Seeking to be Impressed

Continuing from last time, we’ll now turn to the second king over Israel: David. I sharp contrast to the previous king, Saul, David was impressed with God, and not himself. This doesn’t mean that he wasn’t impressive to others. 1 Samuel 18:7-8 speaks of the glory that was given to David instead of Saul after the defeat of Goliath. Saul in turn resented David, and we see even more of Saul’s rotted heart. Saul was jealous for the glory for his own sake, whereas David was jealous of the glory for the Lord’s sake.

We often focus on what David did as he battled Goliath, but we don’t often stop and look at what he said. There’s three astounding statements that he makes that show how radically focused he was on God and His glory. 1 Samuel 17:25-27 shows us the first statement. Speaking about Goliath, we see David’s attitude contrasted with the attitude of those in the army.

And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father’s house free in Israel. And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him.

What did all the soldiers in the army look to? The material possession and personal glory that would come from defeating Goliath. But what was David’s response? “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God”… David didn’t focus on the personal fame, but instead on His Lord’s glory. He doesn’t start saying “show me the money!”, but instead his desire is to take away any reproach from Israel, God’s chosen people. He’s in it for His Lord’s glory. He is most impressed with God, not with himself.

Second, David makes another astounding statement concerning His Lord. David is brought into Saul’s tent, where he boldly claims that he (David) can defeat this giant. Saul’s response, found in 17:33…

And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.

Again, we see that David is not trusting ultimately in his own skill in combat, but in the Lord’s omnipotent skill to protect him. David is impressed with God, not himself.

Thirdly, we see what David actually says to Goliath while on the field of combat. First, the giant sees this small shepherd boy coming… his response?

And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.

Now, I’d be quaking in my boots at this point if I was impressed with myself… because honestly, Goliath could crush any human in one-on-one combat. But David isn’t impressed with himself…

Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give you into our hands.

We know the end of the story. But what happens then? At the beginning of the blog, Saul’s jealousy for his own glory clouded out his ability ability to see David in a gracious light, and later in the book we see him trying to kill David. But what about David? Even with all the glory ascribed to him, he didn’t cave in. It was still all about God’s glory. He didn’t believe the press reports being written about him, whereas Saul did.

So what about us? Do we believe the press reports about us? Or are we so focused on our Father that our own glory doesn’t matter? We want to seek God’s heart… as David did, and be so obsessed with His glory that nothing else matters.

Posted on 5/27/2008 under Daniel Viezbicke's Blog. Comments RSS feed.
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2 Comments

  1. Daniel, thank you for highlighting the heart of David in his battle with Goliath and toward his king. It was a fresh perspective and you put good thought into it.

    7/13/08 by tricia

  2. Daniel, I really appreciated the two posts on Saul and David. I think you hit the nail on the head when you contrasted David’s impression with God and Saul’s impression with himself.

    Our pastor here in VA (Dr. Thurman Hayes) spoke on David last Sunday and discussed the time that Saul entered the cave David and his men were in. He pointed out how David showed incredible humility in the way he had, and continued to respond to Saul. He saw Saul through the Lord’s eyes (1 Sam 24:6, he mentions “the Lord” three times). He had such a reverence for God ordained authority that he even felt terrible for cutting off a part of Saul’s kingly garments.

    Saul on the other hand was jealous and hateful of David because of David’s great success, which was a reflection of God’s hand upon him. He even committed 3,000 of his own hand-picked men to chase down only one man.

    David had obviously learned at a young age that God was his strength and that, without him, he was helpless. It’s also a great lesson of having God on your side (for He gives grace to the humble) rather than as your opponent (for God resists the proud).

    Thank you so much for sharing! I really enjoyed reading it.

    7/29/08 by Joshua J

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