VIRTUES OF KNIGHTHOOD (Part four)

Chances are you have probably heard the story of David and Goliath. But let’s take another look. He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy 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 of the air and the beasts of the field!” 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 hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head.

Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, 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 (1 Samuel 17:42-48).

Did you catch that? You just read about how a humble, small, ruddy, teenage boy told a nine-foot giant that he was going to “strike [him] down and cut off [his] head.” And as if that was not enough, he added that he would give the giant’s carcass “to the birds of the air.” Did David say these fighting words because he was a cocky, inexperienced, young teenager? No, quite the contrary. He said them because the giant was opposed to the living God of heaven and because David had completely invested his faith in God. He said it so that “all those gathered” would know that it was “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.”