May 19, 2025
• Rev. Mindie Moore
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David Week 1: An Unlikely Choice
1 Samuel 17: 2-12
This week we’re beginning a brand new series looking at the life of King David. Now, I feel confident that you’ve heard of King David before. Because this is not some obscure biblical character…which is what I normally like to preach about! But with David, there’s a lot of lore. In many ways, he seems a bit larger than life. After all, he’s got a statue of himself in Florence. Right now, he’s got a miniseries on Prime. And his famous battle with a giant, which we’ll spend our time talking about today, has become a descriptor of everything from outmatched political opponents to lopsided sports face offs.
David is a major main character in the Old Testament. And if you want a full scope of David’s story, you have to read through parts of 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2Kings, 1 &2 Chronicles, AND the Psalms. David takes up a lot of real estate in this part of scripture. In many ways, he’s one of the Bible’s most iconic figures.
And along with the lore, there’s this phrase that always follows David around, we even used it as our tagline for this series: A man after God’s own heart. I’ve heard that phrase used to describe David ever since I can remember hearing these bible stories as a little kid…but I always sort of took it
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for granted and I’m not sure I’ve put too much energy into thinking about what it really means or what it tells us about who David is.
Because on the surface, you might think someone described as being after God’s own heart is going to be absolutely stellar on their moral, ethical landscape. And if that’s the case, then we’ve got some issues assigning that label to David. Because David had some FLAWS. He has issues. And he’s done some things that are absolutely not ok that we cannot and should not and will not water down. So in this series, we’re going to be faithful to what the Bible has to say about David which is not to paint the picture of a PERFECT man…but to paint the picture of a man who through the ups and downs; through his successes and failures; through the parts of the story that he would want told and the parts he probably would wish DIDN’T make it into the record...a man who stayed connected to God, in ways that changed him...in ways that changed his people...in ways that helped him keep pursuing God no matter what.
And as we paint this picture, you’re going to hear stories you know and stories you may have never heard. But this morning, we ARE looking at something that is fairly familiar and we’re going to start at the beginning. Because the beginning of David’s story brings us a young man who would
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fight a giant and become king, but who was considered incredibly unlikely to do either of those things. (SLIDE: David was an unlikely king.)
We first meet David when the prophet Samuel is at his family home, looking for a new king to anoint. At this point in the story, Israel has only had ONE king, King Saul. And Samuel, who God has appointed to give counsel to the kings, to speak truth to the kings, and even to decide who the king will be…he’s pretty much over how Saul is ruling his kingdom. He’s not doing things in line with how God would want them to be done and so Samuel makes sure that the power of this office doesn’t get any further than Saul in this family tree. He consults with God and God directs him to anoint a new king, outside of the family, who will succeed Saul once he’s dead.
And so that brings us to this scene, with Samuel at David’s family home, talking to his dad, Jesse, sort of sizing up his many sons. It’s no accident that Samuel is there— God has sent him to THIS specific home because this family is where the new king will come from. There’s just one problem—as Samuel assesses the line up of Jesse’s sons…it’s a hard no for each of them. No offense to these guys, I’m sure they were great, but Samuel is a man who hears from God and he’s clearly hearing that none of these people are going to be the king.
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This leads to sort of an awkward moment. Samuel’s standing there, anointing oil in hand, feeling VERY confused because WHY would God have brought him here if none of Jesse’s sons are going to be the King…but it turns out that these aren’t ALL of Jesse’s son. There’s one that he’s left out of this whole process: David, the youngest.
And I want you to really understand this. If you’re Jesse, you have this prophet—a very well-known prophet, this isn’t some random—come to your house, tell you that God personally has sent him to select the new King of Israel from your sons…and you decide to LEAVE ONE OUT. This is wild to me. Think about what this has to say about how Jesse views this child of his, that he wouldn’t even find him worthy of consideration for the biggest honor that could ever be bestowed upon his family.
And it’s kind of a shame that we don’t have a better look into these family dynamics, because we never really get a read on why Jesse would feel this way about David. There’s been plenty of speculation, in the Jewish Rabbinical literature, in extra biblical telling of David’s story, but, for whatever reason…the Bible doesn’t tell us.
And on one hand that really frustrates me, but on the other hand I wonder if that might be a bit of a gift here. Because maybe we don’t actually need to know the WHY to
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understand the WHAT. My guess is that every single one of us has found ourselves in a place, at sometime in our lives, where we have been the one who is rejected or left out or not considered important by someone who we would expect to value us.
I’m going to try really hard to NOT make this series feel like an “Ancient Israelite Kings—They’re Just like Us!” Sort of deal, but I have to tell you, this part of David’s story is so real. Whether it’s in a family of origin, or a family you married into, or the community at your school or workplace…that feeling of rejection can be crushing. It’s painful. It makes us question so much about ourselves and makes us doubt the amazing ways God has created us to be.
Because no matter what Jesse thinks of him, the truth is that David has a lot going for him. Scripture tells us that he’s good looking, he’s athletic, he’s even out there killing lions with his bare hands. We don’t hear that about any of the OTHER brothers.
But none of that seems to matter or change David’s position as the most unlikely and unwanted choice to his dad. In fact, there’s even a Psalm that seems to speak to this. In Psalm 69 it says: “I am a foreigner to my own family, a stranger to my own mother’s children” (Psalm 69:8)
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But the thing about David’s story (and yes, the thing about our stories) is that God sees things differently. God doesn’t see someone forgettable. God doesn’t see someone who’s out of place. God sees someone who matters. God sees someone who is capable of doing incredible things.
God sees what’s true even when other people can’t. God makes this clear when he tells Samuel (SLIDE):
The Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but The Lord looks on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7)
Being seen like that can do some pretty powerful things in a story. It can lift us up out of a bad season. It can put the wind back in our sails when we think we’ve exhausted every option. It can tell us the truth when the lies get really loud. It can heal wounds and propel us into something new and better and honest to who we are.
The way God sees David has a direct impact on how Samuel sees him. Once Samuel realizes someone is missing and has Jesse bring David before him…he KNOWS. And so Samuel anoints David to be the next king. Right there in front of his dad and brothers. And that anointing, the fact that someone could see David for who he truly is, is what sets the rest of this story in motion.
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It leads us to what we read today and what is arguably the most famous David story of them all—David vs. Goliath. The showdown of showdowns. A battle that makes literally no sense. A moment where David is going to have told HOLD ON to the anointing he just received. To hold on to the fact that God is with him. He’s going to need it to get through what’s coming.
David’s day can’t be going as planned. After all, David is summoned to the battle field by his father, not to fight, but for the sole purpose of bringing some snacks. Now, I like a snack break as much as anyone else, but David is going to be about so much more than providing the next meal. God has more in store for him because of the way that God has uniquely created him—with skills that are exactly what this moment needs and that no one else around him has.
I know the big, remarkable thing we talk about here is always the fact that David kills this seemingly unkillable warrior with just a stone in a sling. Yes, that is really cool and has inspired generations of church kids to hazardously fling stuff at each other during VBS. BUT! I think I’m really drawn to the power of what happens right before the big takedown. It’s when David realizes that he is unlike anyone else there. And it’s BECAUSE of his difference…it’s because of his unlikely
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skill set…that David is the right one for what needs to be done.
This is a big deal, because so often, when we find ourselves in a larger group or community and we realize that we’re different that whatever is “normal” or “celebrated”…we struggle to keep leaning into those unique things. Instead, we try to push it down and hide it away so that we can find something that resembles belonging and acceptance. We think that if we can stop being different and just be like whatever the norm is that it’s just going to be better for all involved.
Well, think about if David had done that. It would have been a BAD day. In fact, I think if David had tried to fight Goliath in any of the ways that all the other people around him could fight, then we’d be reading a very different version of history here. David doesn’t know the sword, or spear, or arrow, or armor…but he knows how to use a simple sling. He knows how to do something that no one else around him seems to be aware of. THAT is how this battle is won. That’s how David starts to make an impact.
(SLIDE) What’s that thing that makes you different and helps you make an impact?
I hope you know. Or if you don’t know yet, I hope you’ll let yourself discover it. Because it’s no accident that
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sometimes we can get counted out or missed by the bigger world. Our world is consumed with a lot of things that, at the end of the day, can be pretty uninspiring. And the funny thing is, while a lot of us spend time and energy trying to be like everybody else around us, the people who create and uphold the status quo are almost NEVER the people we remember as making a difference. It’s the different ones…the unlikely ones…the ones who were pushed aside and counted out but held on to what was true about them and followed where God was taking them. Those are the ones who make the impact. That’s who we remember.
Because we have to understand: (SLIDE) unlikely does not mean unqualified.
We just went through the papal conclave for the election of a new pope. Thinking about the late Pope Francis makes me think about what it looks like to be unlikely but not unqualified. And there were a lot of things about Pope Francis that took people by surprise. His humble life, his rejection of anything that was excessive. And there’s this one story of Pope Francis that I absolutely love. Before he was Pope, and was living in Buenos Aries, he would receive a daily paper from the kiosk down the street. And the owner of the kiosk would put rubber bands around the papers to keep them together. Well, every day, Pope Francis would
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take the rubber bands and save them. Then at the end of the month, he would return 30 rubber bands to the newspaper kiosk, so that he could do his part to conserve and save the paper sellers some money.
One day, he called the kiosk to let them know that he wouldn’t be bringing his monthly rubber bands back that month…or ever again, because he had been elected Pope. At first, the kiosk workers thought this was a prank call. How could this simple man who always returned the rubber bands be the new Pope?!
He could be, and he was. And that story and David’s story illustrate for us that when ordinary, unsuspecting people get passionate and do something about the thing they’re passionate about, that’s when things change. For David, his passion was ignited by hearing the way that Goliath was taunting his God. The terrible things he was saying lit David up in a way that he HAD to act. He couldn’t keep witnessing THAT anymore. His passion compelled him to use what he had to do what needed to be done.
And here’s the thing…David could have just gone home. Remember, he was only there to bring the snacks. He’s not a warrior. No one expects anything of him. Goliath thinks this young guy trying to take him out is nothing more than a joke. David’s brother (who, by the way, was passed over to be king
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FOR David…not a minor detail here) gets really grouchy with him and accuses him of only being there to watch the big fight. It’s not a pleasant situation that David is walking into and there were a lot of reasons for David to be like, “I’m out.”
But because he stays IN, a whole group of people are impacted. What David does by taking down Goliath not only protects his people but it ends up telling a story about who his God is and what his God is capable of. Showing up and engaging, even when it’s scary, even when it’s unexpected, changes the whole direction of how the story was going to go.
We encounter our own Goliaths all the time. Things that feel too big. Too scary or overwhelming. Like they would have too big of consequences if we ever dared try and fight back for the right thing. We look at ourselves and we feel inadequate or the narratives that have been told about us have gotten really loud in our heads. The work is too hard. There might even be very real and terrible consequences if we fail…there certainly would have been for David.
The point is, it’s not hard to find a reason to give up and go home and just shrink back into the background.
When we feel that way…that’s when we remember that (SLIDE) God uses unlikely people to do good things. And
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that God might very well want to use you and me to do good things.
God sees something in you. Whether you can believe that or not, it’s true.
For every reason you think you’re not the one to do the thing…remember how God sees you.
For every room you’ve been rejected from…remember how God sees you.
For every time you’ve been forgotten about…remember how God sees you.
For every instance you’ve been tempted to believe that what you bring to the table isn’t good enough…remember how God sees you.
For every time you almost forget…remember how God sees you. And remember that who the world might consider unlikely…God considers so very equipped.
Remember how God saw David. That even in the face of a father’s rejection. Of a giant’s taunting. Of a brother’s disdain. God sees more than that. God sees someone who’s uniquely equipped. God sees a king.
Let’s pray.
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