The Choice Saul Made

In today's Our Daily Bread <www.rbc.org> Marvin Williams records the battle between David and Goliath where the most unlikely shepherd boy slew the the mighty Goliath of Gath and claimed victory for the beleaguered Israelites.


King Saul was in a fix! He had no one "worthy or brave enough to fight." As I see it, he had three choices:

1. Do nothing. This would cause further demoralization of his troops and Israel. Besides, continued inaction would further demonstrate their weakness and ensure their utter destruction.
2. Fight the giant himself. To fight Goliath himself, Saul would need the same "unswerving faith in the Almighty God" that David had . . . which we know he did not. He had all the trappings of a king, size and beauty, that the people craved. But deep inside, where it counts, he was a coward. Scripture shows us that Saul's pattern was to disobey the living God, justifying his actions at every turn.
3. Allow David to fight. Now this choice came fraught with its own risks. If David were unsuccessful, besides suffering humiliation, Israel would be enslaved by the Philistines. Yet, David's "unswerving faith in the Almighty God" impressed Saul. Whether mere bravado or not, David's faith represented the only hope Saul had of victory, and so he chose Door #3.

Sometimes we don't feel we have much of a choice in situations we face, that no matter which choice we make, we are doomed.  In times like these, we do well to follow David's example of unswerving faith in the Almighty God. Take what we have to the Lord--whether that's five smooth stones or five loaves and two fishes. He will take what little we have and multiply it to bring glory to Himself and provide for His people's needs.