I sat in the field with a staff beside me. Sheep grazed solemnly around. I was on shepherd duty again. Three of my older brothers were off at war, and being the youngest, the job often fell to me. I looked into the dark woods that ringed the green field. I thought I saw something. Was that movement? I stood and grasped the hardwood staff and squinted into the gloom.
Suddenly, a squirrel jumped from the shadows. I breathed a sigh and turned around. Then, a snarl was heard. I whipped around and saw a ragged, skinny wolf with clumps of fur missing all over its battered form. It had pounced on the squirrel and snapped its spine. It looked up at a sheep and started toward it. It leaped onto the animal, bared its jaws, and thrust them toward its neck. As it began the killing bite, my wooden staff flew through the air and connected solidly with the beast’s head, throwing it off the still-calm sheep. I continued running as the wolf scrabbled to its paws and snarled. I retrieved my staff and stood my ground. The wolf jumped with its teeth wide. I grabbed the staff at the bottom portion and swung as hard as I could. There was a sickening crunch, and I felt the staff give way as it collided with the wolf’s temple. The wolf hit the ground hard and lay there, unmoving. The staff was broken in my hands.
Then I heard my father calling. I quickly skinned off a small portion of the wolf’s skin and ran toward the house. I would use the wolf’s pelt to make a sling; my old one had broken. I entered the house.
“Yes, father?” I called.
“There you are, my son. Here, take these loaves to your brothers and bring me word of how they fare,” my father spoke.
“Yes, father.”
I took the bag and started out the door. I walked down the road and slung the bag over my shoulder. I grasped the wolf’s pelt and threaded two leather thongs into it. I twirled it around a couple times and, satisfied, I looped it onto my belt.
I traveled for a few hours and found the Israelites and Philistines coming forward to face each other. I stared in shock, and I ran to the quartermaster’s tent and left my supplies with him. I then ran through the Israelite’s ranks, shouting my brothers’ names. I finally found them and greeted them, talking with them for a moment. Then someone broke from the Philistine ranks. The man was over nine feet tall and was armed to the teeth with enormous weapons. He shouted defiance at the Israelite forces.
“Who is this who dares defy the army of the living God?” I shouted.
I began to question the men about the towering warrior. Some men overheard me, reported to Saul, the king, and then I was sent for.
“Your majesty, I will kill this man who defies my Lord,” I said.
Then Saul replied, “You are but a boy, how?”
“With the help of God Almighty.”
“Very well.”
I was then equipped in full armor, which I wasn’t used to. I told Saul that I would face him with my sling and the strength of the Most High. I chose the long section of my broken staff and 5 pebbles from a stream. I then went to face the giant.
When he saw that I was a boy, he scoffed at me and said, “Come here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the creatures of the ground!”
I responded, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty!”
The Philistine drew his sword and raced toward me with a roar. I retreated quickly and drew a stone from my satchel. I placed it on my sling and cast it towards the large man. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as the stone moved quickly and then struck the giant in the forehead, burying itself in his head. The Philistine fell to the ground, dead. I had done it with the help of God. The Philistines were defeated.
