๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐บ๐๐ฒ๐น ๐ญ๐ฒ-๐ญ๐ณ: ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ป๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ฑ & ๐๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฎ๐๐ต
๐ ๐ช๐ฒ’๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐บ๐๐ฒ๐น ๐๐๐๐ฑ๐! If you missed any of the previous parts, you can find them here:
๐ https://www.emberfaith.org/bible-studies-devotionals
For today’s study, we’ll be diving into ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐บ๐๐ฒ๐น ๐ญ๐ฒ-๐ญ๐ณ. Before we break it down, take a moment to read these chapters on your own—it’ll help you follow along as we unpack the key lessons!
These chapters introduce ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ฑ, a young shepherd boy who seems to be overlooked by everyone—but not by God. He goes from tending sheep to being anointed as Israel’s next king, and then, in a shocking turn of events, faces off against a ๐ด๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ผ๐ฟ no one else dares to fight.
There’s ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ต, ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ, ๐ณ๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ ๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฎ, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฑ๐ผ๐๐ป—all pointing to the fact that God doesn’t choose based on outward appearance or human expectations. He looks at the heart.
๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐บ๐๐ฒ๐น ๐ญ๐ฒ: ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ป๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ฑ
“๐ฟ๐ค ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ฎ ๐ค๐ฉ๐๐๐ง ๐จ๐ค๐ฃ๐จ?”
Samuel was sent to anoint Israel’s next king. He arrives at Jesse’s house, sees Eliab (the oldest son), and thinks, “๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ถ๐บ.” He looks strong, kingly—he just fits the part. But God says ๐ป๐ผ.
One by one, Jesse parades his sons before Samuel, and ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ, ๐๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ ๐ฎ๐น๐น.
Finally, Samuel asks, “๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐?” (1 Samuel 16:11). You can almost hear Jesse hesitate before answering, “๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ… ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ’๐ด ๐๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฅ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ’๐ด ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ.”
David was so ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐น๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฑ that his own family didn’t even think to invite him to this special event. Yet ๐๐ผ๐ฑ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ต๐ถ๐บ.
• ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ง๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐: ๐๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ต ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต (1 ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ญ 16:7).
• ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ณ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป: ๐๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ญ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ? ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ?
๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐บ๐๐ฒ๐น ๐ญ๐ณ: ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ฑ ๐๐. ๐๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฎ๐๐ต
๐ฟ๐๐ซ๐๐’๐จ ๐ฝ๐ง๐ค๐ฉ๐๐๐ง๐จ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ฃ’๐ฉ ๐๐ญ๐๐๐ฉ๐ก๐ฎ ๐๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ค๐ง๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐…
Fast forward, and David’s father sends him to the battlefield to deliver snacks to his brothers. While he’s there, he hears Goliath mocking Israel and ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ณ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐ฑ.
David asks, “๐ช๐ต๐ผ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ด๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐บ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐ฑ?” (1 Samuel 17:26). But instead of support, his ๐ผ๐๐ป ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐น๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฒ๐๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ต๐ถ๐บ:
“๐๐ฉ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ? ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด? ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ…” (1 Samuel 17:28).
David’s response? “๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ?! ๐๐ข๐ฏ’๐ต ๐ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ?” (1 Samuel 17:29).
It’s almost comical—David’s just asking questions, but his brothers see him as an annoying little sibling.
David refuses to let their doubts stop him. He volunteers to fight Goliath, and even King Saul tries to talk him out of it. ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ฑ ๐๐ฟ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฑ.
With a slingshot and five smooth stones, he steps forward and defeats Goliath with a single shot. ๐ก๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ, ๐ป๐ผ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ—๐ท๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐ฑ.
• ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ง๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐: ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฏ’๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ—๐๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ฉ.
• ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ณ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป: ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ “๐จ๐ช๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ด” ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ช๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฆ? ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฅ’๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ฉ?