The Armor of Kings

The Armor of Kings
Words of Faith 10-23-24
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2024
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><

1 Samuel 17:38-40
[38] Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. [39] David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. "I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." So he took them off. [40] Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

At first glance, it might appear that Saul was attempting to protect David in the best way possible by clothing him in his own royal tunic, armor, helmet, and sword. Or we might think that this simply was a great honor. In fact, Saul was looking only to himself.
In the ancient world, it was believed that wearing the armor of another imbued a warrior with that person's power and essence. It was the ancient form of wearing the jersey number of a great player. But even more, Saul probably wanted to be identified with David in case he was victorious. That way, Saul could claim the victory as his own because of his armor.
David did not reject Saul's armor as a way of dishonoring him-- it simply did not fit! Physically, it didn't fit. Saul stood taller than the tallest men in his day, and David was of average height. While we cannot know precisely, scholars estimate that Saul was 6'6" tall or more and David about 5'11'. The armor would have been cumbersome, and a large bronze helmet awkward.
David tried walking around and realized that Saul's armor was not going to work. It may have looked as silly as it felt to him, so he took it off. Instead, David armed himself with the simple tools of a shepherd-- the staff, the sling, and five well-chosen stones.
Saul's armor didn't fit physically, but it also didn't fit spiritually. Saul's armor was the armor of the world. David's battle was really not against flesh and blood.
Stones were a standard weapon in battle. The stones usually used for battle were manufactured from flint and measured about two to three inches in diameter, about the size of a racquetball or a baseball. Such a round stone packed quite a wallop in battle, but it would not be enough to topple an armored warrior. Instead, David gathered five smooth stones from the streambed in the Valley of Elah. His experiences with wild animals had taught him that a smaller, smooth stone would fly very fast through the air.
David only needed one stone, but he chose five. Why? We can't know for sure. Did David accidentally choose five stones? Did he not trust his own aim? Of course, we don't want to make too much of this, but numbers often have meaning in the Bible. We know that there are five books of the Law of Moses. Five is also noted to represent Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Creation, and Redemption. Five is also thought to be the number of Grace. David was prepared for anything, including other warriors who may come on the battle field.
We may think of a sling as a child's toy. It was not. The sling was made of two cords and a pocket. With great skill, a shepherd could hurl a small stone against a rock or bush just above a stray sheep to get its attention and bring it home. A little larger stone could easily fracture the skull of a predator and drop it to the ground. Demonstrations of this skill and precision are amazing.
So David prepared for battle in this way. He would not wear the armor of the world or the helmet of a king. He was confident in the Name of Almighty God. He was prepared with a few small stones and a sling. In his heart, the battle was already won.
How about us? Have we been preparing for battles using the weapons and armor of the world? It makes more sense to walk in God's truth and depend upon His Name's might. Ill-fitting armor will leave us poorly equipped for battle.

Father God, show me the preparations that You want me to make. Show me the preparations of the Spirit and heart that are different from the world's preparations. Armor me with Your Spirit-- the armor of the King of kings rather than the armor of worldly King. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< ><> <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><
© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2024
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SUBSCRIPTIONS - To receive the Words of Faith devotion five days a week, send an e-mail message addressed to join-words-of-faith@hub.xc.org. To stop receiving Words of Faith, send an e-mail message addressed to unsubscribe-words-of-faith@hub.xc.org. The daily devotion and archive are posted at https://www.faithfellowshipweb.com/blog
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2024 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.