A sword in Gath

After 1 Samuel 21:10-15 

He flees to Gath,

seeking from one king

protection from his own, 

except this refuge is

the house of the giant

he slew, the giant

felled by a slingshot. And

here he is, the boy of the

slingshot, carrying 

the sword of the giant.

The king wasn’t stupid; 

the sword was known

not only for the hand

that first wielded it,

not only for the boy

who felled the giant,

but also as a threat,

implied, that the boy

with the slingshot

was now the man

with the giant’s sword.

 

Photograph by Ricardo Cruz via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

What do Miniature Codices Tell Us About Early Christianity? #3 – Michael Kruger at Canon Fodder.

 

Quelle Surprise: Le Quiet Revival! – Stephen McAlpine.

 

“The Duteous Day Now Closeth,” hymn by Paul Gerhardt – Anthony Esolen and Word & Song.

 

The Loneliness of Being Rejected – Seth Lewis.

Provision 2

After 1 Samuel 21:1-22:5 

He finds himself

without a weapon,

without a sword

to defend himself,

his only option

the sword of Goliath,

kept as a relic,

a testament 

of the Lord’s protection

and provision, providing

the boy with the slingshot

to topple the giant. Now

that boy needs provision

of defense, and the Lord

once again provides. It’s

a certain justice that

the Lord provides 

the sword won by the boy

to the man who requires it,

as if the day and the need

were foreseen.

 

Photograph by Arthur Kerkhoff via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

Vespers – Brian Miller at Notes from an East Tennessee Farmer.

 

Pray for the persecuted Christian church – Rachel Paulose at The Spectator.

 

The Hospitality of Remembering Someone – Kim Barnes at CDM Women’s Ministry.