God's Story: David and Goliath
So part of God's story is about the time David fought Goliath, and it begins like this.
David was the youngest of eight brother, his job was being a shepherd, which meant he spent
all-day in a field watching sheep eat and roll around in the grass.
Meanwhile, some of his brothers were off with the Israeli army preparing for war against the Philistines.
The Philistines were one of the toughest armies the people of Israel had to fight,
so one day David was taking food to his brothers because his dad asked him to,
but when he got there, his brothers accused him of coming
so he could watch the fight instead of the sheep.
Since David knew in his heart he was just obeying his dad, he didn't mind being misunderstood.
Anyway, while David was there, he saw a huge Philistine man, more than 9 feet tall
step onto the field between the two armies.
He was wearing a thick helmet, and armor, and carrying huge weapons.
HIs name was Goliath, and he was definitely used to being the winner.
David found out that Goliath had been stepping onto the field like this every morning for
the past forty days and saying, "Give me a man and let us fight each other!"
But nobody from Israel was brave enough to fight him, even the king!
Well, David didn't like that this giant was intimidating the Israelites,
after all they were God's special family, and because God was with the Israelites
they could have courage in any situation.
So David, who wasn't even a soldier, told the king, "I'll fight against him!"
Now the King thought David was too small, but he really wanted somebody to fight Goliath,
so he gave in.
And David knew he wasn't strong enough to beat Goliath by himself, but he believed God
would be with him, so he said, "The Lord will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine."
The king hoped David was right; he even had his own weapons and armor put on David...but
they didn't fit him.
David decided to go into battle in his regular clothes.
That's how sure he was that God would help him.
Anyway, David went to a nearby stream and chose five smooth stones to use with his slingshot.
Then he walked onto the battlefield to meet the massive Goliath.
When Goliath saw how wimpy David looked he was furious!
He thought he'd get to fight the Israelite's strongest warrior.
He said to David, "Am I a dog that you come at me with sticks?
I'll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals."
David might have looked like a wimp, but he was actually really brave!
In fact, he was so brave that when he was taking care of sheep,
he fought off bears and lions; because God helped him protect his sheep,
David knew God would help him protect His special family.
David said, "You come at me with a sword, but I come at you with the Name of the Lord Almighty."
He was explaining to Goliath that God was more powerful than anything.
He also added that he would feed Goliath's flesh to the birds,
which made the giant even more mad!
Then David took a stone, put it in the slingshot, and slung it at Goliath.
Goliath didn't even get a chance to swing a sword,
because the stone hit him right in the forehead and sunk in deep.
He face-planted straight into the ground. Nobody could believe it!
Then David ran over, took hold of the Giant's sword, and drew it from the sheath.
He took the sword and cut off Goliath's head.
David carried the head all the way back to Jerusalem.
And when the Philistine Army realized that Goliath was dead
they started running away like a bunch of scaredy-cats!
The Israelites chased the Philistines, shouting loudly. They had won!
God used David, who was just an average kid, to rescue his people,
and that's the story of David and Goliath.
So in case you missed it, here's the quick version: David was a shepherd.
He brought his brothers lunch. He saw Goliath.
Goliath scared everybody! David wasn't scared.
He knew God was stronger. David fought Goliath.
He used one stone. God helped him kill Goliath.
The Israelites won! God's people were saved!
And that's a part of God's story.