David And Goliath Have Spoken

I’m thankful that the words and stories of scripture are alive and active. I’m thankful that they speak to different persons in different times and different places depending on what thoughts, experiences, and emotions the reader is carrying within the context of the reader’s culture. I’m thankful that scripture can serve as testimonial points of reference on our faith journeys. I’m thankful that new points of reference can be placed and that stories that once didn’t resonate with my story do now.

Yesterday. A dear friend’s installation as the first female pastor in a congregation.

This season of life. Searching. Discerning. Learning to live authentically. Trying to honor past experience and unique giftedness instead of trying to act as other people think I should act or do what other people think I should do.

Just prior to this season of life. A three-year focus on issues of human exploitation, one of which was bullying.

In general. Understanding the power of words, especially words of blessing. Believing that each of us has worth and value. Knowing that wearing protective armor can weigh us down. Feeling the sting of not being believed in or given a chance because my ideas and beliefs are different than the norm.

Now insert the story of David and Goliath…

David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of Goliath; I, your servant, will go and fight him.”

Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”

But David said to Saul, “I, your servant, have been keeping my 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. I, your servant, have 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 on 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 am 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 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.”

As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.

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.

What is this story saying to you in this time, in this America, in this societal and church climate today?