David, Part 2: The Giant | Bible Stories Retold

but it was never really about a slingshot. It was about who David trusted when everyone else was afraid. The Philistines came to fight Israel. The two armies camped on two hills, with a valley between them, the Valley of Ela, and out of the Philistine camp walked their champion, Goliath. He was over nine feet tall. He wore a bronze helmet and armour that weighed as much as a man. His spear was as thick as a weaver's beam, and he shouted across the valley, "Choose a man, and let him come down to me." King Saul and all Israel heard him, and they were terrified. Every morning and every evening, for 40 days, Goliath came out and mocked them, and nobody moved. David was too young to be a soldier. His three oldest brothers were in the army, so his father sent him with bread and cheese for them. When David got there, he heard Goliath shouting, and he saw grown men running away. David said, "Who is this Philistine?" that he should defy the armies of the living god. His oldest brother, Eliab, got angry. "Why did you come down here? I know you're pride. You just came to watch the battle." David said, "What have I done now? Is there not a cause?" David's words got back to King Saul. David told him, "Don't let anyone lose heart. I will go and fight him."

Saul said, "You're only a boy." David said, "I kept my father's sheep." When a lion or a bear took a lamb, I went after it and rescued it. The Lord who delivered me from the lion and the bear will deliver me from this Philistine. So Saul gave David his own armor to wear, a bronze helmet, and a heavy coat of armor. David tried to walk, and he couldn't. "I can't go with these," he said. "I'm not used to them." And he took them off. Instead, David took his shepherd staff. He chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his bag. And with his sling in his hand, he walked down into the valley. Goliath looked at David and laughed at him. He cursed him by his gods. David said, "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of armies. The battle is the Lord's." Goliath came toward him. David ran toward the battle line. He reached into his bag, took out a stone, and slung it. The stone struck the giant in the forehead, and Goliath fell face down to the ground. The whole valley went silent. Then the Philistines saw that their champion had fallen,

and they ran. And the army of Israel, the army that had been hiding for 40 days, rose up and chased them. David wasn't fearless, because he was big or tough. He was ready because of years nobody saw. Alone in a field, protecting sheep, learning to trust God when no one was watching. Maybe you're in a season like that right now. The faithfulness you practice where no one sees is getting you ready for a day you can't see yet. [Music]