The MC of Antiquity

Break their teeth in their mouth, O God!
         Break out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD!
Let them flow away as waters which run continually;
         When he bends his bow,
         Let his arrows be as if cut in pieces.
Let them be like a snail which melts away as it goes,
         Like a stillborn child of a woman, that they may not see the sun. Psalm 58: 6-8

Today’s Reading: Psalms 57-59; Romans 4

Ohhh buddy! David sure is mad.

If you remember back to when we were reading Samuel you’ll remember that David had a whole lot to be mad about. The King STAYED trying to kill him. He pursued him to the point where David had to leave town, collect a militia from the unsavory elements of society, and live in caves till Saul died.

But good grief! Look at what he said up there. It’s beautifully written, but pretty dreadful. The best line is this:

Let them be like a snail which melts away as it goes,
Like a stillborn child of a woman, that they may not see the sun. Psalms 58:8

Ouch.

But you know what. This Psalm is actually very healthy.

Yes I know that probably sounds strange but hear me out. Remember during the story of David when he was dodging Saul’s attacks? He had several opportunities to kill him but he refused. Didn’t you wonder how he was able to refuse taking revenge? I know I did.

This is how. He put pen to paper. He was able to release the pain and anger in a constructive way. Instead of destroying his king by the sword, he released his anger through poetry and song.

I bet David would be a legendary rapper if he was alive today. Just as David spit his venom on page many of the MCs that I grew to love during my childhood did the same thing with their songs. They avoided the realities of their neighborhood by channeling them into art that would allow them to escape those realities. When I was a kid I used writing as my escape too. Poetry was my therapist and the pad and pen were the couch where I gave voice to my feelings.

Sometimes there are things about our reality that we cannot control and that can be infuriating. We can choose to deal with them in constructive or destructive ways. But before we seek revenge or act out on our feelings it is best to try to channel that negative energy into something positive. For people like me, rappers, and David it was writing. For others it has been therapy, creating art, cooking, talking to a loved, martial arts and other creative and social endeavors.

Find what allows your soul to sing and express yourself. If we can find that release then maybe we’ll be like David when the true test comes. Maybe we’ll have the strength to forgive when we have the power to exact revenge. 

Navigating Doubt

You number my wanderings;
         Put my tears into Your bottle; 
         Are they not in Your book?
When I cry out to You,
         Then my enemies will turn back; 
         This I know, because God is for me.
In God (I will praise His word),
         In the LORD (I will praise His word),
In God I have put my trust;
         I will not be afraid. 
         What can man do to me? -Psalm 56:8-11

Today’s Reading Psalms 54-56; Romans 3

It’s interesting to me to see the change that happens from the first verse to the last. He starts off by talking about his tears and wanderings. Then he quickly proclaims what he believes God will do for him.

Maybe I’m wrong here
, but I see doubt in all of these words. I see him in the last three verses trying to breathe life into his withered faith.

And on the real… I see nothing wrong with that.

Doubt is just another form of fear, and fear is a natural thing in our lives. There are many things to be afraid of. When we get up in the morning and go out into the world there is no guarantee that we will come back home again. There are very real things out there that are very dangerous. Often times
, the fear that we have is logical and smart. It keeps us out of danger.

Here’s the catch though… we cannot let our fears and doubts stop us from living.

That’s the big thing here. It is only when our fear paralyzes us into inactivity and confusion that we have really done something wrong. The paths of even the best laid plans are never without fear. We have to recognize those rocks and boulders in our way and either find ways around them or blast right through them.

Don’t beat yourself up if you become afraid or doubtful. Just make sure that they don’t stop you from moving forward. Never stop searching for a way through. Continue to seek out understanding.

Because when we do persevere and overcome those doubts and fears
, we will find that we have grown from them in ways that we never would have known.

We become brand new, and all the more capable of turning our dreams into reality.

No One Is Good, But Try Your Best

All have turned aside,
       they have together become corrupt;
       there is no one who does good,
       not even one.

 Will evildoers never learn—
       those who devour my people as men eat bread
       and who do not call on the LORD ?

 There they are, overwhelmed with dread,
       for God is present in the company of the righteous. Psalm 14: 3-5

Today’s Reading: Psalms 13-15; Acts 19: 21-41

So I had an interesting facebook discussion with my folks online today. It started when I posted the following statement:

“Sometimes it feels like it pays to be bad. But bad seed will never sprout good fruit. The law of the harvest ain't no joke.”

The statement was in response to some general things I have been noticing lately as well as a recent conversation that I had with my mom. We were talking about how a lot of the rules we encounter that don’t seem to make sense are made to control for a few foul folks trying to get over.

Because of them, we are all inconvenienced.

When I posted that comment I didn’t think much of it. It was just something that I was feeling at the time… so I was surprised that I got a litany of responses from it. All of the responses were good and full of wisdom. I think that God was speaking to me through my friends and loved ones.

Thank you all for allowing yourselves to be the wonderful messengers that you are.

But one comment in particular got me. It was from Isaiah’s mom, Nya. She challenged my implicit notion of goodness. She said that as long as we live on this earth we will never be good or perfect. This immediately took me back to what we read in the Gospel of Mark when Jesus said the following:

"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone” – Mark 10:18.

She was dead on right with this one.

I was challenged to think about what I really meant. I didn’t really mean “good” in the sense above ya know, I really just meant there are good people and bad people. You dig me right?

Eh… I guess…

But this whole good and bad people thing gets to be problematic. I am no better than anyone else no matter what I think about someone’s actions. Positioning me as good versus someone else is an implicit value statement. And as I have said countless times in the past… Judging is NOT the business.

So this conversation bounced around my subconscious for the rest of the evening until it was time for me to do my daily reading. That’s when I came across the Psalm above. It was the second confirmation of what she was saying.

“There is no one who does good, not even one.” – Psalm 14:3

But then it goes on to say that “God is present in the company of the righteous”.

What in the heck does “righteous” mean? How can it say that no one is good in one breath, and then mention the righteous in another?

They must mean different things.

Of course of to the Wiki I went and found this article. I also checked my mammoth concordance and they both supported my initial spark of understanding. Righteousness is a statement about a person’s actions whereas “good” is a statement of being.

None of us are good or perfect but that’s ok. We aren’t required to be. But what we are required to do is to do our best to keep our actions in a righteous place. Although we will never be able to act in a justifiable way at all times, or even most of the time, we can always strive towards a higher standard of excellence.

That’s what this life journey is all about anyway right? Shoot for the stars and perhaps we’ll hit the moon. And if we hit the moon we will have still gone out of this world.

One thing that this journey through the Bible has taught me is that understanding doesn’t come all at once. It must be patiently sought out and worked toward. If we persevere then maybe we will get a glimpse of it, a vision that may change our lives forever.

Seeking wisdom is like being a sculptor. You gotta patiently chip away at confusion to reveal the beauty of understanding.

I’ve got my hammer and chisel in hand. Hopefully soon I can pull out the sand paper to smooth out the edges.

The Last Straw

"When your days are over and you go to be with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever.” – 1 Chronicles 17: 11-12

Today’s Reading: 1 Chronicles 16-18; John 7:28-53

When I was in college I had these delusions of grandeur about saving the world. I stayed up countless, sleepless nights wondering what it was that I was going to do to make this huge change that I thought needed to be made.

Of course I still have huge visions… I’ll never grow out of that… sorry Dad!

But one thing that my Dad did teach me was that we are all part of a bigger process.

One day we were talking about life and making a change and he said something like this: “It’s not your job to change the world, God does that. But it’s your job to do your part.”

This is extremely unsatisfying… but I am starting to get the larger point.

I wrote a piece a little while back referencing Martin Luther King’s last speech. In it he invokes the imagery of Moses and talks about how he has been to the mountain top. He has seen the Promised Land and even if he does not get there with us, he knows that we will get there.

He got shot the next day.

At first I used to get really sad thinking about this clip. How could someone speak about their own future with such clairvoyance? It always seemed so eerie to me.

But now I’m starting to see the other side of that coin. He was a man who did the best that he could with the resources that he had at his disposal. Did he succeed in realizing all of the change that he envisioned before he died? No.

But…

Did he fight the good fight hand have a substantive enough impact to be able to see the fruits of his labor?

Yes.

The work wasn’t about him. It was for people that he would never see, people like you and me who may or may not have been born yet.

He was also helped by countless other folk. He didn’t do the work alone.

When we strive to do good for those around us it may be disheartening when we do not see an immediate result. And that’s ok. It’s natural to want to reap an immediate harvest from the seeds that we plant.

But if we remember that it takes a thousands straws to break a camels back it is easier to chill and relax and enjoy being part of the process of those fighting the good fight. Whether we are the first or the last, all thousand of those straws are necessary and important.

Even if history doesn’t remember all of their names…

Question of the Day: Who are the unsung heroes of your life? What did they do for you? How did they make a difference?

Form Like Voltron

Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, chief of the Thirty, and he said:
"We are yours, O David!
We are with you, O son of Jesse!
Success, success to you,
and success to those who help you,
for your God will help you."
So David received them and made them leaders of his raiding bands. – 1 Chronicles 12: 18

Today’s Reading: 1 Chronicles 10-12 John 6:45-71

I like how Chronicles goes back and gives a different perspective on the history of Israel. Here it is talking about how David got his fighting army.

What I like about this story is how the folks who joined him knew that he was a man of purpose… they wanted to be on the right team. They made that decision even though it meant that they had to leave the comfort and protection of Saul.

But that’s what happens when we follow our purpose. Other people take notice and want to be on your team. This is one way that God answers prayers for us. Many times the people that are attracted to our path are drawn in because they have a similar purpose. And by teaming up we are all able to help each other walk our paths.

Often times we look at people who are walking a similar path as competition. But that is not the case. There is more than enough for all of us if we remember that it isn’t about “us” anyway.

So don’t be afraid when folks want to be down with your team as you walk your path. Check them out, make sure they have the same values and foundation, and move forward as a team.

We can do more together than we can by ourselves.

David's Mighty Men

Today’s Reading: 2 Samuel 23-24; Luke 19: 1-27

So we are coming to the end of David’s story and there is this hilarious chapter on his mighty men. Them cats who made 300 should do a movie on David.

Actually, someone with better storytelling skills… but for real these dudes were way more beastly than the Spartans… Here are some excerpts from 2 Samuel 23 that I enjoyed.

These are the names of David's mighty men:

Josheb-Basshebeth, a Tahkemonite, was chief of the Three; he raised his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed in one encounter. 2 Samuel 23: 8

Eight hundred in one encounter!! Hahaha wowzers. And with a spear! Dudes muscle endurance must have been off the chain (I’ve spent entirely too much time thinking about capoeira lately).

Next to him was Eleazar son of Dodai the Ahohite. As one of the three mighty men, he was with David when they taunted the Philistines gathered at Pas Dammim for battle. Then the men of Israel retreated, but he stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword. The LORD brought about a great victory that day. The troops returned to Eleazar, but only to strip the dead. 2 Samuel 23: 9-10

His hand grew tired… but he didn’t drop the sword… oh no… his hand forze to the sword! When mere mortals get tired they let go, but Eleazer, he holds on.

Imagine being one of the soldiers who came back to the battlefield only to see Eleazer there, standing on a heap of slain enemies trying to shake his sword free from his hand.

Not sure why that is so amusing to me. It’s so ridiculous!

Shammah’s story isn’t as ill.. but the finale for all three is the best…

During harvest time, three of the thirty chief men came down to David at the cave of Adullam, while a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. At that time David was in the stronghold, and the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem. David longed for water and said, "Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!" So the three mighty men broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out before the LORD. "Far be it from me, O LORD, to do this!" he said. "Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives?" And David would not drink it.
Such were the exploits of the three mighty men. 2 Samuel 23: 13-17

Priceless.

Gotta love how after all of that David poured out libations…

Libations!

I have no idea how folks don’t find a whole lot of entertainment in the Good Book.

Loving our Enemies

Then Joab went into the house to the king and said, "Today you have humiliated all your men, who have just saved your life and the lives of your sons and daughters and the lives of your wives and concubines. You love those who hate you and hate those who love you. - 2 Samuel 2: 19

"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. – Luke 6: 27-28

Today’s Reading: 2 Samuel 19-20; Luke 18: 1-23

Wow…

So you know the whole thing that Jesus says about loving your enemies and turning the other cheek. Sounds ridiculous right? Well it sure did to Joab, the commander of Israel’s army under David.

I remember as a kid always hearing that David was the man who had the heart of God. I never really knew what that meant. How can a person achieve that? What is God’s heart like?

Well… this is what the old folks must have been talking about.

David loved his enemies.

First we saw it with Saul. Saul repeatedly tried to kill David. But what did David do? He continued to honor Saul and show love to him to the point that he spared his life on multiple occasions.

Now we are seeing it with Absalom. Sure he is David’s son, but he is no less an enemy than Saul was. Absalom hustled his way to the throne, ousted David and sent his troops on a manhunt to snuff him about.

And what did David do? He instructed his troops not to lay a finger on him. After all of the turmoil that Absalom caused David was not going to lay a finger on him.

This is love beyond my understanding. I don’t get how folks could conduct their lives in such a way. But I also realize it is not outside of our reach. We see it every time we study the life of Gandhi and MLK Jr. We see it when we observe non-violent protesters standing firm in the line of fire. We see it every day in America with our friends and neighbors who work to coexist with people who hate them for who they are and what they represent.

In this instruction lies the key to our future. Imagine what the world would be like if we could love our enemies!

What a wonderful place it would be.

Shame: A Letter to David

As King David approached Bahurim, a man from the same clan as Saul's family came out from there. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and he cursed as he came out. He pelted David and all the king's officials with stones, though all the troops and the special guard were on David's right and left. As he cursed, Shimei said, "Get out, get out, you man of blood, you scoundrel! The LORD has repaid you for all the blood you shed in the household of Saul, in whose place you have reigned. The LORD has handed the kingdom over to your son Absalom. You have come to ruin because you are a man of blood!" – Excerpt from 2 Samuel 16: 5-14

Today’s Reading: 2 Samuel 16-18; Luke 17: 20-37

Yo David,

Man, what are you thinking? I read this over and over again at least four or five times. And all I could think was wow… what would I be thinking here?

Several years earlier you knocked up Bathsheba and killed her husband in the process. The prophet Nathan told you about yourself and you felt real bad. You knew that God was not a fan of what you did.

Not one bit.

So fast forward a couple of years and here you are… running out of Israel to escape from your son Absalom. On the way out you run into Saul’s kin folk. Of course he’s not exactly pleased with you. But wow. He throws stones at you in front of all of your men and curses you saying that you got dethroned because you are a man of blood.

Must not have felt too good man…

What’s interesting is that you know that you were anointed by God through Samuel. That is undeniable. So of course what he is saying about this being retribution for Saul is incorrect. But, you sure do know that you have some innocent blood on your hands.

I too wondered why you didn’t have old boy snuffed out when he was throwing stones. But I get it. Even though he wasn’t exactly right, you knew that you were wrong.

Your tryst with Bathsheba turned you into the man of blood that he was speaking of.

I guess it pays to do right doesn’t it?

I’m not judging you, but it seems like you have some doubts at this point. But how much do you doubt? Do you doubt whether or not you will be king again? Or, do you doubt whether or not you ever should have been?

It seems to me that both are equally likely because of the remorse that you felt for the wrong that you did.

So hard man…

No person is perfect… and hence the difficulty of living life. But one thing you have shown me here David, is that when we do wrong we open the door to all kinds of confusion.

I’ll do my best… sigh…

Peace.

How Small Wrongs Become Big Problems

One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, "Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, "I am pregnant." – 2 Samuel 11: 2-5

Today’s Reading: 2 Samuel 9-11; Luke 15: 11-32

Don’t do it David! Noooooooooooooo!

Uh oh… She got him. Drats.

We’ll get to David in a minute here but we gotta talk about Bathsheba for a second. You know what my first thought is every time I read this story?

She knew what she was doing…

It looks like folks have been getting trapped for millennia. The game doesn’t change… each generation just adds their own flavor to it.

Ok. If you’re lost… let me recap the play by play here.

David goes for a stroll on his roof. He’s chillin’, looking around the city and low and behold he sees a super bad woman bathing in plain view.

Who does that? Nekked for the whole city to see? Riiiiiight.

Then he has his folks go get her, he sleeps with her, and she gets preggers.

You know what David should have done right? He should have taken a play out of Onan’s handbook!

I kid, I kid.

Ok… David shouldn’t have been up on the roof peeping at folks. Yes I know that the army was away at war and he was probably just chillin in the palace board to tears. But dude… occupy your time in a more responsible manner. Go get a board game, play some backgammon, Uno, dominoes… something else other than the “peeping Tom” move.

What this situation shows is how one little thing can lead to a huge wrong. Later in the chapter David sends Bathsheba’s husband to the front lines of the war to die.

So David went from being a peeping Tom to a murderer at light speed. He made one error that continued to build on itself until he totally acted out of his character.

None of us are above this. We have all been in the position where we have told a “white lie” that snowballed into fictions so great that they could inspire award winning performances.

But when it comes down to it most of our big mistakes can be traced back to the small decisions we make. We cannot avoid all of these mistakes because we are not perfect. But, if we constantly work toward being the best that we can be and stay humble, then hopefully we will have the focus and discipline to admit our smaller wrongs before they become big ones.

I Am Free To Be ME

When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, "How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!"

David said to Michal, "It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD's people Israel—I will celebrate before the LORD.– 2 Samuel 6: 20-23

Today’s Reading: 2 Samuel 6-8; Luke 15: 1-10

For a long while I was ashamed to identify myself as a Christian.

This had nothing to do with my faith in Jesus; that never wavered. But it did have a whole lot to do with how popular culture viewed “Christians”.

The 2000s were an interesting time for me. There was so much change. I went to college, 9/11 happened, I studied abroad in Brazil, I graduated college and entered the “real world” trying to figure out what kind of man I would be.

It was at this time that my Stepdad told me something that I’ll never forget. “This is the time in your life when you decide what kind of man you will be.”

I believe that we are always becoming who we will be in the future but he did have a point. It was one of those crucial turning points.

But as I really started to think about my spirituality I started looking around at the world got confused. I saw wars being waged in Jesus’ name, an epidemic of child abuse in the Catholic church, and many other fellow Christians being led astray by media designed pull at their spiritual heart strings.

And if that weren’t enough, how about the absurdly dogmatic hypocrites making the lives of “sinners” miserable while these same church leaders were guilty of the same sins…

Sigh…

I was frustrated and hurt. Where are the good Christians? Where are the “love your neighbor as yourself” Christians? Where are the Christians who will admit that they don’t have all of the answers; the ones who aren’t scared to ask questions?

Where are the other folks who just want to be the best that they can be and to spread their love to those around them.

You know what I finally realized?

What me and God have going has NOTHING to do with any of these folks.

When I figured out that I was focusing on the wrong things, that I was focusing on other people rather than going straight to God with my questions and concerns things got a lot easier.

God answered with the quickness.

It became easier for me to be like David, to dance and sing and enjoy the life that I have been blessed to live.

Because, when it comes down to it, only God can judge me… being concerned about what others think or do can only distract from what I need to do.

Now I feel free to be the Christian that I am, not the one that others try to make me into, to fit their frame of mind.

I am free to be ME.

Haters Never Prosper

"Saul and Jonathan—

in life they were loved and gracious,
and in death they were not parted.
They were swifter than eagles,
they were stronger than lions.

"O daughters of Israel,
weep for Saul,
who clothed you in scarlet and finery,
who adorned your garments with ornaments of gold. – 2 Samuel 1: 23-24

Today's Reading: 2 Samuel 1-2; Luke 14: 1-24

David wrote this after hearing that Saul and Jonathan have died in battle. This is part of a lament that he made all the men of Judah memorize.

But what’s crazy about this is how well he speaks of Saul. He talks about how he loved him. And he really did. But this is the same Saul that has been trying to kill David for years after hearing that he was to succeed him as king of Israel!

What’s the basic difference between Saul and David? Saul is a hater. David is not.

Haters never prosper.

Yes Saul did his thing for a while but Israel was divided. Once he screwed up his situation with God and saw how dope David was, he started hatin’ on him real hard.

Multiple counts of attempted murder count as hate me thinks…

But where did this get him? He didn’t succeed in eliminating David. But he did succeed at pretty much driving himself crazy. He went on a feverish pursuit of a man that did him nothing but good. And in the end he ended up dying on the battlefield, losing a war (and many men of Israel including his sons) to Israel’s arch enemy at the time: the Philistines.

But already we have seen that David is pretty dope. He snuffed out Goliath, smashed out every adversary he faced on the battlefield, and even got booed up with the baddest and wisest women in the land.

All the while David always bent over backwards to do good by Saul and everyone he came across. And eventually he becomes the great king of Israel by walking the good path.

The bottom line is that no one likes a hater. And since we need others to help us pursue our dreams, often the dreams of haters go unfulfilled.

So instead of focusing on what the next person is doing, take a chapter out of Bill Withers book. Just do what you do and do it good. And if you have a hater or two of your very own focused on bringing you down… don’t sweat it. Just do like David did. Continue to kill ‘em with kindness.

In the end you will win.

Plus having haters is a compliment anyway… It probably means that you are doing something right; especially if you live your life according to the great commandments…

Hate on haters… we’re gonna keep on doing what we do and doing it good.

Friendship

While David was at Horesh in the Desert of Ziph, he learned that Saul had come out to take his life. And Saul's son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God. "Don't be afraid," he said. "My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this." The two of them made a covenant before the LORD. Then Jonathan went home, but David remained at Horesh.

Kofi is a great friend of mine. We met when we were visiting our respective colleges as high school seniors.

He has become one of the best men I know.

It’s funny because when we first met we talked about how neither of us were going to end up at the schools we were visiting. He was visiting Claremont McKenna and I was visiting Pomona College. We were both accepted at USC and were certain that we’d end up there. We even talked about the idea of rooming together at USC when we got there.

But God had different plans for us…

There were four other great people that I met on that trip and we all became great friends. We all decided to go to these small liberal arts schools because deep down we sensed that we had a magical connection. This became clear very early on in our freshman year but in 2008 I started to see the bigger plan of my friendship with Kofi start to unfold.

This was the year that I decided to read the Bible again and Kofi is the friend that I read it with. Our friendship grew exponentially. We were able to share our questions, feelings, experiences, and our insights. When I felt like quitting he built me up. When he felt like quitting I built him up.

It has always been hard for me to open up to people. Trust has never been something that has come easily…

But through that year Kofi really taught me what it means to be a friend. Friends are people who will build you up when you are down, bring you back to reality when you are full of foolish pride, are sounding boards for your problems and teach you how to listen when you care for their issues.

Friends love you enough to help you up when you fall, forgive you when you are flawed, encourage you to follow your dreams, ask the tough questions others are scared to ask, and love you like family.

It was through this experience of reading the Bible with him that I am able to better understand the friendship between Jonathan and David. Having someone that you that believe in and love for who they are and knowing that they accept you in the same way is powerful beyond measure.

We can be strong on our own, but how much stronger do we become with great people in our lives?

So I am taking this moment to recognize not only a great man but also a great friend. And you should too, because without him this blog would not exist.

Kof I salute you.

Today’s Reading: 1 Samuel 22-24; Luke 12: 1-31

David and Goliath.. Go Hard or Go Home!

David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands." 1 Samuel 17: 45-47

So finally we have arrived at the famous story of David and Goliath. You can read the whole story here but here’s the summary:

Israel has been at war with the Philistines for many years. There is a battle going on and this time the Philistines have a warrior named Goliath. Goliath was nine feet tall, super strong, and trained from birth to be a warrior.

Goliath was a bad bad man…

For forty days Goliath came out in front of the whole army of Israel and dared one of them to challenge him. If he was defeated the whole Philistine army would surrender. But if he was victorious then Israel would have to surrender. Obviously, there were no eager volunteers.

But enter David stage left…

David went to the battlefield with food for his brothers and he over heard the Israeli troops talking about Goliath in complete fear. David, the brash youngster that he was, stepped up to the challenge. He had already slain lions and bears with his bare hands… one man would be no problem.

Umm… I guess he was pretty qualified for the task, though animals don’t have spears and swords.

So David pics up five stones and walks to the battlefield. And then, we arrive at the verses above and you know what happens next. David puts him down with one snap of his sling shot.

Smack!

Ok what’s the message here?

When it comes to getting those miracles in life it’s like E-40 says… Go hard or go home. It’s as simple as that.

So you may not be ready to slay the Goliaths in your path; that’s ok. On the way to your purpose you will get practice slaying the lions and bears that that come first along the way. They may be in your own mind like this guy.

You might even stumble when you are first faced with a Goliath sized challenge. That’s ok too. That’s why David picked up five stones. He might have missed with the first one… we’ve gotta give ourselves the opportunity to try again if we fail.

But in the end, if you keep slinging your rocks of faith at the obstacles in your path, you will overcome. Your Goliaths will fall and you will prevail.

And the more practice you have at slaying your Goliaths, the fewer stones you will need to bring them down.

Today’s Reading: 1 Samuel 17-18: Luke 11:1-28