If My People – 1 Samuel 16 to 18: The Philistine and the Terrorist

Almost everyone has heard the story of David and Goliath in Chapters 16 – 18. But reading it with the Cycle in mind unveils a much deeper than a slingshot and a smooth stone. 

Remember back in Chapter 12 that God sets a king over Israel as punishment for their rejection of God himself as king. 

Then in Chapter 15, God rejects Saul and appoints a new ruler, a man after God’s own heart.  But the time between a warning from God and execution of his judgment can be a long time.  In Chapter 16 we learn that it is David whose heart is in unity with God.  While Saul continues to rule, God’s never-ending love carefully protects, nurtures, and prospers David, right in front of Saul, from whom the Spirit of God has completely departed. 

So when God selects a ruler or king (or President), what is visible to the people of Israel in David while God develops him quietly as a leader?  And what should we watch for today among those (men and women) running for President? 

• Can we see deeper than physical appearance, since God looks only at the heart (16:7)?
• Can the Spirit of the Lord be seen in him (16:13)?
• Does she confidently defy those who terrorize the people (17:26)?
• Does he show fearless leadership or stand far off from the fight (17:32)?
• Is she a woman with battle scars and a resume of battles won (17:36)?
• Does he understand who has delivered him from danger in the past and does he call the enemy by his true name or try not to offend him (17:37)?
• Does she speak directly to the enemy and promise his cause will fail (17:46)?
• Does he understand that the Lord does not deliver by bombs or jet fighters, but that the battle itself is the Lord’s (17:47)?
• Does she offer outward signs of thanksgiving in victory (17:54)?
• Does he attract kindred company of the brave and intensely patriotic and loyal (18:1)?
• Is what she has done thus far widely admired by the public (18:5)?
• Has he won important victories, not just claimed to be a fighter (18:7)?
• Are her rivals afraid of her because the Lord is with her (18:12)?
• Is he prospering in the campaign because the Lord is with him (18:14)?
• Has she learned the lessons of true servanthood and humility on the way to greatness (18:17, 23)?
• Has he handled adversity from his rivals more wisely than anyone else, such that his name is now highly esteemed (18:30)?

Please read 1 Samuel 16 to 18 right now.  It could be the most important thing you do this year and next. David called the enemy by his true name, the Philistine.  We cannot call our enemy an Islamic terrorist!

We demanded a king seven years ago, and God gave us one as punishment.  That king had a chance to go with God, but he chose not to and is now rejected by God, angry, and bitter. 

If God loves his children in America (Jew, Christian and Muslim), and “if my people” confess, pray and seek his face for peace, he will appoint a David, someone with a heart after God.  He will make that appointment through you and me, at the ballot box. 

​Study these features of David, pray, vote them, and may God bless America once again.