Waddya Lookin' At?! Series

WADDYA LOOKIN’ AT?!

EXTREME MAKEOVER: HEART EDITION (Episode 1)

This series focuses on ten years of David’s early life staring with his “Call” in 1 Samuel 16 and ending with his first “Coronation” in 2 Samuel 1-2. David was a man after God’s own heart and this series focuses on the extreme makeover God did on this shepherd boy’s heart to make him that man. There are five episodes in Extreme Makeover: Heart Edition and each episode focuses on one facet of David’s extreme makeover, moving him episode by episode from a Shepherd boy that loved God to a Warrior King after God’s own heart.

DAVID GETS THE “DOOR KNOCK”

Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king." 1 Samuel 16:1 (NIV)

LONG ODDS DEMAND COURAGE

Goliath towers above them all: nine feet, nine inches tall in his stocking feet, wearing 125 pounds of armor, and talking trash like the main contender at a World Wide Wrestling Federation championship night. He wears a size 20 collar, a 101/2 hat, and a 56-inch belt. Then the Philistine said, "This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other." [11] On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified. 1 Samuel 17:10-11 (NIV)

What odds did David have against his giant? Better odds perhaps than you give yourself against yours. Your Goliath doesn’t carry sword or shield; he brandishes blades of unemployment, abandonment, sexual abuse, or depression. Your giant doesn’t parade through the Valley of Elah; he prances through your office, your bedroom, your classroom. He brings bills you can’t pay, grades you can’t make, people you can’t please, whiskey you can’t resist, pornography you can’t refuse, a career you can’t escape, a past you can’t shake, and a future you can’t face.

How long has he stalked you? Goliath’s family was an ancient foe of the Israelites. Joshua drove them out of the Promised Land three hundred years earlier. Saul’s soldiers saw Goliath and mumbled, “Not again. My dad fought his dad. My granddad fought his granddad.”

You’ve groaned similar words. “I’m becoming a workaholic, just like my father.” “Divorce cuts through our family tree like a chain saw.” “My mom couldn’t keep a friend either. Is this ever going to stop?” When Saul and his men heard the Philistines’ challenge, they were terrified.

But what am I telling you? You know Goliath. You recognize his walk you recognize his voice. You’ve seen your Godzilla. The question is, is he all you see? You know his voice – but is it all you hear? Waddya lookin’ at!?

IGNORE COURAGE KILLERS

When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, "Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle."

[29] "Now what have I done?" said David. "Can’t I even speak?" [30] He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before. 1 Samuel 17:28-30 (NIV)

COURAGE IS FORGED IN OBSCURITY

Goliath jogged David’s memory. This Valley of Elah was a déjà vu. While everyone else quivered, David remembered. But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, [35] I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. [36] Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 1 Samuel 17:34-36 (NIV)

A good memory makes heroes. A bad memory makes wimps. “Remember His marvelous works which He has done” (1 Chron. 16:12). Catalog God’s successes. Keep a list of his world records. Has he not walked you through high waters? Proven to be faithful? Have you not known his provision? How many nights have you gone to bed hungry? Mornings awakened in the cold? He has made roadkill out of your enemies. Write today’s worries in sand. Chisel yesterday’s victories in stone. Pick up the stone of the past.

David’s heart didn’t suddenly turn courageous on the floor of Elah’s Valley. God had sown the seed of courage in David’s heart years earlier. This makeover began in obscurity with no one watching. Sports Illustrated didn’t document it. USA Today didn’t highlight it. Soldier of Fortune wasn’t there with a photographer. David’s courage was first tested in the loneliness of sheep herding.