Is There Not a Cause?

And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause? –1 Samuel 17:29.

The story of David and Goliath took place over three millenniums ago and has been a perennial favorite of the young and old ever since. There is something about the plight of the underdog that we all relate to. Perhaps we subconsciously view ourselves in such odds and secretly hope that there will come a day when our own “ship will come in” in a similar fashion. Unfortunately, that sort of random success seems more akin to a Hollywood production than to real life. We see only the conflict between the young and the old, the shepherd and the warrior, and the heavy military weapons and the sling. Yet there were some preliminary principles that David embraced in his youth that made him a prime candidate for success. But these often go unheralded in our love for a climactic romantic victory.

If the only vision we have of ourselves comes from the social mirror about us, we will carry a warped inner perception similar to what we see as we glance into a trick mirror at a carnival. The social opinions and perceptions of our environment often cast an awkward and skewed description of our person before our eyes and ears. Sometimes it is unrealistically positive, building the person up in the eyes of the media when there is very little heroic character displayed.

The sports arena is probably the biggest offender in this. The individuals are praised who can run, throw, or shoot better than everyone else. But sporting talent adds little to their honest pure worth as a human. The other side of the coin produces an immense amount of negative and degrading input that seeks to thwart any effort to try. These comments are produced in copious showers by stressed parents, insecure siblings, frustrated bosses, and a host of other acquaintances struggling for identity in a “survival of the fittest” society. The input from these two camps is both disjointed, and out of proportion. To be told you are great will never produce greatness any more than a barrage of derogatory remarks will produce humility. Unfortunately, too often many of us allow these disproportionate projections to affect our thinking and chart our course.

The greatest and superior endowment given to mankind over the rest of creation is not found in his physical abilities, but in his mind. The most intelligent of animals can be trained to be responsible, but they cannot choose or direct that training. But as humans, we can write new programs for ourselves totally independent of our instincts or environmental training. Those of us who live in natural accordance with our instincts and conditioning, will scarcely rise above the animal kingdom. But those who will exercise and develop those endowments shall uniquely fill the role God has designed for them in their encounter with the giants. While David’s time and position were unique, the principles he embraced were universal. If I could teach my dog to yodel, it would prove that yodeling is achievable for dogs and open the possibility for others to do it too. Likewise, if David defeated Goliath by miracle alone, then there is no hope for us but to sit and wait for God to do the same for us. However, if principles were at the core of the victory, then there is an example for us to follow and a virtue to secure for use on our own battlefield.

As David arose early that morning and shouldered his pack of corn, bread, and cheese to take to his brothers, he had no idea what the day would bring forth. The Lord was his Shepherd, and he had no lack, but as he came upon the scene he was shocked at the sight. Both armies were positioned on opposite mountains and locked in a stalemate. To take your entire army down into the valley and fight the opposition uphill would leave you at a tremendous disadvantage. One that neither side was willing to risk. So, the Philistines evoked a common dimension of warfare proposing that two warriors would fight in the valley giving no advantage to either side. But the Philistines had a giant among their numbers that terrified the army of Israel. As David inquired into the situation as to why no one would confront the reproachful blasphemies of the infidel, he was met with a stiff rebuke from his oldest brother: …and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause? –1 Samuel 17:28-29.

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God –Hebrews 12:2. When a man has a cause set before him, he can endure almost anything. Some endure for a corruptible crown. King Saul had offered tax exempt wealth and son-in-law status, but the earthly dowry elicited no volunteers. While the thought of earthly prominence meant nothing to the tender heart of David, there was a jealous fire kindled by the blasphemous taunts of Goliath and he stepped forward by faith. But faith is not just a whim that may be inflated by an emotional tire pump. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works [action] is dead also –James 2:26. Thus, with the cause clearly before him, and his God beside him, David offers to fight Goliath.

So David moved forward acting according to godly, uncorrupted principles…

A Caring Conscience is seated in the soul of man and determines what we care about. Many think that a conscience is only useful as a limiting guide. But the human conscience was also created to function in the reverse. When we are convicted that something is good and right, we pursue it with a passion. Thomas Edison said that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. While this may be true enough, it is without question that the inspiration must arrive first. Jacob’s aspirations for Rachael made him forget the seven years of labor. Edison’s pursuit of a successful light bulb caused him to forget the thousands of elements that had failed.

Careless apathy is the opposite and is the result of a seared conscience. David was amazed that the blasphemous taunts of Goliath produced no cause for action on the part of God’s army. Give a man a reason to live and he will supply the how –Nietzke. As a holocaust prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp, Victor Frankl was commissioned to labor in the ward of the camp where prisoners were dying of typhus. He observed that when a person gave up hope, death was soon to follow. Likewise, for many of our day, when the hope of personal gain evaporates in the fray, so does the passion to overcome. Most workers today are more concerned about their paycheck than of doing a good and worthy job. Often when a man loses his feelings for his wife, he believes that he is incapable of loving her, but a man with a healthy conscience toward godly principles will act in loving fashion toward her regardless of his feelings or her response. The cause is aroused and fueled by the conscience and lays the foundation for passionate action.

An Honest Imagination belongs to the realm of the spirit and is driven by our conscience. Necessity is the mother of invention –Unknown. Some are waiting for life to be discovered while others are inventing it as they go. This is not a license to claim false ideals. David’s pursuit is honest for he was not warped by the media about him. He has met with success over the beasts (a lion and a bear) in the hills of Bethlehem and with God’s help, incurs no fear of contending with one (a man of war from his youth) in the valley of Elah.

As Saul reluctantly consents to David’s proposal, he proceeds to arm the lad in typical worldly fashion. While it may have been an honor to wear the armor of the king, David would have none of it: …I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him –1 Samuel 17:39, choosing five stones instead. Knowing what others do and knowing what to do are not necessarily the same thing.

The cowering beliefs of the Israelite army were rooted in a pagan value system. Goliath was not the problem, but rather, faithless fear and the assumption that they needed to engage in the warfare on the terms of the world. Those that embrace a true and worthy cause will surely find the imagination to pursue it.

Goliath had automatically assumed that he would be in combat under his own terms. Insulted and angered he cries out: …Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field –1 Samuel 17:44. As a giant, speed and agility are not his forte and so he orders David to come to him. But Goliath has grossly overestimated his personal ability and underestimated his foe. According to some estimates, at six or seven revolutions per second, David’s sling had the stopping power of a 45 mm handgun, and the hand of a skillful slinger …could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss –Judges 20:16. It was not unusual for them to be able to hit birds in flight. Ancient ruins have uncovered tongs that were believed to be used by the military to remove embedded stones from wounded soldiers. If Goliath had a spear and David a pistol, we would not be so quick to believe that the larger man held the major advantage.

Faithful Action is inevitable when our bodies are subject to our soul and spirit, and they are under the direction of God’s Spirit. We are then free to act independently of our nature and other influences. When the lustful passions of the mortal body hold sway over our inner heart and mind, we are defeated before we take one step toward the enemy. As vessels of God’s design, with a moral free will, we have the divine ability to choose our course of action. Some believe that being proactive is merely taking the initiative. But initiative alone will not fit us for victory any more than it did for the sons of Sceva. The desire to dominate is no more noble than Goliath’s unbridled rage to destroy this young upstart. His adrenaline flowed as he scorned David’s youth, jumped to conclusions, was easily insulted, and marveled at the ignorance of others.

But David carried no such reactive mission. His endeavor was that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear… –1 Samuel 17:47. Faithful action must be focused on yielding what you have, rather than obtaining what you don’t. If life erects concerns outside of our ability to change, it is fruitless to give them our attention. Joseph could not change his brothers’ reception, his master’s wife’s deception, the jail’s seclusion, or the butler’s delusion. The faith of the shepherd boy teaches us to stop lamenting over what we wanna-be and start being what we oughta-be. We need to stop looking for a miracle and start looking for an opportunity. It is not about overcoming extreme odds, but rather it is how we respond to a traffic jam, a disobedient child, an irate customer, or a demanding spouse. It is about owning a cause big enough to defuse selfish reaction and incite charitable pro-action.

Why would Japanese Kamikaze pilots die for a losing cause during World War Two? Why would Muslim terrorists blow themselves up? Why do Catholic Priests and Nuns take vows of celibacy and poverty? Is there no cause for the Christian that extends broader and deeper than the giants of this world? Is there not a cause that stirs our imagination and sanctifies our action? Or isn’t there even one that transforms our mundane work into a channel of grace for the service of the King of the Universe? How would history be different if Jesse would have spent his retirement like the elders of our day? God slays giants by the instruments we yield to him, from the needle of Dorcas… to the nail of Jael, from Zebedee’s boats of the business… to the boys of his bosom.