32 Psalm
King David
[1085 BC birth]
Although
Samson had killed many Philistines, they continued to torment and challenge the Israelites.
The Philistines' newest weapon was a Giant named Goliath. Goliath was 10 feet tall - that's the height of a basketball hoop.
(Imagine
Goliath playing in the NBA) He wore a bronze helmet and was protected
by 126 pounds of armor. The spear he carried weighed 15 pounds.
Imagine getting struck by that! When David, the shepherd boy, heard
that no one in the Israelite army was willing to stand up to Goliath, he
took up the challenge for himself. David told King Saul.
1 Samuel 17:34-37
"Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there
came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:. And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his
mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote
him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised
Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the
living God. .... The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the
lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of
this Philistine."
And Saul said unto David, "Go, and the Lord be with thee."
Video 1 of 3
Click Here for NEXT Video
[1134 BC Samuel in
temple]
After killing Goliath, King Saul made David a leader of
his army. David became a favorite friend of Saul's son Jonathan, and
he married Saul's daughter Michal. Saul at first liked and
respected David, but the King could see that the Israelites were giving more
and more admiration to David because of David's many great military
successes.
Saul becomes so jealous he attempts to kill David. David could have
fought back to defend himself, but because he respected Saul's role as King,
and because he admired Jonathan and loved Michal, instead of fighting David flees Saul and
goes into hiding. Saul tries to find David. He even resorts to
consulting a witch - even though Saul knew that such practices were forbidden
by God.
Both Saul and his son Jonathan are killed in a battle
with the Philistines. David is elected as King by the Israelite tribe
of Judah, but the other 10 tribes choose Saul's son Ishbosheth as their
leader. This decision to make Ishbosheth King was mostly decided by
King Saul's army commander Abner. A war broke out
between the supporters of David and the backers of Ishbosheth. After
the bloody civil war ended, David became king of all Israel. Israel
became a united country under David's rule.
David's 23rd Psalm
fill in the blanks