THE STORY OF DAVID AND GOLIATH

Trusting God and Using the Stones He’s Given You

Memory Verse:

He alone is my rock and my salvation;

He is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

Psalm 62:6

Bible Story

You will find the story of David and Goliath in the book of 1 Samuel. Please read

1 Samuel 17.

Some points of interest to remind the children of:

-This story is found in the Old Testament.

-The Israelites were God’s chosen people. They lived in the mountains

and hills of Judea. There they farmed and herded sheep.

-The Philistines were the enemies of the Israelites and of God. They

believed in lots of gods and they did lots of evil things. They lived across

the valley from the Israelites near the Mediterranean Sea. They were

very powerful and very technologically advanced.

-The Israelites and the Philistines had gathered across from one another

on some hills with the valley separating them to fight a battle.

-Goliath was the champion warrior for the Philistines. He was over nine

feet tall and he wore a lot of armor and carried many weapons.

-He wore a bronze helmet

-He wore a scale armor of bronze weighing 125 pounds

-He wore a type of armor on his legs

-He had a bronze javelin (a large stick) on his back

-He had a spear with an iron point that weighed 15 pounds

-He had a shield that was carried by his shield bearer who went

ahead of him

-For forty days, Goliath had come to the front line of the Philistine army

and yelled insults at the Israelites. As was sometimes done in battles,

Goliath called for a warrior from the Israelite army to come and fight him.

By fighting this way, the lives of many soldiers were spared. However,

the army represented by the warrior who was killed would become

slaves to the army of the warrior who won.

-Whenever the Israelite army heard this, they and their king, Saul, were

“dismayed and terrified”.

-David was not a soldier in the Israelite army, but the youngest son of

Jesse. He lived just outside Bethlehem. Because he was not yet a soldier, we can assume that he was between eight and twelve years old. He was a shepherd because he was the youngest son. His three older brothers were serving in Saul’s army.

-One day, Jesse asked David to go to his brothers in the Israelite army,

check on them and take them some food.

-The next day, David did as his father had asked. As he got to the

Israelite camp, about twelve miles away, the men were just taking their

positions to hear Goliath cry out again.

-David found his brothers and greeted them. As he listened to Goliath,

David was greatly offended that someone would speak this way to the

army of the living God.

-David talked with a number of the Israelite soldiers and learned that

whoever defeated Goliath would receive great wealth and would marry

the king’s daughter.

-When David’s older brother heard about David and his questions, he

became very angry with him. But when word of David and his

questions reached King Saul, the king sent for him.

-David told Saul that he would fight the Philistine. Saul could not believe

that a young shepherd boy would presume to think he could fight the

giant Goliath.

-David told him of the many times God had saved him from the attacks of

wild animals while he was watching over his father’s flocks. David was

sure that just as God had delivered him from danger then, God would do

it again.

-So Saul sent David to meet Goliath, loaded down with his own armor.

Because only Saul had armor (the Israelites did not know how to make

their own weapons and armor – the Philistines had this knowledge and

kept it a secret), there was not smaller set that David could wear. It was

too big and too heavy for such a small boy, so David left it in the field. He

went forward with only his shaft (his shepherd’s stick) and his sling.

-As he passed a stream, he stopped and picked up five smooth stones

and put them in his shepherd’s bag and continued toward Goliath.

-Goliath also continued walking toward David and as he got closer, he

realized that David was only a boy. This insulted Goliath; that such

a young, small boy would come to fight him. He began yelling insults

at David – “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” Then he told

David that he would soon be feeding him to the birds and animals.

-David said to Goliath, “You come against me with sword and spear and

javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the

God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD

will have you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your hear.

Today…the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those

gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD

saves; for the battle is the LORD’s and he will give all of you into our

hands.”

-As the two moved closer to each other, David ran quickly toward Goliath,

took a stone from his bag, put it into his sling and slung it, hitting Goliath

on the head. The giant fell dead to the ground.

-David then took Goliath’s own sword and cut off his head.

-When the Philistines saw what had happened they turned and ran

quickly back to their cities.

-When the Israelites saw what had happened, they let out a mighty

yell and began running after the Philistines, killing many of them

along the way.

Key Themes

Following are some key themes and teaching points to use with the children. These themes should be reinforced as often as possible as they travel to each class.

-Our size or age does not matter to God. He can work with and through

anyone.

David was very young and probably not too big. But he had faith in God

and in the abilities God had given him, so he trusted that it did not matter.

-God gives each of us special gifts and talents that can be used for Him.

Each of us has our own God-given stones. Ask the children what are

some things that they are good at. These are gifts that God has given

them. We may think that our stones are small and not worth much, but

as we saw with David, it doesn’t matter how small the stones are, or

how small we are. If we trust God, He will protect us and use us.

-God is bigger than our fear.

The Israelite army was afraid of Goliath. He was bigger and louder and

meaner and he had more weapons. But then David showed up. And

he was smaller and had even fewer weapons than the Israelite soldiers.

But he knew God was bigger than anything. Sometimes we are afraid.

But if we turn to God and talk to Him about our fear and trust Him, He will

help us.

-Let other people know what you know about God.

God wanted to use the Israelites to show the world about him. But the

Israelites were afraid. But then David came to the battle. He was angry

that Goliath would speak out against God and God’s army. David told

Goliath and everyone else that was there – “…the whole world will

know that there is a God in Israel…”

God wants to use us too. He wants people today to know Him. What

are some ways that we can help others to know that there is a God here

and now?