One’s greatest enemy
17 – “And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren;
18 – And carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge.
19 – Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.
20 – And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle.
21 – For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army.
22 – And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren.
23 – And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them.
24 – And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid.
25 – And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father’s house free in Israel.
26 – And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?
27 – And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him.
28 – And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle.
29 – And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?
30 – And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner.
31 – And when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul: and he sent for him.
32 – And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.
33 – And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.
34 – And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:
35 – And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.
36 – Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
37 – David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.” (1Samuel chapter 17 verses 17 to 37)
Little did he know age does not matter on the course of destiny.
There was a need in the land that someone should step up to that responsibility. At that moment it does not matter whose responsibility it is. It was an open need for anyone who can challenge the challenger. Sometimes even when people do not have what it takes to make any difference, yet they will find it difficult to accept your option because of their selfish interest that only has the capacity to sink the boat.
They are being intimidated of your personality. How can you be the one to provide solution for the course that everyone else has deployed the best arsenal, yet that could not amount to any significant impact? They size you the same way Eliab sized David his youngest brother because he thought he knew David very well for they are members of the same family. Little did he know age does not matter on the course of destiny.
He realised that if he failed to act, he might not escape the repercussions.
Your household members are one of the greatest challenges one will ever face in life. The army of the host Israel were in disarray and in deep confusion. They were in their thousands, yet none of them were able to question David personality and eagerness to know what the battle was all about. They did not question him at the moment, because all they needed was someone who will take away the reproach that was about to befall them. They urgently needed someone to take away the predicament confronting them before they all perished.
None of the army’s of Israel ever questioned the capacity of David except his eldest brother Eliab. In the midst of the host of Israel’s army, David’s greatest enemy was Eliab. The army of Israel saw challenge confronting them and has the capacity to swallow them, but David had a different view. He saw the challenge confronting his people. He realised that if he failed to act, he might not escape the repercussions.
While others were shying away, David saw an opportunity for elevation.
While others saw reproach befalling them, David saw lifting. He did not see dethronement as others did in all this, rather he saw enthronement. While others were shying away, David saw an opportunity for elevation. He understood such opportunity does not occur always. He had to make good use of it. At that moment it does not matter who believes in him or not, he was motivated by the vision before him.
David saw an open door that will announce his family in the whole nations of the world, and place them on a higher ground of abundance and prosperity. Eliab was the one who the devil wanted to use to abort the conviction David held in his heart by trying to help shut down the door of greater lifting that was about to be opened for the family and the land of Israel.
Eliab would have stopped David if not that he persisted.
It was not as if he so much care about the life of his youngest brother David. Everything he was doing was from the act of jealousy and hatred. He can’t imagine seeing David been the one who will confront the giant. The course on ground is for anyone. Someone else could have confronted Goliath, but for the fact that it was David, he was not comfortable with that. Eliab at the moment became a destiny hindrance. Eliab would have stopped David if not that he persisted.
Conclusion:
“And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.” (Mathew chapter 10 verses 36)
Many have been trapped in life because of well meaningful family member who was trying to give a good advice, ending up crippling the whole dream. You have to be mindful of the person you are listening to. Their advice will either make you or mar you. You can only be stopped when you decide to be stopped.
