A cute young boy was selected as the king of Israel. His older brother, Eliab, looked the part. He resembled the current king, Saul (1 Sam. 9:2; 16:6-7). But God chose Eliab’s younger brother David to be king instead. David was a shepherd who looked nothing like a king. But God was careful to point out that he doesn’t look at things the way people do (1 Sam. 16:7).
David was too small to wear the king’s armor when he went to fight Goliath. But by the power of God’s Spirit, David brought down the mighty warrior with a sling and a stone. We know this story well. It has become a metaphor for underdogs coming out victorious. Football teams that are outsized somehow pull out a victory. Basketball teams that don’t have great financial backing, come out on top. David beats Goliath.
But the original underdog story of a boy and a sling is different than all of those in one significant way: it was clear from the beginning that David was experiencing the grace of God.
That grace continued to enter his life when Saul was rejected by God as the king and attempted to take out his frustrations on David by using him as a pin cushion for his spear. Help came for David from some unlikely places. He had married Saul’s daughter, but she was actually not very disposed to him. Saul’s son Jonathan was David’s best friend, but Jonathan would be next in line for the kingship after his father. And yet both of these people helped David to escape when their father tried to kill him.
Near misses on both accounts.
David escaped into the wilderness and Saul had his army in hot pursuit. On one occasion Saul discovered where David was and sent men to capture him. However, there were some prophets there and their Spirit of prophecy came upon these soldiers of Saul so that they too prophesied rather than apprehend David. This actually happened twice. Saul then took matters into his own hands and went after David himself only to have the same Spirit of prophecy overcome him (1 Sam. 19:18-24).
Another near miss.
David hid in a stronghold, but the prophet Gad told David not to stay there. David later stayed in a town called Keilah, but heard of a plot to betray him. He asked God if the people of Keilah would surrender him to Saul and was told that they, in fact, would surrender him. So David got out of Dodge. Not long after that, Saul was in hot pursuit of David again and, like the Coyote with the Roadrunner, nearly had his hands around David’s throat. But it was not to be.
Saul was going along one side of the mountain, and David and his men were on the other side, hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his forces were closing in on David and his men to capture them, a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Come quickly! The Philistines are raiding the land.” Then Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to meet the Philistines
(1 Sam. 23:26-28)
Another near miss.
David met up with the Philistines to join them in battle against Saul, but he intended to turn on the Philistines in support of his own people. Some of the Philistine kings became suspicious of this, and David and his men were sent packing. They marched all night only to arrive at their camp and discover that Amalekite raiders had taken everything – Their wives, children, and all of their provisions.
David and his men pursued the raiders, but at a certain point 200 of the men said that they could no longer continue. These were left behind and 400 others pursued and overtook the raiders, freeing their families, reacquiring their provisions, and acquiring new provisions as booty from the raiders. They returned to the 200 left behind and prepared to divide the spoils of the battle when some spoke up and said that those who stayed behind should get their own families, but none of the booty should be shared with them.
This seems fair, doesn’t it? After all, the others had also been exhausted, but rather than stay behind, they dragged themselves after the raiders and risked their lives to free their own families and the families of the men left behind. Why should those who did not fight share in the spoils? They had not earned it.
But David knew that those who pursued the raiders had not earned it either. He knew that, like all of the other occasions in his life, the ability to go forward and defeat the Amalekite raiders was due to God’s grace. It was a gift.
David replied, “No, my brothers, you must not do that with what the LORD has given us. He has protected us and handed over to us the forces that came against us. Who will listen to what you say? The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.” David made this a statute and ordinance for Israel from that day to this (1 Sam. 30:23-25).
What we see in this story of grace is that grace is transformative. When you experience grace, it changes you. It changes your perception of life. It changes how you treat others. It changes how you live. If you are not changed by it, you have experienced something other than grace.
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