'The Lion of Judah'
"Generations of Pharez"
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"Jehovah-sabaoth" The Lord of Hosts
As children we enjoyed playing games. That is until someone said, "Tag you're it!" When we are in control of the game it seems much more enjoyable, often making up the rules or changing them to suit our particular circumstance.
Games, such as tag, Simon says, musical chairs, and hide-n-go-seek, often follow us throughout our life. When we are tagged our lives seem to be ordered by what Simon says. Continuously playing musical chairs while we hide our feelings of insecurity in search of our true identity while only trying to "make it home free".
Hiding is something many of us face at some point in our life. It is a protection from others who do not view us as socially acceptable. Those so called "misfits of society" who are inferior to the status quo. Thoughts of, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me," suddenly turn into fears and the realization that words do alter the way we feel about ourselves.
Unable to change who they are, what they look like, or where they come from, some withdrawal from society or become a product of the environment that controls their life. Still others may seek out and find those in the same situation. In their endeavor to find a place in society they often run straight into the arms of those they fear or dislike where they find acceptance.
When the course of our lives move us into areas that are beyond our control we are often faced with the question of "who can we trust?" When our guard is down and we are hit in our most vulnerable spot "where can we run?" Where do we find a place to "fit in?" A place of acceptance where our weakness can become a strength. Where our abilities can be used as assets. Where we can be accepted for who we are adding meaning and credence to our lives. A place where we can make a significant difference in the world around us.
Because of Saul's disobedience to the word of the Lord, God sent Samuel to the house of Jesse to anoint David as king over Israel in Saul's place. Not realizing this, Saul's servants brought David to play upon his harp when Saul was afflicted by the unclean spirit. When the Philistines came against the Israelites to battle David went back to tend his father's sheep.
Two years after Saul became king of Israel the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh. Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. The Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, there was a valley between them. Now there went out a champion from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was nine feet, nine inches. He had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a brass coat of mail weighing one-hundred, eighty pounds . He had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders. The staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam. The head of the spear was made of iron weighing twenty-one pounds, and one bearing a shield went before him.
Goliath stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said, "Why have you come out to set your battle in array? Am not I a Philistine, and you servants to Saul? Choose a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants. If I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall you be our servants, and serve us. I defy the armies of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together." When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid. Goliath drew near morning and evening, and presented himself for forty days.
David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse and he had eight sons. The three eldest sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle. The names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, Abinadab, and Shammah. David was the youngest but David went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem.
Jesse came to David and said, "Take your brothers a bushel of this parched corn, and ten loaves, and run to the camp of your brothers. Take these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and see how your brothers are. So David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and did as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle because Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army. David ran into the army, and came and saluted his brothers. As he talked with them there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spoke according to the same words, and David heard them. All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were very frightened.
Now the men of Israel said, "Have you seen this man that is come up? Surely to defy Israel is he come up. It shall be, that the man who kills him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel." David spoke to the men that stood by him, saying, "What shall be done to the man that kills this Philistine, and takes away the reproach from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?" Then the people answered him again, saying, "So shall it be done to the man that kills him." Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men and his anger was kindled against David, and he said, "Why did you come here? With whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride, and the naughtiness of your heart. You came down that you might see the battle." David said, "What have I done? Is there not a purpose?" So David turned from his brother toward another, and spoke after the same manner. The people answered him again as before.
When the words were heard which David spoke, they rehearsed them before Saul and he sent for him. David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine." Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him because you are but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth." David said to Saul, "Your servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock. I went out after him, and struck him, and delivered it out of his mouth. When he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and struck him, and killed him. Your servant killed both the lion and the bear and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God. The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."
So Saul armed David with his armor, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head. Also he armed him with a coat of mail. David girded his sword upon his armor, and he assayed to go but he had not proved it. David said to Saul, "I cannot go with these. I have not proved them." So David took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had. His sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine. The Philistine came out and drew near to David and the man that bare the shield went before him. When the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him because he was a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.
The Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with staves?" So the Philistine cursed David by his gods and said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field." Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day will the LORD deliver you into my hand and I will strike you, and take your head. I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines, this day, to the fowls of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth. All the earth will know that there is a God in Israel. All this assembly shall know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD's, and He will give you into our hands."
Then the Philistine arose, and came, and drew near to meet David and David hurried, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. David put his hand in his bag, and took a stone, and threw it, and struck the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead, and he fell upon his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine, and killed him, but there was no sword in his hand. Therefore David ran and stood upon the Philistine, took his sword, drew it out of the sheath, killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled and the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines to the valley and to the gates of Ekron. The wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron. The children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents. David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent, *I Samuel 17.
So David returned to Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. After asking who his father was he sent his servant to Jesse's house but kept David with him. When David went into the city all the people ran out to greet him. They began singing and shouting, "Saul has slain his thousands and David his tens of thousands." David was showered with the blessings of all the people, including the king and the army of Israel.
Saul's son Jonathan saw what David had done. When he returned from the battle he made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. But Saul became suspicious of David and turned from honoring him. The people of Israel ascribed unto Saul as having killed thousands but David as killing ten-thousands. Saul saw that David behaved wisely in everything that he did and that the Lord was with him. Fearing that David would take his kingdom, he became obsessed with killing him. Saul sent David into the front of the battle hoping he would be killed; however, David gained more victories. Saul gave Michal, his younger daughter, to David as his wife, hoping that she would cause him to falter. But David's love of the Lord stayed steadfast. Saul's fears and suspicions turned to violence. Violence that could not be quenched unless David were brought to the grave.
When David faced the giant of Gath he met him with boldness and with the authority of the Lord; however, he was not prepared to meet Saul on the same terms. Saul was the king of Israel, the anointed of God. David was a young shepherd boy of no reputation. For one brief moment in time he was showered with accolades. Now he was taken from his father's house to serve the king, espoused to a woman with a love-hate attitude, and faced with a situation that he could not control. To make matters worse, the king along with the armies of Israel were now in pursuit of his life. In his fear David ran from the presence of Saul taking with him three of his closest companions. There was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide in all of Israel because everyone knew there was a price on David's head.
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As the time drew near for the Passover Jesus sent his disciples into the city. He told them, "Go into the city and there you will find a donkey tied with it's colt. Bring them to me. If anyone asks you why you are taking them tell them the Master has need of them." He had been looking forward to celebrating this feast with His friends. It was a special occasion in all of Israel. A time devoted to the remembrance of their deliverance from the land of Egypt. A time when God passed over the houses of the children of Jacob, which had been marked with the blood of a lamb, as the angel of death destroyed all the first born of Egypt.
When the men returned with the colt they found that He was already near the city. Sitting Him astride the colt, His followers began laying their coats and palm branches on the ground before Him as He rode into Jerusalem. This was the day they had long awaited. The day that He would set up the Kingdom of Heaven forever. Salvation had come to the land of Israel. The people lined the streets waving palm branches and singing, "Hosanna, blessed is the son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest."
Finally they reached the temple gates. The priests chided Him saying, "Tell these people do not speak in this manner. Silence your followers." Jesus exclaimed, "If these be silent, even the rocks themselves would cry out." Upon entering the temple He found the money exchangers and those who were selling animals for the offerings and sacrifices. Animals that were not worthy to be sacrificed to the God Most High. He cried out with a loud voice, "It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer." In His zeal He began beating the merchants and overturning the tables and the cages. Surely this was the Messiah who had come to deliver them from all their enemies.
For three days He returned to the temple and taught the people and for three days the priests questioned His authority. Suspicions aroused, they sought a way to silence this man who would be king. This man who the people were claiming as their new Messiah. They brought word to the High Priest, Caiaphas, that this man was claiming to be the Son of God. What was worse the people believed in Him and were following Him. What if the Romans should hear and take away their office and destroy their nation? Caiaphas ordered them to find a man among His followers who could be bought with money who would betray Him into their hands. He further said, "Consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation does not perish."
Just three days after His triumphant entrance into Jerusalem Jesus was arrested, falsely accused of crimes He did not commit, sentenced to death, and nailed to a cross. "Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed," *Isaiah 53:1-5.
For three full days He lay buried in a borrowed tomb. Were the people wrong? Was this not their Messiah? The anointed One Who would deliver them from all their enemies? The Christ Who would save them from all their transgressions? The Messenger of the Covenant Who would restore the Kingdom of God on earth?
On the morning of the third day an angel of the Lord came down and rolled away the stone that sealed the tomb of Jesus Christ. The Son of God tore off his burial clothes and arose from the dead. The Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world defeated the devil, the angel of death, by His own blood. The Messiah Who brought victory through His sacrifice and removed the sting of death. Jesus ascended into heaven where all things have been placed under His feet.
We may not see the plan of God when our life turns from bad to worse; but by example we do know this: By faith David believed God would see him through all the days of his life because he had been given the promise of the kingdom. By knowing Who his God was David defeated Goliath, not with a sword, but with a slingshot and a stone. Through obedience David chose not to take the life of Saul when he was given the opportunity because he would not lift up his hand against the Lord's anointed. David behaved himself wisely in all that he did.
When faced with persecution where do you turn? When everyone seems to be against you, who do you run to? There is a God in heaven Who has gone through that same trial as you are going through. He became a man so that He could understand the problems you face. He knows what it is like to be rejected, scorned, turned against, accused of, and ridiculed. He suffered persecution so that through your faith and knowledge of Him He can help you conquer your greatest fears.
When you need a place to hide - when you need someone to turn to, put your trust in the One Who knows what you are suffering. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Run to the shelter of His arms and receive all that He has to offer. His love is unconditional. He will accept you just as you are. He can turn your life of defeat into a life of victory.
By believing in Jesus Christ and placing your faith and trust in Him you can face the strongest of enemies and fell the tallest giants. He is the Lord of Hosts Who has delivered you from all your enemies. He is the Root of Jesse, the Lion of Judah, Who has defeated the enemy of your soul and placed him under your feet. His kingdom is from everlasting unto everlasting. A kingdom that will not be destroyed.
P "When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the Rock that is higher than I," was the song of David's heart. But when he ran from Saul he ran to the enemy's camp where he found a most unusual camaraderie.
*March 31, 2007
