Was King David Afraid? - Ari Abramowitz: The Land of Israel Fellowship

the time had arrived. And so basically in the final episode after David had volunteered to fight the giant and King Saul agreed to his request, David collected the rocks at the stream and was approaching the battle. And his brother, I think it was Eliav, asked him, "David, how could you not be afraid?" To which David responded by turning to him, looking him in the eye, and saying, "I'm terrified." And so my initial reaction was, "No, no, he no he wasn't. That is creative license. That, you know, that's that's just them editorializing." You know, it's it was always clear to me that he was so filled with rage and righteous indignation at this uncircumcised Philistine mocking the armies of the living God of Israel that he just had no room for fear. He wasn't afraid. But then I thought again, was he really not afraid? How could he not have been afraid? In the end of the day, he was immortal. He was a man of flesh and blood. On the other hand, he had been anointed by the prophet Samuel already. And he had established credibility, at least in his own mind, right? As he declared to Saul, "Your servant struck down both the lion and the bear. And this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has taunted the armies of the living God." And when he faced Goliath, right, what did he say then? You come to me with a sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. Right? There is no mention of fear there. But there also wasn't a mention of fearlessness. It doesn't say he felt no fear. So I had discussions with friends, a little bit during synagogue, mostly after synagogue. I had long and passionate discussions with Jeremy's family, with Jeremy's children about it. You have to talk to Jeremy's kids. Those are some wellthoughtout, deeply philosophical kids, even to the youngest, you know. And and I was I was thinking about it all of Shabbat. And interestingly enough, most people started by instinctively saying that David had no fear. But in the end, I saw they were coming around with an open mind that perhaps he did. Because for me, while the actual narrative in the first book of Samuel does not mention fear, King David's own journal of his heart's prayers and desires written throughout his life's journey, which is the book of Psalms. David talks about fear all the time. There's Psalm three which David writes as he's fleeing from the seemingly successful rebellion led by his son Abshalom. Let's start reading it inside a psalm of David when he fled from his son Absalom. Oh Lord, my foes are so many. Many are those who attack me. Many say of me, there is no deliverance for him through God. But you, oh Lord, are a shield about me, my glory. He who holds my head high. I cry aloud to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain, Cellah. I lie down and sleep and wake again, for the Lord sustains me. I have no fear of the myriad of forces arrayed against me on every side. So when you look at that, on the one hand, it seems at the beginning that he cries out, he feels fear, but then he has no fear. Okay? So, you know, it's true. He says he has no fear of the multitudes of the enemies surrounding him. But, but on the other hand, if he has no fear, why is he crying out to Hashem? What is that about? Now, let's look in the famous Psalm 23. That's actually the first one to came into mind, but I just sort of wanted to go through chronological order for some reason or order of numbers. Um, A psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall I lack nothing. He lays me down in green pastures. He leads me to waters of serenity. He renews my life, he guides me in the right paths as beffits his name. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff comfort me. So he's talking about fear there. and not having fear. Psalm 27 of David. The Lord is my light and my help. Whom should I fear? The Lord is my is the stronghold of my life. Whom should I dread? When evil men assail me to devour my flesh, it is they, my foes, and my enemies who stumble and fall. Should an army besiege me, my heart would have no fear. Should war beset me, still would I be confident. We're going to go back, but I just want to move forward for a second. Psalm 34, which he composed as he fled from Saul when he feigned insanity with Avi Melik. You remember that episode of David when he feigned madness in the presence of Avime, who turned him out and he left. I bless the Lord at all times. Praise of him is ever in my mouth. I glory in the Lord. Let the lowly hear it and rejoice. Exalt the Lord with me. Let us extol his name together. I turned to the Lord and he answered me. He saved me from all my fears. We could go on and on, but I'm I'm going to stop here, I think, because I think that the answer to the questions of whether David felt fear is really in some ways beautifully expressed right there. He saved me from all my fears. Meaning that Hashem saved him not just from his enemies, but Hashem saved him from his fears themselves. Meaning that he did have fears. We've discussed this in fellowships before. It's one of the ideas, the concepts that is more most precious to my heart, the idea of fear. Because I spend a lot of my life trying to neutralize it through faith and trust. And I see every bit of fear in my heart as sort of an opportunity to fill a void of God's presence right there. Fear is a a big thing, you know, and so we've discussed it before, but the Malbeim explains on this psalm that fear itself can become a trap. The fear can be worse than the actual danger. David praises God not only for saving him from danger, but for saving him from being paralyzed by fear. David is admitting that he's afraid and he's thanking God for saving him from the fear itself. Okay, I know I said that was the last one, but just one more. Psalm 56 for the leader of David when the Philistines seized him in Got. Have mercy on me, oh God, for men persecute me all day long. My adversary oppresses me. My watchful foes persecute me all day long. Many are my adversaries. Oh exalted one, when I am afraid, I trust in you. In God whose word I praise. In God I trust. I am not afraid. What can mortals do to me? Well, okay. So, I guess that would put it to rest, right? We see the answer right there. When I am afraid, David says, I trust in you. Here, David is showing the key to his courage. Yes, fear is strong, but his trust is stronger. And I think by diving deep into these portions, we can see that King David wasn't fearless like a machine, right? After all, he didn't if he didn't have any fear, why does he write so much about it? Why does he pray so much about it? Why is it such a central theme in the deepest prayers from his heart? And the answer is that he was fearful like a human, but faithful like a king. He teaches us that fear is not a sin, but letting your fear rule you is. Instead, fear becomes the doorway to a deeper trust and a more exalted prayer and and real growth. [Music]