CAUGHT, SMOTE and SLEW

1 Samuel 17:32-35

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

33 And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.

34 And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:

35 And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him."

This week we continue our series titled Children of the Heavenly Father. Last week we studied King Solomon, the son of King David. This week we will study King David in his youth. Specifically when young David faced the GIANT GOLIATH!! One of the most famous events recorded in the Holy Bible!

While the books of Samuel do tell us a little about the prophet Samuel it is really a record of the “acts of King David.” Scholars believe the compiler of the books was a student in the prophetic school who used documents from the prophets; Samuel, Nathan, and Gad.

We join the narrative when young David, most likely in his teen years, has gone to the front lines of the battle between Israel and the Philistines. Two nations at WAR. The armies from each are encamped on opposite hills with a valley in between that would be the battlefield. This would be the place where they would hack at each other with swords, jab at the other with spears and try to bash the other with whatever was available. And; the Philistines had Goliath, a 10 ft tall champion that no one dared take on. No one from Israel would dare take on Goliath. They were all very AFRAID.

After listening to Goliath's insults for a while "...David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; THY SERVANT will go and fight with this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Thou art NOT ABLE to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art BUT A YOUTH, and he a man of war from his youth." GOLIATH is a trained and experienced fighter. He would be able to take on a boy, no problem. We know how the story unfolds so it is hard for us to really appreciate how ludicrous it is for a boy to take on a WARRIOR!

In the next verses David makes his case; "And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I CAUGHT HIM by his beard, and SMOTE HIM, and SLEW HIM." David is ready!!!