DAVID AND GOLIATH

DAVID AND GOLIATH

        Long before David was anointed king, his older brothers were called into the army. The Philistines were making war against Israel. Jesse, their father, sent David to take food to his
brothers and find out how they were doing. David arrived at the army camp just as the men were going out to battle. He quickly found his brothers. As they were talking, he heard a horrible,
roaring voice: "Choose a man to fight me. If he kills me, we will be your servants; but if I kill him, you will be our servants!"


       
        David looked across the valley toward the Philistine camp. There he saw the biggest man he had ever seen. He was over nine feet tall, and he was dressed in armor. As soon as the men
in Saul's army heard the giant, they all ran away in fear.


       

        "Why doesn't someone fight him?" David asked. "Who does he think he is to challenge the army of the living God?"
When Saul heard about David, he sent for him. "I will fight this Philistine," David told him.
"But you are just a boy, and he is a man of war," Saul said.
David answered, "When I was talking care of my father's sheep, a lion and a bear took a lamb. I killed them and saved the lamb. This Philistine shall be one of them."

       

       
 Then Saul told David to wear his armor; but when he tried it on, he knew he could not fight in it. So David took his shepherd's staff, chose five smooth stone from the brook, and put
them in his bag. Taking his slingshot in his hand, he approached Goliath.


        When Goliath saw David, he laughed and said, "Am I ₂ dog that you come to fight with sticks and stones? Come, I will feed you to the birds and beasts." 
 Then David replied, "You come to me with spear and ²shield, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, Whom you have denied. Today, the Lord will deliver
you into my hand, and everyone will know that there is a God in Israel."

Having said this, he took a stone from his bag, put it in his slingshot, and hurled it. The stone hit the giant in the forehead and Goliath fell to the ground dead. As soon as the
Philistines saw him fell, they tried to run away but the army of Isreal chased and killed them.