David is one of the most important figures in the Bible. He appears first as the youngest son of Jesse, looking after sheep in Bethlehem. When the prophet Samuel came to anoint a new king, God passed over David’s taller brothers with the words, “The Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).
His courage is remembered in the story of his victory over Goliath in 1 Samuel 17, where he trusts in the name of the Lord rather than in armour. After years of being pursued by King Saul, David became king, first over Judah and then over all Israel, and made Jerusalem his capital.
David was also a poet. Many of the psalms are linked to his name, including the well-loved Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” They show a man who praised, doubted, confessed his failures and kept coming back to God. His sins are not hidden in the Bible, including his grievous wrong against Uriah, recorded in 2 Samuel 11, and his repentance in Psalm 51.
God’s promise to David in 2 Samuel 7:16, that his house and kingdom would endure forever, shaped Israel’s hope for a coming king. The New Testament opens by calling Jesus the son of David, in Matthew 1:1.
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