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1Samuel
17:1-26,31-51; Psalm 40:11-13; Proverbs 12:3
Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle, and
were gathered together at Sochoh, which belongs to Judah; they
encamped between Sochoh and Azekah, in Ephes Dammim. And Saul and
the men of Israel were gathered together, and they encamped in the
Valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array against the
Philistines. The Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and
Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, with a valley
between them.
And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named
Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. He had
a bronze helmet on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail,
and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze.
And he had bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between
his shoulders.
Now the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his iron
spearhead weighed six hundred shekels; and a shield-bearer went
before him. Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel,
and said to them, "Why have you come out to line up for
battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul?
Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he is
able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants.
But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our
servants and serve us." And the Philistine said, "I defy
the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight
together." When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the
Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose
name was Jesse, and who had eight sons. And the man was old,
advanced in years, in the days of Saul. The three oldest sons of
Jesse had gone to follow Saul to the battle. The names of his
three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, next
to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. David was the youngest.
And the three oldest followed Saul.
But David occasionally went and returned from Saul to feed his
father's sheep at Bethlehem.
And the Philistine drew near and presented himself forty days,
morning and evening.
Then Jesse said to his son David, "Take now for your brothers
an ephah of this dried grain and these ten loaves, and run to your
brothers at the camp. And carry these ten cheeses to the captain
of their thousand, and see how your brothers fare, and bring back
news of them." Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel
were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.
So David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper,
and took the things and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he
came to the camp as the army was going out to the fight and
shouting for the battle. For Israel and the Philistines had drawn
up in battle array, army against army. And David left his supplies
in the hand of the supply keeper, ran to the army, and came and
greeted his brothers. Then as he talked with them, there was the
champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, coming up from
the armies of the Philistines; and he spoke according to the same
words. So David heard them. And all the men of Israel, when they
saw the man, fled from him and were dreadfully afraid. So the men
of Israel said, "Have you seen this man who has come up?
Surely he has come up to defy Israel; and it shall be that the man
who kills him the king will enrich with great riches, will give
him his daughter, and give his father's house exemption from taxes
in Israel."
Then David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, "What
shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away
the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised
Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living
God?"
Now when the words which David spoke were heard, they reported
them to Saul; and he sent for him. Then David said to Saul,
"Let no man's heart fail because of him; your servant will go
and fight with this Philistine."
And Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this
Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of
war from his youth."
But David said to Saul, "Your servant used to keep his
father's sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out
of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the
lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by
its beard, and struck and killed it. Your servant has killed both
lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one
of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God."
Moreover David said, "The LORD, who delivered me from the paw
of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from
the hand of this Philistine."
And Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you!"
So Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet
on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. David
fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not
tested them. And David said to Saul, "I cannot walk with
these, for I have not tested them."
So David took them off.
Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five
smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag, in
a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew
near to the Philistine. So the Philistine came, and began drawing
near to David, and the man who bore the shield went before him.
And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained
him; for he was only a youth, ruddy and good-looking. So the
Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me
with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
And the Philistine said to David, "Come to me, and I will
give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the
field!"
Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a
sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the
name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom
you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand,
and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I
will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the
birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the
earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this
assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and
spear; for the battle is the LORD's, and He will give you into our
hands."
So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to
meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the
Philistine. Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a
stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead,
so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face
to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling
and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there
was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran and stood
over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath
and killed him, and cut off his head with it.
And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they
fled.
Worship:
Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O LORD; Let Your
lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me. For
innumerable evils have surrounded me; My iniquities have overtaken
me, so that I am not able to look up; They are more than the hairs
of my head; Therefore my heart fails me. Be pleased, O LORD, to
deliver me; O LORD, make haste to help me! (Ps.40:11-13)
Wisdom:
A man is not established by wickedness,
But the root of the righteous cannot be moved. (Prov.12:3)
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