¹² Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse, and who had eight sons. And the man was old, advanced in years, in the days of Saul. ¹³ The three oldest sons of Jesse had gone to follow Saul to the battle. The names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. ¹⁴ David was the youngest. And the three oldest followed Saul. ¹⁵ But David occasionally went and returned from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.

¹⁶ And the Philistine drew near and presented himself forty days, morning and evening.

¹⁷ Then Jesse said to his son David, “Take now for your brothers an ephah of this dried grain and these ten loaves, and run to your brothers at the camp. ¹⁸ And carry these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and see how your brothers fare, and bring back news of them.” ¹⁹ Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.

1 Samuel 17:12-19

Dear God, I want to sit with David as the youngest boy. As the youngest child, I can empathize with feeling like you’re always playing catch-up. No matter how old I get, as long as the three of us are alive I will always be four years younger than my sister and six years younger than my brother. I’ll never catch up. Our daughter is almost three years younger than our son, and, especially when they were little, I used to watch her try to take back every day of that three years.

Sometimes, I think there is something important about accepting the role of the youngest. In this case, David had a job to do. He had a role in the family. He was to help care for his brothers, express his father’s love and support for his brothers, and then bring back news of his brothers to his father. He was old enough to travel alone but not yet old enough to join the fight. Still a boy but feeling more and more like a man.

Of course, we will see tomorrow that David’s brothers still treat him like the youngest. They will be mad at his impudence when he responds to Goliath’s challenge with indignation and defiance by calling out the men of Israel who won’t fight. Partly out of shame and partly out of this feeling of superiority they feel.

And even though I am the youngest in my family, I am currently the oldest at work. So I need to remember to ask myself if I am giving my younger coworkers the respect they deserve to not only do the jobs they have but to trust them with more than my preconceived notions of them might normally allow.

Father, help me to know how to still live into my role as the youngest child in my family. Help me to know how to parent my youngest child. Help me to be an encourager of the staff who work with me. Love them through me. Love me through them. Help us all to simply be yours. Be your worshippers. Be your servants. Be your people.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen