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Do I Have a Story for You
This is a Biblical story with a modern twist.
Taken from 1 Samuel 16– 2 Samuel 1
There was a king whose name was Saul and he had a son named John.
John was in the army of his father and he had great success in fighting the enemy.
One day a village man sent his son to bring the troops food. His son’s name was David. David took care of his father’s flock of sheep and in his own way was successful in protecting them. While David was unloading his goods that he brought for the troops, he caught the eye of the king. Saul asked David if he would be his attendant in the battle, because he saw something in David that he liked, but the day would come when all of this would change. The king sent word to David’s father that his son had been temporarily inducted into Saul’s army. Saul also would have David attend to him at the palace. There was only one thing wrong, and that was that the king was tormented by evil spirits, so David, who was a musician, would play for the king until the torment passed. One day the enemies of the people gathered to attack the city. There was one in the enemy’s camp that was a giant of a man and when the people saw him they began to fear for their lives. The king was frantic, “What are we to do?” he said. “How will we ever be able to take this man down?”
People had heard of this man named Goli, but they thought that it was just a myth, but now there he was calling out the people to come and fight him. He was taunting them and mocking them, which just made the people even more fearful. Even the king’s son John did not rise up to the occasion. Now three of David’s brother’s were also in the army. Because David was the youngest in the family, he was home tending his father’s sheep. Paul had something to say to Timothy because he was young in 1Timothy 4:12, “Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.” We are going to see if this is true about David.
David’s father said to David one day, “Go and take your brother’s lunch, and there is food here also for the commander of the army.” So David hurried to his brothers and when he got to them he saw what was taking place. As David was speaking to his brothers, Goli came out once again to taunt the people. David asked , “What is being done about this man who insults not only the people, but God?” David’s brothers were angry that David came and left their father’s sheep. David just dismissed his brothers and went to the king and told him all about his battles that he fought while tending the sheep, like with a lion and with a bear. Then he said to Saul, “The Lord who delivered me out of the hand of the lion and the bear will deliver me from the hand of this enemy.” Saul thought, “What faith, what courage. No one in my army has stood up like this, but they were all cowards and hid. What do I have to lose?” So Saul dressed David for the battle, along with his body armor and rifle and helmet, but Saul was a much taller man than young David, for Saul stood a head taller than anyone else,( 1 Samuel 9:2 , 10:23) so everything just hung on David. David laughed and said, “Take all of this off of me.” David knew all he needed was the Lord God Almighty who had given him the victory time and time again, as he wrote in Psalm 44:6-8, “I put no trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory; but you give us victory over our enemies, you put our adversaries to shame. In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise Your name forever.” David did not know how to shoot a rifle, so he grabbed three stones and went out to meet Goli. Goli laughed and laughed at the sight of David. He was insulted that they should send out a kid to fight him. It was insulting to Goli and he said, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” David replied to Goli by saying, “Let all of the people of the earth know that God is with us and not you, and let everyone here know that the Lord does not deliver by guns or any weapons of war for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into my hands.” At that, Goli ran toward David, and David took one of his stones and threw it as hard and fast as he could and hit Goli right between the eyes so hard that Goli dropped right where he stood, dead. Everyone cheered for David. It was at that point that David and John became not only good friends, but brothers. David became quite good with the rifle and other weapons of war, so good that he was revered by the people as a hero and they would sing songs about the greatness of David. The king became very jealous of him, because the people held David higher than him. One day that evil spirit that haunted Saul came upon him very strongly and while David was playing for the king, for this helped calm him down, Saul picked up a knife and threw it at David. Just missing David, the king knew that he no longer wanted David in his midst because Saul knew that God was blessing David and he no longer had God with him. Saul would send David into many battles, hoping that he would get killed. He even offered David his daughter in marriage to ease his conscience of the hatred he had for him. Saul was not so generous though for he thought that his daughter would become a snare to him. Saul even would have his servants speak to David telling him that the king would love to have him as a son-in-law. But time and time again Saul would send David out to the battle hoping that he would be slain by the enemy and every time that David returned in victory, Saul would go out of his mind with rage. One day Saul said to his son John, “You must kill David.” But John would hear none of it for David was like a brother to him, in fact he did just the opposite. He went and warned David.He told David that his father was seeking to put him to death. He told David , “Go and hide and I will confront my father again and then I will come to you.” John left and quickly went to his father and began speaking to him about David and all that he has done to help the king and his people. Saul began to be remorseful and told his son John that he would not harm David. John quickly ran to David and told him how he convinced his father that he was a friend and not a foe to him. Wow, David was so relieved, because he thought how he would have had to defend himself against the king, and he knew that he could not do anything to hurt the king. So John convinced David to go with him to see his father. Well everything was just as it was formerly. Saul was sending David to the battlefield and David would be victorious in battle and Saul, well Saul still had his problem with that evil spirit that would come over him. One day when David was playing for the king, that is just what happened. Saul picked up his knife, and once again, he tried to kill David, but David escaped Saul’s wishes. Because David never really trusted Saul again after the first time he tried to kill him, he never took his eyes off of Saul. This time Saul sent his guards to David’s house to bring him back, but Michal, Saul’s daughter, David’s wife, warned him to save his life. She led him down through the window to escape Saul’s men. The men rushed into the house, but Michal had put an idol on the bed with a quilt over it and told the men that David was sick. But Saul told his men that he did not care if David was sick, bring him to me if you have to carry him in his bed. When the men turned over the quilt they saw that it was only a statue. Saul was outraged at Michal for helping David escape, but Michal lied to her father by telling him that David said, “He would kill her if she did not let him go.” So David ran to the next town and hid. But the king did not stop , he was determined to find David and kill him. He sent his men out to search town by town till they found him. John went to David and David said to John, “What have I done, that your father treats me like an enemy?” John said to David, “My father does nothing without telling me”, but David quickly stopped him and said, “Your father knows that we are like brothers, he is not going to tell you anything.” He said, “Tomorrow your father will be expecting me because it is a very important occasion, but when I do not show up, tell him I had to go to my father’s house, for my father requested me to come to him. If your father tells you that it is too bad, because he would have liked to have seen me there for this occasion, then we will know, but if he becomes angry, then you will know that he has evil in his heart for me. “The Lord, our God will be witness between you and I.” Then John said to David, “ I swear, I will let you know so that you can go and be safe and you shall show your love for my house, even when the Lord cuts off all of your enemies from the face of the earth.” So John and David made a vow to each other because they loved each other like brothers. The day came and sure enough Saul was outraged at David and when John tried to defend David, Saul said, “Do you not know that as long as he lives you will never be king.” Oh! The truth comes out. The evil spirit had revealed to Saul that David would be the next king. John quickly tells his father that there is no reason to kill him and at that Saul throws his knife at his son John. So with that, John tells David to go and be safe.
Saul continued to search for David and one day, David and his men came upon Saul sleeping in a cave. The men wanted to kill him right then and there, but David knew better. He knew that God would be angry with him, because vengeance belongs to God and we are to love our enemies and commit them into God’s hand. As Romans 12:17-21 tells us, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge;
I will repay,”says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
So he told the men to leave him alone. When Saul awoke and saw that David could have killed him, he said to David, “You are more righteous than I; for you have dealt well with me, while I have dealt wickedly with you.” Saul tells David that he knows that he will be king and so he too, makes David swear to him as the Lord is witness that he will not cut off his descendants after he is gone and destroy his family name. David swears to all and Saul left him and David and his men went to stay in their stronghold. One day, David received word that Saul and John had died in battle. David wept not only for John who he loved as a brother, but also for Saul. David did become the king and when he did, he asked if there was anyone left from the house of Saul, and they told him, “Yes” John’s son, Mephibosheth, who was five years old when his nurse fled in haste and dropped him, which caused him to become crippled.” David told his servants that this boy will always be welcomed at his table. So David kept his promise to John and Saul.
How about you? Would you spare your enemy if you knew that one day you would make it big?
Could you wait, like David, or would you start putting yourself before others?
As they say, it is a doggy, dog world, and you have to look out for number one.
David knew that if he trusted God, that God would make a way for him. He knew that if he let God fight his battles, he would rise up in God’s time.
Proverbs 14:12 says: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”
Today model yourselves after David. He trusted God to kill Goli and he trusted God to work things out between Saul and him. David, who tended the sheep, rose up to be a great king because he knew God. How about you?
Let’s pray, Father, I ask You to help us to wait upon You. When we do Your will, You fight our battles. You give us the victory. Lord help me to love my enemies and to not repay evil for evil. Father, I ask You to mold me into the person You want me to be, so that I can serve You. Prepare me to do the work that You have created me to do, even now, in my youth. I thank You Lord in Jesus’ name.
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