David

The Youngest Son in Bethlehem

David was “the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse” (1 Sam 17:12). Jesse had eight sons, and “David was the youngest” (1 Sam 17:14). God sent Samuel to Bethlehem to anoint a new king. Seven of Jesse’s sons passed before Samuel, and none of them was chosen. The last one called in was the boy who was out with the flock: “Behold, he is keeping the sheep” (1 Sam 16:10–11). Samuel anointed him among his brothers, and “the LORD’s Spirit came mightily on David from that day forward” (1 Sam 16:13).

In Saul’s Court

One of Saul’s servants spoke of him as “skillful in playing, a mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a handsome person; and the LORD is with him” (1 Sam 16:18). So David came to Saul, and at first Saul “loved him greatly” (1 Sam 16:21).

The Philistine champion Goliath defied Israel, and David killed him with a sling and a stone: “there was no sword in David’s hand” (1 Sam 17:50). After that, wherever Saul sent him, David “behaved himself wisely” (1 Sam 18:5). Saul’s son Jonathan made a covenant with him, “because he loved him as his own soul” (1 Sam 18:3). Saul gave David his daughter Michal as wife (1 Sam 18:27).

But the women sang, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands,” and the text says: “Saul watched David from that day and forward” (1 Sam 18:7, 9).

Years on the Run

When Saul tried to kill him, “Michal let David down through the window,” and he escaped (1 Sam 19:12). He fled to the cave of Adullam, where “everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered themselves to him”; about four hundred men were with him (1 Sam 22:1–2). The text says: “Saul sought him every day, but God didn’t deliver him into his hand” (1 Sam 23:14).

Twice Saul fell into David’s hands, and twice David refused to kill him: “who can stretch out his hand against the LORD’s anointed, and be guiltless?” (1 Sam 26:9; see 1 Sam 24:6). Abigail, the wife of Nabal, came out with gifts and stopped David from avenging himself with his own hand (1 Sam 25:32–33).

Later David said in his heart, “I will now perish one day by the hand of Saul,” and went over to the Philistines; Achish king of Gath gave him Ziklag (1 Sam 27:1, 6). Once, when Ziklag had been burned by raiders and his own men spoke of stoning him, the text says: “David strengthened himself in the LORD his God” (1 Sam 30:6).

King

Saul and Jonathan both died fighting the Philistines on Mount Gilboa (1 Sam 31:1–4). David lamented over them: “How the mighty have fallen!” (2 Sam 1:17, 19).

The men of Judah first anointed him king in Hebron (2 Sam 2:4). Later the elders of Israel came too, “and they anointed David king over Israel” (2 Sam 5:3). Scripture records: “David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years” (2 Sam 5:4). He took the stronghold of Zion: “This is David’s city” (2 Sam 5:7). When the ark was brought into Jerusalem, “David danced before the LORD with all his might” (2 Sam 6:14). The text sums up his rule: “David reigned over all Israel; and David executed justice and righteousness for all his people” (2 Sam 8:15).

God’s Covenant

David wanted to build a house for the LORD. Instead, through the prophet Nathan, God promised to build David a house: “Your throne will be established forever” (2 Sam 7:16). The temple was not built by David. Chronicles records David saying later that God had told him, “You shall not build a house for my name, because you are a man of war and have shed blood” (1 Chr 28:3).

He remembered his covenant with Jonathan and asked, “Is there yet any who is left of Saul’s house, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” (2 Sam 9:1). To Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth he said, “You will eat bread at my table continually” (2 Sam 9:7).

The Fall

One year, “at the time when kings go out,” David stayed behind in Jerusalem (2 Sam 11:1). He took Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, and then arranged for Uriah to die in battle (2 Sam 11:4, 14–15). God sent the prophet Nathan to him, and Nathan said, “You are the man!” (2 Sam 12:7). David said, “I have sinned against the LORD.” Nathan answered, “The LORD also has put away your sin. You will not die” (2 Sam 12:13). God had also said: “the sword will never depart from your house” (2 Sam 12:10).

The Sword in His House

Later David’s son Amnon forced Tamar, the sister of Absalom (2 Sam 13:1, 14). The text records only this: “when King David heard of all these things, he was very angry” (2 Sam 13:21). Two years later Absalom had his servants kill Amnon, then fled to Geshur and stayed there three years (2 Sam 13:23, 28, 38).

After Absalom came back, he “stole the hearts of the men of Israel” and rose up against his father (2 Sam 15:6). David fled from Jerusalem: he “went up by the ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he went up; and he had his head covered and went barefoot” (2 Sam 15:30). Before the battle he told his commanders, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom” (2 Sam 18:5), but Joab killed Absalom anyway (2 Sam 18:14). When David heard, he wept: “My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! I wish I had died instead of you” (2 Sam 18:33).

Last Years

Late in his reign David counted the people, and afterward “David’s heart struck him.” He confessed to God, and chose to fall into God’s hands rather than man’s: “Let us fall now into the LORD’s hand, for his mercies are great.” Then he bought Araunah’s threshing floor and built an altar there (2 Sam 24:10, 14, 24–25). Scripture also records “the last words of David,” which include this: “he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure” (2 Sam 23:1, 5).

Keeping the oath he had sworn to Bathsheba, he made Solomon king after him (1 Kgs 1:30). As he was dying he told Solomon, “I am going the way of all the earth. You be strong therefore, and show yourself a man” (1 Kgs 2:2). Scripture ends his story: “David slept with his fathers, and was buried in David’s city,” and “the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years” (1 Kgs 2:10–11).

In the Psalms and the New Testament

Many psalms carry the heading “A Psalm by David” (see Ps 23:1). Traditionally, these psalms are attributed to David.

In the New Testament, Paul says God testified of David, “I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart” (Acts 13:22), and that “David, after he had in his own generation served the counsel of God, fell asleep” (Acts 13:36). The first verse of the New Testament calls Jesus “the son of David” (Matt 1:1). In its last chapter, Jesus says, “I am the root and the offspring of David” (Rev 22:16).