What's your favorite Bible verse or story?

Leave me a comment.

Today is election day. It’s destined to be a bit of a crazy day, I suspect. Let’s think about something else.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

What’s your favorite Bible verse or Bible story? What are the ones that have had the biggest impact on your life? Which ones do you know by heart? Which are the ones that you turn to over and over again as you go through life’s highs and lows?

And importantly, why are they so important to you?

Leave me a comment, below, with your verse (including the verse text, please, not just a verse citation) and explain why it’s important to you.

I’ll go first.

One of my favorite stories is that of David defeating Goliath. I’m named after King David, so I’ve got a special love for all the stories about him. When I was a kid, I memorized 1 Samuel 17:45-47. I can still recite it to this day.

Why do I like it? Because the passage highlights David’s consistent, confident faith that God will prevail, no matter the circumstances or situation. David stands firmly with God and he’s confident that God stands firmly with him. His faith in God’s provision is the same, whether he’s tending to the sheep in the field or confronting a giant who is defying God. In verse 17:37, David tells Saul, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Here’s the scene from 1 Samuel 17 where Goliath and David meet. David has just declined to wear Saul’s heavy armor and his sword. Instead, he has picked out five smooth stones for his sling and then walked out to meet Goliath.

⁴¹ And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. ⁴² And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance.⁴³ And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴ The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” ⁴⁵ Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, ⁴⁷ and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand.”

⁴⁸ When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. ⁴⁹ And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

1 Samuel 17:41-49 (ESV)

Can you imagine the boldness of a teenager confronting Goliath? Indeed, Goliath can’t even believe it himself. And yet David tells Goliath exactly what is going to happen to him, and then in a matter of minutes, it does.

David’s confident faith gives me something to aspire to.

So, tell me. What’s your favorite verse or story? And most importantly, WHY?

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