David Ascendant

by Brian Godawa

  The next words that came from Abinadab struck David in the chest like an iron rod. “The king has even offered up the hand of one of his daughters to the soul who triumphs over this titan.”

  All sounds seemed to suddenly go silent as the words sunk in. His brothers continued to speak, but their lips seemed to make no sound as David felt glorious hope rise within him. He knew at that moment that Yahweh had made a way for the impossible to become possible.

  Abinadab said, “Are you listening to me?”

  “Is that true?” asked David.

  “Is what true?” complained Shammah.

  “What you said about the king offering his daughter in marriage?”

  Abinadab scolded him, “I told you it was part of the royal decree.”

  David’s mind raced. He would do anything to win Michal’s hand. Anything. This champion was huge, but he was also loaded down with clumsy armor. David thought he would be no different than a big stupid bear, like the ones he had easily outwitted protecting his flock. Sure, he could not face the giant’s strength, but he didn’t have to. He could outmaneuver him, dance around him and make him tired. Keep his distance and keep pelting him with stones from his sling.

  He remembered that his last use of the sling almost got him killed due to a terribly aimed shot at a lion. He would need Yahweh’s favor if he would face this behemoth. But is that not what Yahweh required? What god did they serve if he could not vanquish such giants as Joshua and Caleb did? What kind of army of Yahweh had not one warrior worthy of challenging this Philistine ogre? Saul himself, with his size and skill as warrior king, would be capable of besting the brute. David believed with all his heart that these uncircumcised idolaters could not take away Yahweh’s Promised Land. He had been practicing his heart out for the time when he would be of age, so that he could join the army of the Living God. He saw this as his chance to trust in the delivering hand of Yahweh.

  “Take me to the king.”

  But when he turned, his way was blocked by a fuming Eliab.

  “Why have you come down, little brother?”

  His look was accusing. David said innocently, “To bring you provisions.”

  “I know your presumptuous, evil, little heart. You came down to watch the bloodshed, you spoiled baby.”

  David gave a hard stare at his older brother. He had never done so before, but he had had enough.

  “Eliab, you have been a spoiled first-born all your life. You have sought recognition and the praise of man’s lips instead of Yahweh’s. This is not the time for petty sibling rivalry. Get out of my way. I am going to the king.”

  Eliab’s eyes went wide with shock. David’s words pierced him like never before. They carried an authority that exposed Eliab’s longtime envy of David’s anointing. Bitterness had built up in his heart because he could not see why Yahweh chose the youngest of the family instead of the eldest. It was a common tactic of Yahweh’s election, from Abel to Isaac to Jacob to Joseph and more. Yahweh always seemed to choose the one least likely for choosing.

  Eliab stepped back out of his little brother’s way.

  • • • • •

  Across the way from the Israelites, the Philistine soldiers laughed and jeered at their cowardly enemies. The five other Sons of Rapha gathered around Lord Achish and Lady Bisha as they looked down upon their lone champion standing unopposed in the valley.

  Ishbi said, “My lord, how long will Goliath continue this wasted exercise?”

  “For as long as it takes,” said Achish. “The longer it goes on the more demoralized their forces become. We may win this war without a drop of blood.”

  Ishbi said, “But at some point, we begin to look like a crowing cock if we do nothing but boast. A swift, vigorous assault will surprise them and crush them with finality.”

  Bisha leaned over to whisper to Achish. He pretended to consider his options, then said in full accord with her counsel, “When they finally send their champion and he is defeated, then we will exterminate them.”

  Ishbi knew Bisha pulled Achish’s strings. He didn’t need the spirit voices in his head to tell him so. She was the ruthless politico behind the fat lord’s ambitions. The rules of champion combat were that the loser’s army would voluntarily lay down their arms and be brought back in chains, not slaughtered mercilessly. This bitch queen might yet be the downfall of Gath.

  • • • • •

  Saul sat brooding in his war tent when a servant announced the arrival of his personal musician.

  The unseen spirit shadow beside Saul whispered furiously in his ear. The presence of this upstart shepherd always unsettled it. Saul became more agitated.

  “David,” said Saul, “why are you here? This is neither the time nor place for music.”

  David bowed and said, “Your servant has not come to play music, my lord.”

  Saul spouted impatiently, “Well, what in Sheol are you here for then? Speak up.”

  “I will fight the uncircumcised Philistine.”

  A moment of shock hit Saul, and then he burst out in laughter. The unseen and unheard spirit beside Saul cackled with laughter as well. Their voices became one in unison. For a moment, David felt certain he had heard another voice in the tent. He felt the presence, but could not place it.

  “You are not able to fight this Philistine.” Saul could not stop his chuckling. “You are but a youth. He has been a man of war from his youth.”

  David said, “As a shepherd for my father, I have killed lumbering bears like him while protecting the flock. Not long ago, a lion took a lamb from my care. I caught him by his mane and struck him down.”

  David decided not to admit his terrible aim with the slingshot. He had killed the lion after all. That was what mattered.

  Saul could not stop laughing.

  David persisted. “Yahweh delivered me from the paw of the bear and the lion. He will deliver me from the hand of this overgrown brute, this uncircumcised Philistine.”

  Nimrod would not stop whispering. He had been waiting for an opportunity like this for too long, a way to rid himself of this precocious little godlicker that was spoiling his attempt at complete control of Saul.

  Saul stopped laughing. Then, as if he were listening to some unseen person, he finally said with a chuckling smile, “Go! And may Yahweh be with you!”

  If Saul had been in his right mind, he would never have entrusted the nation into the hands of this unproven shepherd musician. If he had been in his right mind.

  David bowed and prepared to leave.

  Saul barked out. “Wait! You will need armor. Nothing but the royal best for my champion.” He snickered and gestured over to his own suit of armor on a six and a half foot tall mannequin.

  David could see himself weighed down with the helmet of bronze too big for his head, the chain mail too heavy for his smaller torso and the sword too large for his grip. But he knew Saul was being facetious. He knew it was still a joke to him.

  David said, “Uh, I have not tested your armor, my king. I have another idea.”

  • • • • •

  Goliath was annoyed with the slowness of these desert rats. The Israelites had announced their challenger, but had kept him waiting, which made him even angrier. The sun rose high. His armor grew hot. He was sweating inside, and itching. He scratched his crotch and kept his eyes peeled for the fool who would die on his javelin. He decided that after he killed the warrior, he would sexually penetrate the corpse’s skull in front of the entire army.

  As the Champion of Philistia, Goliath was free to dress his armor any way he preferred. This was the case for all the Sons of Rapha, none of whose origins were with the original Sea Peoples, but with Canaan.

  Rather than wearing the well known feathered headdress of the Philistines, Goliath wore a bronze helmet more akin to Greek or Assyrian protection. He wore one hundred and twenty-six pounds of Egyptian-styled chain mail on his monstrous nine and a half foot frame. His bronze greaves that protected his shins were Gre
ek, and his shield bearer carried a full-bodied shield before him rather than the smaller round Philistine style.

  Goliath’s huge scimitar, not as popular with the regulars, was slung over his back. He planned on first using his loop javelin to skewer his victim with a sixteen pound iron spearhead, or pierce his prey with a mighty launch as it ran away.

  Goliath was ready for a killing.

  Finally, he saw an opponent approaching him by the stream that flowed through the valley. Finally. Over forty days for these pathetic Hebrews to muster up the courage to face him.

  Word spread through the Philistine ranks. Attention was piqued. Soldiers stopped their dice playing and woke from their naps when they heard the news: a challenger approached.

  Lord Achish stood up and squinted to see better in the glare of the sunny day. He said, “Finally, a champion fool for my Goliath to finish off.” Lady Bisha’s stomach quivered with excitement. She hoped for a gory bloodbath.

  But as the challenger came closer it became apparent, he was not what Achish had expected. He was not what anyone had expected. Lord Achish muttered, “Is this a jest? They mock me?”

  The challenger looked like a young boy. Because his eyesight was not as sharp as in his youth, Goliath could not tell for sure until the lad had reached to within fifty or so feet of him.

  He was puny. And he wore no armor. He was clad as a shepherd without his cloak. He had a shepherd’s staff and sling in his hand. He looked like a teenager. In fact, he was quite handsome and Goliath thought it would be a pleasure to sexually violate this stripling. But he was insulted by the challenge. He boiled with rage.

  He screamed out to his enemies on the hillside, “AM I A DOG THAT YOU COME TO ME WITH STICKS? I CURSE YOU BY DAGON, BA’ALZEBUL, MOLECH AND ASHERAH! YOU FILTHY HEBREW COWARDS!”

  Goliath turned to David and said, “Come to me, boy. I will give your flesh to the vultures and jackals. After I have my way with you!”

  David shouted to him, “You come with scimitar and javelin, but I come in the name of Yahweh of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have blasphemed! This day Yahweh will deliver you into my hand and I will smite you and cut off your head!”

  Goliath laughed with incredulity. And it is a puny pontificating pipsqueak no less. I wonder if the little rat is going to keep on talking.

  He did. “I will give your body to the vultures and jackals, and all the earth will know that there is a god in Israel whose name is Yahweh Elohim! And this assembly will know that Yahweh saves not with sword or spear! For the battle is Yahweh’s and he will give you into our hands!”

  Goliath muttered, “Sanctimonious little twat.”

  He saw David reach down by the brook to pick up some stones. Goliath pushed his shield bearer out of the way. He was obviously unneeded. But he could not stop staring with amused wonder at this bold little rodent who charged at him, swinging his little string over his head. He was within thirty feet now and the child stopped. Goliath dropped his javelin. His new plan was to catch the little runt, rape it alive, then rip its body in half with his bare hands.

  David prayed out loud as he swung his sling, “Yahweh, please make up for my bad aim.” He had four additional stones in his satchel just in case.

  The sling released.

  Goliath was becoming aroused with his perverse thoughts when the stone hit and sank into his forehead, right below the armor line of the helmet.

  He heard the sound of his own skull crunching under the impact. He was too confused to figure out what had happened. Then everything went black and he fell to the ground.

  The Philistine camp went dead silent. No one could believe what they just saw.

  No one.

  Did that little Hebrew just fell their champion with a stone?

  No one in the Israelite camp could believe it either. Least of all, Saul, and his dark companion.

  It was as if time stood still for both sides. It was a valley of silence.

  Up on the Philistine heights, Ishbi watched the Hebrew runt run over to Goliath’s fallen body. With great effort, the kid drew out Goliath’s huge scimitar from his back.

  Ishbi screamed, “NOOOOOOOO!” as the Hebrew raised the blade high and chopped off Goliath’s head.

  Then he pulled up his tunic and released his bladder on the corpse.

  Ishbi and Lahmi raced down toward their fallen comrade. They saw the Hebrew raise Goliath’s head in victory as a squadron of waiting soldiers stripped the armor and fled with David back to their lines.

  By the time Ishbi and Lahmi arrived at Goliath’s decapitated and stripped corpse, David was almost back to his lines. Ishbi thought he should have had Runihura throw one of his missiles at the fleeing runt.

  Lahmi had wanted to take and use Goliath’s armor as his own to honor his brother. But the greasy little Hebrew had confiscated all of it along with Goliath’s head.

  Lahmi picked up his brother’s body with tearful eyes. Ishbi was too shocked to respond with anything but open-eyed terror.

  Lahmi cried out, “Who was that vile creature?”

  Ishbi laid his hand on Goliath’s chest. “We will find out. And when we capture him, we will keep him alive in such pain for so long that Sheol will be a relief to his torment.”

  Lahmi’s eyes dried with hatred. He could only think of one thing. “He has a family.”

  • • • • •

  David was brought to Saul. He approached the king, carrying the head of the giant. Goliath’s armor was carried by others. He knelt and laid the head at Saul’s feet as an offering of obeisance.

  Saul and everyone around him were still in stunned silence.

  Finally, Saul blurted out, “Whose son are you, again?”

  Saul remembered that he had publicly promised to bestow great riches and honor on the family of the victorious warrior, as well as his daughter in marriage. But David was of such humble origins that Saul never could remember his father’s name.

  David said, “I am the son of your servant, Jesse, the Bethlehemite.” He was used to Saul’s bad memory, and had often joked with Jonathan about it.

  Saul said, “And which one is he again? He will be sad to know that you will not be returning to his house. For you, my gibborim, will be the new captain of my bodyguard.”

  In this moment, everyone knew that Yahweh had performed a miracle. But it was more than a miracle, it was an unveiling. More than a few persons now suspected the true reason for David’s anointing by Samuel; that the messiah of Israel had been revealed. Among them were Jonathan, Saul—and Nimrod.

  “Send the emissaries to disarm the Philistines,” said Saul. “We have a victory to celebrate.” He placed his hand on David’s shoulder and looked at him with pride. He was elated, and free of his fear and muddled thinking.

  The dark counselor had temporarily left him again.

  • • • • •

  But Achish, Lord of Gath, had no intention of allowing such an Israelite celebration. He had no intention of submitting to the rules of war. He immediately turned to the commanders near him and barked, “Quickly, lead your forces and flee back to Gath before the Israelites can catch us!”

  Chapter 28

  Ittai stood alone in his forge. He looked with a stone face into the furnace of fire. He had lost everything. He had no family, no recognition, no love, and no dignity left. Everything he pursued in his life sifted through his fingers like sand into the sea. Any hope of finding a little piece of happiness in this miserable existence died when he learned he was the cursed Seed of the Serpent.

  He grabbed the noose he had formed with the rope that dangled from the ceiling rafter. He placed it around his neck and prepared to kick away the stool he had been standing on.

  He heard the sound of arriving trumpets. It was not the sound of a triumphal entry, but rather the urgent sound of retreat. He was curious. But he thought, What would the defeat of my city be but one more defeat to crown my life of defeats?

  A rapid knock on his door
jarred him. He heard his neighbor, the carpenter, yelling, “Ittai! Ittai! Goliath is dead! The Israelites have chased our forces back to the city!”

  Goliath is dead? The champion of the Philistines? The general of the Sons of Rapha? Suicide would have to wait. This, he had to hear.

  He pulled the noose off and jumped down to open the door. The carpenter was turning to leave.

  Ittai said, “How was he killed?”

  “They say it was a contest of Champions. They say it was a malicious miracle. Some say it was a mere juvenile who felled the giant. Others say he dropped him with an Evil Eye of magic.”

  Ittai remembered the words of Lahmi to him, An ancient prophecy of a messiah king born of the Seed of Eve and of Abraham will rise within Israel. He remembered that Goliath was going to call out their Champion and challenge him to a duel. No one could best Goliath.

  No one, except a messiah king, a gibborim savior. That would be miraculous.

  The carpenter saw the noose hanging from the ceiling. “Are you all right, Ittai? Is everything okay?”

  “What is the matter with you, Gelt, have you not ever considered killing yourself?” Gelt was speechless. Ittai gave him a big, silly grin and closed the door. His knees almost buckled from his wonderment. What if this messiah king was the vanquisher of the Seed of the Serpent? What if he was a savior? What if he was a good king? Would there be a place for repentance and allegiance to his lordship? Could a Rephaim be redeemed?

  Ittai’s plans for demise changed. He had a new reason to stay alive. He had new hope.

  Chapter 29

  Saul chased the Philistines all the way back to the gates of Gath and Ekron, ten miles west of the Valley of the Terebinth. On their way back to Gibeah, the Israelites stopped at the location of Goliath’s defeat to plunder the camp of the Philistines before returning home. It was the first moment that the Israelites had to rest since the fateful battle of David and the Philistine.