Written by Nate Pruitt
And David got old and tired,
spiritually...
In the morning service I attended pastor commented on how some who
used to be runners are now joggers, some who used to be joggers are
now walkers and some who used to be walkers sit in front of the TV
and are now clickers. While I have nothing against the pronounced
muscularity of the opposable thumb, this got me thinking, and it
largely had me thinking about something that had recently struck me
while doing a study with the high school guys at church on various
points in the life of David. I'll keep this as short as I feel I
can afford to, though it will be longer than some have been
recently. I encourage you to come back to it if you don't have
time now.
Young David:
1 Samuel 17, he comes bringing food for his brothers on the front
lines of the battle, er, stand off. Goliath comes each day defying
God and boasting in his own name. Things happen (you are welcome to
read the chapter to refresh) and eventually David comes out armed
with a sling and five smooth river stones. Goliath starts talking
trash in his own name and power, David responds with what was an
effective prophecy in the power of GOD! "You come to me with a
sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the
Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel who you have defied.
This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will
strike you down and cut off your head; and I will give the dead
bodies of the Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air
and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may
know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may
know that the Lord does not save by sword and spear; for the
battle is the Lord's and He will give you into our hand!"
(Seriously, if your heart isn't pumping a little harder at the end
of this you may not have a pulse at all!) I don't think Goliath
was happy, but as he took his big lumbering first step at the
beginning of the next verse it was the starter's gun in David's
mind. He is facing a giant, but he is in an all out sprint! (Lesson
in that? You bet.) In fact the stone hits its mark and the giant
falls and David stops? NO! He continues to sprint! He won't stop
until all he has claimed in God's name has been accomplished! He
continues to run (verse 51) right up to the fallen giant to take
his gigantic sword and relieve his body of his head! I wouldn't be
surprised if he'd killed Goliath's shield bearer and already
started running (probably dragging Goliath's sword like a plow due
to its size and weight) at the Philistine army before half of the
army Israel even took a step!
But things get sad, see those who were once runners...
David gets older:
2 Samuel 11:1 "In the spring of the year, the time when kings
go out to battle, David sent Joab
with his officers and all Israel with him... but David remained at
Jerusalem." I hope you can feel the author's dismay here.
What should David have been doing? "The time when kings go out to
battle," certainly illuminates it well. He's sitting around on his
rump (you can practically hear the clicking of the remote, can't
you?) and this is such a tragedy that it is hinted at that he's
not even really a king at this point- he's just an old, washed up,
coward with a crown! Our biggest fear as men tends to be failure,
and here is David no longer boasting in the victories God will give
him, when he should be, he's hiding from a possible defeat and in
doing so proving to be a failure. It gets worse, this undisciplined
king then becomes a drifter in his very own home, wandering around
aimlessly and restlessly at night (undoubtedly craving the battle
he should be in) and happens upon a beautiful (and very married)
woman bathing herself. It gets worse... (Again, feel free to read
the chapter).
So, where are we in this? Are we captured in the vision God has for
our lives and running at the giants with words of victory
(terrifying words to the enemy) because we hold to what God has
promised us? Or are we so scared of failing we secretly duck our
responsibility and live as failures (and just try to ignore it...
turn that volume up louder!).
You made it this far, here's a brief questionnaire to finish:
1. Am I trying to live out God's will by making Him first in my
life (time-wise, thought-wise, action-wise) or do I set Him aside
for me, me and me?
2. Am I dealing with my wife/girlfriend/fiancé, etc. with a
purpose and drive or do I shrink back and become absentee- my body
the corpse of the man who once gave a rip?
3. Am I accountable to men around me and willing to speak God or do
I hide behind sports, finances, news, weather and silence when
around them?
4. Do I revere relationships with others as valuable uses of my
time or has my routine become work, recover [self-medicating
relaxation method here], repeat?
5. Am I willing to take some baby steps to get up to a sprint
(again, or for the first time), or will I look at this as too
daunting and sit in Jerusalem at home and not move at all until I
find some false-adventure to mire myself even deeper in failure (or
are you already deep in the filth)?
Lord, may we be mighty warriors, quick to your cause and
victorious from the onset with our faith seen in glorious action
well beyond our power but easily within Your might hand! Amen
(which is to say- "So be it!')
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