Battle Lines

My youngest daughter and I went out to lunch yesterday.
It is so nice to talk about everything and nothing.
It is so nice to open up a space…and listen.

Listen to thoughts and dreams.
Dreams.
That was an interesting subject today.

Mom, I had the strangest dream last night.
I have been thinking about it all day.
Do you ever do that…think about your dream the next day?

Her question was rhetorical…so I gave her space to continue.

I was standing in the center of a field.
It was a muddy battlefield…each side was facing the other.
There were injured people all around me…I could see it so clearly.

Were you afraid, I asked…discerning her calm, yet determined attitude…not a hint of fear.

No…but there I was…right in the middle of it all.
I was trying to talk to both sides…but no one was listening.
So, I started to sing.
One by one, other people started singing, too.
Quiet at first…then louder and louder...

I thought of her dream.
I thought of the sides lined up for battle.
I thought of her trying to talk…but no one was listening.
I thought of the casualties…the injured.
I thought of her…standing alone…in the center of the field…unafraid.
Singing!
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The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them. A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall…Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and every evening and took his stand.
(1 Samuel 17:3,4,8-10,16)

The Israelites were terrified.

David was the youngest of Jesse’s eight sons.
The three oldest brothers followed Saul to war.
David’s father sent David, his youngest son, with some food for his brothers.

David left his things with the keeper of the supplies, ran to the battle lines and greeted his brothers. As he was talking with them, Goliath the Philistine champion from Gath stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. When the Israelites saw the man, they all ran from him in great fear. David asked the men standing near him, “…Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
(1 Samuel 17:22-24,26)

Who indeed?

David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him…But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by the hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who delivered me from the paw of lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.
(1 Samuel 17:32, 34-37)

David chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in his shepherd’s bag and with his slingshot in his hand, he approached Goliath.

David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” (1 Samuel 17:45)

David killed Goliath with a slingshot and a stone.
David spent much of his time alone in the fields, protecting his sheep.
There, in the stillness, he had time…he had space…to ponder the majesty of God.

Whether a lion or a bear…or massive Goliath…David never faced his adversary alone.
His awesome God…the God he knew in the quiet stillness of the field…was with him.

I can imagine David…in the middle of the field…singing.
I can imagine…as his enemy fell…others would join him in his song of praise.
Singing so that the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. (1 Samuel 17:46b)

Can you see it?
The battle lines are drawn.
You are standing on the battlefield.
It is a battle between good and evil.

No one is listening.
There are injured and casualties.
There you are…standing in HIS strength…knowing the battle is not yours…it is His.
Knowing there is Good News to share!

You know about the Victor.
You know what happens to the enemy of our souls.
They need to know…and so you sing!