A long time ago, there was a boy named David.
David was humble, and that means he didn't go around saying, "Look at me! Look at me!" or, "See what good thing I did?"
David was a shepherd. He kept his father's sheep. David had seven brothers. They were all older than him, and everyone thought that they were more important. David thought so, too. But God didn't!
One day, an army came to battle against Israel. The army called themselves the Philistines. One of the Philistines was a very tall man -- in fact, he was a giant. Everyone called him Goliath.
He was very tall, and he wore a brass helmet and a heavy coat of chain-mail. He also carried a big shield and a big spear. Goliath went to stand before the Israelite army.
"Choose one of your men to fight me," Goliath challenged. "If you beat us, we will be your servants. But if we beat you, you will be our servants."
News traveled fast, and soon, all of Israel knew of the Philistine's challenge. David's three oldest brothers went to go fight for the army, but David stayed home. He was too young, they said, and he needed to tend to his father's sheep.
Forty days passed, but no man volunteered to fight Goliath. It seemed like the Philistines would be challenging the Israelites forever.
One day, David's father came to him and asked him to take some food to his brothers. David agreed. He rose early the next morning to take the food to the camp of the Israelites. That day, Goliath had again come to challenge the Israelite army. But the Israelites were so afraid of Goliath by now, they ran away to hide!
"What are you going to do to fight this man?" asked David. "Are you going to let him dare the army of the living God?" David's brothers were angry with him when they heard him talking like that, and they sent him to the king.
"Let me go and fight Goliath," David told him.
"You're too young!" the king said. "He's a man, and you're only a boy. What makes you think you can fight Goliath and win?"
"I am a shepherd for my father," David said. "One time while I was watching them, a lion and a bear came and tried to attack my flock. They stole a lamb, but I chased him down again and killed the lion and the bear. The Lord that hath delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine."
The king sighed. "Go, then. God be with you," he told David.
David went to a little stream and picked up five smooth stones. He put them in his bag and took a simple sling in his hand. When Goliath saw that David was going to fight him, he made fun of the boy. He challenged him, and said, "If I win, I will feed you to the animals." David didn't even flinch.
"You're going to fight me with a sword and a shield," David told Goliath, "but I will fight you with God on my right hand. He is the God of all of the armies of Israel. God doesn't fight with swords and shields. He already has all of the power. He will deliver you into our hands."
Goliath got up and came to face David. David ran to face Goliath.
The boy reached into his bag and pulled out a smooth stone. He put it into his sling, and slung it at Goliath.
The stone hit Goliath right between his eyes! Goliath fell to the earth. David killed him with his sword, and all of Israel was delivered from the hands of the Philistine army.
David beat Goliath with only a little stone and a sling. But it wasn't his doing -- it was God's. God is the One Who helped David in this battle. Imagine that -- a boy who wasn't even a man, beating a giant with only a stone! Sometimes people may tell us that we cannot accomplish certain things because of different reasons. But God always knows best. We can always trust Him to show us the things we should do, if we go to Him in prayer.
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