David and Goliath

Israel and the Philistines were hard at war, camped with just a valley between them. When out of the camp of the Philistines, a champion arose, Goliath. He came with an offer; if any man were willing to fight him in one-on-one combat and win, the entire nation would bow down to them. He was a giant, and nobody in the camp of Israel wanted to defy him. Then one day, while David was in the camp on an errand for his father Jesse, he heard what the Philistine champion was saying and grew indignant at how this heathen was talking about his God. So he decided to take him up on his offer and challenge him to one-on-one combat in the valley. In this Valley, Goliath would learn that the God of Israel, our God, is stronger than any army.

In our previous episode, we heard how Samuel went to the home of Jesse and after passing over every one of Jesse’s older, stronger sons, God told Samuel that David, the young shepherd boy was his pick to be king. Samuel anointed David, and God’s Spirit filled the young man. Soon, David ended up in the king’s palace. He was called on to play the harp for Saul to soothe the king, whose soul was tormented by the departure of God’s presence from him. Today we’ll see how David steps up boldly to defeat a Philistine who no other would even dare face. David’s confidence isn’t in his own strength but in God’s ability to deliver him from any enemy.