Today's Scripture Reading (June 5, 2025): 1 Samuel 22
The sword of Goliath was no doubt
a significant artifact in ancient Israel. It symbolized the unexpected outcome
between the Philistine Giant and a shepherd child from Israel. The whole story,
on so many levels, was a shock. Maybe it wasn't a shock that a child with faith
in God would think he could take on a giant. I remember such fantasies I had as
a child, usually overestimating my ability. What was shocking was that anyone,
including Saul, would let the young David go up against the giant. Somewhere,
there must have been an adult who would have said, "This isn't right and
the child should be restrained for his own good." But the child wasn't
restrained; he fought the giant and won. And then, the child gathered up the
sword and armor of the giant and took it home. All of what he had gathered was
useless to him. If Saul's armor had been too big for the child, as the story
tells us, then Goliath's armor and sword would have been much too big. None of
it was of any use.
Fast forward and somehow this
artifact finds its way from David's traditional home to the Tabernacle in Nob.
I am still unsure how or why the sword made that journey, but it did, and as
David goes to Nob to get provisions and any weapons that might be available, he
discovers that the sword was there. And so, David declares that there is no
sword like it, and takes it with him. But there is still a problem. If this was
Goliath's sword, and there is no reason to doubt that assessment, after all,
David would know if it was the sword or not; it wouldn't have shrunk. Yes,
David had grown, but not enough to make this sword of the appropriate size. It
might have made a great ceremonial weapon, but it would have been relatively
worthless in battle. It would have been simply too hard to wield.
So, why did David take the sword?
I have a theory. David didn't want it to be used in battle. He wanted to remind
his soldiers that children could sometimes defeat giants; sometimes, the
underdog wins. If I can make this assertion, the underdog wins more than just
sometimes in God's realm. The victory of the weak over the strong almost
becomes the expected result.
Unfortunately, Saul's chief
shepherd, Doeg the Edomite, was in Nob at the same time as David. Doeg was able
to return to Saul with an accusation against David and the priests of Nob. Not
only is he setting himself up for a promotion within Saul's officials, but he
was able to deflect any blame that might have fallen on him and his staff and
direct it toward the priests at Nob.
The extent of what Doeg was
willing to do to get the approval of Saul is told a little later in the story.
The
king then ordered Doeg, "You turn and strike down the priests." So
Doeg the Edomite turned and struck them down. That day he killed eighty-five
men who wore the linen ephod. He also put to
the sword Nob, the town of the priests, with its men and women, its
children and infants, and its cattle, donkeys and sheep (1 Samuel 22:18-19).
Sometimes
the weak and the good win, but occasionally evil prevails. And on this day,
there was no end to the evil done at Saul's command over the weak living and
working at Nob.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading:
Psalm 57
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