This is the Bible Book Club. I'm Heather and I'm Susan, and we're in the book of First Samuel.

Welcome to the club.

In chapter 16, Samuel went to Bethlehem in search of a new king. He wasn't what Samuel expected.

David was just a boy, the youngest son of Jesse,

but David had something that Saul didn't, a heart for the Lord. David was invited to play

for King Saul to soothe his evil spirit. So David then found favor with Saul and became a fixture

at the court, playing his harp every day. Meanwhile, the Philistines were gathering forces.

They brought a new threat with them, one that terrified Saul, a giant named Goliath.

So when we left Saul and David, Saul was suffering mentally from an evil spirit.

David was summoned to soothe Saul's nerves on the recommendation of a servant,

who said he played the liar well and the Lord was with him. Well, it worked. The music was

soothing to Saul, and Saul liked David and made him an armor bearer. So he's kind of part-time living

there. All right. In scene one of today's episode,

Goliath defies God for 40 days and 40 nights.

Continuing in chapter 17, verse 12.

Now David was the son of an Ephraithite named Jesse,

who was from Bethlehem in Judah.

Jesse had eight sons,

and in Saul's time, he was very old.

Jesse's three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war. The first born was Eliab. The second,

Abinadab, the third, Shama. David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul, but David

went back and forth from Saul to tend his

...