{"id":6052,"date":"2016-03-27T09:34:22","date_gmt":"2016-03-27T13:34:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=6052"},"modified":"2016-03-27T09:34:22","modified_gmt":"2016-03-27T13:34:22","slug":"where-are-the-davids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=6052","title":{"rendered":"where are the david’s?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"photo-1453106037972-08fbfe790762\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Pondering the ancient scriptures on this global holiday… camping on one all of us know. I have two questions today…<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 A giant nearly ten feet tall stepped out from the Philistine line into the open, Goliath from Gath. He had a bronze helmet on his head and was dressed in armor \u2014 126 pounds of it! He wore bronze shin guards and carried a bronze sword. His spear was like a fence rail \u2014 the spear tip alone weighed over fifteen pounds. His shield bearer walked ahead of him.<\/em><\/p>\n

Goliath stood there and called out to the Israelite troops, \u2018Why bother using your whole army? Am I not Philistine enough for you? \u2026 Pick your best fighter and pit him against me. If he gets the upper hand and kills me, the Philistines will all become your slaves. But if I get the upper hand and kill him, you\u2019ll all become our slaves and serve us. I challenge the troops of Israel this day. Give me a man. Let us fight it out together!\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

When Saul and his troops heard the Philistine\u2019s challenge, they were terrified and lost all hope.<\/em><\/p>\n

Enter David. He was the son of Jesse from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse, the father of eight sons\u2026 David was the youngest son. While his three oldest brothers went to war with Saul, David went back and forth from attending to Saul to tending his father\u2019s sheep in Bethlehem.<\/em><\/p>\n

Each morning and evening for forty days, Goliath took his stand and made his speech.<\/em><\/p>\n

One day\u2026 David was up at the crack of dawn and, having arranged for someone to tend his flock, took the food and was on his way just as Jesse had directed him. He arrived at the camp just as the army was moving into battle formation, shouting the war cry. Israel and the Philistines moved into position, facing each other, battle-ready. David left his bundles of food in the care of a sentry, ran to the troops who were deployed, and greeted his brothers. While they were talking together, the Philistine champion, Goliath of Gath, stepped out from the front lines of the Philistines, and gave his usual challenge. David heard him.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Israelites, to a man, fell back the moment they saw the giant\u2014totally frightened. The talk among the troops was, \u2018Have you ever seen anything like this, this man openly and defiantly challenging Israel? The man who kills the giant will have it made. The king will give him a huge reward, offer his daughter as a bride, and give his entire family a free ride.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

David, who was talking to the men standing around him, asked, \u2018What\u2019s in it for the man who kills that Philistine and gets rid of this ugly blot on Israel\u2019s honor? Who does he think he is, anyway, this uncircumcised Philistine, taunting the armies of God-Alive?\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

They told him what everyone was saying about what the king would do for the man who killed the Philistine.<\/em><\/p>\n

Eliab, his older brother, heard David fraternizing with the men and lost his temper: \u2018What are you doing here! Why aren\u2019t you minding your own business, tending that scrawny flock of sheep? I know what you\u2019re up to. You\u2019ve come down here to see the sights, hoping for a ringside seat at a bloody battle!\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018What is it with you?\u2019 replied David. \u2018All I did was ask a question.\u2019 Ignoring his brother, he turned to someone else, asked the same question, and got the same answer as before.<\/em>
\nThe things David was saying were picked up and reported to Saul. Saul sent for him.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018Master,\u2019 said David, \u2018don\u2019t give up hope. I\u2019m ready to go and fight this Philistine.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

Saul answered David, \u2018You can\u2019t go and fight this Philistine. You\u2019re too young and inexperienced\u2014and he\u2019s been at this fighting business since before you were born.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

David said, \u2018I\u2019ve been a shepherd, tending sheep for my father. Whenever a lion or bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I\u2019d go after it, knock it down, and rescue the lamb. If it turned on me, I\u2019d grab it by the throat, wring its neck, and kill it. Lion or bear, it made no difference\u2014I killed it. And I\u2019ll do the same to this Philistine pig who is taunting the troops of God-Alive. God, who delivered me from the teeth of the lion and the claws of the bear, will deliver me from this Philistine.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

Saul said, \u2018Go. And God help you!\u2019 \u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

We know the rest of the story. The military leaders attempt to outfit David in armor; he resists, instead selecting five smooth stones from the nearby brook. When Goliath sees young David, he mocks and ridicules him even more. David is faithful. Man can never outdo God and what he would do. Hence, stones will beat a spear if God is the director of the stones. That\u2019s how David beat the giant\u00a0\u2014 with a sling and a stone\u2026 slinging it, hitting Goliath hard in the forehead, embedding the stone deeply.<\/p>\n

So here are my two questions\u2026 First, recognize that no one encouraged David to do what he did. No one. There was no consensus.\u00a0So question number one is: where are the \u201cDavid\u2019s\u201d in life \u2014 where are those who are brave regardless of the behavior of the insulated groups around them? Does bravery only come via consensus?<\/p>\n

And then, question number two: are we ever called to be the \u201cDavid\u201d?<\/p>\n

Respectfully\u2026
\nAR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pondering the ancient scriptures on this global holiday… camping on one all of us know. I have two questions today… \u201c\u2026 A giant nearly ten feet tall stepped out from the Philistine line into the open, Goliath from Gath. He had a bronze helmet on his head and was dressed in armor \u2014 126 pounds … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “where are the david’s?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-event"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6052"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6057,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6052\/revisions\/6057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}