Life of David: 9. David & Goliath

This week we study David and Goliath in our Life of David Series. This is one of the most well known lessons about David. For these lessons, I have written all new lessons and this is in depth. You can find it in 1 Samuel 17.

Last week we learned about King Saul sending for David to play the harp for him. Saul would have times that he was upset and David played the harp to soothe him and make him feel better. We also learned a lot about David and we will add some more characteristics to the list this week.

The Philistine armies were gathered together ready for battle. Saul and his army were also gathered together. (See Map Skills Project below.) Saul’s army was ready for the battle against the Philistines. Saul was on one mountain; the Philistines were on another mountain and there was a valley between them. (See map here)

The Philistines had a champion named Goliath. He was from Gath and was about 9’9” tall. He had a bronze helmet and a coat of mail armor that weighed about 126 pounds of bronze. Goliath had bronze armor on his legs and had a bronze javelin. He also carried a spear and the spearhead weighed 15 pounds. Goliath had a shield-bearer that walked in front of him.

Goliath stood and shouted out to Saul’s army. He asked why they lined up for battle. Goliath told them to “Pick a man and have him come down to me. If he fights me and kills me, we will be your servants. But, if I win against him, and kill who you send, you will be our servants. I challenge you to send a man so we can fight!” When the men of Saul’s army heard this, they were very afraid.

Jesse is older now and his three oldest sons were with Saul getting ready for battle. David was Jesse’s youngest son and not old enough for the army yet. But, once in a while David went to see Saul, then returned to take care of his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.

Goliath taunted Saul’s army for 40 days in the morning and the evening. Jesse told David to take some dried grain and 10 loaves of bread to his brothers at their camp. He also took 10 cheeses to the army captain. Jesse asked David to bring back news of how his brothers were doing.

David left in the morning and arrived at the army camp just as they were going out to fight. David left the supplies with the supply keeper and ran to see his brothers. As he was talking to them, Goliath shouted his message. David heard Goliath and all the soldiers ran because they were afraid.

David asked "What would someone receive if they killed the Philistine that is defying the armies of God?" David’s oldest brother was Eliab. He was angry with David and asked him “Why are you here? Who did you leave the sheep with? You have too much pride and disrespect to come see this battle!”

David asked him “What have I done now?” Someone reported to King Saul what David had said about Goliath and Saul sent for David to be brought to him. David told Saul that the men shouldn’t be afraid of the Philistine because he would go fight him.

Saul told David that he was young and Goliath was a soldier. But David told Saul that when he took care of his father’s sheep, a lion and a bear had come to the flock. David said that he took the lamb out of its mouth and killed it. Because the Philistine was like one of them, God will deliver me from Goliath. Saul said “Go, and the Lord be with you.”

Saul put his armor on David, but David took them off. He told Saul that he couldn’t walk in them. David took his staff and picked up 5 smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s bag. He had his sling in his hand as he walked to Goliath. When Goliath saw David coming, he began to walk towards David with his shield bearer in front of him. When Goliath saw who was coming; he was annoyed. After all, David was young and good looking.

David told Goliath “You come to me with weapons, but I come to you in the name of the Lord. He will deliver you into my hands this day! The Lord doesn’t save with weapons. The battle is the Lord’s!” They both drew closer together and David took a stone out of his bag. He slung it and the stone went deep into Goliath’s forehead. Goliath fell on his face!

David ran to Goliath and took his sword and cut off his head. The Philistine army saw their champion was dead and they ran! Saul’s army chased them to the valley entrance. Then, they returned and gathered things from their tents

This is a really good lesson for Map Skills! This is black & white only and not to scale. I wanted basics and easy to use. If you want a more detailed map, please use the one in color at the top. I suggest when discussing 1 Samuel 17, point out these locations:

David is from Bethlehem (1 Samuel 17:15)

Goliath is from Gath (1 Samuel 17:4)

The Philistines were camped between Sochoh and Azekah (1 Samuel 17:1)

Saul and his army are camped in the Valley of Elah (1 Samuel 17:2)

Saul’s army is on one mountain, the Philistines are on another and the valley is between them (1 Samuel 17:3)

This includes a full page map and 2 per page maps. The 2 per page will work great if you are making a Life of David Interactive Notebook. Click here to download.

** There is a worksheet in the application pack below for the students to create their own diagram of the battle. Please use the above map for reference to complete the project.**

The printables for David in this series are for an older age group than I usually post. Most of these lessons about David are not appropriate for early elementary. But David is a great study and we love this lesson! So, as you can see from the above picture, there is a Q&A. This could be used with younger groups by using the answer sheet and just asking the questions for discussion. Each post in this series will have a maze and some type of puzzle. The additional application has thought questions about how the students can apply the lesson to their daily life. There are answer sheets for all worksheets except for the last application. Everyone will have a different set of answers. Click here to download.

It doesn't seem to matter how old they are (although I only use it to second grade), they love this setup. Just use blue or water felt and throw smooth river rocks on it. You can find the rocks at Dollar Tree or in craft stores.

https://www.biblefunforkids.com/2018/06/life-of-david-9-david-goliath.html

The slingshot is super easy to make with felt. Click here for the slingshot pattern. You can find the bags cheap on eBay or at your local craft store. I always have a talk about actually not throwing the rocks...