David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today the LORD will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! And everyone assembled here will know that the LORD rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the LORD’s battle, and he will give you to us!”

As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him. Reaching into his shepherd’s bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it with his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in, and Goliath stumbled and fell face down on the ground.

So David triumphed over the Philistine with only a sling and a stone, for he had no sword. Then David ran over and pulled Goliath’s sword from its sheath. David used it to kill him and cut off his head.

When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they turned and ran.

1 Samuel 17:45-51

Goliath stood and shouted a taunt across to the Israelites. “Why are you all coming out to fight?” he called. “I am the Philistine champion, but you are only the servants of Saul. Choose one man to come down here and fight me! If he kills me, then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves! I defy the armies of Israel today! Send me a man who will fight me!” When Saul and the Israelites heard this, they were terrified and deeply shaken.
1 Samuel 17:8-11

• Goliath had been taunting the Israelites for forty days. 
• Every morning and every evening he would shout out his challenge to King Saul and the army of Israel. 
• They were scared and shaking. 
• The very real threat of death and slavery stared them in the face.
• God had chosen David as His instrument to work through. 
• This is the moment where that reality is revealed to all of Israel. 
• This would be champion warfare. 
• This is a one on one battle to the death.  
• The battle wasn’t just political, but also theological. 
• The superior army had the superior god. 
• David understood this…he would stand for God against Goliath. 
• But…we aren’t David. 
• We are the scared and shaking Israelites. 
• We need a Champion. 
• Our Champion came from Bethlehem. 
• Our Champion was lowly. 
• Our Champion was despised by His brothers. 
• Our Champion defeated our greatest foe. 
• Our Champion gave us the victory. 
• The battle has always belonged to Jesus Christ. 

Look for Jesus at the center of all of your reading! He is there!!