A Sling And A Stone

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. -- 1 Samuel 17:48-50 NIV

OK, so pretty much everyone regardless of faith or background knows about David and Goliath. I'll bet you can't hardly find anyone who can't tell you that David used a sling and a stone to beat a giant named Goliath. That's the easy part of the story. We could pick it up right there and be perfectly content. But David's story really plays out so much more dramatically than that...it could have been the story of one of the Rocky movies!

Yesterday we looked at how God anointed David early on and read how the power of the Holy Spirit came upon him. If I was David, I'd have been looking for the royal assembly and a pretty girl to put a crown on my head. Instead, David's immediate reward was to return to his job shepherding sheep and being the little brother of the family. He certainly didn't see a big-time match with a giant in his future. But in between his anointing and striking down Goliath he did plenty to be prepared for that moment. Take a look at a few of the verses prior to the very famous ones I quoted above.

In verses 17 through 19 Jesse sends his son David to the front lines of the war with the Philistines to take supplies and bring back news of his elder brothers' well-being. God is putting David in the right place at the right time.

In verse 26 David, now there on the front lines hears Goliath shouting his insults at Israel and asks, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?" God has placed the passion in him to take action when he hears or sees a need. Israel's warriors were scared, but David knew God was on their side.

In verses 33 through 37 King Saul tries to tell David he doesn't stand a chance against a trained warrior. David enlightens the king (and us) that being a shepherd trained him for this. It turns out that lions and bears really like sheep and being the good shepherd that he was, David would chase the animal down and rescue his sheep. He recognizes that his ability to slay lions and bears was God's work and fully believes that God will do the same for him against the giant. What faith!

Listen to me very carefully. I've said it a bunch and I'm going to keep saying it until you completely believe it. There is absolutely nothing you will encounter in your life that is too big for God. There is almost nothing you will encounter in life that is small enough for you. It's all about God!

Things that seem like hardships, like having to chase down and face a lion or bear simply to save one sheep, are very important parts of your life. Most of us, were we to find ourselves in David's shoes, would probably sluff it off and say that it's just a sheep. I'll keep watch over the rest of the flock and let that one go. Nothing I can do for it anyway. But God leaves the flock and chases after each one of His sheep that gets captured by a predator or that wanders off on it's own. We're God's sheep, so know that God will come to your rescue. But also understand that accepting Jesus' gift means there are times when we will be the means that He uses to do the rescuing. We must be as willing as David to accept our calling and do our duty having full faith and belief in God to protect us.

While the sling and the stone may be the thing most people know about David, a close second is that he became King of Israel and was an ancestor of Jesus. Tomorrow, we'll look at what happened between the time he defeated Goliath and actually became king.