Today’s reading is the ending chapter of the David and Goliath saga.  It includes all of the gruesome details of David’s victory over the Philistine giant.  It also includes something else.  In the midst of all the gore, David makes the proclamation “All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s.” 

 

I think this statement is key to understanding the bigger picture.  So often it is easy to get lost in the details, or to focus on the players.  Even in this passage, it is easy to think of just the human elements – the characters of David and Goliath.  But David brings it all back to the main point: David and Goliath aren’t the focus; it is God.  David was not the winner in this battle.  It was God.  God is the one who chose to use a seemingly insignificant shepherd boy to bring down a giant and his threatening army.  A shepherd boy who simply trusted in God was able to bring victory to God’s people, the Israelites.

 

In the battle with your “giant,” are you getting lost in the details?  Are you thinking about all of the components of your current crisis and forgetting about the one who is really in control?  Take a lesson from a simple shepherd boy.  God is the one we can put our trust in. We’re not in this battle alone.

 

Your fellow traveler,

 

Laurie