“Jumping to conclusions”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Friday, July 14, 2023
1 Samuel 17:17-30 (Forward, p. 77) CEV p. 296
It has been said that with some people the most exacting and strenuous exercise they ever get is jumping to conclusions. Certainly, this would seem to be the case with David’s eldest brother, Eliab. He overhears David talking to some of Saul’s soldiers and jumps to the conclusion that David has sloughed off his duties of looking after the family’s sheep and has come to the battle scene just to observe what’s going on. Eliab doesn’t take the time to even find out why David’s there. After all, David has come there only at their father’s bidding and say-so, namely, to bring his brothers some food from home and enquire after their well-being.
But then, maybe, just maybe Eliab had also overheard something of the gist of David’s conversation with Eliab’s fellow soldiers and was disturbed by it. “What will the man receive from the king should he defeat Goliath?” What cheek! What nonscience! It is clearly an impossible task. The man is undefeatable.” And, as for David’s gall and naivety in suggesting that Goliath is insulting the Hebrew people and making fun of their God, so what? Eliab sees no point, no point at all, in entertaining such notions, as the task is clearly beyond any human ability. So, maybe this is why he is so angry with David, for suggesting such nonscience, such silliness. He doesn’t have the faith in God or the respect for God’s person and holiness that David has and so he isn’t quite so offended by these goings on as David is.
I would suggest that both of these are badly lacking in our world today, and even, I might say, in the church. So, maybe we today need a bit more of ‘David’ in our lives, a bit more respect for His person and a bit more belief in His power. Maybe this is why we don’t see more of His happenings!
Forward notes: “David said, “What have I done now? It was only a question’” (verse 29).
“Eliab was mad when he realized that David intended to face Goliath. He believed David’s only intention was to show off and gain fame by defeating the Philistine of Gath. Eliab was envious of his younger brother.
“My parents taught me to always do my best. At a union meeting at University of Guantánamo, my colleagues nominated me for Best Employee Award in my department. One person raised her hand to object. She said that I had once arrived late to work—she remembered the exact number of minutes I had been late! I was surprised. It turns out she had always received the Best Employee Award. She had been observing me and saw me as a threat. Yet I was not doing my best in order to be recognized; I was just doing what my parents had taught me. Others overruled her objection.
“Envy makes us selfish. Rejoicing in our neighbors’ achievements brings peace to our lives.”
MOVING FORWARD: “What is your experience with rivalries between siblings? Are they always destructive or a natural part of life?”
A concluding observation: I’m afraid that today’s author is reading something into the account that isn’t actually there, at least, not in actual words. David hasn’t said anything yet—or least not directly--about himself facing off against the giant. Indeed, according to today’s account, that isn’t why Eliab goes after him. There is nothing in his complaint that has to do with about David wanting glory or fame. Instead, his complaint centres on his conviction that David is just ‘goofing off’ and neglecting his chores back home. However, with a nod to our author, the others who have heard David do think that there is something to his words and so bring him to the king, to Saul. So, did they think that David was offering to meet Goliath in single, hand-to-hand combat? The passage doesn’t say, but that, it turns out, is exactly what David had in mind. So, maybe there was a reason for envy, but an envy on account of David’s pluck, bravery and faith.