The Boy King: Your Advocate (devotion 5 of 5)

 

Confidence is silent, insecurities are loud.

 I have been re-reading the book of Matthew and just this morning read something that I felt deserved a place in this devotional blog.  Jesus stayed silent when he was brought before his accusers.  Every time I read it, I just want to shout: "Bring down the angels, show them who you are!", but it wasn't time for that.  Jesus was willingly being a sheep led to the slaughter, on our behalf.  He wasn't there to fight verbal battles.

As I finish (finally finish) my devotional thoughts about David, I am reminded of how he was a man after God's own heart and he was also a picture of Jesus in the Old Testament.  One of the most interesting and frustrating exchanges comes in these verses and I want to once again shout at my Bible and tell David's brother to be quiet because he doesn't know what he is running his mouth about!  Yet, David, still a teen, stays quiet.  God's Spirit was resting on Him and He was at peace in a war moment.  So join me in reading this exchange and I pray it encourages you as much as it does me.

1 Samuel 17: 26-30

26Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, saying, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?” 27The people answered him in accord with this word, saying, “Thus it will be done for the man who kills him.”

 28Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger burned against David and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your insolence and the wickedness of your heart; for you have come down in order to see the battle.” 29But David said, “What have I done now? Was it not just a question?” 30Then he turned away from him to another and said the same thing; and the people answered the same thing as before.

Verses 26 & 27 just give the context of the scene.  David was questioning what was going to be done about this Philistine who was blaspheming their God?  Were they all just going to sit around and put up with this disgusting display of hate towards God and His people?

First observation:  When we are young we tend to have greater faith because we haven't been "educated" or "jaded" to the point where all things are purely impossible.  David's faith was in God, there was not a person on earth who could convince him that this horrible beast of a human would beat God in a fight.

Second observation: David had a very jealous older brother.  Eliab was there when his little brother was anointed King.  A position he may have thought would have been better filled by him, but God saw the hearts of the brothers and picked David (see 1 Sam. 16:7).

Jesus will tell us in the New Testament that out of the heart of man the mouth speaks.  This is so very true and the longer I live the more I am convinced that when someone shouts a loud accusation for all the world to hear and especially when it is in order to defame your character, almost 100% percent of the time they are accusing you of what they themselves are actually guilty of doing or thinking.

Eliab loudly said some very cutting remarks and we should not forget that his status as David's older brother was very important in their culture and in the heart of David.  Younger siblings admire their older siblings and long for their approval so this exchange probably crushed David's heart, but it does not deter him from what he felt God had called him to do. If you doubt Eliab's vengeful spirit toward his young brother,  just listen to the embarrassing list of words and accusations he hurled against him:

He asked him why have YOU come down?  He also announced to everyone that he was just a sheep herder of a "few" sheep and insinuated that obviously he wasn't a good one if he just left them in the wilderness.  He also openly accused David of having a wicked heart.

As David's older brother his opinion mattered. I'm sure there were those around who were listening who would have been compelled to believe those lies, BUT GOD!  Not only are we going to see David fight a physical giant, but in that moment he left the giant of falsehoods, and family drama up to God too.  

No one remembers the accusation by Eliab that David had an evil heart.  God made sure to burn the some more important and trustworthy words into history: David was a man after His (God's) own heart.  So many times...we want to fight for ourselves but you can't disprove a negative.  When someone accuses you of something, you have to trust that God will change their hearts, shut their mouths, and validate your character.  This is a HARD thing to learn and to do.

If David had stopped and stomped his feet and said, "You are a big liar and my heart is not wicked!" he would have done nothing but caused a scene, shown immaturity, and probably been laughed at too.  In walking away he showed his maturity and confidence in God.  We all know the rest of the story, He then went on to slay the giant.

I pray these observations encourage you in your faith journey.  Trust me, no matter how upright you live your life, you will have haters and accusers.  Look at Jesus and David.  In the end, be still and let God fight for you (Exodus 14;14: "The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent").  He knows how to quiet the foolish and bring down the mighty!

-Melissa Pyle