David is introduced to Saul

¹⁴ Now the Lord’s spirit had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him. ¹⁵ Saul’s servants said to him, “Look, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. ¹⁶ If our master just says the word, your servants will search for someone who knows how to play the lyre. The musician can play whenever the evil spirit from God is affecting you, and then you’ll feel better.”

¹⁷ Saul said to his servants, “Find me a good musician and bring him to me.”

¹⁸ One of the servants responded, “I know that one of Jesse’s sons from Bethlehem is a good musician. He’s a strong man and heroic, a warrior who speaks well and is good-looking too. The Lord is with him.”

¹⁹ So Saul sent messengers to Jesse to say, “Send me your son David, the one who keeps the sheep.”

²⁰ Jesse then took a donkey and loaded it with a homer of bread,^[a] a jar of wine, and a young goat, and he sent it along with his son David to Saul. ²¹ That is how David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked David very much,^[b] and David became his armor-bearer. ²² Saul sent a message to Jesse: “Please allow David to remain in my service because I am pleased with him.” ²³ Whenever the evil spirit from God affected Saul, David would take the lyre and play it. Then Saul would relax and feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him alone.

³² “Don’t let anyone^[a] lose courage because of this Philistine!” David told Saul. “I, your servant, will go out and fight him!”

³³ “You can’t go out and fight this Philistine,” Saul answered David. “You are still a boy. But he’s been a warrior since he was a boy!”

³⁴ “Your servant has kept his father’s sheep,” David replied to Saul, “and if ever a lion or a bear came and carried off one of the flock, ³⁵ I would go after it, strike it, and rescue the animal from its mouth. If it turned on me, I would grab it at its jaw, strike it, and kill it. ³⁶ Your servant has fought both lions and bears. This uncircumcised Philistine will be just like one of them because he has insulted the army of the living God.

³⁷ “The Lord,” David added, “who rescued me from the power of both lions and bears, will rescue me from the power of this Philistine.”

“Go!” Saul replied to David. “And may the Lord be with you!”

³⁸ Then Saul dressed David in his own gear, putting a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. ³⁹ David strapped his sword on over the armor, but he couldn’t walk around well because he’d never tried it before. “I can’t walk in this,” David told Saul, “because I’ve never tried it before.” So he took them off. ⁴⁰ He then grabbed his staff and chose five smooth stones from the streambed. He put them in the pocket of his shepherd’s bag and with sling in hand went out to the Philistine.

⁴¹ The Philistine got closer and closer to David, and his shield-bearer was in front of him. ⁴² When the Philistine looked David over, he sneered at David because he was just a boy; reddish brown and good-looking.

⁴³ The Philistine asked David, “Am I some sort of dog that you come at me with sticks?” And he cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴ “Come here,” he said to David, “and I’ll feed your flesh to the wild birds and the wild animals!”

⁴⁵ But David told the Philistine, “You are coming against me with sword, spear, and scimitar, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel’s army, the one you’ve insulted. ⁴⁶ Today the Lord will hand you over to me. I will strike you down and cut off your head! Today I will feed your dead body and the dead bodies of the entire Philistine camp^[b] to the wild birds and the wild animals. Then the whole world will know that there is a God on Israel’s side. ⁴⁷ And all those gathered here will know that the Lord doesn’t save by means of sword and spear. The Lord owns this war, and he will hand all of you over to us.”

⁴⁸ The Philistine got up and moved closer to attack David, and David ran quickly to the front line to face him. ⁴⁹ David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone. He slung it, and it hit the Philistine on his forehead. The stone penetrated his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. ⁵⁰ And that’s how David triumphed over the Philistine with just a sling and a stone, striking the Philistine down and killing him—and David didn’t even have a sword! ⁵¹ Then David ran and stood over the Philistine. He grabbed the Philistine’s sword, drew it from its sheath, and finished him off. Then David cut off the Philistine’s head with the sword.

When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they fled. ⁵² The soldiers from Israel and Judah jumped up with a shout and chased the Philistines all the way to Gath^[c] and the gates of Ekron. The dead Philistines were littered along the Shaarim road all the way to Gath and Ekron. ⁵³ When the Israelites came back from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp. ⁵⁴ David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put the Philistine’s weapons in his own tent.

⁵⁵ Now when Saul saw David go out to meet the Philistine, he asked Abner the army general, “Abner, whose son is that boy?”

“As surely as you live, Your Majesty, I don’t know,” Abner answered.

⁵⁶ “Then find out whose son that young man is,” the king replied.

⁵⁷ So when David came back from killing the Philistine, Abner sent for him and presented him to Saul. The Philistine’s head was still in David’s hand. ⁵⁸ Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, my boy?”

“I’m the son of your servant Jesse from Bethlehem,” David answered.

Psalm 27

Of David.