David took his staff in his hand and
chose for himself five smooth stones out of the brook and put them in the pouch
of his shepherd’s bag which he had. His sling was in his hand; and he came near
to Goliath, the Philistine. The Philistine walked and came near to David;
and the man who bore the shield went before him. When the Philistine
looked around and saw David he disdained him; for he was but a
youth. The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to
me with sticks?” The Philistine cursed David by his gods. The
Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds
of the sky, and to the animals of the field.”
Then David said to the Philistine, “You
come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin; but I come to you in
the name of Yahweh of Armies, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have
defied. Today, Yahweh will deliver you into my hand. I will strike
you, and kill you. I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines
today to the birds of the sky, and to the wild animals of the earth; that all
the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this
assembly may know that Yahweh doesn’t save with sword and spear; for the battle
is Yahweh’s, and he will give you into our hand.”
When the Philistine arose, and walked
and came near to meet David, David hurried, and ran toward the army to meet the
Philistine.
1
Samuel 17:40-48
David represents God’s beloved; outmatched,
outgunned and with virtually no chance of success against the troubles he
faces.
Nonetheless, David delivers his
inspiring, confident war cry and then runs headlong against his enemy.
God will not necessarily deliver us from
the cause of our suffering (“Yahweh doesn’t save with sword and spear”). But in the end, the day will be His and the
day will be ours. In the story of Noah
and the Ark, the Flood did not represent the judgment of God, it represented
Chaos. God did not make Creation from
nothing, but rather drew it out of Chaos - dividing light from dark, night from
day, earth from water, and finally humanity from earth. Chaos will
return in each of our lives, but God tells us it does not have to sink us. He will invite us to float over it until it
recedes and dutifully close the door of the Ark behind us.
Knowing that we are the beloved of God
means that we never suffer alone and we don’t have to let suffering demean us. We can run headlong into it.
Image: David & Goliath, Caravaggio (1600)
