Return to listing
Only a Shepherd
David was the youngest of eight brothers. He was a shepherd.
People often said that he was only a shepherd, but he didn’t see it that way. He wasn’t only a shepherd when he was alone, in the middle of the night, and a group of lions were stalking the sheep. Then he had to be as brave as any soldier.
David really wanted to be a soldier. His brothers were soldiers. They were off fighting the Philistines.
The Philistines were a horrible lot, and David couldn’t wait until he was old enough to have a go at them himself. But for now, he was a shepherd. And he was proud to be a shepherd. His brothers had swords and spears; he had a long stick and a sling-shot. His brothers killed Philistines; he killed lions.
One day, David’s dad gave him a new job: delivery boy. Not a very glamourous job, but it involved delivering food to his brothers, who were busy fighting the Philisines. So David was happy.
As it turned out, David’s brothers weren’t fighting the Philistines at all. No one was. The Philistines had a mega-weapon, a great monster of a man, called Goliath. Every day, Goliath challenged the Israelite army to send one man to meet him in single combat. The deal was this: whichever side won the single combat would win the war. But nobody dared fight Goliath. He was too tall, he was too strong; his spear was too heavy, his armour was too thick. Goliath was invincible.
David arrived at the battle field just as the two armies were lining up for the day. He left the food in a store tent, and ran to see what was happening.
Goliath stepped forward. He was massive. He was covered in bronze armour, and carried the most enormous spear.
The great ugly brute issued his daily challenge. ‘Send a man to fight me, and we will settle this war in one go. If he wins, you win. When I win. . .’ He just grinned. He didn’t need to finish the sentence.
The Philistine soldiers jeered. The Israelite soldiers – David’s side – were terrified.
David was not impressed. He turned to the nearest soldier and asked, ‘What’s the reward for killing this big heap of muscle and metal?’
The soldier told him: ‘If you kill Goliath, King Saul will give you loads of money and you will marry a princess.’
Just then, David’s oldest brother turned up. ‘Hey, you,’ he shouted. ‘Get back to your sheep. You don’t belong here. You’re only a shepherd.’
David slipped quietly away through the Israelite battle line, and asked someone else about the reward for killing Goliath. He liked the idea of being rich and married to a princess. It would shut his brother up, for starters.
Before long, a message got to King Saul, the Israelite king, that someone was interested in the reward. He sent for David.
David said to the king, ‘Don’t worry about the big Philistine. I’ll deal with him.’
‘But you’re only a sheperd,’ the king replied
‘You’re right,’ David told him. ‘I am a shepherd. I protect my sheep from lions. I’ve killed loads of them. This ugly Philistine will be easy. God protects me from the lions, he’ll certainly protect me from this godless oaf.’
King Saul agreed to let David have a go, and lent him his own armour and sword.
David looked magnificent in the king’s armour. He was very proud. But there was one problem. He couldn’t walk in it. So he took the armour off, picked up his stick, his sling-shot, and five smooth stones, and set off to fight Goliath.
When Goliath, with his bronze armour and his massive spear, saw David coming with only a stick and a sling-shot, he was furious.
‘Do you think I’m a dog?’ he shouted. ‘I asked for a soldier to fight. You’re only a shepherd.’ Then he insulted God, and yelled at David, ‘Come over here. I’ll kill you in two seconds.’
David was not worried. Compared with lions, Goliath, in his fancy armour, was as slow as a donkey and as clumsy as a tortoise. ‘You’re only coming at me with a sword and a spear,’ he shouted back. ‘But I’m coming at you in the name of God.’
Goliath laughed.
David continued, ‘And when I kill you today, the whole world will know whose God is the real god.’
Goliath picked up his enormous spear and ran at David.
David placed a stone in his sling and ran at Goliath.
Both armies stood and watched.
Goliath aimed his spear at David’s heart.
David swung the sling above his head, aiming at the middle of the giant’s forehead.
Goliath pulled back his spear, ready to throw.
David released his stone.
He didn’t miss.
The stone sank into the Philistine’s skull. Goliath slumped, face down, to the ground – dead.
The Israelites cheered. The Philistines ran away. And no-one called David ‘only a shepherd’ ever again.
©Robert Harrison
“Must Know Stories” was a Scripture Union project. Rob Harrison’s set of stories for adults was published by Scripture Union, and can be found here.
