Welcome to the second week of our summer message series, “David for King.” The story of David is one of the most important, detailed, sprawling, cinematic stories in the whole Bible. By the way, if you want to follow along on your own, you can find the story of David in three places in the Bible, the 1 Samuel, the 2 Samuel, and the 1 Chronicles. Nearly every book of the Bible written subsequently has reference to him, every prophet preached about him, every king was compared to him and came up short, none could compare to his achievements.

To understand David, and his story is to understand the heart of the story that is the Old Testament, preparing the way for the coming of Jesus, who is often called the son of David. To understand David is to have insight into Christ himself, and the church. That's why we're devoting a whole series just to him.

David is a complex and fascinating leader, a raw and transparent individual. But bottom line in both his gifts and flaws, in his success and failures, we see a man after God's own heart. 

After escaping slavery in Egypt, a 40-year sojourn through the desert, and finally conquering the Promise land, the Israelites were looking for sovereignty and stability, and God lets them have their way. The prophet Samuel anoints a man named Saul, as the very first king of Israel. Early on, Saul distinguishes himself as a talented military leader, winning important battles. Unfortunately, he always seemed to end up disobeying God in the process. And on top of that, he's a willful kind of guy with this explosive temper. It got so bad that God rejected Saul as King and he sends Samuel to find his replacement. And that's where our hero, David comes in.

David was not an obvious choice. David is a young man, the youngest son of a farmer named Jesse living in utter obscurity in a backwater village called Bethlehem. He's got a dumb job for sure, just watching the sheep; he's completely unappreciated. A dumb job, and from time to time, it could be a dangerous one too, because predators like lions and bears would attack the flock. In such cases, it was the shepherd's job to try and shield the sheep by sacrificing one for the many. But David, we learn, didn't do that. He spent his time as shepherd, he spent his time in obscurity, wisely and well, learning how to confront and defeat the predators, honing the skills of a warrior. He was not even invited to the celebration that the prophet Samuel planned for his family. Samuel had to ask Jesse, David’s father, if all his sons were present, because God had not selected any of the oldest seven sons. Jesse finally sends for David, and when he arrives, God tells Samuel to anoint him as the next king.

This is the official beginning of David's rise to leadership. He's not king yet. There's nothing of an ambitious nature about him, but he catches the attention of Saul. We read in Scripture, “David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul became very fond of him and made him his armor-bearer.” Not a very important position, basically just an errand boy. At that time, the Israelites were at war with a powerful enemy, called the Philistines. They had won some battles, but it didn't look like they could win the war. Which brings us to the most famous episode of David's whole story.

"A champion named Goliath came out from the Philistine camp, he was a giant. He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, 'Why come out in battle formation? Choose one of your men, and have him come down to me. If he beats me in combat and kills me, we will be your vassals. But if I kill him, you shall be our vassals and serve us.' When Saul and the Israelites heard this challenge of the Philistines, they were stunned and terrified." To avoid the heavy bloodshed of open battle, it was common for two sides in a conflict would simply have their greatest warrior battle each other, winner take all.

When Goliath appeared to the Israelites, they had never seen anything like him before. He was amazing. He was astounding. He was terrifying. For 40 days, Goliath challenged the Israelites to battle, he taunted them, he baited them, he mocked them, and to a man, they cowered in fear including the king, every single one of them cowered in fear, except for David. 

When David heard Goliath's challenge, when he heard him insulting Israel, and blaspheming God, he developed this holy, righteous discontent. And that in itself is a lesson in leadership. When most of us confront giants, when we encounter gigantic problems, it can be intimidating, can be overwhelming, which in turn, can lead to inaction. Leaders are different. They face giants differently. To a leader, a giant problem is also a giant opportunity. 

David refuses to do nothing. He said to the king, "Your servant has killed both a lion and a bear. This uncircumcised Philistine will be one of them, because he has insulted the armies of the living God. The same Lord who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear will deliver me from the hand of the Philistines." David could see that God had been preparing himall along for just such a time as this. And because he had been faithful in his job, he was ready for this opportunity. To take an opportunity, to be successful, to be influential, to make a difference with it, you need to be prepared for it before it comes.

David announces to the giant as he races toward him, "You come against me with sword and spear, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of hosts." He fought Goliath not in the traditional hand-to-hand combat that the giant was ready and equipped for. Instead, he approached the challenge the same way, he learned to fight wild animals as a shepherd, as a projectile warrior. We all know what happens, using his sling, David throws a rock which hits Goliath in the forehead, killing him. From this moment, David's life changes. He's still not officially the king, but everyone recognizes him as the real leader of the nation. 

Well, right now, you might be feeling like David did, when he was a shepherd living in obscurity, your best efforts go unnoticed, un-thanked. Your job might appear unimportant some days, your work might seem like grunt work, but there is no wasted work if you work for God. And if you seek to honor him, in what you do, whatever that is, David's life reveals the importance of preparation and perseverance. God notices what you're doing. The big days, the wedding days, the graduations, the proms, the promotions, they're fruit, they're fruit of periods of preparation and perseverance. For David, the battle with Goliath was wonfar before he faced him on the field that day. Defeating Goliath didn't make David a leader. It revealed him as one.

Let's pray together. God our Father, thank you for the example in the witness of David, your servant and son. Help shape our hearts as you did his to be more like your own. Bless the work of our hands and help us see its value and worth. Allow all we do to honor you. We pray through Christ our Lord.