Is There a Cause?

 November 6, 2020

1 Samuel 17 tells the epic tale of David and Goliath, the underdog emerging triumphant overwhelming odds, slaying the giant with a sling and a stone. There is however, an important part of the tale that seldom is mentioned—David’s rather tense conversation with his older brother Eliab, who may still have been stinging from being snubbed by Samuel, passed over in favor of this mere kid brother of his. 

David had watched in amazement as Goliath taunted the Israelite army with cursing and blasphemy. In spite of Goliath’s massive size, David was astounded that no one was willing to even attempt to confront him. The text reads, “Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger was aroused against David, and he said, “Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.” 

David’s response cuts to the heart of the matter: “What have I done now? Is there not a cause?”” —I Samuel 17:28-29 

Most modern translations aren’t happy with this old rendering of the original Hebrew text, changing the wording to such phrases as, “Can’t I even speak?” These more recent versions may be more accurate, but the old King James preserves an important nuance so often missed. “Is there not a cause?” I.e. “isn’t there a good reason to stand against this blasphemy and arrogance?” 

Saul’s soldiers were afraid because their leader Saul was afraid. All any of them could see was the size of this Philistine. They couldn’t discern their own destiny, their calling in life. They had no cause, no great calling to fulfill. They were on the battlefield because they had been conscripted into the army and had no stomach for a fight. Only David had a cause—the honor of the Name.

I wonder how much I have surrendered because I haven’t had a cause, a reason to charge the Enemy. Too often we’re more interested in being nice, in being liked, than in the honor of the Name of the Lord. We sit on the sidelines, watching the Enemy saunter and taunt, when we should like David, charge full speed ahead towards that before which everyone else cowers in fear, shouting as he did, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a 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 day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.” —I Samuel 17:45-46 NKJV

What is your cause?