Week 3
David said to Saul, “Don’t let anyone be discouraged. I, your servant, will go and fight this Philistine!”
Saul answered, “You can’t go out against this Philistine and fight him. You’re only a boy. Goliath has been a warrior since he was a young man.”
But David said to Saul, “I have been keeping my father’s sheep. When a lion or bear came and took a sheep from the flock, I would chase it. I would attack it and save the sheep from its mouth. When it attacked me, I caught it by its fur and hit it and killed it. I have killed both the lion and the bear! This pagan Philistine will be like them, because he has spoken against the armies of the living God. The Lord who saved me from the lion and the bear will save me from this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.” —1 Sam. 17:32–37
When Saul meets with David, David understands why God placed him in the camp earlier that day. With confidence and clarity, he offers to fight.
Saul dismisses him, focusing on age and experience. But David recounts his battles in the wilderness, focusing on testimonies of God’s faithfulness and deliverance rather than on his own personal greatness. He is characterized not by bravado but by a confident trust rooted in history with God.
David’s identity, calling, and quest converge in this moment. And even Saul, desperate for hope, relents. “Go,” he says, “and may the Lord be with you.”
Reflection Questions
As you think about your circumstances and what you know of God’s general will through Scripture, what quests is he revealing to you?
Lord, what are you teaching me in today’s reading?
Lord, what else have you said to me through thoughts, circumstances, conversations, emotions, or the work of the enemy?
Lord, what do you want me to do: At home? At work? In ministry?