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Page 36
THE STORY OF THE FIGHT WITH THE GIANT
All through the reign of Saul, there was constant war with the
Philistines, who lived upon the lowlands west of Israel. At one time,
when David was still with his sheep, a few years after he had been
anointed by Samuel, the camps of the Philistines and the Israelites were
set against each other on opposite sides of the valley of Elah. In the
army of Israel were the three oldest brothers of David.
Every day a giant came out of the camp of the Philistines, and dared
some one to come from the Israelites' camp and fight with him. The
giant's name was Goliath. He was nine feet high; and he wore armor from
head to foot, and carried a spear twice as long and as heavy as any
other man could hold; and his shield bearer walked before him. He came
every day and called out across the little valley:
"I am a Philistine, and you are servants of Saul. Now choose one of your
men, and let him come out and fight with me. If I kill him; then you
shall submit to us; and if he kills me, then we will give up to you.
Come, now, send out your man!"
But no man in the army, not even King Saul, dared to go out and fight
with the giant. Forty days the camps stood against each other, and the
Philistine giant continued his call.
One day, old Jesse, the father of David, sent David from Bethlehem to
visit his three brothers in the army. David came, and spoke to his
brothers; and while he was talking with them, Goliath the giant came out
as before in front of the camp calling for some one to fight with him.
They said one to another:
"If any man will go out and kill this Philistine, the king will give him
a great reward and a high rank; and the king's daughter shall be his
wife."
And David said:
"Who is this man that speaks in this proud manner against the armies of
the living God? Why does not some one go out and kill him?"
David's brother Eliab said to him:
"What are you doing here, leaving your sheep in the field? I know that
you have come down just to see the battle."
But David did not care for his brother's words. He thought he saw a way
to kill this boasting giant; and he said:
"If no one else will go, I will go out and fight with this enemy of the
Lord's people."
They brought David before King Saul. Some years had passed since Saul
had met David, and he had grown from a boy to a man, so that Saul did
not know him as the shepherd who had played on the harp before him in
other days.
Saul said to David:
"You cannot fight with this great giant. You are very young; and he is a
man of war, trained from his youth."
And David answered King Saul:
"I am only a shepherd, but I have fought with lions and bears, when they
have tried to steal my sheep. And I am not afraid to fight with this
Philistine."
Then Saul put his own armor on David--a helmet on his head, and a coat
of mail on his body, and a sword at his waist. But Saul was almost a
giant, and his armor was far too large for David. David said:
"I am not used to fighting with such weapons as these. Let me fight in
my own way."
So David took off Saul's armor. While everybody in the army had been
looking on the giant with fear, David had been thinking out the best way
for fighting him; and God had given to David a plan. It was to throw the
giant off his guard, by appearing weak and helpless; and while so far
away that the giant could not reach him with sword or spear, to strike
him down with a weapon which the giant would not expect and would not
be prepared for.
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