Wednesday, January 17, 2024
Memorial of Saint Anthony, Abbott
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
Not with a whimper but a bang
I am at your service to go and fight this Philistine.
The lectionary follows David’s anointing with his most famous feat, killing the Philistine’s giant soldier Goliath.
David collected five smooth stones from the wadi. With the stones and his sling, he approached Goliath.
Goliath, several feet taller than David, man of much brawn but little brain, confidently but foolishly calls himself a dog and then approaches David with sword and shield, ready to kill. David shouts up at him.
Today the Lord shall deliver you into my hand, and the whole world shall learn that Israel has a God. The battle is the Lord’s!
In an instant David hurls his first stone, and God’s smooth stone stuns the giant. He falls heavily to the ground. David pulls out Goliath’s own sword, plunges it into Goliath’s heart  and then cuts off his head. In the silence of the desert, a voice, then more voices, then shouts of victory rise up and the Philistines flee.
None of this was in anybody’s script.
Blessed be the Lord, my Rock, who trains my hands for battle and my fingers for war. O God, I will sing a new song to you, my refuge and my fortress, my stronghold, my deliverer, my shield, in whom I trust.
Rob Evans the Donut Man’s most famous song tells the story. You must listen, and cheer along with the kids. God’s throne room was surely full of cheers, just as was the desert. David had killed lions and tigers and bears. He had been anointed by Samuel. Now, on this day he became God’s chosen warrior. Saul killed his thousands, but David killed his tens of thousands.
In the next fifteen or so years David matured. His self-confidence wavered, but his confidence in God grew exponentially from young sapling into tall oak tree. Samuel died, Saul and Jonathan were killed in battle, and then the elders of Israel crowned David king. Forty years he remained as king, and the stories are epic, epic good and epic bad.
As our Pastor Matt said about David toward the end of a long series of sermons about his life, “David was the best we’ve got, and he’s not nearly enough.” David surely was corrupted by the power God blessed him with. He killed his tens of thousands. He struggled not to, but gradually he took God’s blessing for granted. Although he insisted on others’ and his own obedience, he also seduced Bathsheba and sent her husband into a certain killing field. He failed to listen to God’s directions about marrying his wives and raising his children.
Yet David was “a man after God’s own heart.” God lovd him and blessed him and forgave him and invited him into heaven. I’m sure David took him up on that invitation.
Until Ash Wednesday four weeks from today on February 14 (Happy Valentine’s Day!), most of our lectionary first readings will tell the stories of David and his son Solomon.
I plan to pay attention.
(1 Samuel 17, Psalm 144, Matthew 4, Mark 3)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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