[Saul said] “Tell David that all I want for the bride price is 100 Philistine foreskins! Vengeance on my enemies is all I really want.” But what Saul had in mind was that David would be killed in the fight. David was delighted to accept the offer. – 1 Samuel 18:25-26a (NLT)
This account in 1 Samuel 18 reminds me of why Scripture makes it a point to tell us that David was a man after God’s own heart. Most men would’ve said, “A hundred foreskins? Saul has lost his mind! This is a suicide mission!”
But not David. No, Samuel tells us that when David heard Saul’s offer – he wasn’t scared. He was DELIGHTED. Michal, Saul’s daughter, had fallen in love with David, and apparently David had fallen in love with her just as much.
But Saul underestimated David in so many ways, over and over. And here, he clearly underestimates him again – his determination.
Saul could’ve told David he wanted 400 foreskins and it wouldn’t have mattered! You see, David knew where his strength came from – he had a relationship with the Source. He had placed all his trust in God when he went up against Goliath, and he would trust Him even more in this inglorious mission. Bare minimum wasn’t a word in David’s vocabulary. He wholeheartedly believed in what Jesus taught in Matthew 5:41: “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.” David rendered service gladly.
And so, he was thrilled to honor the king’s request. He didn’t spend a week thinking about it, thinking about what it might cost him in the end. His response to Saul’s offer was immediate. “You bet. Count me in.”
Men of God are not defined by caution, calculation, or self-interest. They are defined by decisive obedience that’s rooted in confidence in the sovereignty of Almighty God. When obedience carries a cost, they don’t retreat… when faith requires action, they move forward, not backward.
David had already learned something every man of God must learn sooner or later: when you know where your strength comes from, the size of the assignment doesn’t matter.
Former Blackout Artist 