One night a couple weeks ago, on one of the rare nights I'm home to pray, read good night stories, and tuck my children into bed, I grabbed a book from the shelf to read to them. It turned out to a book that was mine when I was a kid. I myself am a product of the 70s and 80s, and some of you who are my age or who have children my age may recognize this "Little Golden Book." It was written by Barbara Shook Hazen, illustrated by Robert J. Lee, and published for the seventh time in 1979. Long forgotten about, I was impressed with the book's straightforward message relayed in a simple but profound way, and thought it would be good to share it with you. The italicized parts are paraphrases.

Goliath of Gath was an immense giant who wore heavy armor and carried a huge spear.


But, alas, the Israelites had no champion. And when, every morning and every evening for 40 long days, the giant came out and called, "Why don't you send someone to fight me?" there was no one to send. There was no one big enough or strong enough to fight Goliath. From Bethlehem the youngest son of Jesse, David, stayed home and tended sheep while his older brothers went to fight the Philistines. One day Jesse asked David to bring some food to his brothers and the army captain and return with news, so the next morning he left his sheep with a keeper set off. When he got there the battle was about to begin. Just as he saw his brothers, the giant came out and said, "Choose a man to fight me..." The Israelite warriors were afraid, for they had no champion to fight Goliath for them. "Just look at him!...Look at the...size of him!" David asked his brothers about this and they told him that the man who slew Goliath would be rewarded by Saul, king of the Israelites. David's oldest brother war mad at him for coming out to the battle and accused him of neglecting his sheep, but David paid no heed. King Saul asked to see David.