1 Samuel 17:1-541Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. 2And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. 3And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. 4And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass. 6And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders. 7And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him. 8And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. 9If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us. 10And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together. 11When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid. 12Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem-judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul. 13And the three eldest sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next unto him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14And David was the youngest: and the three eldest followed Saul. 15But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. 16And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. 17And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren; 18And carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge. 19Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle. 21For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army. 22And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren. 23And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them. 24And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid. 25And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel. 26And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? 27And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him. 28And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. 29And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause? 30And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner. 31And when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul: and he sent for him. 32And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. 33And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. 34And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: 35And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. 36Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. 37David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee. 38And Saul armed David with his armor, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail. 39And David girded his sword upon his armor, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him. 40And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine. 41And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him. 42And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. 43And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field. 45Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. 46This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands. 48And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 49And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. 50So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. 51Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. 52And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron. 53And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents. 54And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armor in his tent. (1 Samuel 17:1‑54)
The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.
YOU remember who the Philistines were. They were wicked people who lived in some of the cities of Canaan. They often fought against the Israelites.
One day a great number of Philistines came and placed their tents on the top of a hill in Canaan. When Saul heard it, he came with a great number of Israelites, and they placed their tents on another hill. The Philistines and the Israelites could see each other in their tents; and they intended to fight against each other: but they did not choose to fight immediately.
There was one man among the Philistines whose name was Goliath. He was called a giant, because he was very tall indeed. He was ten feet high.
He was very strong and big, and he could fight well. He wore armor. What is armor? Clothes made of iron and brass: people used to wear armor, that arrows, and swords, and spears, might not hurt them easily.
He wore a cap of brass upon his head, and he wore a coat of iron: his legs were covered with brass. He held a great spear in his hand, and he had a great sword in a sheath by his side: and a man went before him with a shield. What is a shield? It is a great piece of iron, or brass, like a large tray, which men used to hold before their faces in battle to prevent the arrows hurting their faces.
The giant Goliath thought that no one could kill him. Every day he used to call out with a loud voice, Will one of the Israelites come and fight with me? If he is able to kill me, then all the Philistines will obey the king of Israel; but if I kill him, then the Israelites must obey the Philistines. Give me a man that will fight with me.'
Would any of the Israelites fight with the giant?
No, not one. When Saul heard the Philistine giant, he was frightened, and all the Israelites were frightened. They all thought they should be killed, if one of them fought with the giant. And do you think that if one of them had fought with him, he would have been killed? Could not God have helped the Israelites to conquer?
Where was David? Was he among the tents of Israel? No: he was feeding his father's sheep, but David's three elder brothers were in the tents.
One day old Jesse said to David, 'Go to the tents of Israel, and see how your brothers are; and take with you some corn, and ten loaves, as a present for your brothers.
So David rose up very early, and left his sheep with another shepherd, and took the corn and bread with him, and went a long way till he came to the hill where the tents of the Israelites were. Then he ran to look for his brothers. As he was talking with his brothers, he heard a man speaking in a very loud voice, saying, 'Who is able to fight with me?' It was the giant Goliath. David had never heard the giant speak these words before, but the people who were near David told him about the giant, and they said, `King Saul has promised to give any man who kills the giant a great many things as a reward.'
David was surprised that people should be afraid of fighting with the giant, because he knew that God could help an Israelite to conquer him, but he knew that the gods of the Philistines could not help them, because they were only idols; so David said, 'Who is this Philistine, that he should speak in this manner to the people of God?' And David felt in his heart that he should not be afraid to fight with the giant.
One of David's brothers heard what David said, and he began to mock David: `Why did you come here? Why did you not stay with your sheep?' But David answered his brother very gently.
Very soon someone went and told Saul that there was a young man come to the tents, and that he said he would fight with the giant. So Saul ordered the young man to be brought before him; and David came to Saul. Saul had seen David before; but Saul had forgotten him. Saul was surprised that David, who was so young, should be willing to fight with the giant; and he said to him, 'You are not able to fight against that Philistine. You are very young, and he has been used to fight.' Then David answered, 'Once when I was keeping my father's sheep, a lion came, and took a lamb out of the flock, and I went after the lion, and met him, and took the lamb out of his mouth, and when the lion tried to kill me, I caught him by his hair, and killed him. And once a bear came, and I killed him too. I shall kill this Philistine, as I killed the lion and the bear. It was God Who delivered me from the paw of the lion and of the bear, and He will deliver me from this Philistine.'
You see, my dear child, that David was not proud of his strength, but he knew that God could help him.
When Saul heard David speak these words, he told him to go and fight the giant. But David had no sword, or coat of iron, so Saul lent him his own armor, and his own sword; he put a cap of brass on David's head, and dressed him in a coat of iron. But David had not been used to wear armor: so he said to Saul, 'I cannot wear this armor,' and he took it off again: neither would he take a sword, or a spear. He went to the brook and chose five smooth stones, and put them in a bag which he had, and took the bag with him, and a cloth, called a sling. You will hear what he did with the bag, and the stones, and the cloth. In the other hand he held a stick. Then David went to meet the giant.
The giant heard that one of the Israelites was ready to fight with him, and he came near to David: a man with a shield went before him.
When the giant looked and saw David, he was surprised: he had expected to see a great man like himself, dressed in armor, and holding a spear in his hand.
But David was very young, and his face was rosy like a child's, and he only wore a shepherd's dress, and he held a stick in his hand.
The Philistine giant was angry when he saw him, and cursed him, and used very wicked words. Then he began to laugh at David, and said, 'Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds and to the beasts to eat.'
But David was not afraid, and he said to the giant, 'You have a sword, and a spear, and a shield: but God will fight for me; and He will help me to kill you, and take your head from you: and the beasts and the birds shall eat up the flesh of all the Philistines, and everybody will see that the God of Israel is the true God, and that He can save whom He pleases.'
Then the Philistine giant came still nearer to David, and David ran towards him quickly, and put his hand in his bag, and took out a stone, and put it in the cloth that he had: then holding one end of the cloth, he threw the stone out of it with all his strength, and the stone hit the giant in the forehead, and it sank into it, and the giant fell upon the ground on his face.
Then David ran to the giant, and taking the giant's sword out of its sheath, he cut off his head. When the Philistines saw what a great wonder God had done, they were frightened: and the Israelites shouted, for they saw that their God fought for them, and they ran after the Philistines, and the Philistines tried to run away: but the Israelites overtook a great many of them, and killed them. David took the head of the Philistine, and he kept the armor that the Philistine had worn.
Did David thank God for helping him to conquer the giant? O yes, he sang God's praises and played upon his harp. David did not wish people to praise him; he wished everybody to praise God. He wished all the people to say, 'How great God is! He helped the poor young shepherd to conquer the great giant.'
Proud people wish to be praised: but people who love God wish people to praise God. If God helps you to be good, my dear children, you ought to praise God for helping you to be good: if you remember things you are taught, you ought to praise God for helping you to remember. What do you say in the Lord's Prayer about praising God? You say, 'Hallowed be Thy name;' which means, `Let God's name be praised.'
Upon those hills two armies stand
A conflict to behold:
The shepherd youth hath raised his hand
Against the giant bold.
A stone which from the brook he fetch'd,
Now gives the deadly wound;
Ah! see the great Philistine stretch'd
Expiring on the ground!
It was the power of God alone
Made David's arm so strong;
And now he wakes the harp's sweet tone
And pours a grateful song.
Those armies too, that waiting stood,
The wondrous vict'ry see;
While Israel triumphs in his God,
The trembling heathen flee.
O that all nations now would own
That God can save from death!
O that all idols now were thrown
In darkest caves beneath!
Questions on Lesson 9
Where did the Philistines live?
Who was Goliath?
Why would none of the Israelites fight against Goliath?
Why did David think that he could conquer Goliath?
What had God helped David to do, when he was watching his sheep?
How did David kill the giant?
What became of the rest of the Philistine soldiers, after Goliath was dead?
Did David wish to be praised for killing the giant?
Whom did he wish to be praised?
Why ought we always to wish God to be praised?
What is the meaning of 'Hallowed be Thy name'?