on God’s wisdom? Do you think you could have the level of trust that David had in this story?

4. There are 150 Psalms. Consider the following reading plan: if you read three psalms per day starting today, you would read the entire book and finish by the first Sunday after Labour Day (which will be when we commence our next sermon series). If that seems like too much, consider reading any number of Psalms that you select. As you read these texts, leave time to reflect on their deeper meanings and to pray through them. They are poems, after all; their meaning isn’t always superficial or obvious.

5. Pray with and for one another, our church community, and our world.

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Email: david@theharbournewmarket.ca

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:26

Each week at the Andrew Street Home Church, we participate in something called Lectio Divina, which means the divine reading. It's an ancient meditative spiritual practice, and I would like to lead us in a Lectio Divina now before we get into the teaching. Today's scripture is the first four verses of the 24th Psalm, a psalm written by David, who is the subject of my teaching this morning. Allow yourself to be still, to breathe slowly, and to recenter your scattered senses upon the presence of God. Let us pray together. As we breathe in, Lord, and as we breathe out, here we are. As we breathe in, Spirit. And as we breathe out, be our guide. As we breathe in, Father. And as we breathe out, show us your love. We will read this morning's scripture thrice, pausing for a moment of reflection after each reading. This scripture is a gift to be received, not a problem to be dissected. This scripture is a gift to be received slowly and to be savored. This scripture will become a prayer to be taken away with us into our week. In our first reading, listen for a word or phrase that stands out to you. After the reading, silently repeat that word or phrase in your mind. For he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters. Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false God. In our second reading, ponder why that word or phrase may have connected with you now and at this time. The earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world and all who live in it. For he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters. Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place?

SPEAKER_00 3:42

The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false God www.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

In our final reading, pray that the Lord will reveal that to which he is calling you through this passage. The earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world and all who live in it. For he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters. Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart. One who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false God. Now, for those in the theater, a brief reminder that recordings of Lectio Divinas, such as the one we just did, together, are available to everyone in the podcast feed. A new reading is available there every Monday morning. For those listening in on the podcast, that reminder is less relevant as you are currently in the podcast feed listening to this. And we look forward to seeing you at Chris and Karen's next Sunday or here in the theater the following Sunday. This summer, we are looking at a handful of stories from the Old Testament of some ordinary people being shown extraordinary grace by God. Two weeks ago, Carol O'Neill shared about the story of Joseph, and last week we heard from Brian Waugh on Moses. Today we turn our attention to David. Of course, it's a bit strange to think of David as an ordinary person. He was, after all, the king of Israel, making him the ruler of an expansive ancient kingdom. It's hardly ordinary to be the ruler of a conquering nation. Furthermore, the Jewish tradition compiles many of David's poems and songs in the book of Psalms, making David an historically and internationally best-selling author. In addition to the text for today's Lectio Divina, the four songs we sang together this morning contain lyrics written by David. It is hardly ordinary for one's writings to still be in print thousands of years after the first edition. Finally, Jesus is a direct descendant of David, he being Christ's twenty-fifth great-grandfather, according to the genealogy in Matthew's gospel. It is hardly ordinary to be the ancestor of God, the Son. David may not have finished his life as an ordinary person, but he was certainly a regular person. First, he was a shepherd working in his family business. His father, Jesse, was an established breeder and keeper of sheep in Bethlehem. His family wasn't dirt poor, but they weren't filthy rich either. It's hardly unusual to be middle class. Second, once he was given power, he was corrupted by it. Relatively early in his reign, David used his position of power to sleep with a married woman named Bathsheba while her husband was off fighting in a war on behalf of Israel. When he learned that he had impregnated Bathsheba, David sent for her husband Uriah and tried to get Uriah to sleep with Bathsheba to give plausible deniability for his sin. When Uriah virtuously refused to abandon his comrades on the front lines, David instead had Uriah put in harm's way to die. It is hardly unusual to use our power to do selfish things and then try to cover up those indiscretions. Finally, in the Psalms written by David, we often find that he questions God, is angry at God, or wants God to do his bidding. He often calls for God to destroy his enemies. In Psalm 109, David asks God of his enemy, quote, May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. May his children be wandering beggars. May they be driven from their ruined homes. Yikes. It is hardly unusual to wrestle with one's faith or to struggle with enemy love. Let's pray before we continue on in our teaching this morning. Heavenly Father, we thank you for bringing us together today as a family and as a community. Give us ears to hear what you would say to us through the scriptures and through one another. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. While David is a complicated and fascinating figure who would rightly occupy many weeks of sermons, this morning we want to focus in on one particular story from the earlier portion of his life, the time that he defeated Goliath, the Philistine warrior in battle. The Philistines were an ancient people who settled on the Mediterranean coast between modern-day Tel Aviv and Gaza after some conflict with the Egyptians in the 12th century BC. It is because this land was known as Philistia that the Greeks began to refer to the region as Palestine, interestingly enough. Let's pick up the story in 1 Samuel 17. And if you'd like, you can use the QR code and it'll send you to the Bible Gateway link. So this is 1 Samuel 17 up to verse 51. Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Secco in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Damim between Secot and Azekah. Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them. A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span, which is about nine feet nine inches or three meters tall, which interestingly is even taller than Scott Visher. Hard to believe. He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels, which would be about a hundred and twenty-five pounds. On his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. His spear shaft was like a weaver's rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him. Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine? And are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects. But if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us. 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. Now David was the son of an Ephraite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul's time he was very old. Jesse's three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war. The firstborn was Eliabab, the second Abinadab, and the third Shema. David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul, but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father's sheep at Bethlehem. For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand. Now, pause there for a second. The forty days theme is interesting. There's forty days, forty years, and a bunch of different other stories. That's probably for another day. Now Jesse said to his son David, Take this ephah of roasted grain, which is about sixteen kilograms, and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers, and hurry to their camp. Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are, and bring back some assurance from them. They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines. Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. Israel and the Philistines were drawn up, were drawing up their lines, facing each other. 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. Now the Israelites had been saying, Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage, and will exempt his family from taxes in Israel. That's a pretty that sounds like a pretty sweet deal. I don't know if anybody else glued into that one. David asked the men standing near him, What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the army of the living God? They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, This is what will be done for the man who kills him. When Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is. You came down only to watch the battle. Now what have I done? said David. Can't I even speak? He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before. He really wanted to make sure that was the deal. Right? Like it sounded too good to be true. Great wealth, a wife, no taxes. Are you sure about that? Check three times. What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him. David said to Saul, Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine. Your servant will go and fight him. Saul replied, You are not able to go out against the Philistine and fight him. You are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth. But David said to Saul, Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it, and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 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. Saul said to David, Go and the Lord be with you. Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him, and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. I cannot go in these, he said to Saul, because I'm not used to them. So he took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag, and with his sling in his hand approached the Philistine. 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 to 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. David is adept at trash talking. I don't know if anybody else. 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. Pretty gruesome stuff. As we reflect on this story, it's important to remember that we understand the scriptures through the lens of Christ. It would be very tempting to think, well, God blessed the killing of this enemy of the Israelites, so I am justified in using violence against my enemies. That is certainly a conclusion that some may draw, but I think that that's a mistake. After all, Jesus gives us clear instructions about loving our enemies and refraining from violence in his teachings. Instead, I submit to you that the main takeaway from the story of David and Goliath is not that violence is the answer, but rather that battles are won not on our own strength or on our own ideas of what true strength is, but by trusting in God. At the beginning of his story, David is not a mighty warrior. He's a shepherd boy and the youngest of his brothers. He is in no way a likely candidate for deliverer of the Israelite army. David is not sent to the front lines because his father Jesse or King Saul know that he's going to slay Goliath. We know that, but only in retrospect. David finds himself at the front line delivering food for his brothers, the ones that are expected to take on and defeat the Philistines. David's father does not expect him to fight. His brothers do not expect him to fight. And King Saul needs to be convinced to give him a shot. Even after he is convinced, Saul tries to outfit David with what he deems to be the appropriate hardware. This isn't just a story of Israelites good, Philistines bad. The Israelites want to send David out to face Goliath in traditional military equipment. Both the Philistine army and the Israelite army are trusting in their own strength and their own understanding of the situation. God, however, provides an otherwise unpredictable resolution to the situation. And David understands that assignment. When the king tries to give him the implements of war, David knows it's not right and declines to enter battle with traditional weapons or protective gear. David trusts in God's strength and not in the false human idea of what strength is. As a result, he enters the arena to take on a hulking warrior, nearly ten feet tall, decked out in armor and weapons, with only a sling and a stone. Knowing the end of the story, we are tempted to see this as sensible. But what David is trying to do here is like digging a subway tunnel with his bare hands. Or facing Major League pitching with a toothpick for a bat. David doesn't even take a knife to a gunfight. He takes a spoon to a bombing raid. It's so crazy for David to do what he did. There's no earthly reason for anyone to think that David would have survived this conflict, let alone emerged from it the victor. The appetite for financial risk one would have to have to wager any money on David here would be tremendous. But this is only true if we evaluate the situation according to human wisdom. The victory belongs to the Lord and not to David, an outcome that confounds the wisdom of both the Philistine and Israelite armies. In David's own words, it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord's. How often do we doubt that we are the right person to do the job? How often do we cower when facing seemingly overwhelming circumstances? How often have we trusted in our own wisdom and understanding to navigate difficult situations? Through the story of David defeating Goliath, God invites us to trust in him to see us through despite our fears, despite our anxieties, and despite our doubts. The battle is not won by our own strength, but by trusting in God. As silly or absurd as a shepherd boy holding a stone and a sling must have seemed to the Philistine and Israelite militaries, outfitted with the latest weapons of war. Our weapons are trust, obedience, and enemy love, not striving, not self-sufficiency, and not violence against others. We ought not to trust in the apparent wisdom of the world, but in the transcendent wisdom of God. Amen. Please rise if you're able. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul, he leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen. As we leave our meeting today, please receive this blessing. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. Amen. Have a great week, everybody.