For forty days Israel and her enemy the Philistines were at a stalemate, the two armies facing each other across a valley with a stream running through it. Aggressive arrogance on one side met fear and trepidation across the valley. It was a forty day stand-still that was close to erupting when young David approached Goliath and , undeterred by the giant’s taunts, answered, “This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands,. . . all those who are gathered here will know that it is not by sward or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give all of you into our hands.” (I Samuel 17:47).

The enormity of David’s words and action could hardly be measured. Not only did he secure a great victory for Israel and freedom from the Philistines, but he successfully reaffirmed the presence of their God in the midst of their lives as a nation and a people with a history of God as their very identity.

This story is thrilling for children and adults alike. It touches the yearning we all have of participating in a wholly righteous cause and successfully reaffirming that righteousness.

From the time when Samuel anointed David, and perhaps even before, David had “tunnel vision” (I Sam. 16:13) , the capacity to focus so thoroughly on God that he saw God in circumstances that others found obscure. David never doubted who really enabled him to kill bears, lions and Goliath. He saw through almost every tunnel to the light at the end, and he recorded this in his many psalms: I love you, Lord, my strength.

The Lord is my rock, my

fortress, and my deliverer;

my God is my rock, in whom I

take refuge. (Ps. 18:1-2).

David’s love for the Lord sank deep into his spirit. In the rest of the forty days of Lent we could imitate David’s “tunnel vision”, and seek God in the most adverse times and conditions. It won’t be hard to find such conditions in our world; the challenge of Lent is to seek out the “tunnel” and find the light that lights our paths today. Simply reading David’s words daily in Lent is a good way to reach for the light.

Love in Him

Prue