Nearly everybody in our culture — especially those who like sports — knows what is meant by a David and Goliath story. That';s when an individual or a team who is an impossibly huge underdog goes out and defeats an opponent they had no business beating.

The real-life David and Goliath story is found in the seventeenth chapter of 1 Samuel. It pits the boy-who-would-be-king, David, against a giant Philistine warrior, Goliath, who taunted the Israelites and King Saul, challenging them to send out a man to fight him.

The stakes in this fight were high, but there was no one to answer the challenge. Instead of sending someone out to fight, Saul and the people of Israel trembled in fear. It wasn';t until David, only a youth at the time, arrived on the scene that anyone had the nerve to even think about fighting Goliath.

The Bible tells us that a man named Jesse sent David, his youngest son, to take some food to his older brothers, all of whom were fighting the Philistines. While near the scene of the battle, David heard the taunts of Goliath and saw how the armies of Israel ran from the giant. That was all he needed to hear.

“What will a man get for killing this Philistine and ending his defiance of Israel? Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?” David asked the soldiers nearby (1 Samuel 17:26). After a conversation with his brother, David approached Saul and told him, “Don';t worry about this Philistine. I';ll go fight him!” (17:32).

Saul';s response to David was as one might expect. He pointed out that David was only a boy and that Goliath was an experienced warrior. Therefore, there was no way he could go up against him. But David wouldn';t take no for an answer. He pointed out that he had been caring for his father';s sheep and goats and protecting them from the lions and bears that came to find a quick meal, sometimes even killing them with a club. “I have done this to both lions and bears,” David said, “and I';ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!” (1 Samuel 17:36–37).

King Saul finally relented and gave the lad his own armor — a bronze helmet and a coat. But when David put them on, he realized they wouldn';t work for him because he wasn';t used to them. So he took off the armor, picked up five smooth stones from a nearby stream, and, armed with nothing more than the rocks, his shepherd';s staff, and his sling, headed across the valley to fight Goliath the Philistine.

Study Questions

What does the Bible say about Goliath';s appearance? How big was he? What kind of armor did he wear?

What was the response of David';s brother when he heard that David was inquiring about killing Goliath?