Sidelines: David

Our final look at Biblical characters that went from the sidelines to the starting line-up leads us to the life of David.  

David was a boy, who defeated a giant, who became king, who royally screwed up, then is known as a man after God’s heart.  

We first meet David in 1 Samuel 16.  Samuel, the high priest, has gone to seek out the Lord’s next appointed King of Israel.  King Saul had been dishonored in God’s eyes and God was preparing a new king.  Now, note that the fact that Samuel was out seeking this would have gotten his head chopped off, but God sent him, and he encounters the family of a man named Jesse, whose youngest son God had already chosen.

Jesse parades his sons in front of Samuel, and Samuel turns down each one.  

Interestingly enough, the youngest, David, wasn't home, he was out tending to the sheep.  Another thing to note is what God told Samuel at the beginning of the “parade of sons”...

“But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart."”
‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭16:7‬ ‭ESV‬‬

So here, we already see, before we even meet him, David isn't anything to write home about.  He's obscure, he's a boy, he's not a man, how could he even be king?

The key is in the second half of that verse, “man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

I think we could even go a little further with it.  We see the here and now, God sees the future, God sees potential.  

So Samuel anoints David and David becomes a musician in Saul’s service.  There was a spirit that tormented Saul and any time it did, David played music and Saul would be refreshed and calmed.

In the very next chapter, we see another way David comes off the sideline and lets God put him in the game.  

The Israelites were at war with the Philistines and the Philistines had a huge advantage, his name was Goliath.  Goliath was a large dude, he was somewhere between 6’9” and 9’9”.  Nobody in Israel wanted a piece of him.  He came out twice a day for forty days and challenged anyone who'd come to a one-on-one battle.  

David was going back and forth between the front lines and the flocks of his father’s sheep.  At one point, his dad sends him back with food for 3 of his brothers who'd been fighting alongside Saul.  He goes up and starts talking with his brothers for a second when he arrives, and then Goliath comes out for his daily call out.  

All the other men of Israel cower in fear.  But David asks a couple of questions…

“And David said to the men who stood by him, "What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?"”
‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭17:26‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Soon after an altercation with his eldest brother, Saul calls for David.  David tells him he wants to fight…

“And David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine."”
‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭17:32

Saul doubts David ability and tells him he's just a kid and can't fight this dude that's been a warrior his whole life.  Then David proceeds to recount his experience of protecting sheep from lions and bears.  In verse 37, we see David’s unwavering faith…

“And David said, "The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." And Saul said to David, "Go, and the Lord be with you!"”
‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭17:37‬ ‭ESV‬‬

So Saul outfits David with his armor.  Ironically, it's technically David’s armor since he's already been anointed as king!  David quickly takes off the armor, because he's not tested it.  He probably couldn't fit into it since he was still just a kid.  

So, David marches out to meet Goliath.  All he's got is his staff and 5 stones and his sling.  Goliath laughs and mocks David and the Israelites.

Then David dropped the mic…

“Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This 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 host of the Philistines this day to the birds 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 that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord 's, and he will give you into our hand."”
‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭17:45-47‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Goliath charges, David charges and pulls a stone out of his bag, slings it, and hits Goliath square in the forehead.  Goliath falls and David runs over and chops off his head with Goliath’s own sword!  

Seeing this, the Philistines flee.  God had done a mighty work through a little boy!  

Soon after, David becomes best friends with King Saul’s son, goes through lots of drama when Saul figures out he's the king-in-waiting, becomes king, sees a woman bathing on a roof and commits adultery with her, goes through that rough patch, continues to follow God and be a great king!  

So going back and gathering all that we've looked at up, we see that God takes the ordinary, the second-string, and makes them extraordinary for His namesake!  

The Bible is full of account after account of ordinary men, women, and children placing their faith in the one, true God.  Then, God takes those people and does a great work and the world is changed!  You and I can both be instruments of the Most High if we allow Him to truly work through us.  

What does that take? For Abraham, Joshua, and David, it was full-on faith in God.  In all three lives, they fully surrendered themselves to God.  The cool thing for us is, they are human!  They all messed up here and there, but they continued to follow the Lord!  They kept their eyes on him.  God worked great things out through these three men and He will work things out through you if you allow yourself to be His instrument, to be pliable clay in His hand, and watch the great work He does.  These three stories show us it won't be easy, but it will be worth it all!  When you're mind is on God’s mission, you're life is right where it needs to be!