The saga of David is one of the great stories in biblical literature. Young David did what Saul’s entire army did not. He killed the monstrous enemy champion, Goliath of Gath. He did not rely on the fi nest armour and weapons, but killed the giant with a stone from a slingshot. The Philistine looked powerful, but proved to be weak. David the shepherd boy looked weak, but proved to be powerful.
And scripture all but shouts at us that God is at work in the powerful weakness of young David.
David gained power of a more conventional kind. His record as king turns out to be decidedly mixed. Sometimes he discerned and did what is right; at other times he Sometimes our weakness has been revealed as strength abused his power and committed heinous crimes. Perhaps the worst episode involves committing adultery with Bathsheba and then setting up the murder of Uriah, one of his loyal soldiers. David grew as king according to 2 Samuel 5:10 “And David became greater and greater, for the Lord, the God of hosts, was with him.” It was because Yahweh, the God of the heavenly armies, was with him.
If God was with David, as the reading from 2 Samuel claims, then at times God must have been present with him in judgment.
I am not advocating adultery or murder in today’s society for any leader or any one of us but rather showing that God is with each and every one of us no matter what we have done right or wrong.
The short sentence “I am with you” is at the heart of the good news in the Bible. Why is “I am with you” so important? It means that David and all of us later royal and priestly children of God are never alone. However sinful and however lacking in confidence we might be, God is not ashamed to hang around with David, Bathsheba, or us. There is an implicit word of forgiveness in this simple sentence.
Finally, “I am with you” is a word of empowerment.
Whether it is the ability to trust, to carry out our day to day vocations, or to face all the challenges of life -- including our mortality -- God’s “I am with you” means that we have the promise of strength and encouragement to do what we have to do. Sometimes our weakness has been revealed as strength. And sometimes our strength has been revealed as
weakness.
