I just recently preached a message to my students called, “David, Not the King You’re Looking For.” We talked about whom David was, the things he did, and why he was so loved. We also talked about how imperfect he was and how if he was the one we put our hope in then we would all be let down.
Now when most people think of David, they think of Goliath as well. It is often said that you are David in the story and God will help you take down your Goliaths. In fact, an article popped up on my Facebook feed making that very claim. I commented on the article and it was deleted so I decided to respond to it on this blog. You can read the article at club31women.com called How to Do Battle With Your Goliaths written by Katie Westenberg. I also saw this picture pop up on my news feed and it struck a similar nerve:
Here’s the deal. It sounds nice to be David in the story and to have God’s help facing your Goliaths. You feel so powerful swinging that sling shot and delivering a bullseye right between the eyes of your giants. The problem is… you’re not David. I’m not David. Jesus is David. He’s the conquerer. He’s the brave one. He’s the one worthy of praise. He’s the one who has said, “It is finished.” Us? We are just the Israeli soldiers on the sidelines scared to death and wetting our pants.
If you would, take a moment to watch this three minute video. It is from two different years at the Code Orange Conference that Steven Furtick put on. The first year he invited Matt Chandler and apparently didn’t know what he was getting. He must not have liked the message too much because next time he invited John Gray to paint a more “motivational” picture of David. Remember, theology matters.
