The narratives of David are filled with warfighter theology. In fact, it is difficult to find material in 1-2 Samuel, 1 Chronicles, and Psalms detached from the theme of war. Specifically, these narratives provide access to the interior life of a man of God (1 Sam 13:14) and a man of war (1 Sam 16:18).[1] In David, godliness and vocational warfighting intersect.[2] This convergence will be the focus of this section.
1-2 Samuel reveals a man consistently exposed to combat. [3] And “there was war again” (1 Sam 19:8; 2 Sam 21:15, 18, 19) aptly summarizes the context of the Davidic narratives. As a warrior, he was highly respected by his people and celebrated for his valor (1 Sam 18:7, 16). He was held in high esteem by his brothers in arms for his prowess, discipline, leadership, humility, and faith (2 Sam 17:8, 10; 23:13-17). This esteem and respect given by his battle companions and community extended to his enemies (1 Sam 18:30, 29:4-5).[4]
David was well experienced in his warfighting vocation. He led small units of warriors, commanded elite troops, had charge of hundreds and thousands of soldiers, and eventually was the chief over an entire army (1 Sam 18:3, 22:2, 23:1-5; 2 Sam 12:29, 23:8-39). He knew life on the front-lines of combat and experienced calling the shots from the back (1 Sam 17; 2 Sam 21:17). He was a combat-proven veteran and leader.
In the Air Force, David would have quickly moved through the enlisted ranks and commissioned as an officer. He would have led as a flight commander, a Director of Operations, and then a squadron commander. His capability and aptitude for leadership would fast track him to group commander. Eventually, he would wear a couple stars and oversee a major command. His leadership at higher levels would peak as he put on more stars to lead the entire force.
David’s combat exposure was profound. Called a “man of blood” (2 Sam 16:6-8), his temple-building aspirations were denied because of his scarlet-stained hands: “You have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth” (1 Chron 22:8).[5] He took many lives, saw many lives taken, and lost friends, family, and loved ones. David’s combat experience spanned roughly fifty-five years.[6] The narratives in Samuel, Chronicles, and Kings, as well as the Psalms of David, are not shy about the impact of combat on this warrior’s soul.[7]
David was not just a man of war; he was a man of God. He was a worshipper of God, a man of prayer, and a lover of God’s word. The only thing more pervasive than combat throughout the Davidic narratives is faith. David was a “man after God’s heart,” a warfighter with an interior life aligned with God.[8] How did his faith inform his vocation? How did his view of God impact his view of war? How did his spirituality influence his combat leadership? Did his walk with God impact how he viewed his enemies? How did his faith inform his painful and conflicted combat experiences? How did he stay spiritually healthy in the midst of so much bloodshed?
These are critical questions for understanding the intersection of faith, spirituality, and the warfighting vocation. In order to arrive at a decisive conclusion, eight themes in David that live in this intersection will be explored: 1) the warrior’s posture towards God’s Word; 2) the warrior’s relationship with God; 3) the warrior’s view of war; 4) the warrior’s view of the enemy; 5) the warrior’s connection to community; 6) the warrior’s mechanism for processing combat; 7) the warrior’s sin, shame, and guilt; and 8) the warrior’s gospel dependence. These will be taken in turn in the next posts.
THE INTERSECTION OF GODLINESS AND THE WARFIGHTING VOCATION
[1]“For David there is one verse that contains a remarkable concentration of descriptive terms. The qualities in this verse furnish a useful structure for examining David’s early life. They also summarize the traits he exemplifies throughout 1 Samuel 16-1 Kings 2.” McKenzie explores the six descriptive terms: 1) skillful in playing—music played an important role in the temple worship…it was also used to induce prophetic trances…and to keep away or exorcise demons and evil spirits. David was known as the sweet psalmist of Israel (2 Sam 23:1), the author and organizer of the Psalms. 2) a man of valor—some translate as ‘nobleman,’ the literal meaning of this Hebrew expression is a ‘powerful man’…it is a reference to social standing. 3) a man of war—this item refers to someone with considerable experience and success on the battlefield. His skill as a warrior was the single most important attribute in his rise to power…David’s skill as a warrior is a key ingredient in the Bible’s description and probably in the career of the historical person as well. 4) prudent in speech—Literally it means ‘clever of word.’ It indicates David’s familiarity with proper protocol among the upper class. It also suggests his shrewdness and intelligence as well as his facility with words. 5) a man of good presence—may point to his handsome appearance or a general good presence. 6) the Lord is with him—God’s favor, presence and support of David throughout his life, warfighting and ruling. Steven L. McKenzie, King David: A Biography (Oxford: University Press, 2000), 50-66. See also, Steven L. Mckenzie, “Who Was King David?” Word & World 23, no. 4 (2003).
[2]Walter Brueggemann suggests that the narratives of David are woven together with ethical and practical fabric. “The interface of tensive complexity in the text and tensive complexity in life suggests that in communities of faithful interpretation, such texts as those concerning David are not to be read, understood, and interpreted, but also practiced as a way of attentive life, a life of fidelity.” Walter Brueggemann, David’s Truth: In Israel’s Imagination and Memory (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2002), xvi.
[3]1 Sam 17, 18:7, 19:8, 21:9, 22:20-23, 25:28, 28:1-4, 30:1-31; 2 Sam 3:1, 5:19-25, 8:1-6, 10:4-18, 18:7, 21:15-19, 23:8-39.
[4]Avigdo Shinan states that the predominant character that emerges of David is “that of a tough warrior, a man of reckoning and a shrewd statesman.”Avigdo Shinan, “King David of the Sages,” Nordisk Judaistik 24, no. 1 (2003): 54.
[5]Donald Murray links Yahweh’s refusal of David’s temple building to the purity laws in Numbers. He states, “in Numbers killing in battle is treated, uniquely in the Hebrew Bible, as ritually defiling, making the defiled a danger to the community until they have been decontaminated (31:19-24)… David’s wars were divinely ordered and blessed, since in Num 31 such a divinely ordered (31:1-7) and blessed (31:8-12) battle results precisely in religious contamination (3:19-24).” Apparently, the sheer amount of blood shed by David’s hand disqualified him from the temple project. Donald M. Murray, “Under YHWH’s Veto: David as Shedder of Blood in Chronicles,” Biblica 82, no. 4 (2001): 469, 475. Pierce holds a different position, he argues that bloodshed excludes David from building the temple because warfighting is not God’s ideal. “If David’s excessive participation in war is what disqualifies him from building the temple, then shedding blood is not the ideal, and thus God does indeed operate within a different ethical framework than humans.” Madison N. Pierce, “War: Fighting the Enemies of God, not Man,” Biblical Theology Bulletin 43, no. 2 (2013): 82.
[6]David was 40 years old when he became king (2 Sam 5:4). David reigned as Israel’s king for 40 years (1 Kings 2:22). He was anointed to be king and fought Goliath as a young man (1 Sam 17:33). Leslie McFall, “The Chronology of Saul and David,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 53, no. 3 (2010), 524-528. David’s pastoral vocation was a significant primer for becoming a warrior. Kenneth Bailey, The Good Shepherd: A Thousand Year Journey from Psalm 23 to the New Testament (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2014), 40, 50. The Middle Eastern shepherd faced regular danger and harsh physical elements that consistently tested his physical, mental and spiritual strength. The rod was the traditional weapon of the shepherd, and proficient use of the rod was essential for survival and protecting the livestock. David’s skill with this weapon was demonstrated against formidable animals; this experience equipped him for battle (1 Sam 17:34-35). Christopher Skinner, “‘The Good Shepherd Lays Down His Life for the Sheep’ (John 10:11, 15, 17): Questioning the Limits of the Johanine Metaphor,” The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 80 (2018): 102. Skinner notes that Middle Eastern shepherds were particularly vulnerable to two common external threats: “thieves and wild animals…it was not uncommon for wandering individuals or even marauding groups to attempt theft of sheep in such isolated locales.” David’s shepherd years were an important training ground for his warfighting vocation. Mental toughness, physical strength, weaponry skills, facing down threats, and working through fear were certainly all present in his shepherding experience.
[7]Jan Grimell, “Contemporary Insights from Biblical Combat Veterans through the Lenses of Moral Injury and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,” Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling 72:4 (2018), 244-246.
[8]There is debate regarding the Hebrew text of 1 Samuel 13:14. The traditional view argues that it speaks to the interior quality of David. For example, “it is a key thematic interest in the narrative of 1 Samuel that Yhwh’s chosen agents have a right heart, and it appears that there is something about David’s heart that makes him an ideal candidate to function as Yhwh’s chosen one.” The other view suggests that the point of the text points to the “royal substitute’s like-mindedness to God, which stands in contrast to Saul’s tendency toward disobedience: ‘Yhwh has sought for himself a man [whose heart/will is] like/in accord with his [Yhwh’s] heart/will.’” In both cases, the heart of David is aligned with the heart of God. Jason S. DeRouchie, “The Heart of YHWH and His Chosen One in 1 Samuel 13:14,” Bulletin for Biblical Research 24, no. 4 (2014): 468, 484. According to George Athas, Acts 13:22 quotes this text and confirms that the description of David coincides with one who does the will of God: “And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’” George Athas, “‘A Man after God’s Own Heart’: David and the Rhetoric of Election to Kingship,” Journal for the Evangelical Study of the Old Testament 2, no. 2 (2013). For Amos Frisch, David, the doer of God’s will, becomes the paradigm and standard for all following kings. Amos Frisch, “Comparison with David as a Means of Evaluating Character in the Book of Kings,” The Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 11, no. 4 (2011), 19-20; Greg Goswell, “King and Cultus: The Image of David in the Book of Kings,” Journal for the Evangelical Study of the Old Testament 5, no. 2 (2017): 167, 186-187.