Day 21
1 Samuel
In 1 Samuel 15:22, Samuel replied (to Saul): "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king."
And that was that!
1 Samuel 16:7 says, "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
The Lord recognized that in making David a King. David knew that a true King recognizes that God is the ultimate King.
A true King recognizes that battles are won by God's power, not theirs, as we see in this story of David and Goliath.
In 1 Samuel 17:45, David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head......... 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, and he will give all of you into our hands."
When we fight our battles with God's might, and not ours, we ultimately win.
When we look at God's power, not ours, we are empowered.
When we aren't anyone but ourselves, that is good enough. David didn't want to wear the armor of a soldier, it wasn't him. He wasn't comfortable in it. So he went in battle dressed as David. Not a soldier, not anyone else but himself.
I like that.
