Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.
And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
Comment: Dressed up as a soldier, David was impotent to fight Goliath. He rejected the show of being a big capable soldier and trusted his well-tried weapons – a sling and five carefully selected smooth stones (you may remember that Goliath had four brothers!). David, previously belittled by his own brother now is highly insulted by Goliath, and it seems written off as an easy victory.
Prayer: May I hear your assessment of me above that of the opposition and trust You for the victory.
As I read it! 
Thank you Barry for your comments on this passage. I wonder if Goliath’s deriding words to David actually made David’s anger rise to the surface, enabling his adrenaline to give him the strength he needed to fight Goliath? It would have been similar when a lion or a bear had taken one of his flock, and he had rescued the lamb or sheep from the paw of the lion or bear. God bless you.
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