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David was the youngest of 8 sons
in the family of a man known as Jesse, and they lived in the city of
Bethlehem. It was David's responsibility to take
 care
of his father's sheep, and while he was alone with those sheep in the
wilderness, David spent many hours thinking about God and the Word of
God because he understood it.
One day while David was with the sheep,
a messenger came and said to him, "David, I have come to watch over
the sheep, and your father has asked that you go home at once. The
prophet Samuel has come to Bethlehem today to offer a sacrifice to the
Lord, and he said you must be there before they can begin."
When David reached the place of
sacrifice, God's prophet Samuel approached him and put drops of oil on
his head. David understood that when
 Samuel
anointed him in that way it was to tell the people who had come to the
sacrifice that he was God's choice to be king over the
nation Israel after King Saul was dead.
David did not sit on the throne as
Israel's king until twelve years later, and he had many lessons to
learn before he actually wore the crown. David had learned and
believed the promises of God, and because of that, he was not afraid
to face some very difficult problems that the Lord would set before
him during the years when he was growing up.
David had a shepherd's sling, that he
could use very well. At two different times he used it to kill a bear
and also a lion that came into the flock of sheep he was guarding.
When David saw how the Lord protected him from the lion and the bear,
he learned to trust the Lord when he faced even greater danger, as we
will see in our story.
David's people, the Israelites, had
wars with their enemies, the Philistines, and when the Philistines
threatened them again, three of his older brothers were in the army
and were camped on a hill, getting ready to go into battle. David's
father sent him to his brothers with some food, and when David found
them he heard the Philistine's best warrior shout from the valley
below: "Send a man to fight with me I If I kill him, we will be your
prisoners, but if I kill him, you will be our prisoners!"
David was told that this man had been
shouting those words every morning and evening for forty days and they
were all afraid to fight with him!
The Philistine warrior's name was
Goliath. He was one of the giants who came from the city of Gath in
Philistia, and he was 93' tall! Not one man in Saul's army was willing
to go down and fight with the giant, but David offered to go when he
heard Goliath say, "I defy the armies of Israel this day!"
David put 5 smooth stones in his shepherd's bag and took his
staff in his hand, and ran down into the valley to meet the giant. Why
did he take five stones? David was told that Goliath had four brothers
that -night also challenge hi-n.
When Goliath saw David running toward
hill, he doubled up with laughter, and he shouted, "Am I a dog that
you send a boy to me with a stick? Come to me boy, and I will feed you
to the birds!"
David replied, "You come to me with a
sword and a shield, but I come to you in the name of the Lord God of
heaven and earth whom you have defied!"
When David got closer, he put one of
the stones in his sling and hit Goliath in the forehead. The giant
fell to the earth, and David ran to him, took his sword from its
sheath, and cut off Goliath's head.
When the Philistines saw that their
champion was dead, they scattered all over the hillside. The
Israelites followed them and destroyed their enemies.
We can learn from David's example, that
it is always important to trust the Lord when we have problems in our
own lives.
There are more than 7,000 promises in
God's Word, and there is always one for us that we can use when we
have an "enemy" to face.
WE HOPE YOU WILL COME BACK AGAIN SOON FOR
"STORY TIME"....
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