“In the Year of our Lord 1314, patriots of Scotland—starving and outnumbered—charged the fields of Bannockburn. They fought like warrior poets; they fought like Scotsmen, and won their freedom.” This last line in the movie Braveheart brought to life the concept of the warrior poet. Throughout history, we can see this genre of the warrior cast played out, from the warriors of the ancient Greece city states to the Japanese Samurai fighting for feudal lords. Those in literary circles have dubbed World War I as the “Poet’s War,” as there were some 25 famous poets that fought in the war, among whom were Rudyard Kipling, Robert Graves, and Wilfred Owen. However, the most famous of warrior poets would have to be King David from the tribe of Judah.
The warrior poet is one who is both a fierce fighter and one who fights for a cause. It is not just a cause but a code that defines the very way he fights and lives. This code governs every fluid motion in the chaotic rumble of battle and the meditation of his mind in peace. David was a mighty man of valor with the Great I Am as his center. For some of us, our view or mental image of David, the son of Jesse, may be a “rudy,” pubescent boy with rocks and a stick, shouting with a squeaking voice at a giant of a warrior from the Philistine army. I propose that we take a look at the warrior David and see what we, soldiers of Christ (2 Tim 2:3), can learn to use in our everyday battles. During the time of David, others had this to say about him, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, a mighty man of valor, a warrior, one prudent in speech, and a handsome man; and the LORD is with him” (1 Sam. 16:18). Also, in 2 Samuel 17:8, “You know your father [David] and his men, that they are mighty men and they are fierce, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. And your father is an expert in warfare.”
From the Psalms we learn about how David saw God, the Lord that was with him. He wrote that God was his shield (Psa. 3:3; 28:7). He also saw Him as a fortress and stronghold (Psa. 31:3; 71:3). He meditated on the precepts of God (Psa. 1). In Psalm 144, David says that it was God that provided for him in every way, even for war. “Blessed be the LORD, my rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle; My lovingkindness and my fortress, My stronghold and my deliverer, My shield and He in whom I take refuge” (Psa. 144:1-2).
David, the man after God’s own heart (1 Sam 13:14), was a warrior poet. Fierce in battle for the Lord and fierce in his devotion to God. As we live, may we be just as fierce in devotion to our King who has already granted us freedom and victory. May you be ever ready for the battle before you.