Who Will Protect Us?
October 20, 2024
1 Samuel 16:14-23, 1 Samuel 17:32-58, Psalm 27
Then Saul dressed David in his own gear, putting a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David strapped his sword on over the armor, but he couldn’t walk around well because he’d never tried it before. “I can’t walk in this,” David told Saul, “because I’ve never tried it before.” So he took them off. He then grabbed his staff and chose five smooth stones from the streambed. He put them in the pocket of his shepherd’s bag and with sling in hand went out to the Philistine.
1 Samuel 17:38-40
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One of the many idols of our time is the illusion of safety and security. OK, maybe not always “illusion”. Relatively speaking, we are probably safer on a day to day basis than many people in the world. Most of us have good shelter, easily accessible food and water, no immediate physical threats, etc. Not everyone in the world, or even in our own communities, can say the same.
I say “illusion,” however, because no matter how hard we try, we cannot be fully protected from every possible harm in this life. We can build our walls, increase our surveillance, develop better medical treatments, stockpile more money, etc. but there are always risks we cannot account for.
Our economy runs in large part on our desire to keep this illusion intact. Marketers prey on our desire for safety and security by telling us that we will not really be safe and secure unless we have whatever they are selling, or put our trust in whatever person, organization, or corporation they are promoting. We buy far more than we would ever need out of an irrational and often unrecognized fear that we may not already have enough. We vote for leaders who promise to protect us from the most outlandish threats and conspiracies. We hoard basic necessities during times of crisis or natural disaster leaving hardly anything left on the store shelves or at the gas pumps for those who probably need it more than we do. There is almost nothing we won’t do when we feel like our safety and security is at risk.
And then we meet David, a young boy with no military training and no weapons to speak of, preparing to put his life on the line against the greatest enemy his people had. Even the king and his greatest soldiers were terrified of this Goliath. So terrified and desperate in fact, that the king himself was willing to put a kid’s life on the line if it meant protecting himself. But he makes a good show of it. He offers the kid his royal armor, the best protection and security money could buy. If David dies out there, it won’t be because the King didn’t do everything possible to guarantee his safety.
But the armor doesn’t fit. The weight overwhelms this small shepherd boy and cripples him. He can’t even walk out onto the field and he can barely lift the sword. David knew his source of protection was not the security the king or anybody else could offer him. It was his trust in God alone.
Which begs the question, where is our armor, the things we cling to for safety and security, weighing us down? When will we stop trusting in the weapons of this world to protect us and truly place our lives in the hands of the God we claim to trust?
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I raise my eyes toward the mountains.
Where will my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth
~ Psalm 121:1-2 ~
