The Big Break

1 Samuel 17:31-49

This is the greatest job interview in The Bible.

Photo by Astrid Schaffner on Unsplash

When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul; and he sent for him. David said to Saul, "Let no one's heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine." Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth." But David said to Saul, "Your servant used to keep sheep for his father; and whenever a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after it and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its mouth; and if it turned against me, I would catch it by the jaw, strike it down, and kill it. Your servant has killed both lions and bears; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God." David said, "The Lord, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine." So Saul said to David, "Go, and may the Lord be with you!" Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a bronze helmet on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail. David strapped Saul's sword over the armor, and he tried in vain to walk, for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, "I cannot walk with these; for I am not used to them." So David removed them. Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the wadi, and put them in his shepherd's bag, in the pouch; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine. The Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was only a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. The Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the field." But David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not save by sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord's and he will give you into our hand." When the Philistine drew nearer to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead; the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground. - 1 Samuel 17:31-49

I can do it.

No, you can't.

But listen to what I have done before...

Doesn't that sound like a job interview to you? Yes, it sounds like I am poking fun at a serious story in The Bible, but look closely. Saul is not taking David seriously at all.

We have grown accustomed to a different type of selection process in these stories, where eligible candidates are paraded before God or one of his prophets, and the least qualified is chosen.

Here, we have the situation flipped. God isn't deciding here. David has to convince Saul that he knows Goliath's weakness.

I have mentioned before that Malcolm Gladwell, the author of David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants, believes that Goliath had a genetic condition that made him huge, but also gave him poor eyesight, giving David the advantage in battling from a distance.

We can revisit that when we get to that part of the story, but for now, I want to focus on how heroes are chosen.

When David was chosen, people were confused because he was a runt, a small shepherd boy who played the lyre. This is how Saul saw him. Anyone who has worked in the corporate world has learned that how you were perceived when you started the job is how you are perceived later as you try to advance.

So, David needed this battle with Goliath. It would prove to everyone that he was more than a pretty boy who plays beautiful music and tends sheep.

This giant was his big break, and he had a strategy that had worked for him before. What did he have to lose?

The lesson for us may be that our talents, which are known to us, but not to the world, can come into play at some stage in our careers. We need to be willing to recognize the opportunity and step up to put ourselves in the game.

No one will think of us as the one they need to solve the problem or meet the challenge.

We have to be our own promoters.

More to come...

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