1 Samuel 17:8

Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me.

From Background Notes [BN] for July 25th & 26th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

What makes the story so interesting is that David refuses to accept the terms of the combat.

His previous reports to Saul of encounters as a shepherd with bears and lions revealed his intentions to use projectile warfare and not engage in hand-to-hand combat with Goliath. With sly shrewdness, David knows exactly what he is  doing, plans his advance on Goliath, and keeps himself free of clumsy armor so that he has speed and maneuverability during the engagement. By the time he is within range, he has accelerated his sling at six or seven revolutions per second, aiming at the giant’s vulnerable forehead not quite covered by his helmet. Gladwell cites Eitan Hirsch, a ballistics expert with the Israeli defense forces: a typical-size stone hurled by an expert slinger at a distance of thirty-five meters would have hit Goliath’s head with a velocity of thirty-four meters per second — more than enough to penetrate his skull and render him unconscious or dead. In terms of stopping power, that is equivalent to a fair-size modern handgun. David could have slung and hit Goliath in little more than one second — no time for Goliath to react protectively. [BN,9]

Join us this week in Worship, Praise and Celebration at C1:

* Saturday 6:00pm
* Sunday 9am & 10:30am