²⁰ So David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, and took the things and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the camp as the army was going out to the fight and shouting for the battle. ²¹ For Israel and the Philistines had drawn up in battle array, army against army. ²² And David left his supplies in the hand of the supply keeper, ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers. ²³ Then as he talked with them, there was the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, coming up from the armies of the Philistines; and he spoke according to the same words. So David heard them. ²⁴ And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were dreadfully afraid. ²⁵ So the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel; and it shall be that the man who kills him the king will enrich with great riches, will give him his daughter, and give his father’s house exemption from taxes in Israel.”

²⁶ Then David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall 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 defy the armies of the living God?”

²⁷ And the people answered him in this manner, saying, “So shall it be done for the man who kills him.”

²⁸ Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger was aroused against David, and he said, “Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.”

²⁹ And David said, “What have I done now? Is there not a cause?” ³⁰ Then he turned from him toward another and said the same thing; and these people answered him as the first ones did.

1 Samuel 17:20-30

Dear God, I want to sit with Eliab here for a second. Part of the army. Scared. Facing a grave danger. Feeling humiliated because he is unwilling to face Goliath (as is everyone around him). This is serious business. This is “adulting” on a military level. This is what a responsible man does. And here comes his little brother who doesn’t have these responsibilities talking smack. Talking tough. He sees David as naive, and arrogant because he’s never been given a responsibility he failed at. He’s just a boy. And while the other men were probably able to blow David off as a naive kid, or maybe even a sacrifice to Goliath to save their skins, Eliab was both frustrated with David and loved him and didn’t want to see him sacrificed.

Then there’s David. Naive. Foolish. Perhaps a bit arrogant. But there was also something different about him. He had a level of faith. We will learn later that he had faced dangers of lions and bears that maybe Eliab didn’t know about. He did have something in his own experience that told him this wasn’t a foolish mission for him.

There is a time when my experience can hold me back. I assume I know the outcome of something because I’ve been burnt before. I remember several months ago I was asked about looking into a program that my experience in my job told me wouldn’t work for us. My inclination was to blow it off without even examining it. Then I had a thought occur to me that perhaps a younger more naive me would have followed up on this opportunity and looked into it. Maybe I was selling it short for no reason other than hubris and arrogance. Maybe I was grumpy old man, not willing to explore new ideas. So I contacted a clinic that was using the program and took a couple of staff people with me to visit them. Ultimately, we decided to not do it, but I felt good that we had explored it.

Father, I’m not sure what I’m taking with me from this story this morning, but I feel like part of the message to me is that I should not close my heart to the inspirations you give me and also be open to the inspirations of the younger, perhaps more naive people you have put around me. Help me to hear your voice when it comes to what you would have me do next. Help me to see over, through, and beyond the walls that might be in front of me. Help me to be what you need me to be for your kingdom in my home and in my community. Help my life to be a light that sees me decreasing, you increasing, and people being drawn to you like moths to a flame.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen