Why Didn’t Saul?

1 Samuel 17:38-39

Then Saul gave David his own armor—a bronze helmet and a coat of mail. David put it on, strapped the sword over it, and took a step or two to see what it was like, for he had never worn such things before.

“I can’t go in these,” he protested to Saul. “I’m not used to them.” So David took them off again.

There is something disconcerting to me in the story of David and Goliath.

No, it’s not that David was able to kill a giant with a rock. God was with him; Goliath was a dead man walking from the moment David entered the field.

It’s not that the armies of Israel came out every day to fight, only to run away like ninnies at the sight of this big dude.

It’s this question: why didn’t Saul go out there? Saul was head and shoulders taller than any man in Israel. He was a big dude in his own right. Why did he let David, a young boy, fight his battles for him?

Saul was king! He offered a daughter and tax breaks for anyone who defeated Goliath. Why didn’t Saul fight?

He even tried to talk David out of it, telling David that he was too young, too small, too insignificant. Saul was none of those things? Why didn’t he fight?

Saul tried to get closer to the battle without actually fighting it. He tried to dress David up in his armor, but David refused. David knew what God had done in him before, and based on that, he knew what God was going to do again. Why didn’t Saul know that?

Saul knew what God wanted from Israel’s king. Saul felt God’s anointing, yet he didn’t use it when it was needed most. Instead, some freckle-faced kid killed Goliath, and eventually replaced Saul.

It’s great for you to know what God wants from you. It is incredible to feel God’s calling to do something. It is an altogether different thing to actually do what God wants you to do. I Don’t ever want somebody to say, “Why didn’t Jerry do it?”

Don’t try to be somebody else and wear their armor. Go forward, relying on what God has done for you in the past to bolster your faith and strength for today.

You can do it!

Today’s Readings: 1 Samuel 17; Psalm 9; Matthew 2

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