1 Sam 16:7
Oh, the statue of David. What a timeless symbol of art. I often think about that young man there, standing confidently before the battle. He stood there against rational human odds. Man thinks in the physical. "Big guy, big sword... equals death." But David thought spiritually. He thought, "Big GOD, little giant, big squish!". David stood there with big faith and big faith always trumps physical power.
I was doing some studying of OT bible heroes and suddenly it struck me. David was one of us!!! I don't mean he was a member of the band. I mean he would have fit right in with our little emergent movement. Let's take a look.
I have seen a shepherd from the backwoods, Jesse of Bethlehem's son.
He is an expert player of the harp.
He is a brave man and a warrior.
He speaks well and is a fine-looking man.
And the light of the LORD is with him.
1 Samuel 16:18
David was one of us. He wasn't trained in military strategy. He wasn't a politician or a priest like his other brothers. He was left to tend the flock. David the shepherd hung in the highlands with a sling and his harp. I can see him now, laying on a rock, his sheep all about, his harp in hand, worshipping the Lord all day.
He wasn't part of the establishment. When they were looking for a king, Jesse looked to every one of his sons before David. He never even considered it could be the wild boy out with the sheep that strummed his instrument all day. They counted him out; looked past him, thought he didn't belong and when the battle came, left him behind. But Dave never got down. He had a never-say-die spirit that we all know.
To some, Dave was probably scary. They looked at him, a youngster from the outside, he could give a fiery speech and he was charismatic, he was a master musician and penned so many new songs that were radical and forward thinking. They may have even called him a "rock-star wanna-be". But people from the establishment are always scared of change. Change challenges us to adapt or become obsolete.
King Saul was confronted with a crisis, a giant standing before his armies calling him out. King Saul was a coward and wouldn’t rise to the challenge. But not Dave. Our hero, our outsider, our shepherd rock star, our handsome fighter, he stepped up, sling and stone in hand, and took on an impossible foe.
Time and time again, David challenges the norm. He does things that shock and amaze. He never settles for the comfortable, the safe. He is a radical God-chaser. He leaps for joy in undignified ways, he writes praise ballads still sung today. He made worship the meaning of his life.
And that is the most important quality of David. It wasn't his guitar playing, or his speaking ability. It wasn't his boyish good looks or his fighting skills. The light of the Lord was with him. He had passion for the Lord and walked with HIM. This wasn't lip service. This was his heart. He took everything he had and with radical faith made his life a work of art that glorified GOD. Oh what his opponents must have thought of him. He was the outsider that crashed the party, killed a giant, united a kingdom and rocked the Gospel... Yeah, I think Dave would fit right in at G-squared.
ROCK THE GOSPEL!
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