David & Goliath

by Frederick Hoehn, copyright 2014, all rights reserved.

Chapter 1

A famous story from the bible is that of David and Goliath.  David was a shepherd boy, probably about teen age.

He had older brothers in the Army.  So David’s father sent him with extra provisions to the Army.

Once there, David learned about the giant, Goliath, who defied the armies of Israel.

Did that make David afraid?  No, David had already killed a lion and a bear that had come against his sheep.

He wasn’t intimidated by this uncircumcised Goliath.  David knew he was a partner with God, and used his faith to defeat Goliath.

Here is the record of David and Goliath from 1 Samuel chapter 17, from the Holy Bible, Hoehn Version, (Amazon).

___1_Samuel chapter 17

1 Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, that belongs to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim.

2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines.

3 And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, and there was a valley between them.

4 And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was nine feet and a span.

5 And he had a helmet of brass on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.

6 And he had greaves of brass on his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders.

7 And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron, and someone carrying a shield went before him.

8 And he stood and shouted to the armies of Israel, and said to them, "Why have you come out to set your battle in array?  Am I not a Philistine, and you servants to Saul?  Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.

9 If he's able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants, but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then you'll be our servants, and serve us."

10 And the Philistine said, "I defy the armies of Israel this day, give me a man, so we can fight together."

11 When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were discouraged, and quite afraid.

12 Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehemjudah, whose name was Jesse, and he had eight sons, and the man was considered to be an old man in the days of Saul.

13 And the three eldest sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle, and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.

14 And David was the youngest, and the three eldest followed Saul.

15 But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem.

16 And the Philistine came near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.

17 And Jesse said to David his son, take now for your brothers an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to your brothers,

18 And carry these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and find out how your brothers are doing, and take their pledge.

19 Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.

20 And David got up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him, and he came to the trench, as the host was going out to the fight, and shouted for the battle.

21 For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army.

22 And David left his baggage in the hand of the keeper of the baggage, and ran into the army, and came and greeted his brothers.

23 And as he talked with them, see, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, named Goliath, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spoke according to the same words, and David heard them.

24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were very afraid.

25 And the men of Israel said, "Have you seen this man that has come up?  Surely to defy Israel he has come up, and it shall be, that the man who kills him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel."

26 And David spoke to the men that stood by him, saying, "What shall be done to the man that kills this Philistine, and takes away the reproach from Israel?  For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?"

27 And the people answered him after this manner, saying, "So shall it be done to the man that kills him."

28 And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men, and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, "Why did you come down here?  And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness?  I know your pride, and the naughtiness of your heart, for you've come down so you can see the battle."

29 And David said, "What have I now done?  Is there not a reason?"

30 And he turned from him toward someone else, and spoke after the same manner, and the people answered him again after the former manner.

31 And when the words were heard that David spoke, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him.

32 And David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail because of him, your servant will go and fight with this Philistine."

33 And Saul said to David, "You're not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you're just a youth, and he a man of war from his youth."

34 And David said to Saul, "Your servant kept his father's sheep, and a lion came, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock,

35 And I went out after him, and struck him, and delivered it out of his mouth, and when he rose up against me, I caught him by his beard, and struck him, and killed him.

36 Your servant killed both the lion and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God."

37 David said also, "The Lord who 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."  And Saul said to David, "Go, and the Lord be with you."

38 And Saul armed David with his armor, and he put a helmet of brass on his head, also he armed him with a coat of mail.

39 And David put his sword on his armor, and he tried to go, but he had not proven it.  And David said to Saul, "I can't go with these, for I haven't proven them."  And David took them off.

40 And he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag that he had, even in a scrip, and his sling was in his hand, and he went near the Philistine.

41 And the Philistine came on and drew near David, and the man that carried the shield went before him.

42 And when the Philistine looked around, and saw David, he scorned him, for he was just a youth, and ruddy, and with an attractive face.

43 And the Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with staves?"  And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

44 And the Philistine said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field."

45 Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you've defied.

46 This day will the Lord deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you, and take your head from you, and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day to the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth, so that all the earth will know that there is a God in Israel.

47 And all this assembly shall know that the Lord doesn't save by sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands."

48 And when the Philistine got up, and came near to meet David, David hurried, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.

49 And David put his hand in his bag, and took from there a stone, and slang it, and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sunk into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth.

50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine, and killed him, but there was no sword in the hand of David.

51 David therefore ran, and stood on the Philistine, and took his sword, and pulled it out of the sheath, and killed him, and cut off his head with it.  And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they ran away.

52 And the men of Israel and of Judah got up, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until you come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron.  And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, to Gath, and to Ekron.

53 And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents.

54 And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.

55 And when Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the captain of the host, "Abner, whose son is this youth?"  And Abner said, "As your soul lives, O king, I can't tell."

56 And the king said, "Inquire whose son the stripling is."

57 And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.

58 And Saul said to him, "Whose son are you, young man?"  And David answered, "I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite."

Chapter 2

King Saul says to David, “Well, you can’t go up against this giant, you’re just a youth.”

David says, “Oh, sure I can.  I killed the lion and the bear.  And God will deliver him into my hand.”

And that, of course, is just what happened.  If you want a certain thing to happen, it’s good to say ahead of time what God will do for you, because in doing so, you’re putting your faith to work.

David persuaded Saul.  And David persuaded Goliath, the hard way.

Sometimes, unfortunately, people have to die to find out that they were wrong, like the people who say there’s no hell, until they arrive in hell.

We know there’s a fiery hell because Jesus said so, and Jesus doesn’t lie.

My Dad didn’t believe in hell during his life on earth.  He scorned God, and Jesus, and the Bible.  But now that he has died, he knows there’s a hell because that’s where he resides now.

But I did make efforts to keep my Dad from going to hell.  I guess he thought he knew a lot more than his son did, and Dad probably did know more about some things, but not about Theology.

It’s a whole lot better to make sure you have things figured out right, theologically, before you die, so that when you die, you go to heaven, not hell.

In fact, that is the most important thing for people to do during their lives on earth, is get themselves straight with God.  And people who are sloppy about this will regret their slothfulness.

Jesus said, “What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul, or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

The richest man on earth can’t buy his way into heaven.  You must be born again, Jesus said in John chapter 3.

To get born again, you obey Romans 10:9,10.

“That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you’re saved.  For with the heart man believes for righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made for salvation.”

David is listed as one of the greats of faith in the “Faith Chapter,” Hebrews chapter 11, along with people like Abraham, Moses, Samson.

The women of Israel would later sing about David that Saul had killed his thousands, and David had killed his tens of thousands.

When Saul heard that, it very much displeased him.  In fact, concerned that David might displace him, Saul attempted to kill David several times.

But eventually, Saul died, and the Lord put David in as the second king of Israel.

David is also known as “The Sweet Psalmist of Israel,” having written most of the Psalms, found about in the middle of the Bible.

David was the father of Solomon, who succeeded David as King of Israel.

___James chapter 1

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes that are dispersed around, greetings.

2 My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into various temptations,

3 Knowing this, that the testing of your faith works patience.

4 But let patience have its perfect work, so you'll be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God for it, who gives to all men liberally, and won't find fault, and it shall be given to him.

6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.  For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and tossed.

7 For let that man not think that he'll receive anything from the Lord.

8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted,

10 But the rich, in that he is made low, because as the flower of the grass he'll pass away.

11 For the sun has no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withers the grass, and the flower of it falls, and the grace of the fashion of it perishes, so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

12 Blessed is the man that endures temptation, for after he's been tested, he'll receive the crown of life, that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

13 Let no man say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God," for God can't be tempted with evil, nor does he tempt any man,

14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.

15 Then when lust has conceived, it produces sin, and sin when it's finished, produces death.

16 Do not err, my beloved brothers.

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, nor shadow of turning.

18 He chose to father us with the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

19 So, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger,

20 For the anger of man doesn't accomplish the righteousness of God.

21 So, lay apart all filthiness and the unnecessary naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man seeing his natural face in a mirror,

24 For he sees himself, and goes his way, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

25 But whoever looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues in it, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

26 If any man among you seems to be religious, and doesn't bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is for nothing.

27 Pure religion and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

___James chapter 2

1 My brothers, don't have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.

2 For if a man with a gold ring comes to your assembly in fancy clothes, and a poor man in dirty clothes comes in also,

3 And you have respect to him that wears the fancy clothes, and say to him, "Sit here in a good place," and say to the poor, "Stand there, or sit here under my footstool,"

4 Aren't you then partial in yourselves, and have become judges with evil thoughts?

5 Listen, my beloved brothers, hasn't God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?

6 But you have despised the poor.  Don't rich men oppress you, and bring you before the judgment seats?

7 Don't they blaspheme that worthy name by which you're called?

8 If you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor like yourself," you do well,

9 But if you have respect of persons, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as sinners.

10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

11 For he that said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not kill."  Now if you don't commit adultery, yet if you kill, you've become a breaker of the law.

12 Speak in such a way, and do, as those who'll be judged by the law of liberty.

13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that has shown no mercy, and mercy rejoices against judgment.

14 What does it profit, my brothers, though a man says he has faith, and doesn't have works?  Can faith save him?

15 If a brother or sister needs clothes, and lacks daily food,

16 And one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you don't give them the things that are needed for the body, what good is that?

17 Even so faith, if it doesn't have works, is dead, being alone.

18 Yes, a man could say, "You have faith, and I have works, show me your faith without your works, and I'll show you my faith by my works."

19 You believe that there is one God, you do well, the devils also believe, and tremble.

20 But don't you know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

21 Wasn't Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son on the altar?

22 Do you see how faith worked with his deeds, and by works faith was made perfect?

23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God."

24 You see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

25 Likewise also wasn't Rahab the prostitute justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

26 For like the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

___James chapter 3

1 My brothers, don't be many masters, knowing that we'll receive the greater condemnation.

2 For in many things we offend all.  If any man doesn't offend in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.

3 See, we put bits in the horses' mouths, so they'll obey us, and we turn around their whole bodies.

4 Look also at the ships, which though they're so large, and are driven by fierce winds, yet they're turned around by a very small helm, wherever the captain wants.

5 Even so, the tongue is a little member, and boasts great things.  See how great a matter a little fire kindles!

6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of sin, so is the tongue among our members that it makes dirty the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire by hell.

7 For every kind of animals, and of birds, and of snakes, and of things in the sea, gets tamed, and has been tamed by mankind,

8 But no man can tame the tongue, it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

9 With it we bless God, the Father, and with it we curse men, who are made after the likeness of God.

10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing.  My brothers, these things ought not to be.

11 Does a fountain send out at the same place sweet water and bitter?

12 Can the fig tree, my brothers, produce olive berries?  Or a vine, figs?  So no fountain can yield both salt water and fresh.

13 Who is a wise man, possessing knowledge among you?  Let him show out of a good lifestyle his works with meekness of wisdom.

14 But if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, don't glory, and don't lie against the truth.

15 This wisdom doesn't descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.

16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be reasoned with, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

18 And the fruit of righteousness is planted in peace by those who make peace.

___James chapter 4

1 Where do wars and fightings among you come from?  Don't they come from your lusts that war in your members?

2 You lust, and don't have, you kill, and desire to have, and can't obtain, you fight and war, yet you don't have, because you don't ask.

3 You ask, and don't receive, because you ask wrongly, so you can consume it on your lusts.

4 You adulterers and adulteresses, don't you know that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God?  Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world is an enemy of God.

5 Do you think that the scripture says for nothing, "The spirit that lives in us lusts to envy?"

6 But he gives more grace.  So he says, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he'll run away from you.

8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.  Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded.

9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and cry, let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.

10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he'll lift you up.

11 Don't speak evil about each other, brothers.  He that speaks evil about his brother, and judges his brother, speaks evil about the law, and judges the law, but if you judge the law, you're not a doer of the law, but a judge.

12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy, who are you that judges someone else?

13 Go on now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we'll go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and make a profit,"

14 Actually, you don't know what will happen tomorrow.  For what is your life?  It is a puff of steam, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.

15 For you ought to say, "Lord willing, we'll live, and do this, or that."

16 But now you rejoice in your boastings, all such rejoicing is evil.

17 Therefore to him that knows to do good, and doesn't do it, to him it is sin.

___James chapter 5

1 Go on now, you rich men, cry and howl for your miseries that shall come on you.

2 Your riches are corrupted, and your clothes are moth eaten.

3 Your gold and silver are rusted, and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh like fire.  You've heaped treasure together for the last days.

4 See, the wages of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which you've kept back by fraud, shouts, and the shouts of those who've reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabbath.

5 You've lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton, you've nourished your hearts, like in a day of slaughter.

6 You've condemned and killed the just, and he doesn't resist you.

7 Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord.  See, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receives the early and latter rain.

8 You also be patient.  Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is getting near.

9 Don't grudge against each other, brothers, so you won't be condemned, see, the judge stands at the door.

10 Take, my brothers, the prophets, who've spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

11 See, we count them happy that endure.  You've heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

12 But above all things, my brothers, don't swear, not by heaven, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath, but let your yes be yes, and your no, no, so that you don't fall into condemnation.

13 Is anyone among you afflicted?  Let him pray.  Is anyone merry?  Let him sing psalms.

14 Is anyone sick among you?  Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord,

15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up, and if he has committed sins, he'll be forgiven.

16 Confess your faults to each other, and pray for each other so you'll be healed.  The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man is does a lot of good.

17 Elijah was a man subject to the same kind of passions that we are, and he prayed earnestly that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't rain on the earth for three years and six months.

18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

19 Brothers, if any of you strays from the truth, and someone converts him,

20 Let him know, that he that converts the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.