Published by David and Goliath – 1 Samuel 17
Power, violence, death, war, victory, glory, God and faith! Doesn’t that sound great for a story? If not then…erh…tough luck because I’ll still be speaking. Anyway…I’m here today to retell the tale of David and Goliath, a tale from chapter seven of the book of Samuel in the Old Testament. The story inspires its readers to have faith in the Lord no matter how dire a situation can be as God is always with you in some way or another.
The book of Samuel is set in a period of the Bible’s history where God would personally appoint the kings to lead his people, the Israelites. The Israelites were currently ruled by King Saul, but after a while in power, he turned his back away from God, angering the lord in the process. It was at this stage that God tormented King Saul with an evil spirit and anointed David, from Bethlehem, to become the future king. To counter the evil spirits wreaking havoc on King Saul, he appointed David as a harp player to sooth his pain and frighten his spirits away.
To make matters worse for Saul, the Philistines had begun to wage war on the Israelites. The Philistine army camped at a place called “Ephes Dammim”, whilst the Israelites gathered at “Elah Valley”. A three meter tall warrior dressed in 60 kilograms of bronze armour, a spear with a head weighing in at 7kg and a large shield terrified the Israelites. He challenged any warrior brave enough to fight him in a single duel to decide the outcome of the entire war and who would be slaves to whom. The offer was left unchallenged for 40 days as no one dared fight him.
Meanwhile, David visited the Israelites camp to visit his brothers and deliver some food. He saw the current predicament faced by the Israelites with Goliath and he offered a solution, he a humble shepherd boy would fight the fiercest warrior in the land with only the power and faith of god upon his shoulders. To make the challenge even more tempting for David to take was that fact that King Saul offered the victor the hand of his daughter in marriage and for the family on their brother’s side to not have to pay taxes.
King Saul granted David permission to kill the giant and lent him his personal armour, which David was physically unable to carry. He chose to fight with his normal clothes, shepherd stick, 5 smooth pebbles from a river, a sling and his faith in God, to ensure his victory. As David walked onto the battlefield, Goliath was enraged by the presence of David and approached him with his weapons. David told Goliath about God, how he did not need swords or spears to save his people, and that through faith alone, he would grant him the power to emerge victorious. With that being said, David produced one pebble and flung it goliath’s head, shattering his skull and knocking him to the ground. He pulled out the giant’s sword and beheaded him with his own weapon. Frightened at the awesome power of David and God, the Philistines ran in terror and were slaughtered by the chasing Israelites. Victorious, David would later become a hero and future King of Israel.
That was the titanic story of David and Goliath.
