After a while David went home to be with his family again and tend the sheep for his Dad.
Israel’s enemies, the Philistines, brought their armies to fight against Israel so king Saul gathered Israel’s army and met
him at the valley of Elah.
Israel’s army stood on a mountain on one side of the valley and the Philistines stood on the mountain across the
valley.
A giant named Goliath came out from the Philistine army who was nine feet tall. He had great armor and a huge
spear.
He yelled to Saul to send out someone to fight him. If he won, Israel would be their slaves and if Israel’s man won, the
Philistines would be Israel’s slaves.
For forty days the giant came out and yelled for someone to come fight him. But the men of Israel were scared and ran from
him.
Now Jesse, David’s Dad, sent David to see how
Jesse’s sons in the army were doing. He sent food for the sons and to the commander of the army.
So David left his sheep with a keeper and took the wagon of food to the army at the valley of Elah.
While he was talking with his three brothers he heard the giant yelling for someone to come fight him.
David said, Who is this man to go against the armies of the Living God?
The men told him about the reward that king Saul would give any man who went out to fight with the giant.
David told king Saul, I will fight him. King Saul said, What? You’re just a kid? That giant has been a warrior for many
years since he was your age.
David told the king, While I was watching my father’s sheep a lion came and stole away a lamb from the flock. I chased him
and struck him down and took the lamb out of his mouth.
Another time, a bear came and took a lamb. I chased him and took him by the beard and killed him and took the lamb out of
his mouth.
I killed both a lion and a bear and this dirty warrior will be like one of them since he has gone out against the armies of
the Living God.
The Lord delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear. And He will deliver me from the hand of this
Philistine.
So Saul said, Go, and the Lord be with you. And Saul gave David his armor to wear. But David wasn’t used to it, so he took it
off.
He just took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherds bag. He had his
slingshot in his hand.
When the Philistine saw David coming, a handsome redheaded kid, he was disgusted. What, am I dog that you come at me with a
stick? Come here and I will give your body to the birds and animals to eat.
Then David said to the giant, You come to me with a sword and a spear, and with a shield. But I come to you in the name of
the Lord of the armies, the God of the armies of Israel.
Today the Lord will deliver you into my hand. I will strike you down and take your head from you and give the bodies of the
armies of the Philistines today to the birds of the air and the animals to eat so that all the world will know that there is a God in Israel.
All these people here will know that the Lord does not save with a sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he
will give you into our hands.
The Philistine got up and came toward David. And David ran toward him. He put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and
put it in his sling and threw it at the Philistine. It hit the giant and sunk into his forehead; and the giant fell down dead.
When the army of the Philistines saw that their hero, the giant, was dead, they turned and ran away.
The army of Israel got up and chased their enemies. With God's help, David beat the Philistine with just a
stone and a sling.