Beginning of the End: Goliath Despises the Youthful David

 Goliath was filled with amazement and anger. “Am I a dog,” he exclaimed, “that you come to me with sticks?” He heaped terrible curses on David, then called scornfully, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field!”

David did not weaken. Stepping forward, he said to his antagonist: “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”

This speech, given in a clear voice, rang out on the air, and the listening thousands heard it distinctly. In his rage Goliath pushed up the helmet that protected his forehead  and rushed forward. “So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth.”

The two armies had been certain that David would be killed, but when the stone went whizzing through the air straight to the mark, they saw the mighty warrior tremble and reach forth his hands as if struck with blindness. The giant staggered, and like a great oak tree fell to the ground.

David did not wait an instant. He jumped on the fallen form of the Philistine and took hold of Goliath’s sword with both hands. He lifted it in the air, and the head of the boaster rolled from his body. A shout of joy went up from the camp of Israel.

The Philistines were terror-stricken, and the triumphant Hebrews rushed after their fleeing enemies “to the gates of Ekron.” “Then the children of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their tents.”