David was the youngest son of Jesse. He lived in Bethlehem near Jerusalem. God told the prophet Samuel to go to Bethlehem and choose one of Jesse’s many sons to become king. So Samuel invited Jesse and his sons to a feast. Everyone came, except David who was left minding the sheep. Samuel was not satisfied with the sons who were introduced to him, so he asked Jesse, “Have you got any other sons?”. So David was summoned to join them. When he arrived, God made it clear to Samuel that David was the one he had chosen to be King. So Samuel put special oils on David’s head, a symbol of God’s presence, and from that time, God worked powerfully in David’s life and the Holy Spirit helped him.

David was a handsome young man who was a shepherd. He spent a lot of of time in lonely places with the sheep. He trusted God to help him and killed a lion and a bear in order to defend his sheep. When the royal family needed someone to soothe the mind of the troubled king, someone mentioned David as a good man – a good looking man who spoke well, played the harp and sang. So they sent for him and he began to play in the royal court to soothe the mind of the king. David also became one of King Saul’s armour bearers.

Then something happened to bring David to everyone’s attention. David was at home in Bethlehem during a time of heightened political tension when war broke out. The enemy army was camped on one hill and Israel’s army on the hill opposite. Every day the champion of the enemy, Goliath of Gath came out to issue a challenge, “Find someone to fight me. Winner takes all!” This happened for forty days, but no-one wanted to fight Goliath, because he was a giant of a man – over nine feet tall and with a massive build.

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David was visiting the camp to see his brothers when Goliath came out and shouted his daily challenge. When he heard this, David was stirred and offered to fight him. He refused King Saul’s armour and went out against Goliath. David was carrying only a sling he used as a shepherd and five smooth stones from a stream. David trusted in God and came against Goliath in the Name of the Lord. As Goliath came closer, David took a stone and slung it at him. The stone sank into his forehead and killed him. That day Israel gained a great victory. Goliath was dead and David became a national hero.

David became very famous leading the army campaigns and married King Saul’s daughter Michal. But King Saul heard women singing, “Saul has slain his thousands and David his tens of thousands!” Saul was jealous and suffered from black moods and also from murderous rage. He tried to kill David who ran to save his life and eventually fled the country. God helped David to escape from King Saul’s grasp.

War broke out and King Saul and his sons died in a battle. David was chosen to become King of Israel and reigned for forty years. Jerusalem became the capital city and the centre of the nation’s religious life. David built a great empire, took wives and had many children. David composed songs, worshiped God and longed to build a temple, a holy house, for God in Jerusalem.

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At the height of his power he had an affair with a married woman called Bathsheba who became pregnant. Her husband Uriah was away with the army. David sought to avoid a national scandal by arranging leave for Uriah, but this didn’t work out as planned because Uriah never went home to his wife. Later David sent word to the army commander to put Uriah in the front line where he would be killed. So Uriah died. Then Bathsheba became David’s wife.

God was angry with David because of what he had done and sent the prophet Nathan to confront him. David felt really guilty. So he prayed for forgiveness, and God forgave him. David composed songs and wrote prayers during this time called psalms, such as Psalm 51. Later Bathsheba gave birth to Solomon. In his old age King David choose his son Solomon to be king in his place. David longed to build a temple, a holy house, for the Lord, in Jerusalem.  God was pleased with David’s desire to build a holy house.  But God showed him that Solomon, his son, would build this holy house instead of him.

God gave David an amazing promise. God said that He was going to build a house for David, a lasting dynasty, and that one of David’s sons would sit on His royal throne and reign forever. His kingdom would never end.

David was a man after God’s own heart. He was God’s man. David was a great King, but God showed him that there was a greater King who would be coming, the greatest of all, one who would live forever. And God showed David that this King would be one of David’s descendants.

Material sourced from 1 Samuel chapters 16 – 31 and 2 Samuel chapters 1 – 24, Psalm 32 and Psalm 51

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