1 Samuel 17:55-56 KJV
“And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell. And the king said, Enquire thou whose son the stripling is. …”
As Father’s Day approaches every year, we may read news articles discussing the importance of fatherhood in America. We are in a crisis in this country of high rates of single parent households. Most often this single parent is a mother. The father is nowhere to be seen. Saul underscores the importance of a father in his question to Abner about David. He has just witnessed David triumph over Goliath and is no doubt impressed with this courageous act. The very first thing he wants to know is, who is this young boy’s father? We see by how he calls David a stripling, that he doesn’t attribute David’s success to being of great stature or strength. He wants to know who is the father that raised this remarkable young man.
In that day, lineage meant a lot. People were referred to often as being the son or daughter of so and so. Large portions of the Bible go into great detail of the generations of the Jews. For various reasons, family, and especially fatherhood has been reduced in our day. There isn’t any importance placed on it, and in fact in many ways it is derided. In a world that prizes equality more than the head of household leadership that God established, men are seen only as necessary tools for the furtherance of human existence.
We don’t know a lot about Jesse the father of David, but what we can confidently say is that he must have been a Godly father. David fully trusted in God even at a young age. Giving God the credit when he defeated a lion and a bear, and being seemingly incredulous that Goliath would dare to defy the armies of the living God. He expressed confidence that God would deliver him out of Goliath’s hand. This he would have learned at a young age at his father’s knee. He would have probably witnessed Jesse’s faith and trust that God was in control. This indeed is what fathers should be instilling in our children. To point them always to the Living God so that they too can have the confidence that David did.
I am so thankful for my father and father-in-law. Also, for grandfathers and all the older men in my life who have pointed me always to the one true Father and His Son whose sacrifice has reconciled me and have given me a bright future. One where I can spend eternity around the throne of God. I encourage all fathers to turn to their Heavenly Father for help to be that earthly example of a loving father. This will show their children in word and deed the love that our God has for us.
Let us thank and praise him for his unspeakable mercies to us in Christ!
Hans Lampinen
Submitted by Pastor Stan
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