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
