king that while he kept his father’s sheep he had often to defend them from wild beasts. Once he had fought with a lion and a bear single-handed and had killed them both.

Saul puts his own armour on David.

It was not in his own strength that he trusted. “The Lord that 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,” he ended triumphantly.

[folio 24]
Faith in God was David’s sure defence; and Saul as he listened bowed his head in shame, for it was the faith which he himself had lost. It was this faith, he knew, which might win the victory. It was an echo of the confidence he had once felt when his whole trust had been in God, and he recognized the true ring of the boy’s courage.

“Go,” he said, “and the Lord be with thee.”

Then the king was eager to put his own armour on David, and he bade the soldiers arm him with the royal sword and put a brass helmet on his head. But David was not accustomed to wear heavy armour, and had never been trained to use a sword. No, he would do his best with the only weapon he thoroughly understood.

So putting on once more his shepherd’s coat, he took his sling in his hand, and as he crossed the brook at the foot of the valley he filled his shepherd’s bag with smooth stones and fitted one of them to his sling. Then with springing steps he began to climb the opposite side.

The rage of Goliath was great when he saw the slender, fair-haired boy, without either armour or sword, coming so boldly to meet him.

“Am I a dog,” he shouted, “that thou comest to me with staves?”

[folio 25]

David’s fight with Goliath.

“I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied,” rang out the clear answer. “The Lord saveth not with [folio 27] sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”

The great giant lifted his spear, ready with one blow to end this unequal fight. But David did not wait to come within reach of the spear. Before Goliath came near, the boy stopped suddenly and sent a stone whizzing through the air straight at the giant’s head. The stone sank into Goliath’s forehead, and the great figure reeled and fell with a mighty crash to the earth. Instantly David seized his sword and cut off his head.

David seized his sword and cut off his head.

So God’s people were saved, and so again God made [folio 28] use of the shepherd boy’s training and skill, this time to win a great victory for His people.

The fair-haired shepherd boy had done his duty faithfully in the fields on the hillside at home, where he was but little thought of. He had always tried to do his best, whether he was keeping the sheep or practising with his sling or learning to play the harp. And now, suddenly, the great opportunity had come and found him ready.

He had entered the camp an unnoticed country lad, carrying provisions to his brothers. Now every soldier in the camp was shouting his name; the king was ready to shower rewards and honors upon him. He was the