Saul was the king of Israel but he kept disobeying God. So, God asked Samuel to find a new king. He sent Samuel to the house of Jesse and asked Samuel to anoint one of Jesse’s eight sons.
Jesse brought his seven sons to let them meet Samuel but God had chosen none of them. At last, he brought his youngest son, David, who was a shepherd. David believed in God so much.
As soon as Samuel met David, the Lord spoke to him, “He is the right choice.” So, Samuel anointed David with oil which was a special way of promising him that he would be the next King.
And from that day on, God’s spirit was always with David. Now, David continued to take care of his sheep in the fields. When he didn’t have much to do, he played the harp, and wrote songs and poems in the fields.
Meanwhile Saul, the King of Israelites, was struggling with the Philistines as they continued to battle with him. King Saul was not happy because he did not obey God.
Now, David used to play the harp very well. When King Saul was tired of fighting in the war, his servants called David to play the harp for him to make him feel better. And it worked wonders. David’s music made the King feel better.
In the Philistine army, there was a terrible giant warrior named Goliath who was nine feet tall. He was the strongest and biggest warrior of the Philistine army. For forty days, every morning and night, Goliath came out of his camp and challenged the Israelite army
But none dared to fight against him as King Saul and all his men were very afraid. Three of these men were David’s three eldest brothers. One day, David went to the army camp to visit his brothers.
When David came to the camp, he heard Goliath shouting and challenging the Israelite army, like he did every morning. David saw the great fear stirred within the Israelite soldiers but he himself was not afraid at all as he trusted in God.
“If no one is going to oppose this giant then I’ll fight against him!” David said to King Saul. At first, King Saul refused but then, David told him that God helped him kill a lion and a bear in order to protect his sheep in the fields.
And God would also help him win over Goliath. King Saul let him go out and fight against Goliath. Then, David collected some stones from the brook for his slingshot and he was all set for one-on-one combat with the huge giant, Goliath.
On the other side, Goliath had a suit of armour, a sword and a big shield. As David approached Goliath in the battlefield, Goliath began to laugh. He made fun of David and said that he would kill him.
“You fight against me with a sword, a spear and a javelin; but I fight against you in the name of the Almighty Lord,” David said. Goliath didn’t care what David said and moved closer to attack him with his sword.
David quickly pulled out a stone from his pouch. He put the stone into his slingshot and flung it at Goliath. The stone hit big Goliath right on the head. Suddenly, Goliath lost his balance and fell down.
After Goliath had fallen down, David took the giant’s sword and killed him. When the Philistines saw what happened with Goliath, they were so frightened that they ran away. The Israelites ran after them and won the battle.
Now, David became a hero to all the people in Israel. They praised and thanked David to save Israel from
the Philistines. But David said that he believed in God, and God helped him win over the giant.
