David & Goliath

The following program is a first person narrative using authors'license to tell stories drawn from the Bible and the books of Ellen White. Welcome to Family Storytime with Karlie Fraser. Join us as we step back in time to hear about David and Goliath. Hi there. My name is Abby, and I'm here to tell you about a day I will never please. Please. I had heard that my brother David was going to visit our other brothers in Saul's army, and I desperately wanted to go on an adventure with him. The Philistine army had come to invade our country of Israel, and King Saul had called up his army to stop them. My brothers had left to go fight, and we hadn't seen them in ages. So when dad asked David to take some food and check on them, I decided it would be a great idea to join him. I could see him starting to hesitate and say no, but quickly. I promised I would stay far away and out of trouble when we got to the army, no one would even know I was there. Reluctantly, David agreed, and I ran to pack my bags. The next morning, we set off down the road before the sun had even had a chance to warm our faces. Soon the rocking gate of the donkey put me to sleep and I woke up hours later to David shaking me awake for lunch. It wasn't long after lunch before we started to make our way down the mountainside of the valley of Ela, where both armies had set up camp opposite each other. David stopped our donkey beneath the fig tree and told me to climb up the tree and stay there till he came back to get me. It was a giant tree and had lots of leafy branches, so when I climbed high, I could see the whole valley full of people, but they couldn't see me. It was the perfect place to hide without missing out on the action. I could hear the sound of the army getting ready to fight. Men's voices were low and serious as they talked about the coming battle. I could see David weaving his way down through the tents and then stopped by one with a group standing outside. The men looked like Eliab, Abinadab and Shama, my three oldest brothers. Suddenly I heard a voice boom out across the valley saying, why are you here ready to fight? Choose a man from your army and I will fight him. Our battle will decide who wins this war. I stretched up as high as I could, and in the distance I could see a giant of a man. He was huge, about 3 meters tall. He had a bronze helmet on his head. He was wearing armor and carried a huge javelin with him. He even had another soldier walking in front of him to carry his shield. The moment this giant started yelling, our Israelite army had turned around from the edge of the valley and run all the way back to the shelter of the trees. I could see David getting very upset. I knew he would. David was never someone who ran from a challenge. And this giant was saying terrible things about God. David looked like he was having a very intense conversation with those around him. And Eliab wasn't too happy with what David was saying. My guess is David was asking why no one had gone out to fight this giant and defend Israel. Before I even had a chance to see who it was, someone had come up to David and swept him away to another tent. Whoa. They took David right up to King Saul and his son Jonathan. Oh, no. I knew straight away what was going to happen. Jonathan stepped into the tent and then brought out some armor. David was volunteering to go and fight the giant. Goliath. I didn't understand how there was a whole army of men here, and yet the only person brave enough to go and fight was a boy who had arrived to deliver some food to his brothers. David put on Saul's bronze helmet. He lifted up the coat of mail and hung it over his chest. He attached Saul's sword to his side and then tried to walk. I'm pretty sure I could see the men around him laughing as he moved through the crowd. They probably thought he wouldn't go through with it, but I know something they didn't. I had seen David while he was out looking after Dad's sheep. I had seen him fight a lion that had come to eat the lambs and win. Another time, a bear came to attack the lambs while they were drinking by the stream, and David attacked and killed it, too. God was always with David and protected him. David loved God very much. And I knew that the moment he heard this giant speaking bad things about God was the moment he decided the giant needed to stop talking permanently. I watched David move through the crowd, and it wasn't long before he stopped, turned around, and made his way back to King Saul. I could see the men who had been laughing, nodding their heads like they had been right. And as David slipped the armor off, people started to wander away back to the edge of the battlefield. But I had my eye on David, and he quietly moved through the camp down to the edge of the trees. Only he didn't stop at the trees. He kept going all the way down to the river in the middle of the valley. Stopping there, he bent over and picked up five small stones, placing them in his shepherd's bag. We all knew the moment Goliath saw David, because everyone heard his reaction. What am I, a dog? That you come at me with a stick? David looked very small down there by the Philistines, and he only carried his shepherd's staff and a sling to protect himself. On one side there was Goliath, a giant of a man and soldier of the Philistine army, well trained in fighting, and standing opposite him was David, a small boy who spent his time looking after sheep in the hills. You almost didn't know whether to laugh or cry when you looked at them. I could feel the sweat running down the back of my neck, and I was in the shade of the trees. I couldn't begin to imagine how David felt down in the valley with the sun beating back up at him from the rocks and thousands of people watching from the mountains on either side. But he didn't even sound nervous when he replied. You come at me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin, but God will help me fight you and win. The sound of David's voice echoed across the valley, and everyone held their breath to see what would happen next. Goliath was so angry at what David had said that he pushed back his helmet and started running towards him. It looked like David was going to be cut down before he even had a chance to defend himself. But then in an instant, he reached into his shepherd's bag, pulled out a stone, dropped it into his sling and started spinning it around his head as he ran towards Goliath. The sling was spinning so fast that you almost couldn't see the stone. When David released it, quick as a flash, it went hurtling through the air straight towards Goliath, and it hit him right in his forehead where he had lifted the helmet up. Everyone froze as Goliath stopped running, stumbled and staggered, and then fell face down onto the ground. Just moments before, Goliath had been yelling things against our army and against our God, and now he lay motionless on the ground before us. God had used David to fight for him and save us from the invading army. David was God's treasure. In all the time David spent looking after his sheep, he spent a lot of time getting to know God as his closest friend. He knew he didn't wait to be older before God could use him. God just needed David to say, okay, God, I'll do whatever you want me to do. We are God's treasure, and he loves us so much. He has a plan for each one of us, and we don't need to wait until we're older before God can use us. It doesn't matter if you're 510, 15 or 50. God can do mighty things through you if you just ask Him to show you what his special plan is for your life. Will you pray with me? Dear God, thank you so much that you love us and that you always see us, even if it feels like we're just doing small things like looking after sheep away from everybody else. Lord, you still love us and you still care about us. And I pray that today you will remind us that you have a plan for our lives, that you want to use us to show others how much you love them as well. Thank you so much, God. Please can you guide us every day? We love you. Amen. Thank you, Karlie, for showing us how God can conquer the giant problems we have to face in our life. And here is Jesse and Christopher as they open the Bible and expand on the story of David and Goliath. Wow. What an amazing story about the young boy David defeating the enormous giant goliath. Thanks, Karlie. This is one of my all time favorite stories in the entire Bible. Yeah, one of mine, too. I think everyone has just got to love a story where the little guy gets the victory. And what a victory it was facing a giant nearly 3 meters tall. I'm not even 2 meters tall. Can you imagine fighting someone as tall as your house? No way. That's crazy. I don't think I'd last very long if I had to fight someone that big. Well, as scary as Goliath may have been, did you know that all of us will face something in our own lives that is even scarier than Goliath? What? Scarier than goliath. No way. He's as tall as a house. How could anything be more scary than a man the size of a grizzly bear? Well, this type of challenge, or if you'd like to call it a goliath in your life, is not one that you can solve with your fists or with the sword. It's a bit trickier than that, which makes it all the more scary. These goliaths in your life are not men the size of grizzly bears, but they do come in different shapes and sizes. These goliaths that we face are trials or challenges in our own lives. All right, could you help me understand it a bit more? What do you mean by trials and challenges? Like I said, these challenges can look different for every person. One person might be struggling with their grades at school. Another person might have a fear of public speaking and have been asked to speak at the next school assembly. For others, there might be a big sports event or match coming up or an important exam. And some people might even struggle with having no friends at school or maybe moving away from home and having to move to a new school completely. Maybe even your parents at home could be fighting. Whoa. Those are really scary. And you're right. You can't just fix these problems by fighting with your fists. These are a different type of challenge. So then, if I want to fight these challenges and win, where do I start? Well, what did David do when he challenges Goliath? Oh, I remember. He told King Saul that he wanted to fight. But King Saul told him, if you want to fight Goliath, you have to do it in my armor. And how did that work out for David? Well, the armor didn't fit him. He looked silly in it. That's right. You can imagine just little David walking around in big clunky armor. Maybe even running into a wall and falling over or struggling to reach for his sword. Not the best way to dress to win for a fight. So what did David do? He took off Saul's armor and threw down his sword and instead put in his own clothes and picked up his sling. When facing Goliaths your challenges in life, you might be tempted to fight them in someone else's way, in someone else's armor. A friend might tell you to solve your exam problem by cheating and taking answers into the exam. Your brother might tell you to give up your beliefs so that you can fit in with the popular kids at school. But God doesn't want us to face our challenges like that. I think I get it. God doesn't want us to fight our challenges the same way that others do. He knows the best way for us to overcome our challenges. And so we should listen to God and not others who want us to wear their armor. Alright, I think I'm ready to go, Jesse. I've got my armor, I have my weapon in my hand. But to be honest, I'm feeling a little bit scared still. Do you think that maybe I could put it off for a day or two? Well, you could try that, Chris, but personally, I don't think it would turn out very well. Why don't we turn to the Bible now to find out what David did? Let's all turn to first samuel, chapter 17, and we'll read from verses 48 to 49. It reads, as Goliath moved closer to attack, david quickly ran out to meet him. Reaching into his shepherd's bag and taking out a stone. He hurled it with a sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in and Goliath tumbled and fell face down on the ground. Notice that Goliath was running towards David. What do you think would have happened if David just stood still and did nothing? He would have been trampled by Goliath. Exactly. Well, the same applies to us when we face our Goliaths. If we don't act straight away. Every day we spend standing still, our Goliath gets closer. The challenge becomes harder to defeat. Do you remember what David said to Goliath when he faced him? Yeah, it was in verse 45 of the same chapter we were in before. David tells Goliath, you come to me with a sword, spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven's armies, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied. Exactly. God was with David and he is with us as well. So if God is on our side, why put off the challenges when we know that we will win. You're already in your armor, so now you're ready to fight and win. Awesome. All right. I'm really starting to get excited to fight these battles now, but I just realized something. I don't think that I know how to fight. I'm doing what God tells me and I'm trusting in Him. But I'm still not sure how to face these challenges. Let's go back to David. How did David know to use the sling that defeated Goliath? Well, study and practice years of it. Doesn't David even tell Saul that he's killed lions and big grizzly bears to protect his lambs from becoming lamb chops? That's right, he did. And how did David have the ability to trust in God? So ah, study of the Bible and time in prayer. I see. So to get ready for the battle, it took years of training for David to create a relationship with God. That way, when he faced Goliath, he was ready both physically and spiritually. Spot on. David trained for his battles by spending time with God. And even right before the chaos of the battle, david went to the brook for some quiet time with God alone. And in the same way, we need to make sure that we are spending quiet time with God as well, so that we are always ready to face whatever Goliaths come into our lives. Wow. The more I think about it, the more I realize that David is a great role model for our lives. And he was such a young kid. That's true. God wants to have a relationship with everyone, no matter how young or old that person may be. Let's read together what Paul says to a young Pastor Timothy. Turn with us to one Timothy, and we'll read chapter four and verse twelve. This is what Paul says to Timothy. He tells him, don't let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. Here, Paul tells Timothy, don't let anyone stop you from doing God's work just because you're not as old as them. God wants to use everyone to share the good news of Jesus Christ. You know what I also noticed? Paul never tells Timothy to use his wisdom or experience or knowledge. Those are all things that older people have. Instead, Paul focuses on qualities that young people can achieve. In other words, Paul is telling Timothy not to fight in other people's armor, but instead to use the gifts and talents that God has given him. So then, if we want to be ready to face the Goliaths, the challenges in our lives, we need to train ourselves by spending time with God. We need to make sure to fight the way God wants us to, not how others think we should. And once we are ready for battle, we need to make sure that we don't stand still and instead run into the battle knowing that God is by our side. Before we finish, let's read together Ephesians, chapter six, verses ten through to 18. And we read about the armor that God wants us to take into battle so that we can overcome the challenges in our lives. A final word be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the Devil. For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then, after the battle, you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of Truth and the body armor of God's righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News, so that you'll be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the Devil. Put on salvation as your helmet and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. Let's be ready to face the Goliaths in our lives fully clothed in the armor of God. You have been listening to Family Story Time, a production of Three ABN, Australia. Radio Only a little sling only a boy named David but he could pray and sing only a boy named David only a little brook only a boy named David but five little stones he took and one little stone went in the sling and the sling went round and round and one little stone went in the sling and the sling went round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and one little stone went up in the air. And the giant came tumbling. And the Giant came tumbling down, tumbling down came tumbling. Only a boy named David. Only a little sling only a boy named David but he could pray and see only a boy named David only a little brook only a boy named David but five little stones he took and one little stone went in the sling and the sling went round and round and one little stone went in the sling. And the sling went round and round round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and one little stone went up in the air and the giant came tumbling and the Giant came the Giant came tumbling, tumbling, tumbling, tumbling, tumbling down thank you to four one for that harmonious song called Only A Boy Named David.