By Pauline Akello
1Samuel 17 presents the story of God using David, a young shepherd boy from Israel to defeat Goliath, a giant warrior.
Israeli army, led by King Saul, were fighting the Philistines. The two armies gathered on opposite sides of a hill in Judah.
Philistines had a great soldier named Goliath who was scary.
Goliath walked up to the hills that divided Israel from the Philistines and shouted threatening words to the Israelites.
Because of his monumental size, Israeli soldiers were losing confidence day-by-day. They could hardly find the courage to face Goliath.
Meanwhile, David whose elder brothers were soldiers, was asked by his father, Jesse, to take for them food.
When he arrived at the battlefield, he heard Goliath yelling and mocking Israel and their God. David felt offended.
He persuaded King Saul to let him go and fight the giant. He did not wear armor, but had only a stone.
He said the battle was the Lord’s and He would give all the Philistines into the hands of the Israelites.
David swung the stone at Goliath. It sank into the giant’s forehead and he fell. David then picked up Goliath’s sword and used it to kill the giant and cut off his head. He brought Goliath’s head to Jerusalem.
The Philistines turned and ran when they saw their giant hero killed. Israel won the battle because of a boy who had his faith and trust in God!
Lessons
We learn from a young David that we can serve our country and proclaim the name of the Lord.
We learn that we can have complete faith in God and believe He will protect us against all dangers. David was certain that he could defeat Goliath.
We learn that God protects us from all and He helps us to silence any threats from the enemy if we trust in His name.
We learn not to insult a powerful God, who can use a small boy to defeat a giant.
We learn that when we are scared; we can show them that our God is powerful. King Saul and his men were afraid yet they were used to fighting. David showed them that the name of the Lord could not be scoffed.
When we face situations where we might be afraid, remembering this Bible story can help us to be brave and rely on God to guide us through especially face scary situations.
