And he taketh his staff in his hand, and chooseth for him five smooth stones from the brook, and putteth them in the shepherds' habiliments that he hath, even in the scrip, and his sling <FI>is<Fi> in his hand, and he draweth nigh unto the Philistine.
1 Samuel 17:38 And Saul clotheth David with his long robe, and hath put a helmet of brass on his head, and doth clothe him with a coat of mail.
1 Samuel 17:39 And David girded his sword above his long robe, and beginneth to go, for he hath not tried <FI>it<Fi> ; and David saith unto Saul, `I am not able to go with these, for I had not tried;' and David turneth them aside from off him.
1 Samuel 17:40 And he taketh his staff in his hand, and chooseth for him five smooth stones from the brook, and putteth them in the shepherds' habiliments that he hath, even in the scrip, and his sling <FI>is<Fi> in his hand, and he draweth nigh unto the Philistine.
1 Samuel 17:41 And the Philistine goeth on, going and drawing near unto David, and the man bearing the buckler <FI>is<Fi> before him,
1 Samuel 17:42 and the Philistine looketh attentively, and seeth David, and despiseth him, for he was a youth, and ruddy, with a fair appearance.
The verse centers on "taketh", "staff", "hand", "chooseth", "five", "smooth", "stones", and "brook". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "taketh" and "staff", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 39's "And David girded his sword above his..." into verse 41's "And the Philistine goeth on going and...", so "taketh" and "staff" belong inside that flow. In 1 Samuel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "taketh" and "staff" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.