Theological Commentary: Click Here
Ever notice
the typical height of a Hebrew person?
They are not known for their great stature, and especially in David’s
day they weren’t very tall among the other inhabitants of the Promised
Land. Certainly, they are not
midgets. However, they aren’t exactly
tall or bulky, either.
Why is this
important? This chapter gives us two
stories of conquest. In the first story,
the Ammonites are truly defeated. The crown
that their king wore was 75 pounds!
Imagine the weight of such an object upon one’s head!
In the
second story, the Philistines are subdued.
The Philistines were giant men.
Elsewhere in the Bible we hear about David’s conquest over Goliath. Here we get David’s nephew’s conquest over a
Philistine and the death of Lahmi, the brother of Goliath. Although the Philistines were giant men, they
were defeated in battle.
What is the
point in this story? It isn’t the
physical stature of the Hebrew people that allowed them victory. Yet, they still carried around crowns that
weighted 75 pounds and defeated giant twelve-fingered men! They are able to be so successful because God
is with them.
When God
fights for us, what does our stature matter?
Can any opponent we face be as big as God? Can God not compensate for any of our
deficiencies?
That’s part
of why the story of the Hebrew people is so powerful. They were normal people, normal stature,
normal intelligence, normal in just about every way. Yet it was God who made them great. When we focus on His ability and not our own,
is there anything we cannot do if He is with us?
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