From the time he was a young child,
he had always known he was somebody special. He was bigger and stronger than
the other children, and he very quickly learned how to use it to his advantage.
Girls were scared and stayed away from him, literally running out of sight when
he appeared. And boys soon learned that they had to do whatever he wanted, or
they would suffer for it. There were advantages in being his friend (or
lackey), and most of the children of Gath preferred to play it safe. And, if
nobody likes a bully, most of them were smart enough not to tell him so, and
the few that made that mistake were soon cowed into never making it again. The
people of Gath said, as he grew up, that he must be a descendant of the ancient
giants, and he was more than happy to encourage the story.
Of course, when a man’s chief talent
is for fighting (and winning), the army is his obvious career choice and, as
soon as Goliath was old enough, he joined their ranks. But he did not stay in
the ranks for long. He was so big and strong, and so willing to use his
strength against others, that he very soon became a very special person, the
champion of the Philistines. He had his own armour specially made, since the
standard issue was never going to fit him, and his pride continued to grow.
Then came the day that he was called
to join the forces fighting against Israel, and one look at their army inspired
him with his great idea. “What a pathetic, paltry lot they are”, he said to his
commander. “Why should we waste the lives of good Philistines battling against
them? I believe I can terrify the whole army of Israel on my own!” And that was
what he did: for forty days, every morning and evening, he came and shouted out
to the Israelite army, challenging them to let the issue between them be
settled between himself and whatever champion they should choose to face him in
battle. And, as he watched the Israelites cower in dismay, he laughed and
redoubled his taunting of them and their god – for what a pathetic god they
must have, he thought, that they were too ashamed to bring his image into
battle with them? Surely their god was as pathetic as they were!
Then, one day, it was different. He
had trouble believing his own eyes when a young, unarmoured boy stepped out of
the ranks of Israel and responded to his challenge. How utterly ridiculous! Was
this the best they could manage? In fact, it was insulting that they would
waste his time like this. “Am I a dog, that you come against me like this?” he
asked, and redoubled his taunts.
But the boy never wavered. Was he too
stupid to understand? “You come against me with your spear and sword,” he said
calmly, “but I come against you in the name of the Almighty God of Israel. Your
sword and your spear won’t save you, for the battle belongs to the Lord!”
Laughing louder than ever, Goliath
moved forward to attack him. The sorry joke had lasted long enough. It pleased
him that the boy was running eagerly towards him – towards his doom. But as he
ran he reached into a bag he had slung at his side, took out a stone and put it
in a rough sling, the sort that young boys might use to scare the birds away
from the crops. Goliath laughed louder than ever.
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