David, the second king of the Kingdom of Israel depicted in the Old Testament, ruled Israel for 40 years.
What was the life of David, who rose from a simple shepherd to a king?
In this article, I would like to introduce the life of David.
David's Boyhood
Saul, the first king of Israel, disobeyed God's command in a battle against the Amalekites and lost his blessing.
If you would like to know more about such Saul,
3 story of King Saul summary in the Bible
You may have heard of David or Solomon, but never Saul. But he is the first king of the ancient Kingdom of Israel. Explained him in "Book of Samuel"!
Please read this article here.
Look for the next king.
At God's command, Samuel went out into the city to find a new king.
There he found David, a young boy who was a shepherd.
This guy!
Feeling fateful, Samuel anointed David.
*This anointing was a biblically significant act, as it was customary to anoint kings, priests, and other rulers when they were inaugurated.
From this day onward, the Spirit of God began to go to David.
On the other hand, the evil spirit went to Saul, the king, and Saul was tormented by it.
Evil spirit... on me...
Saul's vassals decided to send someone who was good at playing the lyre to Saul's side, and David was called.
I will play the lyre.
Oh, what is it? Listening to the tone that this man plays, I feel as if my mind is naturally at rest.
When David played the lyre, Saul's heart was at rest and he felt better.
The Game with Goliath
The most famous episode of David's life is the contest with the giant soldier Goliath.
I have written about this game in a separate article.
Goliath and David short summary story in the Bible
This is a summary of the Old Testament prophet and king of Israel, David, and the giant soldier Goliath, in an easy-to-understand battle to the death!
Please see here.
David's defeat of this Goliath would make him popular with the people.
David is envied
There was one person who did not find David's popularity amusing.
It was Saul.
I am the king. Enough is enough. I will send David to battle again and again. Then you will die in battle.
Saul wished David dead and sent him off to war, but David returned victorious every time.
He even married Saul's daughter, Mikal.
I've run out of patience. Go kill David!
At this point, Saul ordered his vassals to kill David.
Dad...you are in serious trouble!
Saul's son Jonathan saw this and told David.
Thanks for telling me. I'm running away.
David's life was saved because Jonathan told him in advance.
Saul made numerous attempts on David's life after that, but all failed.
David does not take revenge
Although David was moving from place to place escaping from Saul's hands, he never thought of taking revenge against Saul.
Several times David had the chance to take Saul's life, but David did nothing to show Saul that he did not intend to kill him.
However, having lost God's favor, Saul was defeated in the war against the Philistines, and Saul committed suicide.
When David heard of Saul's death, he tore his garments and lamented it.
Even though his own life was being targeted, he just mourned Saul's death.
Then David received the oracle of God and he became king of Judah and later of all Israel.
David in his later years
David was king of Judah for about 7 years and later ruled in Jerusalem as king of all Israel for about 33 years.
In his later years, David witnessed his vassal's wife, Bathsheba, bathing.
What a beautiful person. I want to have her at all costs...
David thought so and called her to him, and they entered into a relationship.
I am pregnant with Master David's child.
Bathsheba became pregnant and David was troubled.
It's a bad thing. Anyway, let's get your husband back from the battlefield. It would be nice to think of it as a child born from yours in bed together.
David thought so, but in fact things did not go his way.
Damn, no good. If this happens, let's send the husband back to the front lines of battle. Then he will die in battle.
And so, Bathsheba's husband died in battle.
What a thing to do, Lord David...!
When the prophet Nathan learned of this, he blamed David.
When Nathan told David's sin in parables, David did not think it was about him and became furious.
Any man who would do such the thing is guilty of death.
No, no, no, I meant you!
When Nathan revealed that the parable was about David, David finally realized the magnitude of his sin.
What have I done...
As punishment, God took the life of the child born to Bathsheba.
The next child born of Bathsheba was Solomon, who would become the third king of Israel.
For more information on Solomon, please click here.
Who is King Solomon? A summary of his character and life episodes!
David continued to get involved in bloody kinship fights.
It was at such the time that a man named Adonijah took the place of David and claimed to be king himself.
David, who was already old, took an oath to make his son Solomon the next king, according to the words of Bathsheba and others.
David left a commandment for Solomon and departed this life, to be buried in the "City of David."