Matins Devotion: August 2, 2024

1 Samuel 17:20-47

A syllogism is a kind of logical brain exercise that was popularized by Aristotle, and it’s a pretty straightforward thing to understand. You take two statements everyone recognizes as true, one broad and then the other specific, and then you draw a conclusion based upon the move from the broad to the specific. For example, “all squares are rectangles. This shape over here is a square. Therefore, this square over here is also a rectangle.”

Syllogisms are useful in regular logical debates and thinking, but they are also quite effective in a spiritual sense, in particular when we are immersed in fear. That is to say, when Christians properly use syllogisms in times of terror, it can help us see the promises of God far more clearly. This is something we see in our reading from 1 Samuel 17.

As we heard a few days ago, when the boy David was anointed as king, the Spirit of God rushed upon him. And so, when David stands before this giant, intimidating Philistine, David is the only one who thinks logically and clearly, which is to say, he thinks with the clarify of the Spirit. All the Israelites, even their mighty warriors are cowering in fear, but David lays it out for them pretty simply. “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” Everyone thinks David is some foolish kid, but his logic is flawless. “No man can thwart the will of our God. Goliath is a man, therefore he cannot thwart the will of our God. Who cares that he’s enormous and stronger than all of us. He’s not stronger than the God we belong to, the God who loves and cherishes us, the God who has made us His own and promised to give us salvation.”

May we have both the confidence and the logic of David whenever we face persecution and hardship in this world. Ok, so someone who is stronger or more powerful than you threatens to devour you. Nations made up of men threaten to devour you. Cultural movements made up of men threaten to devour you. Go to syllogism. “No man can thwart the will of our God. Those who threaten us are men. Therefore they cannot thwart the will of the God who gave us the blood of Jesus, forgave our sins, clothed us in His victory, and promised us eternal life in His arms.”