ODJ: theology of the small
December 19, 2009
Goliath walked out toward David . . . sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy (vv.41-42).
READ: 1 Samuel 17
Even though the Super Bowl reigns as the largest US sporting spectacle, the television ads that run during the game have begun to receive almost as much attention as the game itself. Firms spend millions to produce them. This past year, however, brothers Joe and Dave Herbert shocked the marketing industry by producing the Super Bowl’s highest-rated ad for just $2,000. Their biggest cost was food to feed the volunteers chipping in for the project. Prestigious Madison Avenue firms with high-paid writers and producers took a backseat to two no-name guys from Indiana.
David was also a no-name—just a boy. Israel was at war with the Philistines, but David was too young to join the army. The closest he could get to the action was delivering food to his brothers. On one trip, David discovered a demoralized Israelite army. For weeks, the Philistine champion Goliath had stood on the battlefield taunting them. No wonder Israel feared him—the man was huge. Over 9- feet tall, Goliath was covered in heavy bronze armor, “his coat of mail [alone] weighed 125 pounds” (1 Samuel 17:5). No wonder Israel felt intimidated.
And no wonder Saul scoffed when little David, full of righteous anger over the giant’s taunts, volunteered to battle Goliath (v.33). David didn’t have a sword. His small frame couldn’t fill a basic set of armor. David was just a boy. Small.
Most of us have heard the story’s end. Goliath was decapitated by David and the Philistines fled for the hills. The thrust of the story, however, is not about a boy’s courage but about God doing much with little. David knew this was God’s day, not his. “Today the Lord will conquer you,” David said to Goliath just before the giant’s violent demise (v.46).
In some way, each of us is small. But God can do much with the little we have to offer. —Winn Collier
What aspect of your life makes you feel most weak, most small? What do you sense that God wants you to do in and through it?
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