There are a couple things going on in the readings for this morning: one is the slaying of Goliath, and the other is a Psalm that is thought to be written by David praising God for all that has been done for him. After I read the three readings this morning, I wasn't really sure what I was going to write about, until I went back and read them together, if that makes any sense.
The first reading, 1 Samuel 17, tells the story about David and Goliath, one of the greatest underdog stories of all time. A Philistine soldier, over nine feet tall scritpure says, was taken down by a boy with a creek stone and a sling? Ok, great story. And it's even one of those that I'm not going to question whether it's history or legend because God is a God of the underdog and this is exactly the kind of stories we should be telling.
The Psalm this morning is Psalm 9, and if David wrote it like we think he did, he is giving thanks for the fact that God has helped him defeat his enemies. Here's what I would like to know, and this is just the way I think, how many years passed between the rock sinking into Goliath's forehead, and the day David penned this Psalm? What other victories had he been given, and was he thankful for each one or for the fact that he had become a great warrior king?
His really is the ultimate underdog story and maybe that's why I like it so much. I mentioned the other day being picked last for team sports in elementary school, I wasn't kidding. Some of the girls even got picked before I did, especially for basketball. I sucked at basketball, still hate it. Kickball, I was pretty good at. But there was nothing as humiliating as knowing you were the underdog. Now ask me why I have no patience for sports.
But then there is that Psalm. I know from reading David's stories that he had his tough times too, yet this Psalm doesn't mention those. Maybe there's a lesson in that for me. Maybe there's a lesson in there for all of us.
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