THE LIFE OF AN UNDERDOG

Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. 6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place. Psalm 51:5-6     No one reckoned with him, not even his father, never mind he was the last of the sons of Jesse the Bethlehemite. David was relegated to shepherding the few sheep his family owned. The family business left in the hands of a lad speaks volumes. His older brothers were well-built men of war. They looked the part but lacked the essence.   Judging by the fact that his father scarcely remembered David when the prophet showed up, we can assume that no one was interested in siring another son by the time he came. David's field of play was the deserts, logging around the father's sheep and his musical instruments. Besides shepherding the sheep, David's other recourse was to His God and his environment. His medium of escape was poetry and worship to God, the one who reckoned with him even in the backwoods of nowhere.