David The Warrior Series

INTRODUCTION

Today we’re returning to our series on ‘Learning from David’ and looking at the subject of ‘David the warrior.’

I thought we’d look at this subject this way. We’ll start by thinking about David and consider three questions. Did David fight? Why did he fight? And how did he fight? Then we’ll look at how this relates to Jesus. Finally, we’ll look at how it relates to us.

I’m going to be thinking mainly about fighting in a military context, not fighting temptation or fighting crime or fighting cancer or fighting corruption. I’m thinking about military battles, not spiritual battles or political battles.

DID DAVID FIGHT?

David’s achievements as a warrior and a military commander seem to me unparalleled. Let me run through some of them.

FIGHTER

As a young shepherd David struck down both lions and bears. Saul appointed David as his armour bearer. He would only have done that if David was a capable fighter. Then David fought Goliath. David ran towards the giant, slung a stone – and the fight was over. David was definitely a FIGHTER.

MILITARY OFFICER

After David had defeated Goliath, Saul set him over the men of war [1 Samuel 18:5]. A little further on, the Bible tells us that Saul made David a commander of a thousand [1 Samuel 18:13]. Today, you would probably have to be a lieutenant-colonel to be in charge of a unit of 1,000 soldiers. David was a MILITARY OFFICER, and a senior one at that.

FUGITIVE

Later, however, Saul was envious of David and saw him as a threat. He turned against David and David fled. There’s a lesson here. We may think that a good warrior stands his ground. A good warrior is not a quitter. But the fact that David fled reminds us that a good warrior doesn’t always fight. Flight may be a better option. At this point, David was a FUGITIVE.

GUERILLA COMMANDER

After fleeing from Saul, David moved around a lot. Sometimes he was in wildernesses in Judea. The last place he stayed in during this time was a town in Philistine territory called Ziklag. When David was in Judea, Saul hunted for him. About 400 men gathered around David. But even though David was being hunted, he fought. On one occasion, David heard that the Philistines were attacking a town called Keilah and went and rescued it. In the wilderness David and his men learned how to move at a moment’s notice, how to hide and how to attack with stealth. David learned to be a GUERILLA COMMANDER.

HEAD OF HOSTAGE RESCUE

Once, David and the soldiers with him were away from Ziklag for about three days. When they returned, they found that a group of Amalekites – a nomadic people – had carried out a raid against Ziklag. They had taken the women and children and gone on their way.

In the United States, the FBI has a specialist team called the Hostage Rescue Team. Its motto is ‘Servare Vitas’, which means ‘To save lives.’ It is one of the most highly-trained military units in the United States. The operatives in the team know how to fast-rope out of helicopters. They are excellent marksmen and experts in close-quarters tactics.

David and his men needed to free their wives and children. David had to become the HEAD OF A HOSTAGE RESCUE TEAM.

COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF

Later, David became king of Israel. As such, he was Commander-in-Chief of the army – as King Charles is today.

After becoming king, David conquered Jerusalem and made it his capital. He, or the forces he commanded, defeated the Philistines, the Moabites, the Arameans, the Ammonites, the Amalekites and the Edomites [2 Samuel 8:12].

We can’t imagine a British king today going to the front line and David didn’t lead all these campaigns himself. But he was clearly active as a soldier until late in his life. David’s military career started with him fighting a giant and it ended with him fighting another giant. David almost got killed and after that, David’s men told David not to go with them into battle any more.

I asked, ‘Did David fight?’ He clearly did! He fought in a whole range of capacities.

We shouldn’t just skip over the fact that David fought.

Does the fact that David fought mean that fighting is OK? Some Christians think that fighting is never OK. But the Bible says that David was a man after God’s heart [1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22]. David got some things wrong. But he got a lot of things right. It looks as though when David was fighting, he was displaying God’s heart. Is God a warrior? Yes, he is! Exodus 15:3 tells us straightforwardly, ‘The Lord is a warrior’ [NASB]. So, when David fought, he was displaying God’s heart. It means that it’s right to fight, in some situations at least.