Ask any Bible reader their top ten of favorite Old Testament Bible stories and I would almost guarantee you that one of David’s will be in the top five. He was a nobody from a then no-name town. In fact, he was so insignificant that his father even forgot about him when the prophet Samuel came to meet all his sons . . . and yet God found him and decided to make him king. He was just a shepherd boy. He was too young and too small and too weak to be with the soldiers, to be with the real men . . . and yet God stirred within his heart a courage to go and fight the giant Goliath when all the “real men” were hiding away in the rocks. He let his wandering eyes and lustful heart get the better of him. He committed adultery and then murder to cover up the adultery . . . and yet when his sin was made known, his heart caved in repentance and most of all, best of all, God forgave him.
Maybe we so appreciate David’s story because it speaks so much to our story.
The shepherd who’s chosen by God to become the king reminds us that God finds us in our obscurity and gives a divine, eternal purpose to our lives. Think about it . . . you're one in nearly 7 billion. It’s easy to get lost in that sea of humanity, isn’t it? It’s even easier to begin to wonder why in the world we’re even here . . . or to wonder whether or not we even matter. But then God shows up and He let’s us to know that He’s our creator, He’s the One who shaped and formed us in the womb . . . we’re His idea, His creation, His plan. He reminds us that in fact we’re so important to Him that He sent His Son to die for us so that we could live forever with Him. All of a sudden, the obscurity of our lives is shattered by the realization that the God of the universe knows us, calls us by name, and has determined that life in heaven and here on earth just wouldn’t be the same without us.
And the boy who kills the giant is a reminder to us that God gives us the courage and the strength and yes, even the victory over the Goliaths of our lives. Max Lucado writes about the giants that we face:
"He vies for the bedside position, hoping to be the first voice you hear. He covets your waking thoughts, those early, pillow-born emotions. He awakes you with words of worry, stirs you with thoughts of stress. If you dread the day before you begin your day, mark it down: your giant has been by your bed. And he’s just getting warmed up. He breathes down your neck as you eat breakfast, whispers in your ear as you walk out the door, shadows your steps, and sticks to your hip. He checks your calendar, reads your mail, and talks more trash than players in an inner-city basketball league. He’s your giant, your Goliath.”You know him, don’t you? But the real question: Do you know your God? You see your giant may be big, but your God is bigger. If you’ll remember and have faith in that, like David did . . . you’ll find courage to step into the battle one more time, take up your sling and stone, and bring that giant down!
And the king who falls so fast and hard . . . from hero to adulterer, liar, deceiver, and ultimately murderer – he reminds us that when we’re at our worst, God’s grace is still great, still sufficient even for us! When God sends his prophet to confront David about his sin, he tells David a story about a man who stole another’s most prized and sacred possession. David was so offended by what the thief had done, that he declared a death sentence on him. And then he was given the message: “David, you’re the man.” Can you imagine the guilt and shame of that moment? The sentence of death that David gives . . . it’s his sentence – he deserves to die for what he’s done and he knows it. But then, God’s grace . . . and one more message from the Lord: “David, you’re the man but I’m not sentencing you to death . . . in fact, I’m going to take your sin away.” Like David, maybe your sins are great . . . maybe the fall into failure is fast and hard and altogether way too often. If so, how about letting God do with you like He did for the king . . . let Him confront you with your sins and then freely offer to “sink them to the bottom of the deepest ocean.”
Think of it for a moment . . . David’s story is this: God finding us in our obscurity, giving us courage and strength to both face and conquer the giants that invade our life, and forgiving all our sins. Wow – what a story, right? No wonder everyone loves David!
