1 Samuel 18:6-16 Winning Hearts In these last few Sundays you have heard a sermon about King Saul and how he lost the kingdom through his disobedience, and a sermon about young David, anointed secretly as the Shepherd King; and you ve heard read in worship the passage that introduces handsome David with the beautiful eyes, and the story of David as a brash, determined fighter who defeats the Philistine giant. All together, with today, five consecutive Sundays with reference to David and Saul. But here is the thing that amazes me, that in the lectionary there is only one passage that deals with David- just one reading, and that is David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17. It isn t enough; we saw a couple of weeks ago that David s is an epic story, a novel if you will- 46 pages long- and we are supposed to get an understanding of David and his time in one story- and a very confusing one at that! (Since Sunday, I have noticed a big mistake, that somehow I overlooked Seven more readings dealing with David the King, after Saul s death at the end of 1 Samuel. Sorry for the blunder!) So I have extended our David coverage. Today, and at least one more sermon. He is too important to our understanding of the Old Testament, and even our understanding of the gospels and the Messiah, for us simply to let go of him with one life event. Think how important he is. With David, God had made a
complete turnabout in his dealings with the nation of Israel. God changed his mind, and selected this person- after choosing someone else- as the focal point, and the beginning point, for the rest of Israel s history until the close of the Hebrew Bible- and even beyond, as the pattern for God s yet-to-come Messiah. That s why we should not let go of David so quickly. And here he is in our reading, almost instantaneously the most popular citizen in the land. The adoring women come out to greet him immediately after he has killed Goliath. It happens for him that fast. He is a rock star, a pop idol, a war hero; the people love him and keep on loving him for decades- until the story comes full circle- when Absalom, his son, rebels and receives the same kind of adulation as young David. Can we even begin to fathom that kind of popularity, as though he was Elvis, or Princess Diana- or take your pick, your favorite star or hero? And what did he do to gain such extreme adoration? Just this, he went out and came in before the people ; they watched him, going out to fight the enemy; and they saw him returning, a champion. It appears he won every battle- he had greater success than any other of King Saul s captains. But it wasn t just the victories, it was perception. Simply, he was what they wanted him to be, he performed in the exactly the ways they wanted a hero to
perform. Verse 16, all of Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them. He won their hearts by winning battles- look at the women s song about David and his 10,000 kills- by winning and then showing off the victory, leading his conquering soldiers back into the city. And looking so handsome doing it. It isn t only verse 16 that tells us how all the people loved him: the ardent women in our passage singing and dancing, and in later chapters will come the accounts of women doing whatever they could to please him. I said two weeks ago that David was the ideal man, so we shouldn t be surprised that people fall all over themselves trying to love him. In chapter 16, we read that Saul loved him greatly; in the first verses of this chapter, Jonathan, Saul s son, loved David as his own soul, made some kind of commitment to him, gave him gifts- his own clothing, his armor and weapons; Saul s second daughter, Michal, loved David, and soon became his wife. All the people of the nation loved him- we are told that twice. And yet, we may properly wonder what David does to earn such devotion. That s the oddest thing. He does almost nothing. He never speaks love to anyone else, seemingly never seeks the good opinion of others. He is just this: handsome with beautiful eyes; and he is out there, the victor, watched by all the
nation. He is what they want him to be, even if he is something else than what they think he is. He is as much the cunning politician as the dashing champion; and a man who keeps his secrets and never betrays himself. Unlike Saul, whose every scheme is a misstep. His situation just goes from bad to worse- controlled by the evil spirit from God that drives him to madness and to rage, so that he wishes to kill; Saul, loving David, and yet in our reading angry with him, afraid of him, in awe of him. The troubled soul who somehow lost the hearts of his people and could not win them back. So, how do we account for David and his astounding successes? And what word do we need and want to hear in this passage? In verse 14 the author gives us a ready and easy answer, the Lord was with him. It is a simple answer, and yet a troubling one. It is a simple, reasonable answer because we can read in the 46 pages of David s story how he was the man after God s own heart, but a disturbing answer because he never seemed truly to give himself anyone else. He wasn t a good father or husband. But he won victories, he was a great politician; and he led Israel in the next steps of its evolution into nationhood. And though his reign was a violent one, and many of his descendants, kings in the land, were a craven, brutal lot, when we read that the Lord was with him, we should
recognize it as the writer s confession of faith: that God was the Lord of Israel, that God is in control of world events, God leading onward his obedient, humble people to fulfill and live out the plans and promises of the Lord of all things. It is something strange, God changing course mid-stream, forsaking Saul and choosing David. What choice of king would seems wiser to us: the tall and strong warrior, or the musical boy with beautiful eyes? But God sees the heart, as we read in an earlier passage that introduced us to David. And even if we are unable to figure him out, God knows him. And knows the future into which David will lead his people. And so, for all of David s failings, so easily seen in this narrative of his life, we must believe, with the biblical writer, that the Lord was with him. Because it is a promise to us as well. With this faith, that God is with us, we can be assured of the present, and of our future, trusting that God is leading our lives, and even in the darkest times and places, is leading the life of nations into a better, more peaceable world of fellowship and caring. The Lord was with him. The writer s understanding of God in history and in the present day and in the time to come is our confession about God, too. Not a confession concerning God s presence with any particular political or religious
leader, nor God s approval of one national philosophy over another, but our belief that God is with all those who are faithful to live so that the life of every person is made better. That we see ourselves as an army of peace in the march of human progress, armed only with kindness and hope; and following the Lord who is with us, who wishes only that we love one another. Our task, as Christians, as individuals, as a church, is not to win hearts only to become well liked, or to be noticed and successful, but to become hearts joined together in friendship, to restore the life of the earth and improve the lives of its people, to increase their joy, to heal all hurting creatures, and thus, to bring glory to God.