The moment David stepped onto the battlefield against Goliath, all of Israel should have known an important fact. What was it?
Let’s review how Saul became king of Israel:
The era between Joshua’s death and the crowning of King Saul (about 380 years) was known as the Period of the Judges. In this time period, Israel was not really a unified nation, but rather a confederation of twelve individual tribes. The leaders were the tribal heads.
Most of Israel, under Joshua, was conquered and occupied, except for a few strongholds.
Now these are the nations which the Lord left to test Israel by them (that is, all who had not experienced any of the wars of Canaan; only in order that the generations of the sons of Israel might be taught war, those who had not experienced it formerly. (Judges 3:1-2)
During the Period of the Judges, Israel suffered through recurring cycles of approximately forty years, or a generation. Israel would have peace, followed by Israel turning its back on God, followed by Israel’s enemies attacking and enslaving the nation, followed by Israel repenting and crying out to God and then followed by God raising up a Judge (or deliverer) who would lead the nation against their enemies, bringing peace to Israel once again.
The judges (Deborah, Samson, Gideon, Samuel and six others) were mainly military leaders or prophets. Each had a lifetime anointing from God to lead, but there were no family successions and no passing of the baton after the judge died. The next judge was then raised up by God when Israel eventually repented and cried out to Him in the down part of their next forty-year cycle.
Now, when the prophet Samuel was old, he decided that his two sons should succeed him as judge. His sons had character flaws and the elders of Israel demanded a king. The people were tired of the forty-year cycles and believed a king was their answer.
Samuel was heart broken and explained to the people the problems a king would cause them. The people refused to listen and said:
“No, but there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like other nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles. (1 Samuel 8:19-20)
The man chosen by God to be the first king of Israel was the best looking and tallest man – by about a foot – in all the tribes of Israel. His name was Saul and he was from the tribe of Benjamin, a tribe especially known for its fierce warriors.
By all accounts, Saul should have been the perfect human specimen to be crowned king of Israel.
Yet, when young David stepped onto the battlefield against Goliath, there was more to the battle than David just stepping up to be a hero. You see, King Saul abdicated his kingly responsibilities. It was his duty to fight Goliath. It was also his duty to lead the army into battle.
And at that precise moment, all of Israel had to know King Saul was a cowardly failure as a king. After all, their stated reason for having a king was that a “king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.
Nineteen years passed by before all of Israel admitted that David should be king, and not Saul or his family. But sadly, it took a horrible defeat by the Philistines, the death of Saul, a civil war and the loss of many good men before it finally happened.
How can the contrast between Saul and David help the church reach unity?
(Continued in Part 7)
ok Larry, please tell me?
Ah … the difference between one who knows God and the one who thinks he does … and the one who thinks he’s God! Praise God for 2 Cor. 5:7. Thanks Larry.
I am going to think a little before I give an answer. Great question though. God Bless, SR
Okay I have given some thought on this. Saul and David even though were in contrast on many things, they did have one common thread, they both loved God.
To me their contrast can help reach Church unity by remembering no matter what Church we go to, we all love God. That is our common thread. Another is, as Saul was weak and David was the stronger of the two, when we see a brother or sister in a weaken state, it is up to us who may be stronger at the time to help them with this regardless of contrast of beliefs.
Fear was another thing I saw in this story. Saul had it and David did not. We need to always remember there are those and us also, at times in our spiritual walk who have/live in fear. There are brothers and sisters who are so afraid of facing the “Giants” in there lives, be it past hurtful memories they do not want to deal with, or to such as facing their daily lives and struggles. Again, it is up to those of us who have faced and battled our “Giants” to help those trying to do so.
Also the difference in appearance. Saul was a good looking man, and David was a scrawny little kid. In our humanity we like what is pleasing to the “eye.” We like to gravitate to those who are wearing the 400.00 dresses, pants, shoes, etc… When we do this though, are we overlooking the single mother with five kids in Church who wears the same dress every Sunday? Are we overlooking the poor, sick and elderly? If it “offends the eye” I have seen believers who want no part of it. We need to quit gravitating to those who are pleasing to our eyes, and gravitate to those who are pleasing to God’s heart, even if we are the one with the 400.00 pair of shoes on. Thus bringing them into our Church and the unity of believers. Making them feel “welcomed.”
This is my answer and I am sticking to it:>) God Bless, SR
Naphtali,
Thanks. Since you’re relatively new, you haven’t heard how I learned how to write. I felt like the Lord told me to read mysteries. So I read over 300 of them. Most of my writing now ends with a question and most of my writing is done in simple sentences, easy to skim and read.
Roger,
Thanks. Great points as usual.
SR,
What a fabulous answer.
I could have read your answer without knowing who had written it and I would have guessed it was written by a sensitive woman. Why? (This is from reading mysteries, okay?) Women tend to look below the surface and into the emotions for insights that we men jump over.
So, some good points here that I would never have ever noticed in a million years. Thanks.
Okay, I know that you are going to tell us . . . eventually.
But Larry, this is sooo good. You came back to writing with some umph in you! 
My stab at this is just from having been in 1 Samuel. It’s vague, but I think it has something to do with anointing. And something about how David did not fight against Saul, even though Saul pursued him and tried to kill him.
God bless you and lead you on!
My most humble thanks Larry. That is why I did not post right away. I wanted to give the Holy Spirit time to speak to my heart. I feel He did and for that I will be forever grateful. This was an excellent post and I thank you as well for making us think. God Bless, SR
Debbie,
Great comment. If you study the word “anointing” in the Bible, you’ll learn it’s the presence of the Holy Spirit on a person. This was a big problem for Saul, especially when he suffered his dark moods and wanted to kill David.So, the anointing is a good insight.
SR,
The best thing about having insights from people in different streams of Christianity is that it opens us up to see even more. So, God bless you.