And David said to Saul, Let no one's heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine — David's *al yippol lev ha'adam*, let not a man's heart fall, is a call to spiritual courage, the restoration of confidence that has been shattered. His self-identification as *avdecha*, your servant, establishes a proper relation to the king, a subordination that paradoxically will prove foundational to his future ascendancy. David's offer to fight (*ve'nilchamti et haPhilishti hazeh*) is not boastful but decisive, a statement of readiness that brooks no argument.

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