"I COME AGAINST YOU IN THE NAME OF THE LORD OF HOSTS."

Homily for January 22^nd, 2014: 1 Samuel 17:32-33, 37, 40-51.

           Samuel’s anointing of David as Israel’s king, which we heard about yesterday, was private. Afterwards David, probably only a teenager, returns to looking after his father’s sheep. Saul, though rejected by the Lord for disobedience, remains king of Israel. But he falls into what we would call today a deep depression. The Bible says that “he was tormented by an evil spirit sent by the Lord” (16:14). His servants suggest that listening to harp music will soothe him. One of them reports that the youngest son of Jesse plays the harp. So they send for David, whose music cheers the old king so much that Saul becomes very fond of him and makes him his armor bearer (16:21). As we shall hear later, it is, on Saul’s side, a love-hate relationship

          This is the prelude to the story of the encounter between David and the Philistine giant, Goliath, described in today’s first reading. Once again, it is severely edited, for the sake of brevity. For forty days, the text says, Goliath taunts the Israelites to send him a warrior to settle their differences in single combat.

          Young David, still tending his father’s sheep, hears about Goliath’s challenge when David’s father sends him to the Israelite army with provisions for his older brothers, who have volunteered for service under Saul. “I’ll fight this giant Philistine,” David says. Saul and those with him say that is impossible: David won’t last five minutes against such a mighty opponent. David tells the king that he has personally killed lions and bears who threatened his father’s sheep. “The Lord, who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear, will also keep me safe from the clutches of this Philistine.”

          After Goliath has taunted David, saying he will make him mince meat “for the birds of the air and the beasts of the field,” David responds: “You come against me with sword and spear, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of hosts.” In minutes the conflict is over. David launches a stone from his sling shot, hitting Goliath on the forehead, knocking him unconscious, and allowing David to finish off the giant with the latter’s own huge sword.

          The story contrasts human power with the power of God. In reliance on Him, we can do all things, even the humanly impossible.