Jehovah told Samuel: ‘Go to the house of Jesse. One of his sons will be the next king of Israel.’ So Samuel went to Jesse’s house. When he saw the oldest son, he thought: ‘This young man must be the one.’ But Jehovah told Samuel that this was not the one. Jehovah said: ‘I see what is in a person’s heart, not just what he looks like on the outside.’

Jesse brought six more of his sons to Samuel. But Samuel said: ‘Jehovah has not chosen any of them. Do you have other sons?’ Jesse said: ‘I have one more, my youngest boy, David. He’s out taking care of my sheep.’ When David came in, Jehovah told Samuel: ‘He is the one!’ Samuel poured oil on David’s head, anointing him as the future king of Israel.

Some time later, the Israelites were at war with the Philistines, who had a giant warrior named Goliath fighting for them. Day after day, Goliath mocked the Israelites. He shouted: ‘Send me a man who will fight me. If he wins, we will be your slaves. But if I win, you will be our slaves.’

David came to the Israelite army camp with food for his brothers who were soldiers. He heard Goliath and said: ‘I will fight him!’ King Saul said: ‘But you are just a boy.’ David replied: ‘Jehovah will help me.’

Saul tried to let David use his armor, but David said: ‘I can’t fight in this armor.’ David took his sling and went to a stream. He chose five smooth stones and put them in a pouch. Then David ran toward Goliath. The giant shouted: ‘Come here, little boy. I will feed you to the birds of the sky and to the wild animals.’ David wasn’t afraid. He shouted back: ‘You come with a sword and a spear, but I come in the name of Jehovah. You are not fighting against us; you are fighting against God. Everyone here will see that Jehovah is more powerful than a sword or a spear. He will give all of you into our hand.’

David slipped a stone into his sling and swung it as hard as he could. With Jehovah’s help, the stone shot out and sank into Goliath’s forehead. The giant fell dead to the ground. Then the Philistines ran for their lives. Do you trust in Jehovah, as David did?

After David killed Goliath, King Saul put him in charge of his army. David won many battles, and he became very popular. Whenever David came home from war, the women would come out dancing and singing: ‘Saul has struck down thousands, and David has struck down tens of thousands!’ Saul became jealous of David and wanted to kill him.

David could play the harp very well. One day while David was playing the harp for Saul, the king hurled his spear at him. David dodged it just in time, and the spear shot into the wall. After that, Saul tried many more times to kill David. Eventually, David ran away and hid in the desert.

Saul took an army of 3,000 men and went hunting for David. He happened to enter the very cave where David and his men were hiding. David’s men whispered: ‘This is your chance to kill Saul.’ David crept toward Saul and cut off a piece of the king’s coat. Saul did not notice. Afterward, David felt very bad that he had not shown respect for Jehovah’s anointed king. He did not allow his men to attack Saul. He even called out to Saul, saying that he could have killed Saul when he had the chance. Would Saul change his mind about David?

No. Saul kept hunting for David. One night David and his nephew Abishai sneaked into Saul’s camp. Even Abner, Saul’s bodyguard, was sleeping. Abishai said: ‘This is our chance! Let me kill him.’ David replied: ‘Jehovah will deal with Saul. Let’s just take his spear and his water jug and go.’

David climbed a nearby mountain that overlooked Saul’s camp. He shouted: ‘Abner, why didn’t you protect your king? Where are Saul’s jug and spear?’ Saul recognized David’s voice and said: ‘You could have killed me, but you did not. I know that you will be the next king of Israel.’ Saul went back to his palace. But not all in Saul’s family hated David.

King Saul’s oldest son, Jonathan, was a brave warrior. David said that Jonathan was faster than an eagle and stronger than a lion. One day Jonathan saw 20 Philistine soldiers on a hill. He said to his armor-bearer: ‘We will attack them only if Jehovah gives us a sign. If the Philistines tell us to come up, then we know to attack.’ The Philistines shouted: ‘Come up and fight!’ So the two men climbed up the hill and conquered the soldiers.

Because he was Saul’s oldest son, Jonathan would have been next in line to be king. But Jonathan knew that Jehovah had chosen David to be the next king of Israel; yet, he was not jealous. Jonathan and David became close friends. They promised to protect and defend each other. Jonathan gave David his own coat, sword, bow, and belt as a sign of friendship.

When David was running away from Saul, Jonathan went to him and said: ‘Be strong, and have courage. Jehovah has chosen you to be king. Even my father knows that.’ Would you like to have a good friend like Jonathan?

More than once, Jonathan risked his life to help his friend. He knew that King Saul wanted to kill David, so he said to his father: ‘It would be a sin for you to kill David; he has done nothing wrong.’ Saul was furious with Jonathan. Some years later, Saul and Jonathan died together in battle.

After Jonathan died, David searched for Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth. When David found him, he told Mephibosheth: ‘Because your father was a good friend to me, I will take care of you for the rest of your life. You will live in my palace and eat at my table.’ David never forgot his friend Jonathan.

When Saul died, David became king. He was 30 years old. After he had been king for some years, one night from the rooftop of his palace, he saw a beautiful woman. David found out that her name was Bath-sheba and that she was married to a soldier named Uriah. David had Bath-sheba come to his palace. They had sexual relations, and she became pregnant. David tried to hide what he had done. He told his general to put Uriah on the front lines of the battle and then to retreat from behind him. After Uriah was killed in battle, David married Bath-sheba.

But Jehovah saw all the bad things that had happened. What would he do? Jehovah sent the prophet Nathan to David. Nathan said: ‘A rich man had many sheep, and a poor man had only one small lamb that he loved very much. The rich man took the poor man’s only lamb.’ David was angry and said: ‘That rich man deserves to die!’ Nathan then told David: ‘You are that rich man!’ David was heartbroken, and he admitted to Nathan: ‘I have sinned against Jehovah.’ This sin brought a lot of trouble on David and his family. Jehovah punished David but allowed him to live because he was honest and humble.

David wanted to build a temple for Jehovah, but Jehovah chose David’s son Solomon to build the temple. David started to get things ready for Solomon and said: ‘Jehovah’s temple must be magnificent. Solomon is still young, but I will help him by getting things ready.’ David donated a lot of his own money for the building work. He found skilled workers. He collected gold and silver, and he had cedars brought from Tyre and Sidon. Near the end of his life, David gave Solomon the plans for building the temple. He said: ‘Jehovah had me write these things down for you. Jehovah will help you. Don’t be afraid. Be strong and get to work.’