1 Samuel
16
– 20
This reading has one of the famous stories of the OT, David
slaying Goliath. But something gets missed here. Chapter 16 God has given up on
Saul and has Samuel anoint David as the new king. As we see, the youngest of
Jesse needs some training. But verse 16:21 has Saul actually requesting David:
David came to Saul
and served him. The king loved him greatly and made David his armor-bearer.
David was the youngest of 7 sons, therefore
not the most prominent in the family. From this God chose him to lead Israel as
king. Because Saul was still king, this was done rather covertly without the
kings knowledge. Once the spirit of God came on David, scripture says it left
Saul. He was tormented by God with evil spirits and sent for David to soothe
his mind with a harp. So David went from the youngest of 7 out in a field
shepherding sheep to the court of King Saul.
God works in amazing ways, not just with
David against the giant. Sure we look at that since Goliath can represent our
fears, concerns or mountains of debt yet David being quickly ushered into
Saul’s court is just as incredible. It’s not like there were just a hand full
of people to pick for the task, I am sure they had plenty yet David was the one
God moved Saul to pick.
We see through this story how Saul’s
tormenting becomes worse as he grows jealous of David. Through this he tries to
impale David with a spear more than once. It’s amazing that David hangs tough
and does not try to defend himself. He quickly learns to humble himself before
God and his king. Notice this throughout the story of Saul and David, he never tries
to take what is his.