I Samuel 21:9: “And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me.”
I read this passage this morning from my father’s Bible. My father passed away three years ago on my birthday. He had had a stroke and spent a year in a nursing home before passing away. Before he had his stroke he gave me his Bible. I don’t know why but he just wanted me to have his Bible. He said he had others. However, this was his large print Bible where he had unlined numerous passages of Scripture. I often read from this Bible and look at the passages he underlined and wonder what he was thinking when he unlined a particular passage. I have another Bible and sometimes I will read from that Bible. This Bible was given to me by a man I led to the Lord some forty years ago. He personally went out and purchased this Bible as a gift for me and I still have it after forty years.
I live in the electronic age and generally I study from my I Pad where I have over a dozen Bibles, including my Hebrew Bible downloaded into my Kindle APP. It is much easier to read from a Kindle that it is from a heavy book. I can lie down and just hold the pad up in the air as I read. The light from the Pad means I don’t have to adjust a lamp to read. I can easily switch over to reference the Talmud, Mishnah, or Midrash which I have downloaded in my Kindle without having to get up and search through my library. So I have become comfortable reading from my IPAD.
Yet, there are times I will read from my father’s Bible or the one given to me by a friend forty years ago. I will do this because, well that is my sword. It reminds me of those who encouraged me and prayed for me. Yes, it is a memento. We all have mementos, little trinkets that were given to us. They may be absolutely worthless in monetary value, but they are priceless to us because they remind us of those we love. They remind us that there was someone out there who cared enough for us that they wanted to share a little gift with us.
I own countless Bibles that I personally purchased, but to this day I have only two printed editions of the Bible that I really pick up, my father’s Bible and that of my friend of over forty years ago. They remind me that someone in this world was praying for me and when I needed to feel those prayers, I pick up and read from those Bibles.
David says something very interesting in I Samuel 21:9. He is running for his life, King Saul has a posse after him and poor David has a price on his head. In this moment of fear he fled to the high priest Ahimelech, the only one he could trust and asked for bread and a sword. The priest said that the only sword was the sword of Goliath. Then Ahimelech said something odd. In Hebrew he said ‘ayin ‘achereth zulathah. This is very curious. It literally means there is no value in it. This is generally rendered as there is nothing else. But the word zulathahhas the idea of something being worthless. Most likely Ahimelech was saying, this sword is Goliath’s sword, it is big, heavy and cumbersome, and it will be of no value to you.
Yet, David replied by saying, ‘ayan kamoha which literally means it is not like her. There is no neuter in Hebrew so as he was addressing an inanimate object that was neither male nor female David is literally saying, it is not like it. In other words, he is saying, it is of value. One English word that comes to mind is priceless. Ahimelech was right, such a large, cumbersome sword would be of little value to David who was on the run. This was a battle sword, one you carried into battle. In fact you did not really carry it at all, you had a sword bearer carry it because it was so cumbersome and large. By the time you reached the battle field you would have been so pooped out from luging this monstrosity around you would not have the strength to swing it, so you have a sword bearer carry it for you. It was of little value to David for defense purposes, yet he wanted it. Well, he had no choice there were no other swords around and he needed a sword.
Perhaps there was a second reason he wanted this sword. I think it was a memento from the God that David loved. He had once killed a giant with that sword through the power of God and now he once again needed the love and support of His God and in his moment of desperation, this sword reminded him of the God who loved Him.
We all have mementos from someone who loved us and cared about us. Those little trinkets may have little value monetarily. They may have a practical use, like Goliath’s sword, but it may not be appropriate for the situation. Maybe a jacket, or hat that was given to us for someone who loved us. We might be able to purchase a jacket or hat that would be more stylish or warmer but on a special occasion where we just want to be reminded of that one that we loved and loved us, we will wear it. I have many Bibles on my I Pad but on special occasions I will just pick up my father’s heavy, large print Bible and read from it, just to be reminded of His faith and His love for God.
Do you ever stop to think about the mementos that God has given you. Is that little sparrow that lands on your porch and sings and dances for you just a nuisance who is going to poop on your porch or he is little memento from the God who loves you. Ancient Jewish literature teaches that God knows of every sparrow worth only half a penny that falls or lands before you and when he sings and dances before you he is priceless, for he is reminding you that the Spirit of God is present.
Recent Comments