What comes to mind? Goliath? King? Bathsheba perhaps? Or maybe a certain…**ahem**…statue?
Generally when we think of David, we tend to think of his triumph with Goliath. Sure, we may remember him as King of Israel. We may be reminded of his adultery with Bathsheba, which led to him killing her husband — not his best moment. But if you mention a “David and Goliath” story to anyone, Christian or not, they pretty much know what you’re talking about. Big guy vs. little guy where the little guy wins (spoiler alert!).
But here’s what I’ve realized recently. Goliath may have been his most famous battle, but it was not his hardest. Goliath was…actually pretty easy. Everyone else was scared, but David knocked him out with a slingshot in — realistically — about a matter of minutes.
His real battle was yet to come, and unlike his battle with Goliath, this battle would be painful and take years. You see, David was anointed as king of Israel while Saul was still the king of Israel. Saul’s jealousy of David led to years of David hiding in caves, losing friends, running and fighting for his life — all while knowing that God had chosen him to be the next king of Israel. He resisted temptation to kill Saul — more than once — and held on to the promise that he would be king in the time that God had appointed him to be.
That one victory David had over Goliath led to cheers, singing in the streets, celebrations, and worldwide recognition. His struggle for years against King Saul, his continued resistance to the temptation to end it all with Saul permanently, seemed to be “rewarded” with him witnessing the deaths of his friends, separation from family, and years on the run with no end in sight.
Ain’t that life though? Sometimes we have these grand amazing victories that put us on top of the world and we feel like everyone is singing our praises, our children are rising up and calling us blessed, and we have 10,000 herds of cattle…or something. But sometimes, the daily struggles of life, secret struggles we can’t share, or overwhelming times of disappointment or downright devastation seem to drag on. We would love to just pick up a smooth stone and knock whatever it is out of the park, but instead we’re hiding in caves waiting for the next chance to breathe or the next bad news to knock on our door.
But we know that’s not the end. Psalm 34:18, a psalm written by David during this time of struggle says, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” It’s always amazing to me to see that when David was at the lowest points of his life, he would write these beautiful songs, praising God. When he felt God was far away, he would just sing louder.
When I feel overwhelmed by life, I remind myself that God is near and He sees my pain. And not only does He see it, but He also promises to save me from it. It may not be according to my schedule, but He will. He always will.
Just keep singing.