A Huge Challenge

 

 

Boy, he was huge

And just boasting all the time,

More than seven hundred pounds

Standing about nine feet nine.

 

Silhouetted against the sky

He presented an ominous sight

And even the best of our men

Cowered before him in fright.

 

In terms of his strength alone

No other man could compare

And for my people and their leader

He was their greatest nightmare.

 

 

If his stature were not enough

His armour was impregnable

And there he was standing tall

Challenging our best to a battle.

 

He was a champion of champions

The best that they had

And we had no one to match him

To me that was sad.

 

For forty days he challenged us

To send someone to fight him

But none of our men were bold enough

And victory appeared dim.

 

I was aware of all this

As I took some lunch to my brethren,

I was taken off my shepherd’s duties

To go and check on them.

 

Me? I was just a shepherd boy

And the youngest of the children

But I too had my challenges

And God took care of them.

 

Nothing messed with my sheep

You could ask that lion and bear

And for these ungodly people

I didn’t have the slightest fear.

 

I spoke to a couple of my brothers

But their report was none too good,

They said I should get back to the sheep

But right then I didn’t think I should.

 

There were two things about the giant

And both I’ll share with you,

He was a Philistine and uncircumcised

And that is all I knew.

 

“I’ll fight Him,” I told King Saul

And for them that was a laugh,

The king did put his armour on me

But for me that was not my path.

 

  

“I’ll be back in just a while,”

And I wended my way to the brook,

I chose five stones out of the water

And put them in the bag I took.

 

When that giant saw me

He looked at me in disdain,

I was just a youth and ruddy

And he began his taunts again.

 

“Am I a dog?” he barked,

“That you come to me with staves?”

Then he said what he would do to me

And he continued to rave.

 

I did not say an awful lot

This was not the time for that

But I trusted in the name of the Lord

That was the extent of our chat.

 

I reached into my bag

And from there I took one stone

And with my sling I took my aim

And next was stone on bone.

 

The giant fell to the ground

And there he lay quite dead

But to make sure he won’t get up

I just removed his head.

 

Next the Philistines were put to flight

As the armies of Israel pursued,

God had wrought a great victory

I made sure that everyone knew. 

 

A staff, a slingshot and God

Faith and an undying trust,

A tiny hole in the enemy’s armour

And he fell headlong in the dust.

 

Not by might or power says the Lord

But by the Holy Spirit,

David knew of this quite well

For it was his daily habit.

 

A lion, a bear and a great giant

Each challenge God brought him through,

Trust in Him is good advice

And He will do the same for you.

 

Stewart Russell © March 2018