God at Work: God Leads

1 Samuel 17:1-4, 32-49

We enter back into the story of young David and King Saul as they face down the army of Philistines and their challenger, Goliath. This is likely a familiar story to many, but if not, it’s an epic showdown between invading armies who have warred over territory for years. Goliath the challenger has sauntered onto the battlefield to offer a challenge to the Israelite army. We pick up with David and Saul in 1 Samuel 17:32-48.

The New Revised Standard Version David and Goliath

32 David said to Saul, “Let no one’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father; and whenever a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after it and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its mouth; and if it turned against me, I would catch it by the jaw, strike it down, and kill it. 36 Your servant has killed both lions and bears; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 David said, “The LORD, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine.” So Saul said to David, “Go, and may the LORD be with you!”

38 Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a bronze helmet on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail. 39 David strapped Saul’s sword over the armor, and he tried in vain to walk, for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these; for I am not used to them.” So David removed them. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the wadi, and put them in his shepherd’s bag, in the pouch; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.

41 The Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42 When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was only a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. 43 The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the field.” 45 But David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword and spear and 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. 46 This very 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 Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not save by sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD’s and he will give you into our hand.”

48 When the Philistine drew nearer to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead; the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.

I’m sure many of you know that I am a fan of epic adventure stories. Super heroes, science fiction, fantasy — the bigger the story, the higher the stakes, the better. And in these stories, there is always that moment when the big bad villain enters the scene, ready to fight.

Darth Vader and his stormtroopers blast their way into Princess Leia’s ship at the beginning of Star Wars.

The Wicked Witch of the West swoops in with her flying monkeys to attack our faithful band of Yellow Brick Road journeyers in the Wizard of Oz.

Mighty Sauron’s flaming eye is illuminated over the mountains of Mordor in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.

It is with this swagger and gusto, pomp and circumstance, that Goliath steps onto the battlefield. In a commentary I read this week, the interpreter translates the action of “coming out” in vs. 4 as “sallied forth.” Goliath sallied forth onto the battlefield to await his challenger.

And when the villain swaggers in, we are meant to gasp and contemplate retreat. How could we battle such a strong, formidable foe? Who are we to even try?

But what if all this gusto and strength is a ruse? What if it’s an act? What if it’s a projection of strength, but perhaps it is meant to hide vulnerability?

In the shepherd boy David’s response, we see a faithfulness that trusts in God’s hand to provide in the face of any opponent. David faces down the giant and unmasks his power, which sets the Israelites free to respond, fight, and be victorious over their enemies.

Let’s pray.

A classic take

A classic take on the David and Goliath story is that God shows us that giants can be faced, obstacles overcome, the powerful and mighty and haughty struck down. Just a few smooth stones and some courage and we can defeat our enemies.

I remember loving this story as a kid — it is epic, a precursor to my love of movies and comics of such grand battles and epic victories.

But I think this take on the text can oversimplify what’s going on here and, if we believe that this text has deeper meaning beyond just a fight between good and evil, then we have to pause and explore it more. Evil bad guys are actually not that common in our world. And it is far fetched that any of us will find ourselves armed for battle with a slingshot versus a sword any time soon.

Problems in our world are more insidious, more structural, more systemic, and more difficult to name and confront than this. But they exist nonetheless.

Evils like racism, which creeps into our language, our organizations, who we choose to follow, and how we respond to difference in the world — this is a big bad villain, but it’s harder to know how to rightly defeat an issue.

Or hypocrisy or bigotry or entitlement — these are complicated issues and matters of our hearts that so many of us struggle to overcome.

What good news does this text have for us as we consider these giants? How does God lead us into the work of dismantling these structures with more than smooth stones and a lucky shot?

I want us to take this story beyond the simple reading of David overcoming Goliath because God wanted him to be victorious. I want us to see the courage and faithfulness involved here.

God’s Faithfulness with Bears, Lions, and Giants

The deeper good news here is that it’s not really about David’s actions, but rather God’s persistent faithfulness to David, which he trusts deeply, that we can draw close to and reflect upon.

David can step out onto the battlefield in confidence because of God’s faithfulness. By the way, the interpreter also says that David “sallied forth.” There’s chutzpah here, courage.

Because God has been faithful, David trusts that God leads him in that same faithfulness. David’s report to Saul that he can do this because of his feats against bears and lions is noteworthy, but ultimately, it’s a statement about God’s faithful leading — God is the one doing this.

We know how the story goes — David, accompanied by the power of God, the Lord of hosts, is able to deliver victory over Goliath with one perfectly aimed stone.

But what does this victory mean in the context of the real struggles we face? What does it mean to confront, say, a worldwide pandemic with smooth stones, or to stand up and speak against bigotry and hatred?

When the Villain enters

Let’s take a breath and remember that moment when the big bad villain sallies forth onto the battlefield. Put yourself in David’s shoes. What is it like to watch the challenger swagger out and hear his taunts and jeers? Isn’t this the moment of choice? Where we have the opportunity to turn and run? Or at least we can look around at one another and shrug our shoulders and silently indicate, “I’m not going out there. Not it!”

When the villain advances we come to a moment of truth — who will we be in the face of adversity? Who will we be when all that is normal is pulled out from under us? Who will we be when injustice rages or bigotry rears its ugly face?

This is our inroad to seeing the greater challenges we face in the world today through the lens of this Scripture. Sure, many of us will never be taunted into a fight against a big bad villain. We don’t wield swords or shield and, as much as we might like to think we know our way around a slingshot, the reality is we’re more likely to shoot an eye out or break a window than cause our enemy any harm.

But this moment gives us insight into how we confront the deeper issues of our world.

Yesterday, our nation officially honored Juneteenth for the first time as an official federal holiday. For many years, Black people in our country have celebrated the day when the final enslaved men and women heard the news of the Emancipation Proclamation, which set slaves free following the Civil War. The 19th of June has been honored by the people of our nation who have so long been held under the oppressive hand of racism and enslavement. And, now, collectively, our nation is stepping in and saying, yes, we want to honor and remember this and learn and grow and heal as well.

It is a moment of truth for us — will we step in and be a part of the battle to overcome structural racism and dismantle it within ourselves, or will we look to others around us to do the work? Or will we hightail and leave the fight?

As with any action, there is a reaction, a movement counter to the prevailing hopes. And certainly, we’ve seen this kind of cowardice and leaving the battlefield this week. Rather than do the work to learn and undo the callousness of racism and white supremacy, many people have argued that this holiday is unnecessary. Politicians have opposed it, arm-chair pundits have denounced Critical Race Theory, and regular folks like you and me have squirmed at what it means to actually engage this celebration with authenticity and humility.

But there are many among us and in this world who are, like David, just courageous enough to enter in.

Here I have to qualify some of the language. I’d like to move outside of the imagery of battle and fight for a moment and instead consider what’s going on here as either an opportunity to turn towards or turn away from the issue.

In relationship, when we feel disruption and pain, we have a choice — to turn away, to run from the pain or ignore it and hope it goes away. OR we can turn towards, to encounter the pain and see what needs healing. We can draw closer to the Other, the one we’ve harmed or who has harmed us, and we can work through the struggle.

This is the same thing we’re looking at when it comes to honoring the end of slavery and the celebration of liberation for black folks in America. White folks like me, we can choose to turn away and pretend like this isn’t our problem, not our fight. Or we can humbly turn toward, knowing that we have so much to learn, so much in us that needs healing, so many relationships that need repair.

This is what David does. He turns toward Goliath. With trust in God’s faithfulness to lead him through, he turns toward the fight. I can’t imagine David was fully arrogant enough to believe he could best Goliath. But that’s where the courage comes in — he enters into the engagement not in certainty he will survive, but with conviction and courage that it is worth fighting for anyway.

And so this is with us. The question must be: are you willing to enter in? Are we willing to gather up the smooth stones from the river bed, the little bit we have, and enter courageously into the work of restoration and healing of our fractured communities? Or will we wander off, absent without leave, turning away from the work and letting it be someone else’s fight.

It breaks my heart to see people wander off like this. I know many of us have felt it over the last couple of years. The turmoil of our nation, the weight of the pandemic, for some, it has made them want to retreat, to turn away. But there are so many of us whom the struggles have galvanized our courage. It has turned something in us that calls forth greater compassion and willingness to participate. It has been a battlecry, in a sense. The struggles of racial healing, political cooperation, and faithful service in the name of Christ — these are worthy battles that we must step in to.

People of God, we will be this. We must do this. Take heart, stand courageous. Know that God is faithful. The struggles will be hard, but God is faithful. Enter in. And know that you do not walk alone, but that we do this together. In the name of Christ, let’s step up. Amen.