After God rejected Saul as king, he led Samuel to visit a man named Jesse in Bethlehem to find the chosen king among his eight sons. Samuel thought God would choose one of the big strong brothers, but God said, “No, man looks on the outward appearance of a person, but the Lord looks on the heart.” So instead God chose the youngest son, David, who was still a shepherd boy. Samuel anointed the boy with oil in front of his older brothers. And God’s Spirit was with David from that day on.
One example of this was when David, still a boy, went to visit his brothers who were soldiers of Israel, when it was at war with the Philistines. When he got to the camp he saw that Goliath, a Philistine giant, was mocking the Israelites and their God because they were all afraid to fight with him. David saw what was happening, and he became angry. He told them he would fight the giant. Though he was small and did not yet know how to use a sword or spear, he knew that God would help him just as he had before as a shepherd protecting his sheep from wild animals like lions. When he faced Goliath, he killed him with a sling and a stone and gave the Israelites victory.
Saul was king for another 15 years after this. He put David in charge of some of his troops, but Saul would hear the women singing, “Saul has killed thousands, but David has killed tens of thousands!” So much of his remaining life Saul was trying to kill David because he was jealous. But David never tried to hurt Saul, and God protected him.
After Saul and his sons died in battle, the leaders of the people anointed David King of Israel just as Samuel had done many years before. David was thirty years old when he became King, and he reigned for forty years.
David was a great warrior, and he trusted God very much. However, David did some big sins in his life like adultery with Bathsheba and murdering her husband, but he repented of his sin, and God forgave him.
When David had defeated all his enemies, he brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, his capital city. David wanted to make a great house, a temple, for God. But God sent a message to David through the prophet Nathan. He said, “You will not build a house for me because you have shed much blood, but your son will build that house. I promise you that you will always have a son to sit on the throne, your kingdom will last forever.”
David praised God for his promises. Though he was a sinner in need of God’s grace, he was a man after God’s own heart. (1 Samuel 13:14) In fact, God used David to write many of the psalms of worship in God’s Word.