I’m heading into a new season. Last Sunday marked the beginning of a new season for our church. I always knew this season was coming. I had just thought that it was still a few years off. When we arrived in Legana in 1995 it was love at first sight. We had lived in a high-density part of Melbourne, just ten minutes out of the city centre, where we had been pioneering a church in a very needy part of the city. When the Lord called us to Tasmania we were initially unsure where we were going to be called. Then it became obvious that the Holy Spirit was calling us to Launceston — where we would be based in Legana (ten minutes north of the city of Launceston). Whenever anyone asked, “If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you really want to live?” My answer has always been the same: “Right here.” Yet, Kim and I always knew that the day would come when we would have to transition into a new season. As I was convalescing and physically battling with what appeared to be chronic fatigue, in my daily Bible reading I read the story of the turning-point in King David’s seasons. He had once been the young “giant-killing king of Israel” who was now the sixty-year-old weary king who was about to be killed by a giant named Ishi-benob. This became the moment when four very young men stepped-up and did what their previous generation thought was impossible: they each killed a giant!
THE DAY THAT DAVID COULD NO LONGER KILL GIANTS
¶ There was war again between the Philistines and Israel,
and David went down together with his servants,
and they fought against the Philistines. And David grew weary.
Second Samuel 21:15
Years before David’s season changed, the Philistine’s champion, Goliath, challenged the national army of Israel (under the leadership of King Saul) to come out and face him man-to-man in one-on-one combat. But there was not one Hebrew man who dared accept his challenge! When the sixteen-year-old shepherd boy, David of Bethlehem, arrived with supplies from his father for David’s seven brothers, David did what none before him had dared do: he accepted the challenge of the 12-fingered giant to enter into one-on-one combat. And with God’s help, David defeated him.
“AND DAVID GREW WEARY”
Years later, David is now much older – probably close to 60 years of age. He no longer has the youthful vigour that he once had. “And David grew weary” the unnamed prophet writes. And what nearly happened next nearly changed the course of human history!
And Ishbi-benob, one of the descendants of the giants,
whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of bronze,
and who was armed with a new sword, thought to kill David.
But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid and
attacked the Philistine and killed him.
Then David’s men swore to him,
“You shall no longer go out with us to battle,
lest you quench the lamp of Israel.”
Second Samuel 21:16-17
WHAT DAVID COULD NO LONGER DO
– COULD STILL BE DONE –
EVEN MORE EFFECTIVELY!
After this episode, the unnamed narrator includes a remarkable series of giant-killing tales that actually greatly honoured David (2Sam. 21:22). Four young men, Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Sebbecai the Hushathite, Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, and Jonathan the son of Shimei (David’s brother) each slew giants as big as—if not bigger than—the original Goliath that the young David had slain!
But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid and attacked the Philistine and killed him.
Then David’s men swore to him, “You shall no longer go out with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel.”
¶ After this there was again war with the Philistines at Gob. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Saph,
who was one of the descendants of the giants. And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob,
and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, the Bethlehemite, struck down Goliath the Gittite,
the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. And there was again war at Gath,
where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot,
twenty-four in number, and he also was descended from the giants. And when he taunted Israel,
Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, struck him down. These four were descended from
the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.
Second Samuel 21:17-22
David had been fighting battles, that no-one thought could be fought – let alone won, for many years. He was not just weary – he was battle-weary. But in the process of being present, courageous, faithful, and fearless, he inspired a generation of young warriors to step up and enter into the fray with the confidence that they could. What their parents and grand-parents thought could not be done, and what they had never witnessed anyone even brave enough to try, these four young men serving David dared to believe was also possible with God’s help — just as David had once done. While the day came that David could no longer kill giants, it came on the same day that four young men were inspired to believe that they could!
It would be a nice way to conclude the Biblical story of David’s life with this honourable tribute of his inspiration of the next generation, but sadly, this is not where it ends – and even sadder for the memory of King David is the narration that the shepherd-turned-warrior King did not handle his lack of military-identity with the required humility needed for such a high royal office. The Scriptures reveal that there are certain life-changes which require a good deal of humility to be able to enter well, and even though David, the once humble shepherd boy, had been selected by God precisely because of his humility, toward the end of his life he did not maintain it as well as he had when he started. This reveals that there are some great and difficult lessons for those of us who are ageing to learn from this and to recognise and accept when a season changes we must too.
Change is never easy. But it is necessary, even for churches. There is a tragic aspect to church history that reveals those churches that forsook Christ’s mission and refused (or were unable) to change, ended up dying. The challenge before us as a church is to embrace change and recommit ourselves to our God-given mission to know Jesus and make Jesus known. It is my hope that we can all work together and cheer on the next generation of “giant-killers” and that: (i) parents of primary-school aged children will prioritise getting their children to Kids Church each Sunday; (ii) the parents of teens will encourage their teens to commit to our youth group each Friday; and, (iii) each of us will get a fresh revelation from the Spirit about the times we are now living in and why gathering together as a church family each Sunday and in our Home Groups, is now more important than ever before! As we heard from several people last Sunday who brought prophetic words, we are now heading into a new and greater season of anointing and harvest!
Your Pastor,
Andrew
Let me know what you think below in the comment section and feel free to share this someone who might benefit from this Pastor’s Desk.
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