Recap:
Saul is Rejected by God 1 Samuel 15:10-35
David is Anointed King by Samuel 1 Samuel 16:1-13
This week:
David and Goliath 1 Samuel 17:1-52
ATTENTION GRABBER!
How Big is the Giant?
To get an idea of how big Goliath was in comparison to David, use a tape measure to measure out 9’ 9” in the center of the room. Mark off the size using masking tape.
Have each child lay on the floor next to the measurements with their feet at the line where you began your “Goliath” measurement.
Mark the child’s height using a piece of masking tape. Write the child’s name on the piece of masking tape. Have all of the children mark their height and then as a class compare their height with Goliath’s height.
LESSON TIME!
In our lesson today, we are going to study one of the most popular stories in the entire Bible. It is a story about a young man, a slingshot, and a giant.
David stood before a mighty and scary giant by the name of Goliath.
David stood to fight Goliath for his nation and people.
and for the honor of the Lord.
The stakes were high because the victor would not only win his life but victory over a whole nation.
In a great demonstration of faith, David moves to stand before the giant, risking his own life and the welfare of his nation.
David was much smaller and without the same weapons and armor, yet his confidence was not in his ability but in the Lord. —
He knew the Lord would be with him.
David and Goliath
1 Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Sokoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Sokoh and Azekah. 2 Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. 3 The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them.
4 A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span. 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels; 6 on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. 7 His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him.
8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” 10 Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” 11 On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.
the Israelites were not obedient to the Lord when they first
came into the land, the Philistines would be a problem for them for many years.
Once again, the Philistines gathered their army against Israel.
Remember we learned it is better to obey the Lord than to ask for forgiveness.
The Israelites were at a standstill. They were just holding their ground, too fearful to attack.
Meanwhile, the Philistines sent out their champion, Goliath. Goliath was a giant and was probably very scary to the Israelites.
He carried a big sword and wore heavy armor.
Not one of the soldiers from Israel wanted to go and fight Goliath.
In Bible days, battle with an enemy meant hand-to-hand combat and the best man won. It was bloody, violent, and ruthless.
The winner walked away with not only his life but with all the spoils of victory.
And the survivors of the losing side would become slaves to the victors, only to be oppressed. The loss of family and loved ones would be a sorrowful reminder.
Occasionally, an army would avoid the high cost of battle by matching its strongest warrior against the strongest warrior of the enemy, thus avoiding great bloodshed. This was the case in this Israeli/Philistine encounter.
Goliath, the Philistine champion, challenged the Israeli army to send out a man to fight for Israel.
In the days of the Exodus, most of the Israelites were afraid to enter the Promised Land because of the giants living there.
Remember there were giants in the land and all the spies came back discouraged all but Joshua and Caleb.
Goliath, a towering nine feet, nine inches tall, laughed and mocked Israel’s soldiers and King Saul.
12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul’s time he was very old. 13 Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab; the second, Abinadab; and the third, Shammah. 14 David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.
16 For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.
17 Now Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. 18 Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance from them. 19 They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.”
20 Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up, and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other. 22 David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines, and asked his brothers how they were. 23 As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. 24 Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.
25 Now the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his family from taxes in Israel.”
David, the youngest, had been chosen by God to be the next king of Israel; but at this time, he was running errands for his dad (bringing food to his brothers) and tending to sheep at home in Bethlehem.
Though still a young man, he also served as a personal musician to Saul.
David was sent to deliver food to his brothers and hears Goliath makes his appearance and again challenges Israel to send a man to fight against him.
David learned that whoever defeated this giant would be richly rewarded but that is not the reason he fought Goliath.
26 David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
27 They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.”
28 When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.”
29 “Now what have I done?” said David. “Can’t I even speak?” 30 He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before.
The mocking words of Goliath, not only towards Israel but also towards God.
It set a fire in his heart of David and made him mad.
It was not so much the reward and freedom that was offered by King Saul that caught David’s attention, but the boastful words of the giant against God’s people.
David replied, “Who is the uncircumcised Philistine, that
he should taunt the armies of the living God?”
David had a different perspective than that of King Saul and his army.
When David looked at Goliath, he saw a mortal man defying
Almighty God.
King Saul was afraid and perplexed.
David must have been disappointed as he saw the army of Israel scared and hopeless.
Eliab, his oldest brother, was not very happy to see David’s interest in this standoff and harshly expresses his discontent with him.
Eliab may have been dealing with some jealousy and resentment towards David. After all, his little brother had been anointed as king;
perhaps his position as a musician playing the harp for Saul also brought jealousy.
David gracefully avoided conflict with Eliab.
Though negative comments were hurled at David, David could not be easily discouraged.
He knew the importance of taking action.
With God there to fight for him, there was no reason to wait.
People may try to discourage you with negative comments or mockery, but like David, you must continue to do what you know is right.
By doing what is right, you will be pleasing God, whose opinion matters most.
31 What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him.
32 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”
33 Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”
34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it, and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it, and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”
Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you.”
38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 David fastened his sword over the tunic and tried walking around because he was not used to them.
“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So, he took them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag, and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.
King Saul soon heard about David’s desire to fight Goliath and called him.
David came before him with words of encouragement.
At first King, Saul told David, “You are just a kid, what can you do?”
God can do some pretty amazing things through the lives of children.
He can do some pretty amazing things throughout your life if you will let Him.
With boldness and faith, David assured King Saul that he could indeed slay this giant of a man.
As a shepherd, he slew a lion and a bear--the Lord delivered him.
“This uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God."
To King Saul, his consent to sending little David out to fight this giant was like sending a lamb to the slaughter.
Unfortunately for King Saul, he had no other options; no one would stand up to this monster.
Saul thought that maybe a soldier’s armor would make
the difference--at least David would look like a warrior.
King Saul tried to make a warrior out of a shepherd, but David knew armor would not help.
God would use him as he was and in God’s care, he would have all the protection he needed.
We do not have to rely on gadgets or schemes to accomplish a task that God wants us to do.
We need simple faith in a great God who will enable us to carry out His will, no matter how great the challenge is.
41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield-bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. 43 He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!”
45 David said to the Philistine, “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. 46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 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.”
48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.
50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand, he struck down the Philistine and killed him.
51 David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword.
When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. 52 Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron. 53 When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp.
When David went out to the valley to meet Goliath’s challenge, Goliath was not impressed with David at all. He looked at the ruddy young boy and despised him with great hatred.
Goliath felt insulted that the great nation of Israel would send out a young boy to fight against him.
David went quickly out to him with only his shepherd’s staff, his sling, and some stones.
As the newly appointed shepherd of his people, David defended the Lord’s threatened and frightened flock of people.
God used David to protect his father’s flocks; now He would use David to protect His flock.
Though David’s weapons were no match for a warrior like Goliath, God would make a difference in David’s battle.
David had no doubt that he was not alone because he knew that His God would be faithful.
Oftentimes, we as Christians, face impossible circumstances that seem like giants to us; and we feel overwhelmed.
Facing the problem on our own would mean certain
defeat.
But, as Christians, like David, we can be confident that God
is on our side.
David responded confidently to Goliath that Goliath was no
match—though he came with a sword, spear, and javelin (David had only five small stones); for David came “in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel,” the one Goliath had defied.”
David boldly announced that God would indeed give Israel victory so that “all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel” and “…the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord's, and He will give you into our hands."
With the challenge made, the giant arose and came down to meet David. David ran down quickly to meet Goliath in battle.
David knew that this battle would be quickly over. Without any hesitation, David slung a stone; the stone embedded into the forehead of Goliath.
Goliath fell to the ground, on his face.
When David used Goliath’s sword to cut off his head, the Philistines fled in fear; for they knew they would suffer the same fate as their champion.
The Philistine army was defeated.
A young shepherd boy, with only five small stones and a sling, led the way to victory because God was with him.
Let us, as Christians, exhibit the same confidence as David; for “the battle is the Lord's.” The enemy is certainly no match for us when God is on our side.
MEMORY VERSE
1 SAMUEL 17:47
“The LORD does not save with sword or spear; for the battle is the LORD’S and He will give you into our hands.”
David’s Sling Shot Craft:
For this craft, you will need small square pieces of leather or suede (approximately 3” x 3”), leather lace or string (4 pieces per child approximately 12” long), a hole punch, ping pong balls, and
markers. Using the square pieces of leather or suede, punch a hole in each of the 4 corners. Tie one end of each of the 4 leather cords to the ends of the piece of suede. Next, give each child a ping pong ball and allow them to color it with markers gray, brown, or black to resemble a stone. They now have a sling and a stone that resembles David’s in our story.
On the piece of leather or suede, allow the children to write, “God
fights our battles for us,” along with the scripture reference or
memory verse.
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