So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armour in his tent.
Comment: The single handed combat doesn’t stop a bloody skirmish but it is a decisive victory and quickly finished. David ends up with two trophies, Goliath’s head and his armour.
As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.” And the king said, “Inquire whose son the boy is.” And as soon as David returned from the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”
Comment: And David is now fully in Saul’s sight. Before this David had been not much more than a young musician around the court. Also Abner, Saul’s Commander-in-Chief, knows of this new, still embryo, but capable, military strategist!
Prayer: Help me to be Your faithful, humble servant, wherever you place me in this life, O Lord.
As I read it! 
Thank you Barry, for your comments on this passage. I imagine that Saul and Abner and the army who were watching David as he approached Goliath were waiting with their “hearts in their mouths” as the saying goes, hoping and praying that David would not be attacked and killed by Goliath. And then in the space of a few seconds, David uses his slingshot and the stone hits Goliath right where it was aimed, and Goliath falls, and dies. Then David, (a bit like St George and the dragon), does the exact thing he said he would doe, and cut off Goliath’s head. With his head in his hand, he is brought to King Saul. What a victory! Especially for a youth! Young teenage males, of course are well known for their courage and strength, which is why the majority of our pilots in WWII were aged 18 and 19 and 20. God bless you.
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