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The Story of David and Goliath: King David as the First King of the Israelites
The Story of David and Goliath is one of most known stories from Biblical scripture. It is a true lesson of courage, faith, and overcoming what seems impossible through faith in God. “A man after God’s own heart’ was title bestowed upon David. (1 Samuel 13:14). David by example is considered the greatest king to ever live in biblical history. Despite falling short to sin, David was a courageous king with great ambition to serve God. The story of David shows you how God empowered a shepherd boy to slay a giant; how God elevated David to a king; and a demonstration of how spiritual lessons also become applicable to our lives and societal democracy.
David was Born in Bethlehem of Judea to a family of shepherds. He was the youngest of eight sons (1 Sam. 16:1, 10–11 NIV). As a young boy he served as a shepherd with his father Jesse. As a display of his courage and faith in God, he once killed a lion and bear to defend his father’s sheep (17:34–36 NIV). Instructed by God, Samuel the prophet anointed David as king when David was merely a 12-year-old boy (16:1–13 NIV). A few years later, David faced and killed the devastating Philistine giant Goliath and again demonstrated his tremendous courage and faith in God (17:1–49 NIV). As David got a little older and matured, he eventually began to command men in battle. Due to the attention David received from everyone; it began to expose Saul’s jealousy. David fled from Saul’s kingdom when he learned he was being hunted. For many years he traveled the land and looked for safe places. Saul eventually discovered the cave where David was hiding; yet unbeknownst to King Saul David was there.
He could have killed Saul, yet he spared his life. David could have easily chosen to speed up the promise of God and rid himself of King Saul, but he trusted in God’s word and timing. Saul sought out the advice of God, but God didn’t reply because of his disobedience to the law. Saul eventually sought out a medium to contact the soul of Samuel, and Samuel informed him he would die in battle. The information was confirmed, because Saul and his threee heirs eventually died in a battle with the mighty Philistines at Mount Gilboa (Arnold & Beyer, 2015, p. 179). Upon hearing the news in exile, David still grieved for them. After the death of King Saul, David was finally crowned the new king of Judah. David was 30 years old. About six or seven years later, he was crowned king over the whole nation of Israel. God had promoted His servant David from a shepherd of sheep to shepherd to His Chosen People he made a covenant with. It was not an overnight process, but over time God has shown to keep His promises.
During his reign, David had many accomplishments; he led his army to Jerusalem to fight the Jebusites, who were ruling the city at the time He decided to bring the Ark of the Covenant from Baale of Judah to Jerusalem. Now the fellow tribes of Israel decided to commit themselves politically to David by anointing him king of the whole nation of Israel. David established his power by announcing Jerusalem as his capitol and home (2 Samuel, 5-6 NIV). God promised David that He would build David a house and the seed or descendant of David would sit upon his throne, as a king, ruling over the Kingdom. This stems back to the promise God issued to Abraham in Genesis 15-18. That also was connected back to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:15. In a comparison between the two Israelite kings, King Saul started out as a good military leader; but became corrupt with power (Arnold & Beyer, 2015, p. 171). He was the first King of Israel. When Saul disobeyed the Lord’s law, he would try to reason or justify his actions. (1 Samuel 15:15 NIV). Saul would blame everyone, but himself for his actions. He had a lot of pride and he made his sin appear minor. David was kind to his military troops (Clowney, 2013, p. 149) David also committed many sins, yet his response was very different from Saul. When David was called out for his adulterous actions and conspiracy of murder, David immediately responded ‘I have sinned against the Lord’. (2 Sam 12:13) David owned up to his sin or wrongdoings rather than make excuses.
Throughout his reign David committed many sins. He had an adulterous affair with Bathsheba. Bathsheba was married to one of David’s most loyal soldiers; the Hittite Uriah. Bathsheba later informed David that she was pregnant, and he tried to cover up his sin by ordering Uriah to come home and be with his wife. When Uriah refused to go along with the plans of David; David conspired to have him murdered in battle and Uriah was killed. David eventually married Bathsheba, and the whole situation angered God, so their first child died as punishment for David’s pyramid of sins. According to Scripture, when king David heard of his daughter had been raped by her half-brother Amnon, he did not discipline his son (2 Samuel 13:21, NIV). He chose not to discipline his first-born son, and it had many consequences. Amnon had committed major sin against God and his family. Due to David’s decision to remain quiet and not act, David’s other son Absalom was angry with his father decision not to discipline Amnon. So, he decided to kill Amnon. Absalom fled to another part of the land after killing Amnon. David’s son eventually returned to overthrow his father (Clowney, 2013, p. 162). One of David’s top men decided to kill Absalom, even against David’s wishes. Since David failed to control his own family, he had lost two sons, a daughter who experienced raped.
When it comes to leadership, I learned from King David that I cannot lead alone. God is needed for everyday life tasks. We cannot do things our way, we can only lead with God’s leadership. To possess and excel in a leadership role, God’s requires us to have patience, humility, courage, and faith. Taking on unknown positions in my life has sometimes been overwhelming, and I believe this story would be a good model to help me improve my faith and leadership skills.
In conclusion, David was a role model king that is referenced later in the Bible. He was a human with flaws, yet his true power and strength came not from himself; but his faith in God. This biblical story showed how God used an innocent shepherd boy to save his chosen people from a blood thirsty Philistine giant; He later raised David up to be a king; and ultimately it became a lesson in true leadership to the generations to come.
