Eventually, young David,
castigated by his brothers though unfazed by their criticisms, is brought
before Saul. There, he recounts events
in his life concerning the killing of a lion and a bear by his own hands,
insisting that he is ready, willing, and more than able to engage the one
he considers to be not only an enemy of Israel, but also of Israel’s God.
David expressed confidence that “The Lord Who delivered me from the lion and
the bear will also deliver me from the hand of this Philistine!” (17:37a)
Once again, these words
of David could cause one to hearken to the life and voice of the one called
Savior, as through the numerous instances in which He spoke of His impending
and inescapable death and what He hoped to be His Resurrection, Jesus seemed to
express a supreme confidence that His Lord would deliver Him from the grip of
the enemy with which He intended to do battle on behalf of all of those that
would come to believe upon Him, and on behalf of the whole of the creation.
With this said, David
set out to face the enemy. As he did, “The Philistine kept coming closer
to David, with his shield bearer walking in front of him” (17:41). Though
his enemy approached, it is to be imagined that David did not waver. So
too can it be imagined of Jesus, in His final days, as He marched forth boldly
toward His cross. His enemy came closer and closer, holding forth the
accursed and shameful and humiliating cross as the instrument with which Jesus
would be engaged in the battle. Jesus, of course, did not waver. He
never once faltered, and thankfully, He did not fail, nor did the One in Whom
He placed His trust.
“The Philistine said
to David, ‘Am I a dog, that you are coming after me with sticks?’”
(17:43a) As this analogy has been developed, it is ironic that it is the
enemy of the Creator God’s people and that God’s man that could utter these
words, as when Jesus would set His face against His enemy and its chosen weapon
(the cross), He is the One that could rightly take up the same question and
ask, “Am I a dog, that you are coming after Me with sticks?”
In addition, “The
Philistine said to David, ‘Come here to me, so I can give your flesh to the
birds of the sky and the wild animals of the field’.” (17:44) To Jesus, death also could have been presumed
to have said, “Come here to me.” With this, it is interesting that death
and the powers that stand behind it would be employing crucifixion against
Jesus, as on many occasions the bodies of the crucified victims were left on
the cross, to be picked over by scavenger birds. Along with that, the traditional
conception of crucifixion has the body set several feet above the ground,
whereas in actuality, the victim was set just a few inches off the ground, so
that the victims were left exposed to scavenging animals as well.
David’s reply is that
“You are coming against me with sword and spear and javelin. But I am
coming against you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel’s
armies, Whom you have defied” (17:45b). Indeed, death thought that it had
weapons that would serve to defeat and destroy, but ultimately, its weapons
lacked power. Jesus also stood in the face of His adversary, and just as
David reminded Goliath that he was attempting to defy the Lord God of Israel,
so too would Jesus remind death that it was an illegitimate and unintended
usurper inside the created order of the God of Israel. Death had defied and
the Creator God and His plans long enough, and that God, through His Messiah,
was going to deal death its mortal blow.
Good correlations.
ReplyDelete