The Reward

 DEVOTION

1^ST SAMUEL

THE REWARD

1 Samuel 17:12-27

12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul's time he was old and well advanced in years. 13 Jesse's three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab; the second, Abinadab; and the third, Shammah. 14 David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father's sheep at Bethlehem. 16 For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand. 17 Now Jesse said to his son David, "Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. 18 Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance from them. 19 They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines." 20 Early in the morning David left the flock with a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other. 22 David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and greeted his brothers. 23 As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. 24 When the Israelites saw the man, they all ran from him in great fear. 25 Now the Israelites had been saying, "Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his father's family from taxes in Israel." 26 David asked the men standing near him, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?" 27 They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, "This is what will be done for the man who kills him."

NIV

We all know this story of David and Goliath. There have been flannel board figures for children’s Sunday school since flannel was invented. The older ones, us adults, have heard it over and over, read it a number of times in our schedules of reading through the bible in a year. It’s usually all about David making that profound statement, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”, and then going out to slay him with his sling and a smooth stone. But that is not the whole story yet when we get to that portion, there is a lesson for us; however, we first need to see this first lesson from this narrative. We noticed that the first time David heard Goliath was when he brought those peanut butter sandwiches to his brothers. He went out to the front line to see them, and that is when he heard Goliath, but the scripture tells us all of Israel ran from him in great fear, which had to include David. It was not until he found out what the reward was and had it repeated that he made that statement. God prompted David to be the man he was supposed to be, the slayer of Goliath, which would set David on the kingly path in front of all Israel. Sometimes we might need to be prompted to do what God has planned out for us. We could get distracted from the plan of God for our lives by attempting our own plans, even plans to serve him. We could get distracted by our earthly plans in our labors or earnings, so we can live as comfortably as we can, accumulating as many material goods and financial security as we can. Yet, God may have a different plan for us, and he may need to prompt us with that “carrot on the stick” concept he used on David. What did David know about being a king? After all, he was simply a shepherd; in fact, when his father sent him with food for his brothers, David, the one Samuel anointed as king of Israel, was tending his father’s sheep. That certainly could be a lesson in itself. Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?”, and when Peter said, “Yes”, Jesus told him, “Feed my sheep”. Those who have been called like Peter to feed the Lord’s sheep should feed them with the word of God. But our lesson is for all of us, that we need to be aware when God prompts us, even with a reward besides eternal life, which is a great reward. Yet, there may be times when God uses some material reward to prompt us to do something he has planned for us, and laid out the path we are to walk because we, like David, have not yet seen that path. David was moved to be the slayer of Goliath because the king would give him great wealth, marry the king’s daughter, and his father’s household would be tax-free in Israel. Quite a material reward for doing the LORD’s will. Let us know our Lord has a plan and will do what he needs, even to motivate or prompt us with a reward to walk that path.