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“He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him.” 1 Samuel 17:42 (NIV)

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.” I cannot say how many times I have heard this saying, but I am sure it has been many. Yet, sometimes I have done exactly what it says not to do. Isn’t it how things are, though? We look at something – or someone – that is placed in front of us and we are quick to cast our judgment, despite not being a connoisseur of the subject in its fullness. We simply place ourselves on the throne of our own glory, point out our prideful scepter, and vomit our words as if we were the most important and the most knowledgeable member of the royalty from the kingdom of nowhere.

I have a good example of what being judgmental can do to a person – or a people. When the Philistines and the Israelites assembled for battle around the Valley of Elah, King Saul gathered the most valiant warriors in Israel to fight the Philistines. There was a small detail though. No, I need to rephrase that, because that “detail” was anything but “small.” That detail had a name: Goliath.

Goliath was a warrior for the Philistines, and he was a man of great height – almost a giant. His armor was made of bronze and was very heavy and secure. Besides dressing in strong armor, Goliath was also dressed in hate, pride, and arrogance. So, when shepherd boy David showed up wearing his shepherd clothes and holding just a sling and five river stones in his hand, that giant and his fellow men mocked him. Goliath assumed that the battle was already over, because, in his view, there was no way on earth that young David could defeat him without a “real” weapon.

Friends, the outcome in this story was not what people would’ve imagined, wouldn’t you agree? We all know what happened to that warrior. It only took one small pebble to hit him between the eyes, and he was a goner, a dead giant, and a carcass in a field. David was just a boy, but he was fighting for the One who can do all things, fight our battles for us, and who will never leave or forsake us. Definitely an exciting “book!”

“God, help us to see others as You see them. Strip us of our pride, Lord.”

For His Glory

Luska Natali
TRBC Women’s Life