We
are familiar with the story of David and the Philistine (Goliath). David is
chosen to be the king of Israel and he had responsibility to protect the people
from the mighty Philistines. Philistines were stronger in terms of army and
power but people Israel were weak but depended mostly on God’s assistance.
David has an important task to overpower the mighty and liberate the people of
Israel from the clutches of sword and spear. The story begins when David
prepares for the battle. He took his staff in his hands, a sling and five
smooth stones. It was a shepherd’s staff unlike the warrior staff that
Philistine had. It was not a sword, javelin or spear but mere sling and stones.
Using slings in war was quite common. The slings were made up of leather
patches held together with two strings coming out either side about three feet
long. From this we know that sling is probably poor people’s armour to defend
from the mighty armour of sword, spear and javelin. Story continues further,
Philistine is ridiculed before even David could strike the stone. “Am I a dog
that you come with sticks?” I would have been a greatest insult for a mighty
warrior like Philistine when David presupposes that he can strike him. Thus the
confidence of David is tremendous in the story. That is why David responds to
Philistine, “you come with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I
come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, this day God has delivered into
my hands and I will strike you down and cut off your head.” This he does, first
of all he strikes him with his sling and cuts the head off.
I
would like to point out the dynamics of the story. First of all, there is a
symbolism of power driven by human arrogance, which will eventually be
defeated, and other hand symbolism of weakness but strengthened by God, which
will eventually be triumphed. Philistine was a powerful arrogant champion and
depended on sword, spear and javelin. His power was vested in the worldly
weapons. It is quite natural to think that when we have weapons we can
overpower the weak. In our world today, we see, hear or experience modern
Philistines who think that they can win by oppressing the weak, voiceless and
marginalized. They might win but that triumph will not last very long. However
mighty it may look, but it would tumble like the mighty Philistine.
On
the other hand, the weak will triumph because God is on their side. David’s
sling was able to defeat the mighty sword of the Philistine because God was with
David. Even though David was weak, God made him strong. In fact, we are strong
when we are weak. St. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, “My grace is enough
for you: my power is at its best in weakness. So I shall be very happy to make
my weakness my special boast so that the power of Christ may stay over me, and
that is why I am quite content with my weakness and with insults, hardships,
persecutions, and the agonies I go through for Christ’s sake. For it is when I
am weak that I am strong.”
Do
we feel weak? When do we feel weak? Do we dwell on our weakness to influence
our lives? Weakness is not a permanent state of human person; in fact it is not
even a situation. Weakness is just the absence of strength. We become strong
whilst we are weak because weakness is the stepping-stone to strength. We
progress learning from our weakness. In all this, Christ is our stronghold and
refuge. There is a tendency to think that mighty rules the manger but in truth
it is the weak rules the world. God is at side of the weak, Jesus said, “It is
the sick who needs the physician.” Let us hold on to our Lord and Saviour when
we are weak and He will make us strong.
