Lesson 18

David the Giant Killer

I Samuel 16 and 17

 

Jesse had eight sons.  David was the youngest one.  David’s brothers often went to help Israel fight their enemies.  But David was still young.  He stayed at home and took care of the sheep. 

 

David took very good care of the sheep.  But while he watched the sheep he also had a lot of time to pray to God.  He loved God and trusted God to help him.  One time a lion came to attack the sheep.  Another time a bear came.  Each time David hit the animal and killed it.  God helped David to kill the lion and bear without getting hurt.

 

Watching sheep does not seem like a very important job.  But God taught David many things at that time.  The things David learned then prepared him for a more important job later.

 

Because King Saul did not love and obey God, God rejected Saul as king.  God told Samuel that He would show him who the new king would be.  God said that the new king was one of Jesse’s sons.   He told Samuel to go to Jesse’s house.  He wanted to show Samuel who the new king should be.

 

Jesse’s oldest son was tall and looked strong.  When Samuel saw this son he thought God would choose him to be king.  But God said, “Do not think about his appearance.  I don’t want him to be king.  People think appearance is very important, but I look at a person’s heart.”

 

One by one each of Jesse’s sons came before Samuel to see who God would choose as king.  But each time God told Samuel that this was not the chosen one.  Finally Samuel asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?”

 

“My youngest son is not here,” Jesse answered.  “He is taking care of the sheep.”

 

Samuel told Jesse to send for David.  Then God chose David to be the new king.  God told Samuel to pour oil on David’s head.  This was to show that David would be the new king.  But David did not become the king right away.  He waited until Saul died before he became king.

 

Vocabulary

Names

Jesse

David

lion (n)	prepare (v)
bear (n)	appearance (n)
get hurt	right away

 

Irregular Verbs

Present	Past	Past Participle	Future
get hurt	got hurt	has gotten hurt	will get hurt

 

Questions

1.  While David was watching sheep what two animals came to attack the sheep?  What did David do to them?

2.  People look at the appearance of a person to see what he is like.  What does God look at?

3.  Why did Samuel pour oil on David’s head?

4.  Did David become king right after Samuel poured oil on his head?  When did he become king?

 

Soon an enemy country decided to fight with Israel.  The enemy soldiers gathered on one hill.  The Jewish soldiers gathered on the next hill.  The two armies were separated by a valley.

 

One of the enemy soldiers was named Goliath.  Goliath was more than nine feet tall!  He had a helmet to protect his head and most of his body was covered with armor.  Every day Goliath came forward and yelled to the Jews.  “Send out the best man in your army.  If he can kill me, my people will be your slaves.  But if I kill your man, your people must be our slaves.”

 

The Jewish soldiers were afraid of Goliath.  No one was brave enough to fight him.  Every day for forty days Goliath came and shouted to the Jews.  But no one was ever brave enough to fight him.

 

During this time David was at home taking care of the sheep.  Three of his brothers were in the Jewish army.  Jesse asked David to bring food to his brothers and find out how they were doing.  When David found the soldiers, Goliath came out in his usual way.  He yelled his challenge to the Jewish soldiers.

 

When David heard Goliath he said, “Who is this man who defies the army of the living God?  Why doesn’t anyone go fight him?”

 

When King Saul heard what David was saying he sent for David.  “Don’t worry about this man Goliath,” David told Saul.  “I will go fight him.”

 

“But you cannot fight Goliath,” Saul said.  “You are still young and Goliath has been a soldier for many years.”

 

David told Saul how God helped him kill the lion and the bear.  He said, “Goliath will be like the lion and the bear because he has defied the army of the living God.  God saved me from the lion and the bear.  He will save me from this man, too.”

 

So Saul said David could go and fight Goliath.  Saul gave David his armor, but it was much too big for David.  David did not use it.  David took a walking stick, five stones, and a sling. 

When David went forward to fight Goliath, Goliath laughed at him.  He said, “Am I a dog that you come to fight me with sticks?  I will kill you.”

 

David said, “You fight me with your sword and spear.  But I fight against you in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.  God will help me kill you.”

 

Then David put a stone in his sling and slung it at Goliath.  The stone hit Goliath on the forehead and killed him.  When the enemy army saw that Goliath was dead, they were afraid and ran away.  The Jewish army ran after them and fought them and won the battle.

 

When King Saul saw how brave David was, he liked David.  He asked David to come live with him in the palace.  Whatever Saul asked David to do, David did it very well.  So Saul gave David a high position in the army. 

 

This made the Jews happy.  David was their new hero.  Soon the people liked David better than Saul.  Saul became very jealous.  He tried to kill David.

 

For years David ran away from Saul so that Saul would not kill him.  Twice David had a chance to kill Saul.  But David would not kill Saul.  David knew he would be Israel’s next king. But he was willing to wait until God’s time for him to become king. 

 

Finally Saul died in battle and David became the new king of Israel.  David ruled over Israel for forty years.  He was the best king Israel ever had. 

 

David loved God and wanted to please Him.  Many times David sinned and did wrong things.  But afterward he was very sorry for his sin.  When David told God how sorry he was, God always forgave him.  David had a special friendship with God.

 

Vocabulary

Name

Goliath

 

Other

helmet (n)	sword (n)
armor (n)	spear (n)
yell (v)	sling (v)
challenge (n)	forehead (n)
defy (defies) (v)	position (n)
worry (v)	hero (n)
sling (n)	twice (adv)

 

Irregular Verbs